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Click on a letter of
the alphabet to go to that letter of the music dictionary.
A B
C D E F
G H I J
K L M N
O P Q R
S T U V
W X Y
A
A: The musical pitch
relating to 440 oscilations per second of vibration, or any octave
transposition of that pitch. 2. The key of A.
Absolute Music:
Music without associations outside of itself, in contrast to program
music; music which is inspired by itself rather than extramusical
implications such as the stories legends of "program" music.
Absolute Pitch:
see perfect pitch.
A Cappella:
"In the manner of the chapel". Sung music without instrumental accompaniment.
Accelerando, accel:
Gradually faster.
Accent: placed
above a note to indicate stress or emphasis.
Accidentals:
Sharps, flats, or natural
signs that raise or lower a given diatonic pitch to deviate from
its key signature.
Accompaniment:
A vocal or instrumental part that supports the primary part, or provides
background for a soloist.
Achromatic:
See diatonic.
Acoustic: Any
instrument that can provide sound without the use of electronic amplification.
Acoustics:
1. The science relating to the creation and dissipation of sound waves.
2. The way in which sound production is affected by the physical properties
of the room or chamber in which they are produced.
Adagio: Slow;
slower than andante, faster than largo.
Addolorato:
Sorrowfully.
Aeolian
Mode: A medieval mode whose scale pattern
is that of playing A to A on the
white keys of a piano. This scale is also called the natural minor
scale.
Agilmente:
Lively.
Agitato: Agitated;
with excitement.
Air: A song or melody.
Alberti Bass:
A pattern of bass notes that outlines the chord being sounded in the
pattern low-high-middle-high.
Albumblatt:
(Ger.) A page or leaf from a book, or a short, easy piece.
Alla breve:
(Ger.) Cut time; meter in which there are two beats in each measure
and a half note receives one beat.
Allemande:
(Fr.) "German." A stately 16th-century German dance, initially in
a duple meter. During the 17th and 18th centuries, it was used as
the first movement of the suite.
Alteration:
The use of a sharp or flat
to raise or lower a pitch from its natural
state.
Altered Chord:
A chord in which a note has been changed from its normal position,
usually chromatically.
Alto: 1. In most
choirs, the lowest female vocal part. Occasionally, extremely high
tenors may be said to sing this part. 2. An instrument
in the alto range. 3. A viola.
Alto Clef: The
C clef falling on third line of the staff, in
modern practice, is usually only used by the viola.
Analysis: The
study of the form and structure of music.
Andante: Moderate
tempo.
Answer: In a fugue,
the second entry of the subject.
Antescedent:
The first phrase of a musical period. In a fugue,
the subject.
Anthem: A choral
or vocal composition, often with a religious or political lyric, with
or without accompaniment, written either for performance in a church,
or another place with significance to the song itself.
Antithesis:
In the fugue, the answer.
Aria: A musical
work usually found in an opera or oratorio,
which generally dwells on a single emotional theme of one of the characters.
Arietta: A short
aria.
Arpeggio: The
notes of a chord played in successsion to one another, rather than
simultabniously. A broken chord.
Arrangement:
An adaptation of a given composition into a form other than as originally
composed.
Ars Antiqua:
"Old Art". Refers to the old musical practices of Europe during the
12th and 13th centuries.
Ars Nova: "New
Art". A term invented by Philippe De Vitry to describe the music of
his era, the 14th century, as opposed to the music of earlier generations.
Art Song: A serious
vocal composition, generally for voice and piano. Denotes a self-contained
work, as opposed to an aria.
Atonal: Music
that lacks a tonal center, or in which all pitches carry equal importance.
Augmentation:
The lengthening of note values used in a theme
to alter the melody without changing the pitches.
Augmented:
Raised, or enlarged. Generally refers to the raising of a pitch chromatically
by one half step.
Augmented Chord:
A chord which contains a root, a major third,
and an augmented fifth.
Augmented
Sixth Chord: A chord which contains
an augmented sixth above
the bass, in addition to various other tones,
which determine weather the chord is a German Sixth
Chord, French Sixth Chord, Italian
Sixth Chord, Neopolitan Sixth,
or Doubly Augmented Sixth Chord.
Authentic Cadence:
A cadence that starts of the fifth
of the key, and resolves to the tonic.
Top of
Music Dictionary
B
B: The key of B,
or in the German musical system, B-flat.
