Beginners Music Dictionary

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-A-

• A - 1. 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.
• Absolute Pitch - see perfect pitch.
• A Cappella - "In the manner of the chapel".  Music sung without instrumental accompaniment.
• Accelerando, accel - Gradually faster.
• Accent - placed above a note to indicate stress or emphasis.
• Accidental - A sharp, flat or natural sign that raises or lowers 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.
• Adagio - Slow, leisurely; a slow movement.  Slower than andante, faster than largo.
• Addolorato - Sorrowfully.
• Ad libitum, ad lib - A term which permits the performer to vary the tempo and/or to include or omit a vocal or instrumental part. Synonymous with a piacere.
• A due - Return to unison after divisi.
• Affrettando - Hurrying.
• Agilmente - Lively.
• Agitato - Agitated; with excitement.
• Al, all', alla, alle - To; used with other words, e.g. al Fine (to the end).
• Album - A full length recording. In pop music, it contains a number of songs.
• Al coda - "To the coda."
• Aleatory, or aleatoric music - Chance music in which the performers are free to perform their own material and/or their own manner of presentation.
• Al fine - To the end.
• Alla breve - Cut time; meter in which there are two beats in each measure and a half note receives one beat.
• Allargando, allarg - Slowing of tempo, usually with increasing volume; most frequently occurs toward the end of a piece.
• Allegretto - Slower than allegro.
• Allegro - Quick tempo; cheerful.
• Al segno - Return to the sign, Dal segno.
• Alteration - The raising or lowering of a note by means of an accidental.
• Alto clef - The C clef falling on the third line of the staff. Most of the time is used by the viola.
• Ancora - Repeat.
• Andante - Moderate tempo.
• Andantino - Slightly faster than andante.
• A niente - To nothing, e.g. to ppp.
• Animato - Animated; lively.
• A piacere - Freedom in performance. Synonymous with ad libitum.
• Appassionato - Impassioned.
• Appoggiatura - A nonharmonic tone, usually a half or whole step above the harmonic tone, which is performed on the beat and then resolved.
• Arabesque - A fanciful piano piece. Ornate passage varying or accompanying a theme.
• Arpeggio - A term used to describe the pitches of a chord as they are sung or played one after the other, rather than simultaneously.
• Arrache - Strong pizzicato.
• Arrangement - An adaption of a composition.
• Articulation - The degree to which notes are separated or connected, such as staccato or legato.
• A tempo - Return to the previous tempo.
• Atonality - Lacking a tonal center.
• Augmentation - Compositional technique in which a melodic line is repeated in longer note values. The opposite of diminution.
• Augmented - The term for a major or perfect interval which has been enlarged by one half-step, e.g. c-g, (an augmented fifth,) or c-d, (an augmented second). Also used for a triad with an augmented fifth, e.g. the augmented tonic triad in C major, C+, c-e-g.

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-B-

• Baby grand - A small grand piano.
• Balance - The harmonious adjustment of volume and timbre between instruments or voices; it can be between players or vocalists or electronically while recording or mixing.
• Ballade - In the medieval period a form of trouvere music and poetry. In later time, German poetry set as a through-composed song.
• Band - An instrumental ensemble, usually made up of wind and percussion instruments and no string instruments.
• Bar line - The vertical line placed on the staff to divide the music into measures.
• Baroque - The period 1600-1750.
• Bass clef - The other name for the F clef.
• Basso continuo, Continuo, Thorough-bass - The Baroque practice in which the bass part if played by a viola da gamba(cello) or bassoon while a keyboard instrument performed the bass line and the indicated chords.
• Baton - Conductor's stick.
• Battuto - Beat, bar, or measure. A due or a tre battuta, the musical rhythm in groups of two or three respectively.
• Ben - Well. Used with other words, e.g. ben marcato, well accented, emphasized.
• Binary form - The term for describing a composition of two sections. AB, each of which may be repeated.
• Bis - Repeated twice. Encore!
• Bitonality - The occurrence of two different tonalities at the same time.
• Bourree - A French dance from the 17th century in brisk duple time starting with a pickup.
• Brass family - Wind instruments made out of metal with either a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece, such as trumpet, cornet, bugle, Flugelhorn, trombone, tuba, baritone horn, euphonium, saxhorn, and French horn.
• Broken chord - Notes of a chord played in succession rather than simultaneously. Arpeggio.

