HERE ARE MANY OF THE NEW TERMS AND NAMES WE HAVE LEARNED THIS YEAR SO FAR. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING ON THE DEFINITIONS/EXPLANATIONS AND CORRECTING ERRORS. HOPEFULLY I WILL BE FINISHED SOON.
A (tuning note): The musical pitch relating to 440 oscillations per second of vibration.
Accompaniment:
A (tuning note): The musical pitch relating to 440 oscillations per second of vibration.
Accompaniment:
The musical background for a principal part or parts.
Acoustic:
Act: An act is a division or unit of a drama or some other form of entertainment, such as film, television, variety show, music hall, and cabaret. The number of acts and lengths in a production can vary depending on the production. The Roman theatre was the first to divide plays into a number of acts separated by intervals. Acts may be further divided into scenes; in classical theater each regrouping between entrances and exits of actors is a scene, while later use describes a change of setting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_(drama)
Alcott, Louisa May:
Andersen, Hans Christian: (April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875) was a Danish author and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and the "The Ugly Duckling."
Angelou, Maya: Born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928)[2] is an American autobiographer and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adulthood experiences.[3] The first, best-known, and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), focuses on the first seventeen years of her life, brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book
Award.
Applause: (Bravo) An exclamation of approval often used after particularly moving opera performances (often after arias meaning excellent or very good.) Arabesque:
Arco:
Aristocratic: Characteristic of an aristocrat; having the manners, values, or qualities associated with the aristocracy: aristocratic bearing; aristocratic snobbishness.
Articulation: The way successive notes are joined to one another in performance. Opposite kinds of articulation are staccato (detached) and legato (smooth). The three standard signs of articulation are the dot, the bow or slur, and the tenuto dash. In performance, the characteristics of attack and delay of tones and the manner and extent to which tones in sequence are connected or disconnected. Directions to a performer typically through symbols and icons on a musical score that indicate characteristics of the attack, duration, and decay (or envelope) of a given note. These directions are often interpreted by the conductor for the ensemble. The conductor also provides direction where no articulation markings are provided by the composer.
Ascending Scale: An ascending major scale is the most basic type of musical scale; Do, Me, Ri, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. A scale is basically notes put in a particular order. The 'ascending' part just means it goes up but not down, as in you get the whole Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, but then it DOESN'T come back down - it doesn't go through Do Ti La So etc.
Ascot: Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle,and owned by the Crown Estate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascot_Racecourse
A tempo:
A musical direction meaning "in time." It is a note to the performer to return to the preceding tempo.
Atonal: Music that lacks a tonal or key center; music without tonality, or music that is centered around no central key or scale; dissonant music.
Author: An originator or creator
Automatic Reflex:
Enough repetition of a physical skill when playing a musical instrument makes that skill become automatic. The muscles develop their own "memory" for the skill. http://www.thomasjwestmusic.com/visualization.htm
Bach, Carl Phillip Emanuel (CPE): Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788) was a German musician and composer, the second of three sons of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. He was a crucial composer in the transition between the Baroque and Classical periods, and one of the founders of the Classical style, composing in the Rococo and Classical periods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach
Bach, Johann Sebastian (JS): (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) (often referred to simply as Bach) was a German composer, organist, violist, and violinist whose
ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
Ball (dance): A ball is a formal dance. The word 'ball' is derived from the Latin word "ballare", meaning 'to dance'; the term also derived into "bailar", which is the Spanish and Portuguese word for dance (verb). In Catalan it is the same word, 'ball', for the dance event. Attendees wear evening attire, which is specified on the invitation as black tie or white tie (the most formal). Social dance forms a large part of the evening; actual ballroom dancing may or may not occur. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_(dance)
Ballet: Dancing in which conventional poses and steps are combined with light flowing figures (as leaps and turns). A representation of a story by means of dances (usually with theatrical sets and costumes) or pantomimic action accompanied by music.
Band: An instrumental ensemble, usually made up of wind and percussion instruments and no string instruments.
Bar Line: vertical dividing line between measures on the musical staff
Bart, Lionel: Popular Song, Musicals, Film Music English 1930-1999 Oliver! (1960) Tony Award two Songwriters Guild Ivor Novello Awards 1968 movie version of Oliver! The movie received a whopping 12 Academy Award Nominations and won in 6 categories including Best Picture and Best Music.
Baritone Horn: The baritone horn, or simply baritone, is a member of the brass instrument family.[1] The baritone horn is a cylindrical bore instrument like the trumpet and trombone. [2] A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium. It is pitched in B♭, one octave below the B♭ trumpet. In the UK the baritone is frequently found in brass bands. The baritone horn is also a common instrument in high school and college bands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_horn
Baroque Style: Relating to the period from about 1600-1750, characterized by grandeur and heavy elaboration of design in music. The music of the period c. 1600 - 1750 C.E., directly following the Renaissance and preceding the Classical era. This style is characterized by a lot of ornamentation, thus the name; it is also distinguishable by its use of basso continuo and application of the doctrine of the affections. The main composers of this era include Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Dominico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian
Bach, and George Frederick Handel.
Bass Bar: An oblong piece of wood,acting as a brace, fixed lengthwise inside the belly of the various instruments belonging to the violin-tribe, running in the same direction with the strings, below the lowest string , and running from the foot of the neck to a position under the bridge,to strengthen the belly against the pressure of the left foot of the bridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_bar
Bass Line:
The lowest part in a composition with mutiple parts, usually regarded as having a primary structural role in determining
harmony.
Baton: The stick used by the conductor to define the beat of the
music.
Beam: A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes, or notes of shorter value (indicated by two or more beams). Beamed notes are groups of notes connected by a beam; the use of beams is called beaming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_(music)
Beat: The unit of time in metric music. It has a steady pulse, a unit of time (1) the pronounced rhythm of music; (2) one single stroke of a rhythmic accent The regular pulse of music which may be dictated by the rise or fall of the hand or baton of the conductor. by a metronome, or by the accents in music. A constant unit of time that forms a background clock in music.