Bagatelle:
A short light or whimsical piece, usually written for piano.
Ballad: 1. A simple
song. 2. A song that tells a story.
Ballet: A theatrical
dance form with a story, sets, and music.
Band: An instrumental
ensemble, usually consisting of percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments,
and excluding strings.
Baritone: A
low male singing voice between tenor and bass.
Baroque Period:
The musical era from roughly 1600 to 1750 A.D., characterized by the
establishment of major and minor tonality, rather than modes,
and the introduction of opera.
Bass: "Low." 1.
The lowest male singing voice, below baritone.
2. The lowest part in a piece of music. 3. The lowest instrument in
a musical work. 4. In the violin family,
the lowest instrument.
Bass Clef: The
F clef indicating the fourth line of the staff.
Used in combination with the treble clef
to make the grand staff.
Basso Continuo:
"Continuous Bass", sometimes referred to as "thoroughbass". Used in
Baroque music, A continuo is a bass
line that repeats throughout an entire work, or section of a work.
Played by the lowest instrument, a continuo usually consisted of a
bass line, and a series of figures.
Battaglia:
"Battle". A composition that imitates the sounds and feel of battle,
and martial music.
Bequadro: A
natural sign.
Berceuse: A
lullaby.
Binary Form:
A two-part song form consisting of an initial section, which is then
followed by a contrasting section. (AB), see song
forms.
Bitonal: The
use of two different keys, or tonic centers at
the same time.
Borrowed Chord:
Use of a chord in a key in which it is not diatonic,
or the substitution of a chord from a different key into a work.
Bouts: In the violin
and guitar families, the curves in the sides
of the instrument, especially the C-shaped inward curves that form
the waist.
Bow: The device used
in the string instrument families, such as the violin
family, consisting of a wooden stick, pointed at one end, and
strung with horsehair. The bow is drawn across the strings to generate
a tone.
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Music Dictionary
C
C: The key
of C.
C Clef: clef
that indicates which line represents C on a staff, as opposed to a
G clef, or an F clef.
Cabalistic Numerological
Symbolism: A method of inbedding hidden messages in music,
by using a code of numbers based on which notes are used, their durations,
arrangement, subdivision, etc--whereby the composer made symbolic
referrence to specific persons, places, or things and/or events in
some way associated with the music.
Cacophony: A
discordant or dissonant sound.
Cadence: The
melodic or harmonic ending of a piece, or the sections or phrases
within a piece. A chord progression that gives a feeling of resolution,
or conclusion.
Cadenza: An extended
solo passage, usually near the end of a piece, improvised by the performer,
or sometimes written out by the composer.
Cambiata: In
counterpoint, a nonharmonic
tone inserted between a dissonance and its
resolution.
Camera: Secular
chamber music, as opposed to church music, or chiesa.
Camerata: Small
art or music schools dating from the 16th century.
Cancel: A natural
sign, used to remove a previously applied accidental.
Cannon:
"Rule". In counterpoint, a melody that
is repeated exactly by a different voice, entering a short interval
after the original voice.
Cantata: "Sung".
A multi-movement vocal work for concert or church performance by a
choir, sometimes soloists, and an instrumental ensemble.
Canticle: A
non-metrical hymn or song.
Canto Fermo:
A cantus firmus.
Cantus Firmus:
"Fixed Song". A pre-existing melody, used as the foundation for a
polyphonic work. Used in counterpoint,
Canti Firmus were usually based on ecclesiatical chant.
Canzona: A song,
or ballad, or "in the style of a song".
Capellmeister:
Kapellmeister.
Cappella: See
a cappella.
Cello: In the violin
family, the tenor instrument, played while held
between the knees.
Chamber Music:
Music for small ensemble.
Chanson: A song,
usually secular. This term is usually applied to works composed during
the Medieval and Renaissance periods, though many twentieth-century
composers have also applied the term to their own works.
Chiesa: "Church".
Church music, as opposed to chamber music,
or camera.
Chorale: A German
Lutheran hymn tune.
Chord: A set of
notes, usually three or four, played simultaniously--usually containing
a root, and other tones which have a tonal
relationship to that root.
Chordal: A form
of music in which a single melody is accompanied by sets of chords,
rather than a competing counter melody.
Chromatic:
Motion by half steps; or pitches used outside of the diatonic
scale in which they normally occur.
Classical Era:
The musical period from the late 1700s to the mid 1820s, characterized
by more rigidly defined musical forms, increased attention to instrumental
music, and the evolution of the symphony.
