echoplex

en-verb

echoplex (third-person singular simple present echoplexes, present participle echoplexing, simple past and past participle echoplexed)

echoplexes (present singular third-person)
echoplexing (participle present)
echoplexed (participle past)
echoplexed (past)

[…](making much use of Macero's splicing, tape loops and echoplexing of Miles' trumpet).

1979, Black Music & Jazz Review, volume 1, numbers 10–12, page 17

William "Wee Gee" Howard takes the lead vocal and Dennis Coffey plays the heavily echoplexed guitar, […]

2003, Rob Bowman, Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, page 257

(music, transitive) To apply a tape delay effect on (an instrument).


echoplex

On Electric Bath Ellis provided an exquisite example of how to use the loop delay echo chamber on his trumpet, as he played “Open Beauty”. By using an echoplex Ellis was able to play highly effective solos, duets, and trios in a surrealistic manner by himself.

2001, Bob Yurochko, A Short History of Jazz, Rowman & Littlefield, page 175

(music, also capitalized) A tape delay effect first used in the 1960s.


high note

After weeks of practice Alyssa was finally able to hit the high note of her song perfectly.

(music) The highest and usually climactic note of a song or composition, especially one that is difficult to reach.


endpin

Among the ensemble’s strange, outmoded, “original” instruments — the feral horns, sour violins, wooden flutes, cellos without endpins — she seemed right at home, despite her Broadway provenance.

2007 July 8, Jesse Green, “Let Her Entertain You. Please!”, in New York Times

(music, lutherie) The spike of a cello or double bass that makes contact with the floor and supports the weight of the instrument.


spatialize

spatialize (third-person singular simple present spatializes, present participle spatializing, simple past and past participle spatialized)

spatializes (present singular third-person)
spatializing (participle present)
spatialized (participle past)
spatialized (past)

On things that change as they move, Mr. Lelong writes, “when the composer spatializes a sound object — whether it is a chord, a motif or a rhythm — the sound object that is set in motion evolves, or to put it another way, the motion stimulated by the compositional process transforms the object, whereas previously works of spatial music merely give an impression of the same object moving unchanged through space.”

2007 July 8, Bernard Holland, “Don’t Let Words Get in the Way”, in New York Times

(transitive, music, art) To localize sounds in physical space.


sarod

More surprising are segments showing Mr. Bream and friends starting an evening at a pub and then repairing to his home to play jazz, and a 1962 improvisation with the sarod player Ali Akbar Khan in which Mr. Bream picks up Mr. Khan’s themes with an effortlessness and a fluency that say a lot about his musicianship.

2007 July 10, Allan Kozinn, “Capturing a Master of the Guitar in the Act of Playing and Musing”, in New York Times

(music) A fretless string instrument used mainly in Indian classical music.


armónico

Borrowed from Spanish armónico (“harmonic”).

(music) A stringed instrument with seven strings in six courses and one string (the middle one) doubled; it is structurally a combination of a guitar and a tres.


ryo

Coordinate term: ritsu

(music) An anhemitonic pentatonic scale used in a Japanese Buddhist chant, and built up by intervals of major second, major second, minor third, major second, minor third.


ragtimey

en-adj

ragtimey (comparative more ragtimey, superlative most ragtimey)

more ragtimey (comparative)
most ragtimey (superlative)

It’s a tribute to the ragtimey gospel of the Rev. Gary Davis.

2007 August 12, Jon Pareles, “Cheerful New Zealand Pop and Spooky Louisiana Rock”, in New York Times

(informal, music) Resembling ragtime music.


boula

Instead of trap drums, his band features two drummers playing the island’s traditional boula and marké hand drums.

2007 August 31, Jon Pareles, “Somber and Soulful World Fusion Meets Dance Club”, in New York Times


charanga

Going to hear charanga, the Afro-Cuban music that uses strings, flute and a standard rhythm section, is a bit like going to see a rare ibex in a zoo: it's a wonder that it exists at all, and its existence can color one's perception of its value.

1995 February 22, Peter Watrous, “In Performance”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

The album includes plenty of songs about love and dancing that draw on vintage and recent Cuban music, from the lilting son to the elegant flute and violins of charanga to percussive rumba and mambo.

2007 September 17, The New York Times, “New CDs”, in New York Times

(countable, uncountable, music) A traditional ensemble of Cuban dance music, and the genre of music they create.


ritsu

Coordinate term: ryo

(music) An anhemitonic pentatonic scale used in a Japanese Buddhist chant, and built up by intervals of major second, minor third, major second, major second, minor third.


trimba

Coined by its inventor, the American composer and poet Moondog (born Louis Thomas Hardin, 1916–1999).