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-C-

• Cadence - A chordal or melodic progression which occurs at the close of a phrase, section, or composition, giving a feeling of repose; a temporary or permanent ending. The most frequently used cadences are perfect, plagal, and deceptive.
• Cadenza - a solo passage, often virtuosic, usually near the end of a piece, either written by the composer or improvised by the performer.
• Caesura - A sudden silencing of the sound; a pause or break, indicated by the following symbol: //
• Calmo, calmato - Calm.
• Cambia - A direction found in scores to change tuning or instruments.
• Camminando - Following easily and gently.
• Canon - The strictest form of imitation, in which two or more parts have the same melody but start at different points.
• Canonic - A term used to describe a polyphonic style of music in which all the parts have the same melody but which start at different times.
• Cantabile - In singing style.
• Cantata - Baroque sacred or secular choral composition containing solos, duets, and choruses, with orchestral or keyboard accompaniment.
• Carol - The term was derived from a medieval French word, carole, a circle dance. In England it was first associated with pagan songs celebrating the winter solstice. It then developed into a song of praise and celebration, usually for Christmas.
• C clef - A clef usually centered on the first line (soprano clef), third line (alto clef), fourth line (tenor clef), or third space (vocal tenor clef) of the staff. Wherever it is centered, that line or space becomes middle C.
• Chance music - Aleatoric music.
• Chorale - Hymn-like song, characterized by blocked chords.
• Chord - A combination of three or more tones sounded simultaneously.
• Chromatic - Ascending or descending by half steps.
• Chromatic scale - A scale composed of 12 half steps.
• Circle of fifths - The succession of keys or chords proceeding by fifths.
• Classical - Music conforming to certain form and structure. Usually music composed during the period 1770-1825.
• Clef - A symbol placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate the pitch of the notes on the staff. The most commonly used clefs in choral music are the G, or treble, clef and the F or bass clef . On the keyboard, all the notes above middle C are said to be in the G clef; all the notes below middle C in the F clef.
• Coda - Closing section of a composition. An added ending.
• Col, coll', colla - With or "with the."
• Common time - 4/4 meter.
• Complete cadence - I-IV-V-I progression.
• Composer - A person who creates (composes) music.
• Con - With.
• Con brio - With spirit; vigorously.
• Con calore - With warmth.
• Concert - A public performance of music.
• Concert grand piano - The largest of the grand pianos, usually about nine feet long.
• Concertino - A short concerto. The group of soloists in a concerto grosso.
• Concert master - First chair violinist in an orchestra.
• Concerto - A piece for a soloist and orchestra.
• Concert pitch - The international tuning pitch -- currently A 440 or 442. The pitch for non-transposing (C) instruments.
• Conducting - The directing of a group of musicians.
• Conductor - The person who directs a group of musicians.
• Con intensita - With intensity.
• Conjunct - Pitches on successive degrees of the scale; opposite of disjunct.
• Con moto - With motion.
• Consonance - Intervallic relationships which produce sounds of repose. Frequently associated with octave, third and sixth intervals; however, fourths and fifths may be sounds of consonance, as in both early and 20th-century music.
• Consort - A 17th-century term for instrumental chamber ensembles and for the compositions written for these ensembles.
• Con spirito - With spirit.
• Contra - The octave below normal.
• Corda, corde - String.
• Countermelody - A vocal part which contrasts with the principal melody.
• Counterpoint - The technique of combining single melodic lines or parts of equal importance.
• Crescendo - Gradually louder.
• Cue - Indication by the conductor or a spoken word or gesture for a performer to make an entry. Small notes that indicate another performer's part. Music occurrence in a film.
• Cut time - 2/2 meter.