Clef: The symbol
used at the beginning of a staff to indicate which lines and spaces
represent which notes. In modern practice, only three clefs are commonly
used, the G clef or treble
clef, the F clef or bass
clef, and the C clef, when used as an alto
clef.
Close Harmony:
A harmonic voicing technique in which all the
parts involved remain as close together as the chords allow, often
within a single octave.
Clusters: Groups
of notes that are the interval of a second apart from one another.
Coloratura:
"Coloring". Elaborate coloration of the melodic line, usually by a
vocalist.
Comic Opera:
An opera with light-natured music, comedy, and
a happy ending. In contrast to grand opera.
Common Chord:
A chord composed of a root, third,
and fifth.
Common Time:
4/4 meter.
Common Tone:
A note that remains the same between two different chords.
Compound Interval:
An interval greater than an octave, such as
a ninth, or eleventh.
Concert: A public
performance of music.
Concertante:
A piece for two or more instruments with orchestral accompaniment.
Concerto: A
piece for soloist(s) and orchestra.
Consequent:
The second phrase in a musical period, in a
fugue, the answer.
Consonance:
Sounds that are in agreement in terms of physical generation of sound;
i.e. sounds found in the harmonic series
of a pitch being harmonized, in contrast to dissonance.
Consort: A Renaissance
chamber group.
Continuo: Basso
continuo.
Counterpoint:
The combination of two or more melodic lines played against one another.
A horizontal structure built upon competing melodic lines, rather
than a chordalsetting.
Countertenor:
"Against the tenor". The highest male singing voice, above tenor.
Crab Cannon:
A contrapuntal piece in which one part
is identical to another, but backwards.
Crecendo: A
gradual increase in volume.
Cue: Indication by
the conductor or a spoke word or gesture for a performer to make an
entry. Small notes that indicate another performer's part.
Cut time: 2/2
meter.
Top of
Music Dictionary
D
D: 1. "Deutsch". D
numbers are used instead of opus numbers to catalogue
works by Schubert 2. The key of D.
Deceptive Cadence:
A cadence where the dominant
tonality resolves to any chord other than the tonic,
most especially when it goes instead to the sixth.
Degree: A note
of a scale, usually as identified by number. See second,
third, fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, and octave.
Delicato: Delicately.
Descant: 1. Soprano
or tenor voice. 2. The melodic line or counterpoint
accompanying an existing melody. 3. The upper part of a polyphonic
composition.
Descriptive Music:
Program music.
Development:
The elboration of melodic, thematic, or harmonic progressions in a
piece.
Diatonic: The
notes that occur naturally in a scale, without being modified by
accidentals other than in the key
signature.
Di: Of, with.
Diminished:
Lowered, or reduced. Generally refers to the lowering of a pitch chromatically
by one half step; ie., the term for an interval which has been decreased
from the major by two half steps and from the perfect by one half
step
Diminished
Seventh Chord: A chord which contains a root,
a minor third, a diminished
fifth, and a diminished seventh.
Diminished Triad:
A chord which contains a root, a minor third,
and a diminished fifth.
Diminuition:
The shortening of note values used in a theme
to alter the melody without changing the pitches.
Dirge: A piece
that is performed at a funeral or memorial service.
Dissonance:
Notes that conflict, or sound outside of a chord in which they occur.
Such notes usually fall outside of the overtones
which are being generated by the note or chord that is sounding.
Divertimento:
An entertaining instrumental piece made up of several short movements.
Dodecaphonic:
Twelve-tone music.
Dominant: A
chord based on the fifth degree of the diatonic
scale being used. A dominant usually resolves
to the tonic.
Dorian Mode:
A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of
playing D to D on the white keys of a piano.
Double Concerto:
A concerto for two solo instruments, and orchestra.
Double Counterpoint:
Invertible Counterpoint.
Double Flat:
An accidental that lowers the note it preceeds
by one whole step.
Double Fugue:
A fugue with two themes
that occur at the same time.
Double Sharp:
An accidental that raises the note it preceeds
by one whole step.
Doubly Augmented
Sixth Chord: An augmented sixth
chord, which contains a sharp second
from the tonic.
Dramatic
Soprano: A female singer with a slightly lower range than
a Lyric Soprano.
Dramatic
Tenor: A male singer with a slightly lower range than a Lyric
Tenor.