Beethoven, Ludwig Van: Classical Orchestral German 1770-1827 He was able to complete these masterful creations, including the extended finale in the 9th symphony, Ode to Joy, while being almost completely deaf.
Berlin, Irving: Twentieth Century American(May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) who was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history. His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," became world famous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin
Bernstein, Leonard: Musical Theatre, Orchestral Twentieth Century American (August 25, 1918 –October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic(from 1958 to 1969), for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for the musicals West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances between 1954 and 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein
Bierstadt, Albert: (January 8, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lush, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion. Though not the first artist to record these sites, Bierstadt was the foremost painter of these scenes for the remainder of the 19th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bierstadt
Bingham, George Caleb:
harmony.
Baton: The stick used by the conductor to define the beat of the
music.
Beam: A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes, or notes of shorter value (indicated by two or more beams). Beamed notes are groups of notes connected by a beam; the use of beams is called beaming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_(music)
Beat: The unit of time in metric music. It has a steady pulse, a unit of time (1) the pronounced rhythm of music; (2) one single stroke of a rhythmic accent The regular pulse of music which may be dictated by the rise or fall of the hand or baton of the conductor. by a metronome, or by the accents in music. A constant unit of time that forms a background clock in music.
Beethoven, Ludwig Van: Classical Orchestral German 1770-1827 He was able to complete these masterful creations, including the extended finale in the 9th symphony, Ode to Joy, while being almost completely deaf.
Berlin, Irving: Twentieth Century American(May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) who was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history. His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," became world famous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin
Bernstein, Leonard: Musical Theatre, Orchestral Twentieth Century American (August 25, 1918 –October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic(from 1958 to 1969), for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for the musicals West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances between 1954 and 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein
Bierstadt, Albert: (January 8, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lush, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion. Though not the first artist to record these sites, Bierstadt was the foremost painter of these scenes for the remainder of the 19th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bierstadt
Bingham, George Caleb:
Blackguard: A thoroughly unprincipled person; a scoundrel and/or a person with a foul-mouth.
Black Keys: On a keyboard instrument, such as the piano, the black-colored keys (black keys) comprise many of the sharps and flats found in various scales. When performed by themselves, the black keys produce a pentatonic scale.
Boucher, Francois: (29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture. He also painted several portraits of his illustrious patroness, Madame de Pompadour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Boucher
Boulanger, Nadia: (September 16, 1887 – October 22, 1979) was an influential French composer, conductor, and music professor. An outstanding music educator at the highest level, she taught many of the most important composers and conductors of the 20th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Boulanger
Bout: In the violin and guitar families, the curves in the ribs (sides) of the instrument, especially the C-shaped inward curves that form the waist.
Bow: The device used in the string instrument family composed of a wooden stick with a pointed end, strung with horsehair. The bow is drawn across the strings to set them vibrating.
Brahms, Johannes:
Brahms 1833–1897), was a German composer and pianist, one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs. Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he gave the first performance of many of his own works; he also worked with the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed many of his works and left some of them unpublished. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms
Brandenburg:
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam. Brandenburg surrounds but does not include the national capital Berlin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg
Brass Instrument: A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments." There are two factors in producing different pitches on a brass instrument: One is alteration of the player's lip tension (or "embouchure"), and air flow. The second is the use of slides or valves to change the length of the tubing, thus changing the harmonic series presented by the instrument to the player. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_instrument
Breath Mark: Indication of where to breathe in vocal and wind instrument parts. It may look like a large comma or apostrophe or like a tick/checkmark (✓), and is always written above the staff. A directive to the performer to break the phrase at that point in the composition and breathe, thus assisting in the production of a smooth phrase consistent with the composer's wishes. The breath mark looks like a large comma or apostrophe and should always be located at the end of the phrase above the staff.
Bridge (violin): The part of a stringed instrument that holds the strings in place and transmits their vibrations to the resonant body of the instrument. Broadway:
Brass Instrument: A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments." There are two factors in producing different pitches on a brass instrument: One is alteration of the player's lip tension (or "embouchure"), and air flow. The second is the use of slides or valves to change the length of the tubing, thus changing the harmonic series presented by the instrument to the player. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_instrument
Breath Mark: Indication of where to breathe in vocal and wind instrument parts. It may look like a large comma or apostrophe or like a tick/checkmark (✓), and is always written above the staff. A directive to the performer to break the phrase at that point in the composition and breathe, thus assisting in the production of a smooth phrase consistent with the composer's wishes. The breath mark looks like a large comma or apostrophe and should always be located at the end of the phrase above the staff.
Bridge (violin): The part of a stringed instrument that holds the strings in place and transmits their vibrations to the resonant body of the instrument. Broadway:
Browning, Robert: (1812–1889) He was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Browning
Brubeck, Dave: Jazz Twentieth Century American 1920 He has written and recorded several large-scale works, including at least two ballets, a musical, an oratorio, four cantatas, a mass, and works for jazz group and orchestra. He demonstrated employing classical techniques such as polytonality and dissonance, and working in unusual time signatures to create a distinctively modern jazz sound.