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-D-

• Da - Return To; used with other words, e.g. Da Capo (Return to the beginning).
• Da capo, D. C. - Return to the beginning.
• Dal segno, D. S. - Repeat from the sign.  Frequently followed by al Fine.
• Damper pedal - On pianos, the pedal that lifts the dampers from the strings.
• Deceptive cadence - Chordal progression dominant (V) to a chord other than the expected tonic.
• Decrescendo - Gradually softer.  Synonymous with diminuendo.
• Degree - One of the eight consecutive tones in a major or minor scale.
• Delicato - Delicately.
• Diminished - The term for an interval which has been decreased from the major by two half steps and from the perfect by one half step, e.g. c-a, diminished sixth, or c-g, a diminished fifth. Also used for a triad which has a minor third and a diminished fifth, e.g. c, c-e, g.
• Diminuendo, dim - Gradually softer. Synonymous with decrescendo.
• Diminution - The shortening of note values; the opposite of augmentation.
• Disjunct - A term used to describe intervals larger than a second; the opposite of conjunct.
• Dissonance - Sounds of unrest, e.g. intervals of seconds and sevenths; the opposite of consonance.
• Divisi, div - An indication of divided musical parts.
• Do - The first degree of the major scale.
• Dolce - Sweetly.
• Dolcissimo - Very sweetly.
• Doloroso - Sadly; mournfully.
• Dominant - The fifth degree of the major or minor scale. Also, the term for the triad built on the fifth degree, labelled V in harmonic analysis.
• Double bar - Two vertical lines placed on the staff to indicate the end of a section or a composition. Also, used with two dots to enclose repeated sections.
• Double flat - A symbol for lowering pitch one step.
• Double sharp - A symbol for raising pitch one step.
• Double tonguing - On flute and brass instruments, the technique of rapidly articulating notes by using the front and the back of the tongue in alternation (t-k-t-k-t-k).
• Down beat - The first beat; given by the conductor with a downward stroke.
• Down bow - In the violin family, drawing the bow downward from its frog. The symbol is: .
• Du - "From the," "of the."
• Duet - A piece for two performers.
• Duplet - A group of two notes performed in the time of three of the same kind.
• Dynamics - Varying degrees of loud and soft.

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-E-

• Eighth - Octave.
• Eighth note/rest - A note/rest half the length of a quarter note and an eighth of the length of a whole note.
• Encore - To repeat a piece or play an additional piece at the end of a performance.
• Enharmonic - A term used to describe notes of the same pitch which have different names, e.g. c and d, f and g.
• Espressivo - Expressively.
• Esuberante - Exuberant.

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-F-

• Fermata - Hold; pause.
• Festivo, festoso - Festive; merry.
• Fifth - The fifth degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the fifth tone above or below it, e.g. c up to g, c down to f. Intervals of the fifth may be perfect (corresponding to major), diminished, or augmented.
• Finale - The last movement of a symphony or sonata, or the last selection of an opera.
• Fine - The end.
• Flat - A symbol which lowers the pitch of a note one half step.
• Form - The design or structure of a musical composition.
• Forte - Loud.
• Fortissimo - Very loud.
• Fourth - The fourth degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the fourth tone above or below it, e.g. c up to f; c down to g. Intervals of the fourth may be perfect, diminished, or augmented.
• Fz - Forzando or forzato. Synonomous with sforzando (sf or sfz).

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-G-

• Giocoso - Playful.
• Giubilante - Exultant, jubilant.
• Grandioso - Grandiose, majestic.
• Grand pause - A rest for the entire ensemble.
• Grand piano - A piano with a winglike shape and a horizontal frame, strings, and soundboard.
• Grand staff - The G and F clef staves together make the grand (great) staff.
• Grave - Slow, solemn.
• Grazioso - Graceful.
• Grosso, grosse - Great, larg.

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-H-

• Half step - The interval from one pitch to the immediately adjacent pitch, ascending or descending, e.g. c-c; e-e; b-c. The smallest interval on the keyboard.
• Harmony - The sounding of two or more tones simultaneously; the vertical aspect of music.
• Hertz - A unit if frequency equal to one cycle per second.  Abbreviated Hz .