Dynamics:
The degrees of loudness or softness in a musical work, and the symbols
that represent them.
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Music Dictionary
E
E: The key of E.
Eighth: An octave.
Elegy: A melancholy
piece.
Eleventh: The
interval of eleven diatonic degrees.
Embellishment:
ornaments added to music to make it more interesting.
Ensemble: A
group of singers, or instrumentalists.
Equal
Temperament: Any tuning system which divides the octave
into equal intervals.
Ethnomusicology:
The study of various types of music in relation to their geographic,
racial, and cultural context.
Etude: A short
song, usually written for pedagogical or instructional use.
Evaded Cadence:
A cadence that implies one type of resolution,
but goes to another instead.
Even Tuning
See equal temperament.
Excercise: A
short piece written to improve performance technique.
Exposition:
The first occurence of the theme or subject
in a work, where the prinicpal idea of the piece is stated.
Expressionism:
An early 20th-century musical style, employing an abstract approach
to music, unlike impressionism.
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Music Dictionary
F
F: The key of F.
F Clef:
A clef that indicates which line represents F
on a staff, as opposed to a C clef, or an G
clef.
False Cadence:
A deceptive cadence.
Falsetto: A
high, light, artificial voice used to sing notes that are above the
normal register.
Fantasy, Fantasia, Fantaisie:
A piece in free style and form.
Feminine Cadence:
A cadence ending on a weak beat.
Fibbonacci Series:
A mathematical sequence in which the next number in the series is
the sum of the previous two numbers. Used by many 20th century composers
to determine various elements of composition, espeically Bela Bartok.
Fifth: The interval
of five diatonic degrees.
Figured Bass:
The bass part of a piece written by giving a single bass note, with
numbers beside it to indicate the inversion
of the chord to be played.
Figured Melody:
A highly ornamented melody.
Finale: The last
movement of a sonata or symphony,
or the last section of an opera.
Fingerboard:
On string instruments, the top surface of the neck, where the fingers
press down on the strings.
Flats:
An accidental that lowers a given pitch
by one half-step. See also key signature.
Fourth: The
interval of four diatonic degrees.
French Sixth Chord:
An augmented sixth chord, which contains
a second from the tonic.
Fret: On certain
string instruments, a thin, raised bar placed across the fingerboard
to indicate a specific position of a note, and aid in tuning that
note.
Fugue: "Flight."
A contrapuntal piece, in which two or
more parts are built or "layered" on a recurring subject
that is intriduced alone, and followed by an answer,
which is the subject (or theme) at a different
pitch, usually the fifth.
Function:
The way in which chords, and individual tones within the chord, tend
to imply movement toward another chord.
Fundamental:
Any note that sounds, producing overtones
in the harmonic series.
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Music Dictionary
G
G: The key of G.
G Clef: A clef
that indicates which line represents G on a staff, as opposed to a
C clef, or an F clef.
Gallant:
an 18th century compositional style that was light, elegant, non-contrapuntal,
and highly ornamented.
German Sixth Chord:
An augmented sixth chord, which contains
a flat third from the
tonic.
Glissando:
Gliss. The rapid scale achieved by sliding the nail of the thumb or
third finger over the white keys of the piano. Glissando is commonly
used in playing the harp. For bowed instruments glissando indicates
a flowing, unaccented playing of a passage.
Golden Section:
A mathematical proportion where the ratio between a small section
and a larger section is equal to the ratio between the larger section
and both sections put together. Used by many 20th century composers,
especially Bela Bartok, to determine the point of climax for a given
work.
Grace Note:
A note, or notes that are played quickly, usually before the beat.
See ornaments.
Grand Opera:
Opera on a large scale, usually entirely sung,
in contrast to comic opera.
Grand Staff:
The combination of a staff line notated in treble
clef with one notated in bass clef. Used
primarily in scoring for piano, and other keyboard instruments, this
staff is also sometimes used to score vocal works,
such as hymns.
Gregorian Chant:
A body of chants of the Roman Catholic Church, most of which are part
of two liturgical rites, the Mass and the Offices.
Origins traditionally are ascribed to the period of Pope Gregory I
(590-604).
Guitar: A
string instrument from Spain, with a large, flat-backed sound box,
violin-like curved shape, a fretted
neck, and six strings.
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Music Dictionary
H
H: 1. In the German
musical system, B natural, or the key of B
natural. 2. "Hoboken", the cataloguer of Haydn's works; H numbers
are used instead of opus numbers for the works
of Haydn.