Working in Braille, often composing under his cloak on the sidewalk, he wrote in an impressively wide range of styles: percussion-driven exotica (he made his own triangular drum-and-cymbal instrument, the trimba), avant-garde jazz, folkish madrigals, Bach-like neo-Baroque rounds and canons for chamber orchestra, symphonies for full orchestra, and a layered minimalism that influenced his young collaborators Steve Reich and Philip Glass .

2007 October 28, John Strausbaugh, “Sidewalk Hero, on the Horns of a Revival”, in New York Times


ukelin

Originally a trademark. Blend of ukelele + violin.

Thats a ukelin on his lap and another next to it.

2007 November 4, Zo Wolff, “But Can He Hum?”, in New York Times

(music) A musical instrument resembling a ukelele and violin.


superband

10:15 P.M. (Sundance) THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE TRAVELING WILBURYS This 25-minute documentary from Willy Smax tells the story of the 1980s superband Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison), Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison), Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. (Tom Petty), Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) and Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) — which made two albums and then journeyed into oblivion.

2007 November 5, Kathryn Shattuck, “Whats on Tonight”, in New York Times


stoner rock

As with psychedelia, the literary links of stoner rock are not its dominant features, especially insofar as many bands distance themselves from the broadly understood mainstream, which connotes forms of elitism and canonization.

2022, Ryan Hibbett, editor, Lit-Rock: Literary Capital in Popular Music, Bloomsbury, page 130

(music) A subgenre of heavy metal which combines it with elements of psychedelic rock and acid rock.


ABG

en-noun

ABG (countable and uncountable, plural ABGs)

acoustic bass guitar
acoustic bass guitar#English

(music) Initialism of acoustic bass guitar.


hocketed

en-adj

hocketed (comparative more hocketed, superlative most hocketed)

more hocketed (comparative)
most hocketed (superlative)

His “Frontline” had a ping-ponging, hocketed section for the band’s four horns at the beginning and end.

2008 March 7, Ben Ratliff, “Giving an Unpredictable Force His Due”, in New York Times


dream pop

(music) A subgenre of alternative rock with ethereal textures and breathy vocals rather than hard riffs.


steel guitar

en-noun

steel guitar (countable and uncountable, plural steel guitars)

Steel guitar — in which the player used a metal or glass slide to note the strings — became popular when Hawaiian musicians, such as master steel guitarist Sal Hoopi, toured and recorded in the 1910a and 1920s.

2005, W. K. McNeil, Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music, page 167

(music, uncountable) A method of playing slide guitar using a steel (a kind of slide).

While the acoustic guitar is stereotypically tied to country music, the pedal steel guitar, perhaps even more so than the acoustic guitar, represents country music by virtue of its visual appearance and more importantly its sound. […] During the 1950s and the era of the Nashville Sound, artists like Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, and Ray Price eschewed the hard country sounds of the steel guitar and fiddle and replaced them with softer back-up singers and string sections as they strove for a homogeneity that would appeal to a wider audience.

2003, Victor Coelho, The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar, pages 138–139

The sound of the steel guitar had become popular in country music in the 1940s and was especially noticeable in the fusion of country and big band jazz called western swing.

2004, A. J. Millard, The Electric Guitar: A History of an American Icon, page 53

The ukulele, slack key guitar, and steel guitar all came from this mixing of Hawai'ian and haole culture.

2005, Ben Marcus, Jeff Divine, Surfing USA!: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time, page 85

(music, countable) Any of several types of guitar designed to be played using this method.


ground bass

ground bass (countable and uncountable, plural ground basses)

(music) A constantly repeated bassline or harmonic pattern in a piece.


quintole

(music) A group of five notes to be played or sung in the time of three, four or six.


art rock

(music) A subgenre of experimental, intellectual rock music, often presented as a suite of pieces with a story or theme.


sub-bass

sub-bass (countable and uncountable, plural sub-basses)

(music) Audible sounds below 60 Hz and extending downward to the lowest frequencies humans can hear, typically 20 Hz.


onbeat

(music) The first and third beats in a bar of four-four time.


forebeat

(music) The primary, stronger half of a musical beat.


afterbeat

He does so by giving the first structural tone an afterbeat comparable to that which follows the second structural tone.

1989, Leonard B. Meyer, Style and music: theory, history, and ideology

The most distinctive rhythmic feature of ska is a strong afterbeat: a strong, crisp chunk on the latter part of each beat.