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-I-

• Impressionism - A musical movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by the French impressionist painters, the movement had its impetus in the music of Debussy and Ravel.
• Instrument - Any device that produces a musical sound.
• Instrumentation - The art of composing, orchestrating, or arranging for an instrumental ensemble.
• Interval - The difference in pitch between two tones.
• Inversion - As applied to music the term may be used in both melody and harmony. Melodic inversion: an exchange of ascending and descending movement, e.g. c up to f in descending becomes c down to g. Harmonic inversion: the position of the chord is changed from root position (root on the lowest pitch) to first inversion, with the third, or second inversion, with the fifth in the lowest voice. An example: root position c-e-g; first inversion e-g-c; second inversion g-c-e.
• Ironico - Ironical.

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-J-

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-K-

• Key - .
• Key signature - The sharps or flats placed at the beginning of the staff to denote the scale upon which the music is based.

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-L-

• La - In solmization, the sixth degree of the major scale. Also, the first degree of the relative minor scale, e.g. a is the sixth degree, or la, in the C major scale and the first degree of the a-minor scale.
• Lacrimoso - Tearful, mournful.
• Lamento - Mournful, sad.
• Langsam - Slow.
• Largamente - Broadly.
• Larghetto - Slower than largo.
• Largo - Very slow.
• Leading tone - The seventh degree of the major scale, so called because of its strong tendency to resolve upward to the tonic.
• Ledger lines - Short lines placed above and below the staff for pitches beyond the range of the staff.
• Legato - Smooth, connected.
• Leggiero - Light; graceful.
• Lento - Slow; slightly faster than largo, slower than adagio.
• Liberamento - Freely.
• Linear - Melodic; horizontal lines.

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-M-

• Ma - But. Used with other words, e.g. lento ma non troppo, slow but not too slowly.
• Maestoso - Majestically.
• Major - The designation for certain intervals and scales. A key based on a major scale is called a major key.
• Major chord - A triad composed of a root, major third, and perfect fifth.
• Mancando - Fading away.
• Marcato - Emphasized, heavily accented.
• Measure - A group of beats containing a primary accent and one or more secondary accents, indicated by the placement of bar lines on the staff. The space between two bar lines.
• Mediant - The third degree of the major or minor scale. The triad built on this degree is labeled iii in the major scale, III in the natural minor scale, and III+ in the harmonic minor scale.
• Melody - In general, a succession of musical tones. It represents the linear or horizontal aspect of music.
• Meno - Less.
• Meno mosso - Less motion.
• Meter - The structure of notes in a regular pattern of accented and unaccented beats within a measure, indicated at the beginning of a composition by a meter signature.
• Meter signature - The numbers placed at the beginning of a composition to indicate the meter of the music, e.g. . The upper number indicates the beats in a measure; the lower number tells what kind of a note will receive one beat.
• Metronome - Invented by Maelzel in 1816, the instrument is used to indicate the exact tempo of a composition. An indication such as M.M. 60 indicates that the pendulum, with a weight at the bottom, makes 60 beats per minute. A slider is moved up and down the pendulum to decrease and increase the tempo. M.M. = 80 means that the time value of a quarter note is the equivalent of one pendulum beat when the slider is set at 80.
• Mezzo - Half, Medium.
• Mezzo forte - Medium loud.
• Mezzo piano - Medium soft.
• Mi - In solmization, the third degree of the major scale.
• Middle C - The note C in the middle of the Grand staff, and near the middle of the paino.
• Minor - The designation for certain intervals and scales. A key based on a minor scale is called a minor key. The three types of minor scales include natural, hormonic, and melodic, which is used infrequently in choral music.
• Misterioso - Mysteriously.
• Mit - With.
• Mode - Any scalewise arrangement of pitches; more generally, the term refers to the patterns upon which medieval music was structured, the patterns which preceded the development of major and minor scales and tonality.
• Moderato - Moderate speed.
• Modern - Music written in the 20th century or contempory music.
• Modulation - The process of changing from one key to another within a composition.
• Molto - Very. Used with other terms, e.g. molto allegro.
• Mordent - "Biting." An ornament consisting of an alteration (once or twice) of the written note by playing the one immediately below it (lower mordent), or above it (upper, or inverted, mordent) and then playing the note again.
• Morendo - Gradually decreasing in volume; dying away.
• Mosso - Rapid. Meno mosso, less rapid. Piu mosso, more rapid.
• Moto - Motion.  e.g... Con moto "with motion."
• Music - The organization of sounds with some degree of rhythm, melody, and harmony.
• Music theory - The study of how music is put together.