Half-Cadence:
A cadence that ends on the dominant
instead of the tonic. Also called an imperfect
cadence.
Half-Step:
The smallest interval that is commonly used
in Western music. There are 12 half-steps in an octave.
Harmonic Progression:
The movement from one chord to another, usually in terms of their
function.
Harmonic Series:
A series of notes produced above the fundamental
(the series includes the fundamental) which fall in the overtones
of that pitch.
Harmony:1.
The study of progression, structure, and relationships of chords.
2. When pitches are in agreement, or consonance.
Head Voice:
The upper register of the singing voice.
Heldentenor:
A heroic tenor with a strong, robust singing
voice.
Hemitonium:
A half-step.
Heterophony:
The simultanious performance of two slightly different melodies.
Homophony:
Music in which one voice has the melody, performed with a chordal
accompaniment.
Hymn: A song,
often a chorale, written in praise of God,
or for a religious congregation.
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Music Dictionary
I
Imitation:
A fugal technique of composition, in which one
part introduces a theme, or subject which is
then answered by the other parts by reitorating
the same theme later in the work. This term is usually applied to
fugal passages in choral music.
Imperfect Cadence:
See half-cadence.
Impressionism:
A stylistic period of composition that sought to put to music only
the most immediate, direct impressions, upon the composer, of a given
subject. Impressionism avoided traditional harmony of thirds,
employing more often quartal or quintal
tonality.
Impromptu:
A short, improvisational-sounding piece.
Improvisation:
Spontanious Composition. The performance of music that is composed
on the spur-of-the moment by the performer, usually as a solo, or
cadenza. Also used extensively in jazz.
Incidental Music:
Short musical segments that accompany, or highlight dramatic moments
in, a play, or other stage work.
Instrumentation:
The art of composing, orchestrating or
arranging works for an instrumental ensemble.
Interlude:
Short music used to bridge the acts of a play, or the verses of a
hymn.
Introduction:
The preparatory section, movement, or phrase of a musical work.
Interval:
The distance between two notes, in terms of occilations per second.
The difference in one half-step is about 35
beats per second.
Introit:
"Entrance". A psalm sung at the start of the Roman Catholic Mass.
Invention:
A short, contrapuntal piece.
Inversion:
The different forms that a chord may take by changing the chord member
that is the bass of the chord.
Invertible
Counterpoint: counterpoint
in which two or more voices can be interchanged for one another.
Ionian Mode:
A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of
playing C to C on the white keys of a piano. This scale is identical
to a major scale.
Italian Sixth Chord:
An augmented sixth chord, which contains
a only three tones, as opposed to a German Sixth
Chord, or a French Sixth Chord.
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Music Dictionary
J
Jazz: A style
of music of Afro-American roots chracterized by a strong rythmic understructure,
blue notes, and improvisation on melody and chord structure.
Jubilate:
A song of praise, usually based on Psalm 100.
Just Tuning:
Any system of tuning in which the intervals
are pure, and do not deviate from the overtone
series.
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Music Dictionary
K
K: 1. "Kochel",
used instead of opus numbers to designate the
works of Mozart. 2. "Kirkpatrick", used to designate the works of
Domenico Scarlatti.
Kanon: Canon.
Kapellmeister:
"Master of the chapel." Director of music for a church or royalty.
Key: The tonal
center based on the tonic note of the scale.
Key signature:
Sharps or flats written
at the beginning of a staff line to indicate which pitches are to
be raised or lowered from their natural state
during the piece.
Kreuz: (Gr.)
A sharp.
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Music Dictionary
L
Lament: A
mournful piece, either meant to be played at a funeral, or to commemorate
a death.
Landini Cadence:
The melodic cadence that moves in the sequence
7-6-8, used primarily by Francesco Landini, and later by other composers.
Leading Tone:
The seventh degree of the diatonic
scale, when it is only a half-step below the tonic.
It is called "leading" because it gives the feeling of wanting to
move up a half-step toward the tonic.
Leap: the movement
of a single musical line by more than a second
at a time.
Ledger Lines:
Lines written above or below the staff to help
indicate the correct pitches for notes written outside of it.
Leitmotif:
"Leading Motive". Use of a musical phrase to identify with a certain
person, place or thing in a dramatic work, especially an opera,
usually repeated every time its referrant appeared in the work.