Budapest: Is the capital of Hungary.[1] As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right (west)-bank Buda and Óbuda with left (east)-bank Pest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest
Burleigh, Harry: (1866–1949) Having a baritone voice, he was an African American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer. He was the first black composer to be instrumental in the development of a characteristically American music and he helped to make black music available to classically-trained artists both by introducing them to the music and by arranging the music in a more classical form. He was a great influence over Antonin Dvorak especially when writing his "New World" Symphony #9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Burleigh
Buxtehude, Dieterich: (c.1637 – 9 May 1707) was a German-Danish organist and a highly regarded composer of the Baroque period. His organ works comprise a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and church services. He wrote in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude
Caccia:
Cakewalk:
Cage, John: (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer, philosopher, poet, music theorist, to name a few. A pioneer of chance music, electronic music and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century instrumental in the development of modern dance. Cage is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition 4′33″, the three movements of which are performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence, and the piece became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Another famous creation of Cage's is the prepared piano (a piano with its sound altered by placing various objects in the strings), for which he wrote numerous dance-related works and a few concert pieces, the best known of which is entitled Sonatas and Interludes (1946–48). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
Canon:
A canon is a composition in which each part has exactly the same melody throughout the piece, starting at different points. The strictest form of imitation. Strict imitation, in which one voice imitates another at a staggered time interval. It is a melody that is repeated exactly by a different voice, entering a short interval after the original voice. a musical form that uses exact imitation.
Capo:
Carlyle, Thomas: (1795–1881) He was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era. He called economics "the dismal science," wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle
Carnegie Hall: This is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, it is one of the most famous venues in the United States for classical music and popular music, renowned for its beauty, history and acoustics. Carnegie Hall has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments, and presents about 250 performances each season. It is also rented out to performing groups. The hall has not had a resident company since 1962, when the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall (renamed Avery Fisher Hall in 1973). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Hall
Carroll, Lewis:
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and a photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, and there are societies dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life in many parts of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Carroll
Cello: In the violin family, the tenor instrument, played while held between the knees. The third lowest member of the violin family, after the violin and the viola. The violoncello (often shortened to just cello) is actually the lowest member of those descended from the viola da braccio with a range of C below the bass clef to G at the top of the treble clef. It is as expressive and versatile as the violin, but with a richer, deeper, darker tone.
Cervantes, Miguel de: Born in modern Spain (September 29, 1547 – April 23, 1616) he was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and is regularly regarded among the best novels ever written.
Cezanne, Paul
(1839-1906) He was a French painter, one of the greatest of the post impressionists, whose works and ideas were influencial in the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements, especially Cubism. Cézanne's art, misunderstood and discredited by the public during most of his life, grew out of Impressionism and eventually challenged all the conventional values of painting in the 19th century through its insistence on personal expression and on the integrity of the painting itself. He has been called the father of modern painting. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/
Chant:
Chopin, Fryderyk:
Born near Warsaw in 1810, the son of a French émigré and a Polish mother, Chopin won early fame in the relatively limited circles of his native country, before seeking his fortune abroad, in Paris. His departure from Warsaw coincided with the unsuccessful national rising against Russian domination and Chopin found himself in Paris in the company of a number of other Polish exiles. He was able to establish himself as a pianist and as a teacher of the piano, primarily in fashionable society. For some ten years Chopin enjoyed a liaison with the writer George Sand, but broke with her during the last years of his life, brought to a close by the tuberculosis from which he had long suffered. His compositions, principally for the piano, make a remarkable use of the newly developed instrument, exploring its poetic possibilities while generally avoiding the more obvious ostentation of the Paris school of performers. http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/fryderyk_chopin/25949.htm
Chord:
Three or more pitches sounded simultaneously.
Chord Progression:
A succession of two or more chords; a harmonic progression; often forming a pattern.
Choreographer:
Someone who creates new dances.
Chromatic: Motion by half steps; or pitches used outside of the diatonic scale in which they normally occur. Music which proceeds in half steps.
Classic:
Classical: Art music of any culture; distinguished from folk, jazz or popular music European music of the Classical Period. The musical period from the late 18th century to the early 19th century: 1750 - 1825. The Classical period succceeds the Baroque and precedes the Romantic.
Class System:
Claves: This instrument consists of two small wooden rods (about 8 inches long and 1 inch in diameter). They are typically made of rosewood, ebony or genadillo. One clave (often called the male) is normally rested in a loosely cupped hand and struck with the second clave (often called the striker or female). The male is typically held in the left hand with right-handed performers and lays between the fingertips and the heel of the hand. The thumb is held out to provide added support. There should be a space between the clave and the palm of the hand to create a resonating chamber. The female is held as a striker in the other hand and is struck against the male.
Clavichord: A small keyboard instrument popular in the Renaissance, which is distinguished from other keyboard instruments of the era by the fact that its strings are struck rather than plucked. Because the strings are sounded only by being struck, the volume of the clavichord is very soft. It is one of the simplest keyboard instruments, built into a rectangular frame in which the keys and attached levers are fixed; the levers strike the strings by means of small, metal hammers.
Clef:
A clef (French: clef "key") is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.[1] Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff may be determined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clef
Cochlea: A spiral-shaped cavity of the inner ear that resembles a snail shell or a scroll of the violin. It contains nerve endings essential for hearing.
Coda: A tail; i.e., a closing section appended to a movement. The closing few measures of a composition, usually not a part of the main theme groups of the standard form of a composition, but a finishing theme added to the end to give the composition closure
Composer: A person who creates musical works
Composition: A musical work or the craft of making a musical work Concert:
A public performance of music.
Concertmaster: The term used to address the principal first violinist of an orchestra. The concertmaster is the leader of the orchestra and first violin section. They provide a lead to this section and perform any extended violin solos that are part of the performance. The concertmaster tunes the orchestra at the start of a concert and acts as a liaison between conductor and orchestra.
Concerto: A multimovement piece for soloist(s) and orchestra. Usually a three-part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.
Conductor: the director or leader of a musical group The leader of a musical ensemble who indicates through gestures or conducting patterns how the music should be interpreted by the musicians. A pattern of arm and hand movements that a conductor employs to lead and coordinate an ensemble of musicians through a composition. Conducting patterns typically indicate the meter of the composition. The most common conducting patterns reflect the most common meters used in Western music and include patterns with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 beats per measure. Conductors may conduct with either a baton or just using their hands.