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-N-

• Natural - A musical symbol which cancels a previous sharp or flat.
• Nonharmonic tones - A designation for tones outside the harmonic structure of the chord. Two frequently used examples are the passing tone and the appoggiatura.
• Non troppo - Not too much; Used with other terms. e.g... non troppo allegro "not too fast."
• Notation - A term for a system of expressing musical sounds through the use of written characters, called notes.
• Note - The symbol which, when placed on a staff with a particular clef sign, indicates pitch.
• Nuance - Subtle variations in tempo, phrasing, dynamics, etc., to enhance a musical performance.

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-O-

• Octave - The eighth tone above a given pitch, with twice as many vibrations per second, or below a given pitch, with half as many vibrations.
• Octet - A piece for eight instruments or voices.
• Open fifth - A triad without a third.
• Open strings - Strings are not stopped, fingured, or fretted.
• Opus, Op - The term, meaning work, is used by composers to show the chronological order of their works, e.g. Op. 1, Op. 2.
• Orchestra - A large group of musicians made up of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
• Orchestration - The art of writing, arranging, or scoring for the orchestra.
• Ornamentation - Note or notes added to the original melodic line for embellishment and added interest.
• Ornaments - Melodic embellishments, either written or improvised.
• Ostinato - A repeated melodic or rhythmic pattern, frequently appearing in the bass line.
• Ottava - Octave.
• Ottava alta - An octave higher.
• Ottave bassa - An octave lower.
• Overtones - The almost inaudible higher tones which occur with the fundamental tone. They are the result of the vibration of small sections of a string (instrument) or a column of air. Other general terms for overtones are partials and harmonics.
• Overture - The introductory music for an opera, oratorio or ballet. A concert overture is an independent work.

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-P-

• Pacato - Calm, quiet.
• Passing tones - Unaccented notes which move conjunctly between two chords to which they do not belong harmonically.
• Pausa - A rest.
• Pensieroso - Contemplative, thoughtful.
• Percussion family - Instruments made of sonorous material that produce sounds of definite or indefinite pitch when shaken or struck, including drums, rattles, bells, gongs, and xylophones.
• Perfect - A term used to label fourth, fifth, and octave intervals. It corresponds to the major, as given to seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths.
• Perfect cadence - The chordal progression of dominant to tonic, in a major key V-I, in minor V-i.
• Perfect interval - Interval of an octave, fifth, or fourth without alteration.
• Perfect pitch - The ability to hear and identify a note without any other musical support.
• Pesante - Heavy.
• Petite - Small; little.
• Peu a peu - Little by little.
• Phrase - A relatively short portion of a melodic line which expresses a musical idea, comparable to a line or sentence in poetry.
• Pianissimo - Very soft.
• Pianississimo - Very, very soft; the softest common dynamic marking.
• Piano - Soft.
• Pianoforte - "Soft-loud." A keyboard instrument, the full name for the piano, on which sound is produced by hammers striking strings when keys are pressed. It has 88 keys.
• Picardy third - The term for the raising of the third, making a major triad, in the final chord of a composition which is in a minor key. The practice originated in c. 1500 and extended through the Baroque period.
• Pitch - The highness or lowness of a tone, as determined by the number of vibrations in the sound.
• Piu - More. Used with other terms, e.g. piu mosso, more motion.
• Pizzicato - "Pinched." On string instruments, plucking the string.
• Poco - Little. Used with other terms, e.g. poco accel., also, poco a poco, little by little.
• Poco ced., Cedere - A little slower.
• Poco piu mosso - A little more motion.
• Poi - Then or afterwards, e.g. poi No. 3, then No. 3.
• Postlude - "Play after." The final piece in a multi-movement work. Organ piece played at the end of a church service.
• Prelude - "Play before." An introductory movement or piece.
• Premiere - First performance.
• Prestissimo - Very, very fast. The fastest tempo.
• Presto - Very quick.
• Primo - First.
• Principal - Instrumental section leader.
• Prologue - An introductory piece that presents the background for an opera.