Lent: The season
of the church year from Ash Wednesday to Easter (40 days, not counting
Sundays).
Libretto:
The text (lyrics and any spoken parts) of an opera
or oratorio.
Lied/Lieder:
A German art song, usually those of the Romantic
or Classical eras.
Litany: A
set of prayers recited by a leader alternating with responses by the
congregation, often set in plainsong form.
Locrian Mode:
A mode whose scale pattern is that of playing
B to B on the white keys of a piano. While this mode theoretically
existed in medieval times, it was never used.
Lullaby:
A cradle song.
Lydian Mode:
A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of
playing F to F on the white keys of a piano.
Lyric: 1. The
words to a song. 2. In a singing and melodious manner.
Lyric Soprano:
A female singer with a slightly higher range than a Dramatic
Soprano.
Lyric Tenor:
A male singer with a slightly higher range than a Dramatic
Tenor.
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Music Dictionary
M
Madrigal:
A Renaissance choral piece, usually unaccompanied.
Maggiore:
The major mode.
Major: "Greater".
A term used to describe certain intervals
(seconds, thirds,sixths
and sevenths), chords
and the Ionian Mode.
Major Chord:
a triad composed of a root,
a third, and a fifth.
Major Scale:
A diatonic scale where
the half-steps fall between the third
and fourth, and the seventh
and . This scale is identical to the Ionian Mode.
Mannheim School:
A Preclassical group of German symphonic composers
whose style including extended crecendos (called
steamrollers) and melodies that arpeggiated
upward, (called rockets).
March: Music
for marching, such as in a parade or procession.
Mixolydian Mode:
A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of
playing G to G on the white keys of a piano.
Meter Signature:
See time signature.
Mode: A scale
pattern consisting of set intervals of whole and half steps. The primary
modes are Aeolian, Dorian,
Ionian, Locrian,
Lydian, Mixolydian,
and Phrygian.
Modal: Pertaining
to modes.
Modern: Music
written in the 20th century, or contemporary music.
Modulation:
1. To change keys, the movement from one tonic
center to another.
Monody: A
solo or unison song with accompaniement.
Monothematic:
Music based upon a single theme.
Monophony:
Music written in a single melodic line, as opposed to polyphony.
Morceau:
"Morsel". A musical work or composition.
Mordent:
An ornament consisting of a single alternation
between a given pitch, and the one immeditatly below or above it--called
an inverted mordent.
Motet: A choral
composition, usually on a religious text.
Motif: A short
musical idea, or melodic theme that runs through a piece.
Movement:
A self-contained segment of a larger work. Found in works such as
sonatas, symphonies,
concertos, etc.
Musicology:
The study of music and music history.
Music Drama:
Opera, specifically that of Richard Wagner and
his successors.
Musique Concrete:
Music composed by manipulating recorded sounds, specifically aucoustically
generated real-world sounds.
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Music Dictionary
N
Nachschlag:
An ornament consisting of an unaccented note
or notes at the end of the main note, or at the end of a trill.
Nachtmusik:
"Night Music", a seranade.
Natural:
A note that has not been raised or lowered from its named pitch. On
a piano, naturals are the white keys. Sharps
or flats may be used to alter a natural pitch
up or down a half step, respectively.
Neoclassicism:
a movement in music which sought, during the period between the two
world wars, to use past forms and styles in more or less stylized
and even ironic ways. Its traces may be found in composers as varied
as BarL6k, Schoenberg, and Poulenc, but the composer most associated
with Neoclassicism is Stravinsky, who wrote several compositions reinterpreting
the works of previous composers, including Bach, Pergolesi, Gounod,
and Tchaikovsky. Its characteristic manner is crisp and direct, and
only rarely are Neoclassical works written for large orchestra.
Neapolitan:
Any chord built upon the flat second
degree of the tonic key.
Neapolitan Sixth
Chord: Built on the second degree
of the major and minor scales. Generally, it is used in first inversion.
Its root is lowered. It is commonly used to reach the dominant chord
or the tonic chord in second inversion when performing a cadence.
Ninth: The
interval of nine diatonic
degrees.
Nocturne:
A night-piece, or seranade. Originally a salon
piano work, as in examples by John Field and Chopin, with nighttime
associations. Mozart's Nottumi are small chamber pieces. A celebrated
orchestral set by Debussy owes more to the paintings so titled by
Whistler than to previous musical examples.