Confucius:
Confucius, literally "Master Kong," (551 BCE–479 BCE) was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese thought and life. His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius
Consonance: Sounds that are pleasing to the ear. A simultaneious sounding of tones that produces a feeling of rest, i.e., a feeling that there is no need for further resolution. There is an absence of tension or discord in the music making for pleasing, sweet, harmonies. Also, intervals (pairs of pitches) that are treated as stable and not requiring
resolution.
Continuity: The state or quality of being continuous. It is an uninterrupted succession or flow; a coherent whole
Contrast: A compositional device which has come to be one of the principal properties of good music. A variety of contrast(s) such as tempo (contrasting fast to slow), timbre (contrasting strings to brass or strings to woodwinds), dynamics (contrasting loud to soft), and meter (contrasting duple to triple) is essential to good composition. Contrast is a means to maintain listener interest.
Copland, Aaron:
Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American nationalist composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. Instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, he was widely known as "the dean of American composers." Copland's music achieved a balance between modern music and American folk styles. The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of his works are said to evoke the vast American landscape. He also incorporated percussive orchestration, changing meter, polyrhythms, polychords, and tone rows in a broad range of works for concert hall, theater, ballet, and films. Aside from composing, Copland was a teacher, lecturer, critic, writer, and conductor (generally, but not always, of his own works). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Copland
Copyright: The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.
Covent Garden:
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Opera_House
Cremona:
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana (Po valley). It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments. The city of Cremona is especially famous for its musical history and traditions, including some of the earliest and most renowned luthiers, such as Guarnieri and Stradivari. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremona
Cristofori, Bartolomeo: An Italian maker of musical instruments, he is famous as the inventor of the piano.
Crumb, George:
George Crumb (born October 24, 1929) is an American composer of modern and avant-garde music.[1][page needed] He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres and extended technique. Examples include spoken flute (one speaks while blowing into the instrument) and glass marbles poured onto an open piano. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Crumb
Crumhorn:
Crumpet:
A crumpet is a savory/sweet bread snack made from flour and yeast. It is eaten mainly in the United Kingdom and other nations of the Commonwealth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet
Cylinder Phonograph:
The earliest medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1888–1915), these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was played on a mechanical phonograph. The competing disc-shaped gramophone record system triumphed in the market place to become the dominant commercial audio medium in the 1910s, and commercial mass production of phonograph cylinders ended in 1929. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder
Czechoslovakia:
Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945 the state did not have de facto existence, due to its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, but the Czechoslovak government-in-exile nevertheless continued to exist during this time period. On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovakia
Dance: Any physical movements done to music; also, specified steps or movements done in unison with specific music. Throughout the history of music, different dance types were especially popular at different times; In the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the suite was invented and developed. The earliest suite has been dated 1557. By the 1620's, a standard format was developed for the suite, consisting of the allemande, the courante, and the sarabande. At about 1650, the gigue was added to the suite, and by the end of the 17th century, the suite had a standard pattern and order. The ballet was another popular form of dance, first developed in France in the late 16th century. The ballet is generally a story told entirely through music and dance.
Debussy, Claude:
Defoe, Daniel:
Degas, Edgar:
DeMille, Agnes:
Descending Scale:
Delacroix, Eugene:
Delius, Frederick:
Dialogue: Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative or the lines or passages in a script that are intended to be spoken. Dickens, Charles:
Dissonance: A simultaneous sounding of tones that produces a feeling of tension or unrest and a feeling that further resolution is needed. 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. Discord in music, suggesting tension with two or more notes (often using intervals of seconds, tritones, and sevenths) sounded together which are discordant, and, in the prevailing harmonic system, require resolution to a consonance. The opposite of consonance.
Double Bar: A set of two vertical lines drawn perpendicularly through the staff to indicate the end of one section and the beginning of another in a larger composition. A double bar with a thin line followed by a heavy line is known as a final barline and indicates the end of the composition. The last barline in a composition. This is a form of the double barline (or more commonly double bar) and has two bars with the second being thicker than the first. It indicates that this is the end of the composition or of a movement of a composition.
Double Concerto: A concerto for two solo instruments and ensemble.
Double Reed:
Down Bow: Double Down Bow:
Double Stop:
Drum Practice Pad:
Drum Stick:
Dubbing: The replacement of a singer's voice in a movie soundtrack by another.Duet: composition for two performers
DuPre, Jacqueline:
Dvorak, Antonin:
Dynamic Marking:
Refers to the relative volumes in the execution of a piece of music; the degrees of loudness or softness in a musical work, and their symbols.
Ear Training:
Ebony: A hard dark-colored heartwood of the ebony tree; used in for piano keys and various violin fittings.
Echo Technique:
Edison, Thomas Alva:
Eighth Note: A note having the time duration of one eighth of the time duration of a whole note.
Einstein, Albert:
Elgar, Edward:
Eliot, T.S.:
Ellis Island: Embouchure: The position of the lips and mouth when playing a wind instrument.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo:
End Button:
End Pin:
Endings (1st/2nd Endings): Often, repeated sections of a composition will have different endings for each repeat of that section. This can be to create the symetry of an antecedent and consequent phrase or simply to extend the composition. Although there are normally only first endings and second endings, the composer can choose to have as many different endings as there are repeats of the section.
England:
English Horn:
Enharmonic Equivalent: The phenomenon that two separate notations stand for the same sound. For example, the enharmonic spelling of F-sharp is G-flat, both of which are the same note on the piano.
Ensemble: A group of musicians that perform as a unit.
Epoch:
Etude:
Exercise: A short study written to improve technique.
Faun (myth):
Fermata: F Hole:
Fifth: The interval or span of five diatonic degrees. How violin strings are tuned.