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-Q-

• Quarter note - A note one half the length of a half note and one quarter the length of a whole note.
• Quarter rest - A rest one half the length of a half note and one quarter the length of a whole note.
• Quartet - A piece for four instruments or voices. Four performers.
• Quasi - Almost. Used with other terms, e.g. quasi madrigal, almost or as if a madrigal.
• Quintet - A piece for five instruments or voices. Five performers.

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-R-

• Rallentando, rall - Gradually slower. Synonymous with ritardando.
• Range - The gamut of pitches, from low to high, which a singer may perform.
• Rapide - Rapidly.
• Re - In solmization, the second degree of the major scale.
• Recital - A performance by one or more performers.
• Refrain - A short section of repeated material which occurs at the end of each stanza.
• Relative major and minor scales - Major and minor scales which have the same key signature.
• Renaissance - The period c. 1450-1600.
• Repeat - The repetition of a section or a composition as indicated by particular signs.
• 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. Synonymous with rallentando.
• Ritenuto - Immediate reduction in tempo.
• Ritmico - Rhythmically.
• Roll - On percussion instruments, a sticking technique consisting of a rapid succession of notes.
• Romanticism - The period c. 1825-1900.
• Root - The note upon which a triad or chord is built.
• Root position - The arrangement of a chord in which the root is in the lowest voice.
• Round - Like the 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 - The term used to denote flexibility of tempo to assist in achieving expressiveness.
• Rudiments - On drums, the basic sticking patterns.
• Run - A rapid scale passage.
• Rustico - Pastoral, rustic, rural.