Nonharmonic:
Notes that fall outside of the harmonic structure
in which they occur.
Notation:
written music indicating pitch and rhythm.
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O
O: The
symbol for diminished.
Oblique Motion:
Two melodic lines, where one voice remains stationary, while the other
moves.
Octave: An
interval eight diatonic scale degrees above
it. Two notes an octave apart have the same letter name, and form
the most consonant interval possible.
Octet: A piece
written for eight parts, or the group that performs such a piece.
Oeuvre: (Fr.)
opus.
Open Fifth:
A triad that does not contain a third,
consisting only of a root and a fifth.
Opera: A musical
play, usually entirely sung, making use of costumes, staging, props,
sets, and dramatic elements. Operas usually consist of two types of
musical elements, the aria, which primarily expresses
a single idea or theme, and the recitative
which advances the story.
Opera Comique:
Comic Opera.
Operetta:
A light opera.
Opus: "Work".
With a number, used to show the order in which the works by a given
composer were written or published. Opus numbers are most often used
for composers who catalogued their own works.
Oratorio:
An operatic work without staging, sets, or elaborate
costumes. Usually performed in a more relaxed setting than a formal
opera, and usually having a religious theme.
Orchestration:
The art of arranging, writing or scoring music for an orchestra.
Ornament:
A melodic embellishment, either written or improvised. Types of ornaments
included trills, turns, mordents,
and grace notes.
Overtone: A
tone that is present in the sounding of a fundamental,
due to the physics of the production of musical tones.
Overture:
The introductory music for an opera, ballet,
or oratorio.
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P
Parallel Chords:The
movement of specific chords or chord combinations up and down a scale.
Parallel Intervals:The
movement in two or more parts of the same intervals
in the same direction.
Parallel Keys:Major
and Minor keys having the same tonic note.
Parallel Motion:The
movement in two or more parts of the same intervals
in the same direction.
Partial:
Either the fundamental or an overtone
in the harmonic series.
Partita:
1. A set of variations. 2. A suite.
Part Song:
An unaccompanied homophonic song for three
or more voices.
Perfect Pitch:
The ability to distinguish and identify any given note without any
musical or tonal support.
Period: A
musical statement, made up of two or more phrases,
and a cadence.
Phrase: A
single musical idea, or element. Usually very short, often consisting
of only one or two measures.
Phrygian Mode:
A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of
playing E to E on the white keys of a piano.
Plainsong:
A monophonic chant which is unmeasured, and unaccompanied; such as
gregorian chant.
Polonaise:
A stately Polish dance in moderate triple time, often with a repeated
rhythmic pattern.
Polychoral:
A style in which an ensemble is divided into groups that may perform
individually, alternately, or together.
Polyphony:
"Many sounds". Music that has many notes sounding together, either
in a chordal, or countrapuntal
setting.
Prelude:
"Play-before". An introductory movement or work.
Program Music:
A piece that conveys a picture or story, in contrast to absolute
music.
Prologue:
An introductory piece that presents the background for an opera.
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Q
Quartal Harmony:
Harmony based on the interval of a perfect fourth, rather than on
thirds.
Quintal Harmony:
Harmony based on the interval of a fifth, rather than thirds.
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R
Recitative:
A musical work usually found in an opera or oratorio,
which mimics the patterns of speech, in order to advance the story.
Red Notes: In
medieval music, notes that were colored red on the page in order
to distinguish differences in rhythm or octave transposition for
specific notes. They were also used to show differences in a cantus
firmus from the original.
Renaissance:
"Rebirth." The era from the mid-15th century to the end of the 16th
century. The music was charactarized by the use of freer forms, and
a progression from modes toward major and minor
scales, and harmony.
Resolution:
The changing of a dissonant pitch, usually
by stepwise or chromatic motion, so that
it becomes consonant with the chord being
sounded.
Resonance:
Reinforcement and intensification of sound by vibrations.
Rest:
A symbol used to denote silence.
Rhapsody:
A free style instrumental piece characterized by dramatic changes
in mood.
Rhythm: The
term which denotes the organization of sound in time; the temporal
quality of sound.
Rinforzando:
A reinforced accent.
Risoluto:
Resolute.
Ritardando, rit:
Gradually slower. Same as rallentando.
Ritenuto:
Immediate reduction in tempo.
Ritmico:
Rhythmically.
Roll: On percussion
instruments, a sticking technique consisting of a rapid succession
of notes.