2007, Michael Campbell, James Brody, ROCK AND ROLL: AN INTRODUCTION

(music) A secondary, weaker half of a musical beat.


quinible

(music, obsolete) An interval of a fifth, or a part sung with such intervals.


noncuple

First attested in adjectival use in 1557, in nominal use in 1636, and in verbal use in 1674; from the post-Classical Latin noncuplus (“nine times larger than”), from the Classical Latin nōnus (“ninth”) + -cuplus; compare nonuple.

uder

Ðe rigt hand diſcanteŧ in Noncuple uppon đe plain Triple of đe left hand.

1636, Charls Butler, The Principles of Muſik in Singing and Setting, page 25


sirvente

Borrowed from French sirvente, from Old Provençal sirventes, sirventesc, originally, the poem of, or concerning, a sirvent, from sirvent, properly, serving, n., one who serves (e.g., as a soldier), from servir (“to serve”), from Latin servīre.

(music, historical) A typically satirical song sung by the troubadours of Provence.


l'istesso tempo

From Italian l'istesso tempo (“the same tempo”). Lo istesso is contracted to L'istesso in standard written Italian.

der

(music) Indicates that the following movement should be played at the same tempo as the last, often employed when switching from simple to compound metres or vice versa, to clarify that the tempo stays the same in reference to the beats felt, not the time signature.


pre-hook

(music) Before the hook (normally a chorus) of a popular song.


sixteenth note

(music) A note that has 1/16 the value of a whole note.


sixteenth rest

(music) A rest with the same length as a sixteenth note.


eighth rest

(music) A rest that has the same length as an eighth note.


shepherd's pipe

en-noun

shepherd's pipe (plural shepherd's pipes or shepherds' pipes)

shepherd's pipes (plural)
shepherds' pipes (plural)


thirty-second note

thirty-second note (plural thirty-second notes)

(music) A note that has 1/32 the length of a whole note.


32nd note

(music, US) a note with 1/32 the length of a whole note


alla breve

Borrowed from Italian alla breve (“at the breve”).

(music) A time signature for which the half note is the beat and there are two beats per measure.


alla breve

(music) According to the time signature for which the half note is the beat and there are two beats per measure.


octavated

Ob 2 = violin 2 (octavated, except bar 4, which is from basset-horn 2)

1987, Bastiaan Blomhert, The Harmoniemusik of Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, page 60

(music, rare, of an instrument) Altered to sound a pitch one octave lower than its usual range.


harmonic minor scale

harmonic minor scale (plural harmonic minor scales)

tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - augmented second - semitone.

(music) a type of minor scale with the 3rd and 6th notes lowered by one semitone, with the interval pattern:


melodic minor scale

melodic minor scale (plural melodic minor scales)

tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - tone - semitone, and

tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone

(music) a type of minor scale with the 3rd note lowered by one semitone when the scale is played ascending, and the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes lowered by one semitone when descending, with the interval patterns:


natural minor scale

natural minor scale (plural natural minor scales)

tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone.

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C:

{c'd'es'f'g'aes'bes'c}

(music) A type of minor scale with the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes lowered by one semitone, with the interval pattern:


up bow

(music) movement from the tip to the frog on the bow of a stringed instrument


down bow

(music) movement from the frog to the tip on the bow of a stringed instrument


tenor clef

(music) a musical clef that is higher than the bass clef and lower than the alto clef where the A that is a third lower than middle C is the center line


octavation

First attested in 1922; probably formed as octav(e) + -ation, but compare octavate.

OCTAVATION (also called Pitch Control) — Changing the rate of tape speed over the playback head of a tape recorder changes the pitch of the signal being played back. If the speed is doubled, the signal will increase in pitch one octave.

1973, George R Neaderhiser, Guidelines for the Development of a Comprehensive Music Curriculum for Elementary Secondary Schools, page unknown

A French rondeau from the Roman de la Rose (12th century) first establishes the triad, then turns to the seventh, but leaves it immediately to catch the octave, only to return in haste to the safer, wonted seventh. A similar example of uncertain octavation will be described in the following section on the Fate of Quartal and Quintal Patterns.

1977, Curt Sachs, edited by Jaap Kunst, The Wellsprings of Music, page 158

I arranged ‘octavations’ which seemed to me to give the two movements greater elegance and litheness.

1988, William Primrose quoted by David J. Dalton in Playing the Viola, page 202

The method provides a simple control mechanism to provide spectral morphing via the octavation parameter.