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-S-

• Sanft - Soft, gentle.
• Sans - Without.
• Scale - A succession of tones. The scale generally used in Western music is the diatonic scale, consisting of whole and half steps in a specific order.
• Scherzo - "Joke." A piece in a lively tempo. A movement of a symphony, sonata, or quartet in quick triple time, replacing the minuet.
• Score - The written depiction of all the parts of a musical ensemble with the parts stacked vertically and rhythmically aligned.
• Secco - "Dry." Unornamented.
• Second - The second degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the next tone above or below it, e.g. c up to d, or c down to b. Intervals of the second may be major, diminished, or augmented.
• Section - A division of a musical composition.
• Segno - "Sign."
• Sehr - Very.
• Semitone - A half step. The smallest interval on the keyboard.
• Sempre - Always. Used with other terms, e.g. sempre staccato.
• Semplice - Simple.
• Senza - Without. Used with other terms, e.g. senza crescendo.
• Septet - A piece for seven instruments or voices. Seven performers.
• Sequence - The repetition of a melodic pattern on a higher or lower pitch level.
• Serenade - A love song or piece, usually performed below someone's window in the evening.
• Sereno - Serene; peaceful.
• Seventh - The seventh degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the seventh tone above or below it, e.g. c up to b, or c down to d. Intervals of the seventh may be major, minor, diminished, or augmented.
• Seventh chord - When a seventh (above the root) is added to a triad (root, third, fifth), the result is a seventh chord, e.g. the dominant triad in the key of C major, g-b-d, with the added seventh becomes g-b-d-f and is labelled V7.
• Sforzando, Sfz, Sf - Sudden strong accent on a note or chord.
• Sharp - A symbol which raises the pitch of a note one-half step.
• Sheet music - An individually printed song, most often for voice, piano, guitar,or a combination of the three. Any printed music.
• Shifting meter - The changing of meter within a composition. Synonymous with changing meter.
• Simile - An indication to continue in the same manner.
• Sin' - Until.
• Sinistra - Left hand.
• Sino - Until.
• Six-four chord - The second inversion of a triad, made by placing the fifth of the chord in the lowest voice, e.g. Cis g-c-e.
• Sixteenth note - A note half the length of an eighth note and a sixteenth the length of a whole note.
• Sixteenth rest - A rest half the length of an eighth note and a sixteenth the length of a whole note.
• Sixth - The sixth degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the sixth tone above or below it, e.g. c up to a, or c down to e. Intervals of the sixth may be major, minor, diminished, or augmented.
• Sixth chord - The first inversion of a triad, made by placing the third of the chord in the lowest voice, e.g. C6 is e-g-c.
• Skip - Melodic movement of more than one whole step.
• Slur - A curved line placed above or below two or more notes of different pitch to indicate that they are to be performed in legato style.
• Smorzando - Fading away.
• Soave - Sweet, mild.
• Sognando - Dreamily.
• Sol - In solmization, the fifth degree of the major scale.
• Solmization - The term for the use of syllables for the degrees of the major scale: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la ti, do. The minor scale (natural) is la, ti, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la.
• Solo - To perform alone or as the predominant part.
• Sonata - An instrumental piece, often in several movements.
• Sonatina - A short sonata.
• Sostenuto - Sustaining of tone or slackening of tempo.
• Spiccato - On string instruments, a bowing technique wherein the bow is bounced on the string at moderate speed.
• Staccato - Detached sounds, indicated by a dot over or under a note. The opposite of legato.
• Staff - The most frequently used staff has five horizontal lines, with four spaces, upon which the notes and other musical symbols are placed.
• Stanza - A selection of a song, two or more lines long, characterized by a common meter, rhyme, and number of lines.
• Stesso - Same.
• String instrument family - Instruements with strings that produce sound when plucked, bowed, or struck.
• Strophic - A term used to describe a song in which all the stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. The opposite of through-composed.
• Subdominant - The fourth degree of the major or minor scale. Also, the name of the triad built on the fourth degree of the scale, indicated by IV in a major key and by iv in a minor key.
• Subito - Suddenly.
• Submediant - The sixth degree of a major or minor scale. Also, the name of the triad built on the sixth degree of the scale, indicated by VI in a major key and by vi in a minor key.
• Supertonic - The second degree of the major or minor scale. Also, the name of the triad built on the second degree of the scale, indicated by II in a major scale and iio in a minor scale.
• Sur - On, over.
• Suspension - The use of a nonharmonic tone to delay the resolution of a chord, frequently as it occurs in a cadence.
• Svelto - Quick, light.
• Symphony - A piece for large orchestra, usually in four movements, in which the first movement often is in sonata form. A large orchestra.
• Syncopation - Accent on an unexpected beat.