Fine Tuners:
Fingerboard: On string instruments, the top surface of the neck where the fingers press down on the strings.
Finger Cymbals: An early Asian percussion instrument often used by female dancers. They are small non-pitched cymbals that are commonly attached to the thumb and middle finger of one or both hands and struck together in a specific rhythmic pattern.
Fingerings:
Flat (♭): Accidentals that lower a given pitch by one half-step. Also see key signature. A symbolthat lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone. The term may also be used as an adjective to describe a situation where a singer or musician is performing a note in which the intonation is an eighth or a quarter of a semitone too low. Accidentals that lower a given pitch by one half-step. Also see key signature. symbol that lowers a pitch by one half step (b)
Flute:
Flutter Tonguing:
An instrumental wind technique in which the tongue is fluttered or trilled against the roof of the mouth behind the teeth.
Form: (Musical Form) musical design; incorporating repetition and contrast, unity, and variety The overall structural organization of a music composition (e.g., AB, ABA, call and response, rondo, theme and variations, sonata-allegro) and the interrelationships of music events within the overall structure.
Folk Music:
Songs from an oral tradition, often in relatively simple style, used and understood by broad segments of a population or culture.
Ford, Henry:
Fontaine, Jean de la:
Forte: (Dynamic Marking) or f (usually): loud strong; i.e., to be played or sung loudly
Fortepiano: A keyboard instrument, the predecessor of the piano, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. France:
Franklin, Benjamin:
Fret: Music / Instruments: any of several small metal bars set across the fingerboard of a musical instrument of the lute, guitar, or viol family at various points along its length so as to produce the desired notes when the strings are stopped by the fingers
Frog (violin):
Fugue: “Flight.” A contrapuntal piece, in which two or more parts are built or “layered” on a recurring subject that is introduced alone and followed by an answer, which is the subject (or theme) at a different pitch.
Frost, Robert:
Gavotte:
Germany: Gershwin, George:
Gravity Beat:
Gregorian Chant:
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang: Gramophone:
Guiro: A Latin percussion instrument consisting of a gourd with grooves cut around its circumference and large holes in the bottom. The performer holds the instrument with the holes in the bottom while scraping across the grooves with a stick in a rhythmic fashion.
Guitar:
Gut String:
Guttersnipe:
Guthrie, Woody:
Half Note: A note that has half the duration of time of a whole note.
Half Step:
The smallest interval that is commonly used in Western music. There are 12 half-steps in an octave.
Hammer: (Piano Hammer) That part of the action of a piano that strikes the strings, thus producing a tone.
Hammerstein, Oscar II:
Hand Drum:
Handel, George Frideric:
Harburg, E.Y.:
Harmony: The study of the structure, progression and relationships of chords.When pitches are in agreement, or consonance. The sounding of two or more tones simultaneously; the vertical aspect of music.
Harpsichord: Early stringed keyboard instrument that produced tones by means of plucking strings with quills rather than by striking them with hammers, as in the modern piano. The range of the harpsichord is generally about four octaves; it was most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in the classical era it was eclipsed by the piano.
Heifetz, Jascha:
Hiawatha:
Hoffman, E.T.A.:
Hildegard:
Holmes, Oliver Wendell:
Horse Hair:
Hugo, Victor:
Humoresque:
Impressionism:
Improvisation:
The creation of music in the course of performance.
Intermission:
Interlude:
Music played between sections of a compostion or dramatic work.
Interval: The distance between two notes.
Instrumentation: The art of composing, orchestrating or arranging works for an instrumental ensemble. Also, the properties and capabilities of individual instruments.
Intermission:
Interval: The distance between two notes.
Introduction: The preparatory section, movement, or phrase of a musical work.
Irving, Washington:
Ives, Charles:
Italy:
Jazz: A style of music of Afro-American roots characterized by strong, prominent meter, improvisation, and dotted, or syncopated patterns.
Joplin, Scott:
Kapellmeister: “Master of the chapel.” Director of music for a church or royalty.
Kern, Jerome:
Key:
The tonal center based on the tonic note of the scale; the tonality of a composition
Kodaly, Zoltan:
Landini:
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm:
Lerner, Alan Jay:
Levant, Oscar: Line Note:
Linguistics:
Liszt, Franz:
Loewe, Frederick:
London: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth:
Louis XIV:
Lower Half (LH):
Lute:
Lyrics: The words of a song Lyricist: the writer of lyrics
Machaut:
Madrigal:
Mahler, Gustav:
Major: “Greater.” A term used in music theory to describe intervals, chords and scales.
Major Scale: scale built as follows: two whole steps, half step, three whole steps, half step
Mallarme, Stephane:
Mallet: A device used by a percussion player to strike the instrument. It typically has the appearance of a light hammer with a small, rounded or spherical head used to play certain percussion instruments (marimba, xylophone, orchestra bells, chimes etc.). The head will come in a variety of materials of varying hardness to produce a wide range of timbres on the instrument. Head materials range from soft cloth to yarn to soft or hard rubber to hard wood.
Manet, Edouard:
Maple:
Maracas: Latin American percussion instruments that consist of a gourd with dried seeds inside it and a handle with which to shake it. Maracas are played in pairs and their use is not limited to that of Latin American music.
Mazurka: A lively Polish dance in 3/4 or 3/8 time with the accent usually on the second or third beat of the measure. The mazurka was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Mass:
Measure: the division of beats into set groups; a measure is denoted by a bar line American term, equivalent to the English term "bar", signifying the smallest metrical divisions of a composition, containing a fixed number of beats, marked off by vertical lines on the staff.the period of a musical piece that encompasses a complete cycle of the time signature, e.g., in 4/4 time, a measure has four quarter-note beats American term, equivalent to the English term "bar", signifying the smallest metrical divisions of a composition, containing a fixed number of beats, marked off by vertical lines on the staff.