Root: the most
fundamental note of a chord, often the bass note,
which usually contains the other members of the chord in its overtones.
Root position:
The arrangement of a chord in which the root is in the lowest voice.
Round: Similar
to a canon, a song in which two or more parts having the same melody,
starting at different points. The parts may be repeated as desired.
Rubato: Denotes
flexibility of tempo to assist in achieving expressiveness.
Rudiments:
On percussion instruments, the basic sticking patterns.
Ruhig: Quiet.
Run: A rapid
scale passage.
Rustico:
Rustic; rural; pastoral.
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S
Sanft: Soft;
gentle.
Sans: Without.
Scale: A series
of notes which define a diatonic tonality,
often consisting of eight degrees, and containing
a tonic and sometimes also a leading
tone.
Serialism:
A form of music writing based on Twelve-Tone technique, in which pitch
classes, rythms, and often dynamics are determined systematically.
Second: The
interval of two diatonic degrees.
Sequence:
1. Repetition of the same basic melodic theme at a different pitch.
2. A type of Gregorian chant with non-biblical texts, lines grouped
in rhymed pairs, and one note per syllable.
Serenade:
A love song, or piece traditionally performed below a loved one's
window in the evening.
Seventh:
The interval of seven diatonic degrees.
Sharps:
An accidental that raises a given pitch
by one half-step. See also key signature.
Sixth: The
interval of six diatonic degrees.
Smorzando:An
Italian dynamic indication: "fading away"
Sonata: A
piece for a solo, or accompanied, instrument, usually in 3 or 4 movements.
Song Forms:
The arrangement of sections in a song to contrast similiar and different
sections. Often, letters are used to represent different parts of
a given selection: ABA, AABA, ABACA, etc.
Soprano:
The highest female vocal range, above alto.
Staff: The
five horizontal lines upon which music is written. Usually including
a clef, and having a time
signature and key signature.
Subject:
A theme or motif that is the basis for a musical form, such as a fugue
or sonata.
Symphony:
A piece for large orchestra, usually in four movements.
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T
Tenor: "Holder."
1. A high male voice between alto and baritone.
In early polyphonic music, it sang the cantus
firmus in long held notes. 2. Instruments in the tenor range.
Tenorlied:
A german song, in which the tenor vocal line
predominates, or has the melody.
Theme: 1. A
phrase that serves as the subject,
or melody for a given work, as in a fugue, or
sonata. 2. A conceptual idea that motivates
a given work.
Third: The
interval of three diatonic degrees.
Time Signature:
The numbers written on staff of any piece,
indicating which type of note gets a single beat, and also how many
beats are in each measure.
Tonal: Music
with a center, or tonic, which employs tones
which relate to that tonic in a predictable and measurable manner.
Tonic: The
key center, or foundation of, a scale or melody.
Treble: The
highest voice, instrument, or part.
Treble
Clef: The G clef falling on the second
line of the staff. Used with the bass clef
to form the grand staff.
Triad: A chord
consisting of a root, and two other members, usually
a third and a fifth.
Trill: An ornament
consisting of a rapid alternation between two pitches, the main pitch,
and the pitch a whole or half step above it.
Turn: An ornament
consisting of four or five notes that move up and down 'around' a
given pitch, using that pitch as a tonal center.
Twelve-Tone Music:
Music in which no pitch class (or note) is repeated until all other
chromatic pitches have been used. Any group of twelve pitches arranged
this way is called a row.
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V
Venetian School:
Late-Renaissance group of composers in Venice whose style included
polychoral textures and the foundations
of orchestration.
Viola: In the
violin family, the alto
instrument, played under the chin.
Violin: In
the violin family, the treble
instrument played under the chin.
Violin Family:
A family of four-string instruments originating during the 17th century,
tuned in fifths, and characterized by rounded
backs and shoulders, f-shaped sound holes, and deep middle bouts.
See violin, viola, cello,
and bass.
Votive: A
chant or hymn honoring a particular saint or the Virgin Mary.
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W
Wagner Tuba:
A five-valved tuba designed by Richard Wagner, for use in his music.
Waist: A narrowing
in the middle of the body of an instrument, resulting in a shape like
an hourglass. Typically found in string instruments, and some drums.
Whole note/whole
rest: A note/rest equal to two half notes and four quarter
notes.
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Z
Zigeunermusik:
Gypsy music.
Zwischenspiel:
Interlude.
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