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-T-

• Tanto - Much, so much.
• Tempo - The rate of speed in a musical work.
• Tempo primo - Return to the original tempo.
• Teneramente - Tenderly.
• Tenor clef - The C clef falling on the fourth line of the staff.
• Tenuto, ten - Hold or sustain a note longer than the indicated value, usually not as long a duration as the fermata.
• Ternary form - Three-part form in which the middle section is different from the other sections. Indicated by ABA.
• Terraced dynamics - The Baroque style of using sudden changes in dynamic levels, as opposed to gradual increase and decrease in volume.
• Tertian harmony - A term used to describe music based on chords arranged in intervals of thirds.
• Tessitura - The general pitch range of a vocal part.
• Texture - The term used to describe the way in which melodic lines are combined, either with or without accompaniment. Types include monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic, or contrapuntal.
• Theme - The musical subject of a piece (usually a melody), as in sonata form or a fugue. An extramusical concept behind a piece.
• Theory - The study of how music is put together.
• Third - The third degree of the diatonic scale. Also, the interval formed by a given tone and the third tone above or below it, e.g. c up to e, or c down to a. Intervals of the third may be major, minor, diminished, or augmented.
• Ti - In solmization, the seventh degree of the major scale. Also called the leading tone.
• Tie - A curved line over or below two or more notes of the same pitch. The first pitch is sung or played and held for the duration of the notes affected by the tie.
• Time signature - Synonymous with meter signature.
• Tonality - 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.
• Tone - A note; the basis of music.
• Tonguing - On wind instruements, mote articulation using the tongue.
• Tonic - The first note of a key. Also, the name of the chord built on the first degree of the scale, indicated by I in a major key or i in a minor key.
• Tono - Tone, key, pitch.
• Tosto - Quick.
• Tranquillo - Tranquilly; quietly; calm.
• Transposition - The process of changing the key of a composition.
• Tre - Three. Used with other terms, e.g. a tre voci, in three parts.
• Treble clef - The G clef falling on the second line of the staff.
• Triad - A chord of three tones arranged in thirds, e.g. the C-major triad c-e-g, root-third-fifth.
• Trill, tr - A musical ornament performed by the rapid alternation of a given note with a major or minor second above.
• Triple meter - Meter based on three beats, or a multiple of three, in a measure.
• Triplet - A group of three notes performed in the time of two of the same kind.
• Troppo - Too much. Used with other terms, e.g. allegro non troppo, not too fast.
• Turn - A musical ornament characterized by the rapid performance of a given note, the major or minor second above and below, and a return to the given note.

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-U-

• Una corda - Soft pedal.
• Unison - Singing or playing the same notes by all singers or players, either at exactly the same pitch or in a different octave.
• Un peu - A little. Used with other words, e.g. un peu piano.
• Un poco - A little.
• Upbeat - One or more notes occurring before the first bar line, as necessitated by the text for the purpose of desirable accent. The unaccented beat of a measure.

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-V-

• Variation - The manipulation of a theme by the use of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic changes.
• Vibrato - Repeated fluctuation of pitch.
• Virtuoso - A brillant, skillful performer.
• Vivace - Lively, brisk, quick, and bright.
• Vivo - Lively, bright.
• Volti subito - Turn [the page] quickly.

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-W-

• Whole note - A note equal to two half notes and four quarter notes.
• Whole rest - A rest equal to two half notes and four quarter notes.
• Wind instrument family - Instruments in which sound is produced by the vibration of air, including brass and woodwind instruments.
• Woodwind family - Instruments, originally made of wood, in which sound is produced by the vibration of air, including recorders, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, oboes, and bassoons.

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-X-

• Xylophone - A percussion instrument consisting of a row of chromatically tuned wooden bars, arranged in the manner of a piano keyboard. The bars are supported by a wooden frame over resonator tubes and they are sounded by being struck with mallets. Currently, the standard xylophone has a range of three-and-a-half octaves (f to c4). Commercial sizes can have as few as three octaves and as many as five octaves. The xylophone sounds one octaves higher than the written note.Also [Fr.] Xylophone, [Ger.] Xylophon, [It.] Xilofono, [Sp.] Xilófono.

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-Y-

• Yodel - A style of singing or calling that involves switching the registers of the voice rapidly from head voice to chest voice (or falsetto and natural voice). The peculiar high warbling of the Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers.

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-Z-

• Zither - A stringed instrument consisting of a wooden frame across which are stretched several (about thirty) strings. Five of these strings are used for the melody, they are above a fretted fingerboard. The rest of the strings are used for harmony and are not fretted.

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Resources

"Hornbostel-Sachs", "List of Musical Topics", "Musical Instrument Classification", and linked articles.  Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.  2003. 
<http://www.wikipedia.org/>.  (24 Sep. 2003).

Cole, Richard, Schwartz, Ed.  "Modern Instruments and Their Families", "Comprehensive Table of Musical Instrument Classifications", and linked articles.  Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary.  2003. 
< http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/>.  (25 Sep. 2003).

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