Medieval:
Latin phrase "medium aevum," meaning literally "the Middle Age."
Melody: An arrangement of single tones in a meaningful sequence a succession(rather than simultaneous sounds) of musical tones A tune; a succession of tones comprised of mode, rhythm, and pitches so arranged as to achieve musical shape, being perceived as a unity by the mind. In a piece of music where there is more than one voice, or where harmony is present, the melody is the dominant tune of the composition.
Mendelssohn, Felix:
Menotti, Gian Carlo: (1911-2006); Italian composer who moved to America in his youth; follows in the tradition of Puccini in his approach to melody in opera; his most famous works are The Medium, The Telephone, The Consul, and Amahl and the Night Visitors.
Meter(or metre):
The pattern of a music piece's rhythm of strong and weak beats; the organization and grouping of musical beats. The grouping in which a succession of rhythmic pulses or beats is organized indicated by a meter signature at the beginning of a work. A measure of time; arrangement of poetical feet. The grouping or organization of rhythmic beats into regular patterns in such a way that a regular(steady), repeating pulse of beats may continue throughout the composition.
Meter (Duple): beats grouped into sets of two (strong-weak) A rhythmic pattern with the measure being divisible by two. This includes simple double rhythm such as 2/2, 4/4, but also such compound rhythms as 6/8.
Meter (Triple): A metrical pattern having three beats to a measure.
Metronome:
Michener, James A:
Middle Ages:
Minor: A series of tones that defines a minor tonality. Minor Scale:
Minuet:
Modern Dance:
Monet, Claude:
Monochord:
Morrison, Van:
Motet:
Mouth Bow:
Movement: One part of a larger musical composition; like a chapter of a book. Any self-contained section of a composition (amd thus at least potentially independent section) of a larger work such as a sonata, symphony, concerto, etc.
Motive: A short melodic, harmonic or rhythmic idea. It is the shortest fragment of a theme or a phrase that still maintains its identity. A typical example is the opening motif in Beethoven's Symphony No.5 which is incomplete in itself but can be heard (and recognized) all the way through in the symphony. As few as two notes can make up a motif as the descending fifth at the opening of Beethoven's Symphony No.9. A motif is the elemental brick of a theme (or subject) and a theme is the building block of a movement. A figure is similar to the motif but it is of secondary importance as motifs are part of themes and figures are not.
Muse:
Music: Any rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic grouping of sounds that is specifically composed and that forms a unity so as to convey a message, to communicate, or to entertain.
Musical Theatre: A stage presentation which combines the four fine arts of visual art, music, drama, and dance
Music Theory:
Study that includes many different methods for analyzing, classifying, and composing music and the elements of music.
Myth:
Nationalism: Term describing the movement in the mid 19th century in which composers felt compelled to infuse nationalistic features into their music, so that it would declare its nationality.
New York City:
Nobleman: Nocturne:
a piece written for the night
Note: A notational symbol used to represent the duration of a sound and, when placed on a music staff, to also indicate the pitch of the sound.
Nut (violin):
Oboe:
Octave: (Interval) The interval between the first and eighth degrees of the diatonic scale. an interval of eight pitch names; twelve half steps An interval spanning seven diatonic degrees, eleven semitones. An octave above C would be C. The frequency of a note one octave above another will have exactly twice as many Hertz as the frequency of the note an octave below it.
Oliver Twist: Open String:
Opus: “Work.” With a number, used to show the order in which pieces were written or published. work; a number indicating the order in which compositions were composed
Orchestra: a large musical ensemble consisting of string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments
Orchestra Pit:
Orchestration:
The art of employing instruments in various combinations, most notably the orchestra. Orchestration also includes the concept of instrumentation, the study of the properties and capabilities of individual instruments.
Organ: (Pipe Organ) Pipe organ - A keyboard instrument that is sounded by air moving through pipes. The pipe organ usually has several manuals as well as pedals that control the air flow through combinations of pipes. A rank of pipes constitues one stop and consists of a row of pipes, one for each key on the keyboard. Organ pipes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and methods of setting the air columns to vibrate. The pipes can range in size from a quarter-inch in length to over 32 feet with the shorter pipes creating the higher pitches and the larger pipes creating the lowest pitches. Organ pipes can be any shape from round to square, conical to cylindrical, or from straight to curved. The differing shapes provide a variety of tone colors. The pipes are typically constructed from either wood or metal. These materials provide another factor in the tone color of the pipe. The pipes are broken into two categories for creating sound, flue pipes and reed pipes.The flue pipes produce sound on the same principle of a whistle or recorder. The reed pipes produce sound on the same principle as the clarinet. The organ is an ancient instrument popular since the Medieval era. The use of organs is most commonly associated with religious music.
Overtone:
Overture: The introductory music for an opera, ballet, or oratorio. A concert overture is an independent work. an extended orchestral introduction to an opera, ballet, or similar type of musical presentation
Pachelbel Canon:
Paganini, Nicolo:
Pan Pipes:
Parallelogram: Paris:
Parker, Charlie:
Peasant:
Percussion:
Pedal:
(Piano Pedal) A device on a piano that is activated by the foot of the performer. There are either two or three pedals on the modern piano. The right pedal is a damper pedal, which, when depressed, raises the dampers and allows the sound of the piano to be sustained. This is the most used pedal. The letters "Ped" provide the directive for the performer to depress the damper pedal and the marking to indicate the release is a flowery looking asterisk symbol (More about Piano Pedal Markings). These directives should be exactly under the beat or fraction of the beat where the damper pedal should be depressed or released. It should be noted that there is a half-pedal directive that instructs the performer to depress the damper pedal fully and then release half-way before depressing fully again or releasing. The markings are similar, however there is a line between the two markings with a spike in the line where the half-pedal is to occur. The left pedal is the soft pedal or the muting pedal, which, when depressed, softens the volume of the sound. The term una corda (Italian for one string) is shown under the staff directing the performer to depress the soft pedal, and the term tre corde (Italian for three strings) is shown under the staff directing the performer to release the soft pedal. Larger pianos will also have a third pedal in between the damper pedal and the soft pedal called the sostenuto pedal. Depressing this pedal will dampen only the strings that have been struck. The letters "S.P." below the notes of the composition direct the performer to depress the sostenuto pedal. This is often followed by a line slanted up with a downward line on the end to indicate the release of the pedal.
