Descriptionary

flat the pitch of a note subtracted by half a tone; an accidental that lowers the pitch by this amount. Also, of a note, played slightly below the correct pitch.

florid music that is highly ornamented.

frog the part of the violin bow that tightens the horsehair.

fughetta a short fugue.

fugue a polyphonic composition in which themes are sung sequentially by two or more performers and in imitation of the previous performer; a complex form of a round or canon.

fugue, double a fugue having two themes or subjects.

fugue, triple a fugue having three themes or subjects.

glissando sounding up or down the scale of an instrument very rapidly, as drawing one finger up or down the entire length of a piano keyboard or a fingerboard of a guitar, or moving the slide of a trom­bone to its full extension and back; the sound this produces.

gospel music with themes that center on Christ and salvation, often performed with a choir, originating in African-American churches.

grand opera any lavish or artistic opera production.

half note a note having a time value equal to % of a whole note.

half rest a rest or silence lasting the same length of time as a half note.

hemidemisemiquaver a sixty-fourth (V₆₄) note.

hootenanny a performance by folk singers, usually with sing-alongs from the audience.

hymn any religious song praising God.

imitation the echoing or repetition of one singer's part by another.

improvisation music that is spontaneously gener­ated, made up, faked, and so on.

incidental music music providing background atmosphere in a play or movie. Also, any music played between the acts of a play.

interlude a short passage within a composition, usually an instrumental section between vocals. Also, any incidental music played between acts of a play.

intermezzo originally, a musical playlet, often comic, inserted between acts of a play from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Today, a short piece of music performed to illustrate the passing of time in a play or opera. Also, an interlude.

interval the distance between the pitches of two notes, measured in tones and half-tones. Also, two notes played in unison.

intonation the production of pitch by an instrument. Good intonation is the production of accurate pitch.

jam any informal or unprepared performance by a pop, rock, jazz, or folk group. A jam session.

key signature following the clef on a musical staff, the sharp or flat symbols that indicate which key the music is in.

lament a composition of mourning.

ledger short extension lines appearing above or below the five standard staff lines, used to underscore very high or very low notes.

libretto the text of an opera.

lullaby any gentle song intended to put a baby to sleep.

lyrics the words of a song.

maestoso any stately musical passage or movement.

maestro master, as in master musician.

mariachi a Mexican ensemble consisting of at least one of each of the following: guitar, violin, harp, and bass guitar.

measure the section of music contained between two bar lines; same as a bar.

medley a performance of portions of favorite tunes played one after the other.

melisma one syllable of a lyric carried or sung through several notes.

melismatic pertaining to melisma.

melody a group of notes, catchy or at least memo­rable in some way, making up part or all of a song. Most songs usually have more than one melody.

meter refers to how many beats per measure are in a particular composition.

minstrel a musician or entertainer of the Middle Ages.

minuet music in moderate triple meter, intended for the dance of the same name.

M.M. Maelzel's metronome, used to sound the pre­cise tempo at which a passage or composition is to be played.

modulation the changing of keys within a single composition.

motif the briefest sequence of notes that can be defined as a melody, such as the opening four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

movement a major section within a composition, often having its own key signature, and often set apart from following movements by a brief pause.

musicology the study of music.

mute any muffling device used on an instrument to lower its volume or alter its tone.

natural any note not raised or lowered by a sharp or a flat.

nocturne French term pertaining to the night, spe­cifically music that conjures up images of the night and romance in the night. Also, a piano melody played with the right hand accompanied by soft bro­ken chords played by the left.

noel a Christmas carol.

notation the writing down of music.

octave all eight notes of a minor or major scale. Also, the interval between the bottom and top notes of the scale.