1996 August 19th–24th, Lydia Ayers and Andrew Horner [eds.], Proceedings of the 1996 International Computer Music Conference, page 127

He also once mentioned a principle of “octavation” (his term), whereby, coming to a difficult point in the evolution of a contrapuntal texture, the composer could, as it were, escape to fresh territory by the straightforward strategy of jumping a part up or down by an octave.

1998, Hayes Biggs, Susan Orzel, editors, Musically Incorrect, page 13


octavate

en-verb

octavate (third-person singular simple present octavates, present participle octavating, simple past and past participle octavated)

octavates (present singular third-person)
octavating (participle present)
octavated (participle past)
octavated (past)

First attested in verbal use in 1922 and in nominal use in 2000; formed as octav(e) + -ate, in the musical sense after the French octavier.

The string, originally divided, will continue for some time to “octavate”.

1922, Diran Alexanian [aut.] and Frederick Fairbanks [tr.], Complete Cello Technique (2003 repub.), page 105

Adolphe Sax, when he invented the saxophone, had at first only in mind the object of improving the clarinet by permitting it to ‘octavate.’

1947, Ernest Closson, translated by Delano Ames, History of the Piano, page 64

‘Octavate’ (i.e. overblow at the octave. Does decimate mean to overblow at the tenth? Is the Primate the fundamental note of an instrument?).

1948, The Galpin Society Journal, I-IV, page 69

When it octavates, the holes being closed, it often assumes its natural pitch again on opening the holes, instead of continuing its tones to the octave above, so that it octavates much more easily when the holes are closed than when they are unstopped.

1957, Marin Mersenne, translated by Roger Eddington Chapman, Harmonie Universelle, page 305

(music) To sound one octave higher or lower.

(intransitive, of an instrument) To resonate or sound one octave higher or lower.

Ability to ornament, octavate, play chords and do some improvising.

He varies and octavates, leaving Bach listeners thunderstruck.

2007, Michael Gallant, “OCTAVATE!: Spread your hands to create powerful sounds.” in Keyboard XXXIII–XXXIV, page unknown

(intransitive, of a person) To span (at least) one octave in playing a musical instrument.

A 12-string doubles the octaves of only the lower four strings…. A doubled, capoed guitar “octavates up” the top two strings.

1999, Jon Chappell, The Recording Guitarist, page 133

(transitive, rare, of an instrument, construed with up) To double the pitch of (a part of itself).


octavating

The idea underlying this section is ‘the exploitation of non-octavating pitch-sieves (scales) and their cyclic transpositions.’

The tenor, originally written in standard G clef, is here written in octavating G clef, showing that it is to be read an octave lower than it is notated.

1984, Richard A. Crawford, editor, The Core Repertory of Early American Psalmody, page xvii

Ob 1 = flute 1 (= octavating violin 1)

Soprano, alto, and tenor clefs used for the corresponding vocal parts in the principal and concordant sources have been changed here respectively to treble, treble, and octavating treble.

1994, Antonio Salieri, edited by Jane Schatkin Hettrick, Mass in D Major, preface, page xii

The tenor is here written in the octavating G clef, indicating that it is to be sung an octave lower than notated. The counter parts in part 1, which were originally meant to be read as though octavating, are here written at actual pitch.

1995, Stephen Jenks, edited by David Warren Steel, Collected Works, page xlviii

Clefs for the treble and bass have been retained, the treble clef substituted for the alto clef in the counter, and the octavating treble clef supplied to the tenor.

1995, Daniel Read, edited by Karl Kroeger, Collected Works, pages 221–222

The octavating treble clef has been used for the tenor part, indicating that it should be sung an octave lower than written.

1997, Timothy Swan, edited by Nym Cooke, Psalmody and Secular Songs, page 268

In the expanded Gamut with its octavating hexachords, all C’s, D’s, G’s, and A’s could be allotted three voces.

2005, David Lasocki, editor, Musicque de Joye, page 316, note 153

I have systematically employed an octavating treble clef for tenor vocal parts.

2011, Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Dale Cockrell, The Ingalls Wilder Family Songbook, page 343


C major

(music) The major key with C as its tonic, and no sharps or flats, having the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.

(music) The major chord with a root of C.


multimovement

Asked to write a set of voluntaries, Mendelssohn — who admitted in an 1844 letter to Coventry that he did not understand what the term meant — fashioned a series of small pieces, then arranged them into multimovement works for publication in 1845.