Peg (violin):
Peg Box:
Pentatonic Scale: a five tone scale
Percussion: instruments that derive their sound from being shook or struck
Peripheral Vision: Perlman, Itzhak:
Pernambuco:
Philosopher:
Phonetics:
Phrase: A musical unit, often a component of a melody. The phrase may be regarded as a dependent division of music, such as a single line of poetry; it does not have a sense of completion in itself. Usually two or more phrases balance each other, as in a period.
Piano: (Dynamic Marking) or p (usually): soft gently; i.e., played or sung softly (see dynamics)
Pianoforte (Instrument):
A modern keyboard instrument that produces sounds by hammers striking strings. These hammers are activated by keys, depressed by the performer's fingers. The piano is equipped with a pedal that controls the dampers which stop the vibration of the strings. When the pedal is pressed by the performer's foot, the dampers are lifted from the strings, and the strings are allowed to vibrate freely. Another pedal softens the volume of the piano. Picasso, Pablo:
Piccolo: Pitch: The location of a musical sound in the tonal scale which is determined by the vibration frequency the highness or lowness of sound based on frequency of vibration The specific quality of a sound that makes it a recognizable tone. Pitch defines the location of a tone in relation to others, thus giving it a sense of being high or low.
Pizzicato: Pizzicato is a method of playing an orchestral string instrument. Instead of using the bow, the performer plucks the desired string with their finger. This produces a very different sound, short and rapid rather than sustained.http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Pizzicato/
In Italian, is a direction to stringed instruments tp pluck the strings. Pizzicato notes on the violin, viola, and cello are normally plucked with index finger on right hand.
Plato:
Pointillism:
Polonaise:
Poland:
Polonaise: A Polish national dance of a stately and festive character. The music is always in moderate triple metre and typically phrases end with feminine cadences. The basic Polonaise rhythm is generally given to the left hand accompaniment, and the right hand accentuates it by its melody. WF Bach brought the form to artistic perfection. Beethoven, Schubert, Weber, Liszt all wrote Polonaises, but Chopin made it a symbol of Polish heroism.
Popular Music: American music that has wide appeal; commercial Music of the common people. Popular music includes folk music, since that is a form of music of the populace, but the most common current usage of this term applys to rock, country and western, or jazz.
Portative Organ:
Prague:
Prelude: An opening, introductory movement or work which is in a free style; typical of the seventeenth century. The term is also used for independent pieces that stand alone like Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.
Protest Music: Music used as a method of expressing discontent.
Puccini, Giacomo:
Pulse:
Purfling:
Pygmalion:
Pythagoras:
Quarter Note: A note having the time duration of one fourth of the time duration of a whole note.
Rauschenberg, Robert:
Ravel, Maurice:
Rebec: Recorder (Instrument):
Reed:
Renoir, Pierre:
Repeat Sign:
A repeated section in a composition is designated with a repeat sign at the beginning and end of the section to be repeated. The repeat sign consists of two thick vertical bar lines through the staff, with two dots, one between the second and third lines of the staff and one between the third and fourth line. The dots will be on the same side of the line as the material which is to be repeated. If there is no beginning sign, the section should be performed from the beginning of the composition or movement. The repeat signs signify one repetition of the section unless otherwise noted. The repeat can also be used in conjunction with first endings and second endings (prima volta, seconda volta) if only the last few measures of the section are different.
Repetition: An important principle of musical construction. The use of repetition achieves tonal stability and thematic unity.
Reprise: Resonator:
Rest (Eighth Rest): A pause or rest in a composition having the time duration of one eighth of the time duration of a whole rest.
Rest (Half Note Rest): A pause or rest in a composition having the time duration of one half of the time duration of a whole rest.
Rest (Measure Rest):
Rest (Multi-Measure Rest): Rest (Quarter Rest):
A pause or rest having the time duration of one fourth of the time duration of a whole rest.
Rhapsody:
Rhythm: Rhythm is the controlled, organized movement of music in time into defined repeated or regular metric portions; the regular pulsation of music. The aspect of music comprising all the elements: accent, meter, and tempo that relate to forward movement.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai:
Ritardando (Rit.):
Rococo Style: The artistic style of the late Baroque and early Classical periods (1700-1770). In music, the Rococo style was chiefly associated with France. It is a rather fussy, elaborate style typified in Rameau and F. Couperin's music (another example is D. Scarlatti). Telemann represents the German equivalent.
Romania:
Romantic Style: Relating to the nineteenth-century musical period characterized by subjectivity on the part of the composer, emotionalism in music, longer musical forms, and richer harmonies. The musical period roughly from 1820-1900, in which music progressed to a freer, more subjective form with increasing chromaticism, the use of folk themes, the introduction of more virtuosic solo music, and larger orchestras. music written from 1825 - 1910 in which composers were inspired to express emotion through their music
Romeo and Juliet:
Rosewood:
Rosin:
Rossini, Gioachino: (1792-1868); Italian composer who was a master of opera buffa; his most famous works are The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, and William Tell.
Rostropovich, Mstislav:
Round (Musical Form):
a composition in which the same melody is started at different times and sounded together
Russia:
Sackbut:
Sacred:
Sand, George:
Scale: A graduated series of tones or progression of notes arranged in a specified order
Schnabel, Artur:
Schubert, Franz:
Schumann, Robert:
Scroll:
Secular:
Sequence:
Repetition of the same melodic or chordal pattern at a different pitch.
Seventh Chord:
Shakespeare, William:
Sharp (#):
A symbol that raises a pitch by one half step. An accidental that raises a given pitch by one half-step.
Shaw, George Bernard:
Shelley, Percy Bysshe:
Shofar:
Shoulder Rest:
Sight Reading:
Silence: Skip (music):
Sleigh Bells:
Snare Drum:
Solfege: The practice of singing exercises to the syllables of solmization. The syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, and their association with specific pitches, especially in regard to the indication of intervals.
Soviet Union:
Sonata: An instrumental piece,popular from the Classical period to the 20th century, often in several movements. Also refers to a structure or form of an individual movement of a multimovement work consisting of an exposition, development, and recapituation.
Sondheim, Stephen:
Song: Any composition designed to be sung, either accompanied or unaccompanied
Sounding Point:
Sound Post:
Sousa, John Phillip: Space Note:
Spiritual: A kind of religious narrative song that articulates the African American slave's emotions and experiences through blending of Africanisms and religious hymns. This style was incorporated into Dvorak's New World Symphony.
Spoons (Musical Spoons):
Spruce:
Staccato: Making each note brief and detached; the opposite of legato. In music notation, a small dot under or over the head of the note indicates that it is to be articulated as staccato. A style of playing notes in a detached, separated, distinct manner, as opposed to legato. Staccato is indicated by dots directly above or below the notehead.
Staff: (Musical Staff) The five horizontal lines upon which music is written. A set of five, equidistant, horizontal lines joined together by a brace. The staff (also called stave) is used to clearly communicate musical notation. Note symbols, dynamics, and other performance directions are placed within, above, and below the staff.
Step: (Interval)
Stern, Isaac:
Stevenson, Robert Lewis:
Stick (bow):
Stokowski, Leopold:
Stradivari, Antonio: Stravinsky, Igor:
String: String Quartet:
Strum:
Style: (Musical Style) the distinct manner or character of musical expression. The distinctive or characteristic manner in which the elements of music are treated. In practice, the term may be applied to, for example, composers (the style of Copland), periods (Baroque style), media (keyboard style), nations (French style), form or type of composition (fugal style, contrapuntal style), or genre (operatic style, bluegrass style).
Suite: An important instrumental form of (mainly French) Baroque music, consisting of a number of movements, each in the character of a dance, and all in the same key. The usual movements in a classical French suite are: Prelude, Allemande (German), Courante (French), Sarabande (Spanish), Gigue (English), Chaconne and Minuet. The modern suite is used to describe a number of pieces grouped together by the composer. They are often an arrangement of ballet (Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet Suite) or stage (Bizet's Carmen Suite) works.
Swift, Jonathan:
Symphony:
A piece for large orchestra, usually in four movements.
Syncopation: The rhythmic result produced when a regularly accented beat is displaced or shifted onto an unaccented beat. There is an emphasis or stress on the weak beats in a measure.Also, a momentary contradiction of the prevaling meter or pulse; the contradiction of the regular succession of strong and weak beats within a measure or a group of measures.
Szell, George:
Tablature:
Tailpiece: Tailpiece Adjuster:
Tambourine: A percussion instrument consisting of a shallow wooden ring across which often is stretched a membrane. In the wooden ring are suspended several metal disks which jingle when the instrument is struck.
Tchaikovsky, Peter I:
Telemann, Georg Philipp: Tempo: The rate of speed at which a musical compostion is performed
Tenements: Thomson, Virgil:
Thoreau. Henry David:
Time Signature: The numbers written on staff of any piece indicating which type of note gets a single beat and how many beats are in each measure. meter signature An indicator of the meter of a musical work, usually presented in the form of a fraction, the denominator of which indicates the unit of measurement and the numerator of which indicates the number of units that make up a measure. A symbol placed at the left side of the staff indicating the meter of the composition. For example, a time signature of 3/4 would indicate that there are three quarter notes in each measure and the quarter notes receive the main pulse (or beat). Tip (bow):
Toccata: A keyboard piece. It is often designed to display the technical proficiency of the performer. Best examples are those of JS Bach. It may contain a series of movements.
Tone: 1. A musical sound 2. The quality of a musical sound
Tonality: The principal of organization of a composition around a tonic based upon a major or minor scale. Also the term used to describe the organization of the melodic and harmonic elements to give a feeling of a key center or a tonic pitch.
Tonguing:
Transylvania:
Trapezoid:
Treble Clef: Tremelo:
Triangle/Beater: A three-sided (triangular shaped) percussion instrument made of a bent metal bar which is sounded by being struck with a steel tangent and produced a high sound of indeterminable pitch.
Troubadour:
Tuning:
Tuner: Up Bow:
Upper Half (UH):
Van Dyke, Henry:
Varese, Edgard:
Variations: The systematic presentation of a theme in different guises. The theme of a set of variations can be anything from a little motif to an elaborate paragraph, a harmonic pattern, or a rhythmic figure.
Verdi, Giuseppe:
Verne, Jules:
Vibrato: Slight wavering of pitch, used in singing and string-playing to give a sense of vibrancy.
Vibratone:
Victoria, Queen of England:
Vielle:
Viola:
Violin: In the violin family, the treble instrument played under the chin.
Vivaldi, Antonio:
Wagner, Richard: (1813-83); greatest German opera composer of the 19th century; created the idea of the music drama; works include The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, The Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Tristan und Isolde, The Ring of Nibelungen and others.
Watteau, Jean-Antoine:
Whole Bow:
Whole Note: A note having the time duration of half the time duration of a double whole note.
Woodblock: A percussion instrument that is block of wood that is hollowed out and struck with a stick or mallet.
Woodwind Instrument:
LIST OF MUSIC DICTIONARY SITES