2009 February 3, Steve Smith, “Pomp and Mendelssohn With Fluid Pedal Work”, in New York Times


una corda pedal

en-noun

una corda pedal (plural una corda pedals)


D-flat major

{\key des \major des'es'f'ges'aes'bes'cdes2}

(music) a major key with the notes D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, the key signature of which has five flats

(music) a chord with the notes D♭, F, and A♭:


D-flat major

(music) describing a piece, song, or scale that has a D-flat major key


F major

{\key f \major f'g'a'bes'cdef2}

(music) The major key with the notes F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E, the key signature of which has one flat.

(music) The major chord with a root of F.


E major

{\key e \major e'fis'gis'a'b'cisdise2}

(music) The major key with the notes E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯, the key signature of which has four sharps.

(music) The major chord with a root of E.


D major

{\key d \major d'e'fis'g'a'b'cisd2}

(music) The major key with the notes D, E, F♯, G, A, B, and C♯, the key signature of which has two sharps.

(music) The major chord with a root of D.


G major

{\key g \major g'a'b'cdefisg2}

(music) The major key with the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, F♯, the key signature of which has one sharp.

(music) The major chord with a root of G.


postserial

Here was music by a young composer audaciously combining postserial techniques with the buzz-saw din of rock.

2009 April 9, Anthony Tommasini, “Four Debuts, One Farewell”, in New York Times


melos

(music) The melody in Ancient Greek music.


ghatam

For a stretch, this cohort made additional room for T. H. Vinayakram, an expert on the ghatam, an earthenware pot played with thrummed fingers or open palms.

2009 May 1, Nate Chinen, “Bringing Along Friends Who Can Add to the Beat”, in New York Times

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) An earthenware pot used as a percussion instrument in the Carnatic music of South India.


gyil

“Dust Dances” (1994), the vigorous opening work here, is the fruit of a four-month visit to Ghana, where Mr. Bermel studied the gyil, an African xylophone.

2009 May 10, The New York Times, “Sounds Both Eclectic and Electric”, in New York Times

(music) A pentatonic instrument of Africa, resembling a xylophone.


C-clef

(music) a sign that indicates where middle C is on the staff with the center of the sign being middle C.


alt-country

alternative country
alternative country#English

(music) Clipping of alternative country.


sound hole

(music) An opening in the belly of a stringed instrument that increases its volume and enhances its tone quality.

ääniaukko

an opening in a stringed musical instrument


chart-topping

(music) That sells the most copies (of a record) during a particular time.


double whole note

double whole note (plural double whole notes)

(US, music) A note with twice the value of a whole note; a breve.

倍全音符

music: a note with twice the value of a whole note


champeta

Bomba Estéreo’s set at the Bowery Ballroom on Thursday night — part of a six-band lineup — was kaleidoscopic and danceable, mingling the clip-clop bounce of cumbia and another Colombian rhythm, champeta, with echoey guitar, reggae backbeats and the singing and rapping of Liliana Saumet.

2009 July 11, Jon Pareles, “Latin Alternative Music’s Movers and Shakers Meet”, in New York Times

(music) A form of local independent music from Colombia.


scale degree

(music) a number given to each note of a scale


Mixolydian mode

tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone.

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B♭, C.

{c' d' e' f' g' a' bes' c2}

(music) a mode whose scale is the same as a major key with the seventh scale degree lowered by one half step, with the interval pattern:


Dorian mode

tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone - tone

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D, E♭, F, G, A, B♭, C

{c'd'es'f'g'a'bes'c}

(music) a mode whose scale is the same as a minor key with the sixth scale degree raised by one half step, with the interval pattern:


Phrygian mode

semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone.

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D♭, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C

{c'des'es'f'g'aes'bes'c}

(music) a mode whose scale is the same as a minor key with the second scale degree lowered by one half step, with the interval pattern:


Ionian mode

tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

{c'd'e'f'g'a'b'c}

(music) A mode that is the same as a major key, with the interval pattern:


Lydian mode

tone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone.

Starting on the note C, this produces a scale with the notes C, D, E, F♯, G, A, B, C

{c'd'e'fis'g'a'b'c}

(music) a mode whose scale is the same as a major key with the fourth scale degree raised by one half step, with the interval pattern:


Aeolian mode

tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone

Starting on the note A, this produces a scale with the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

{a b c'd'e'f'g'a'2}

(music) a mode whose scale is the same as a natural minor scale, with the interval pattern:


double sharp

(music) An accidental that indicates that a note should be played a whole step higher.

dubbelkruis

music: an accidental that indicates that a note should be played a whole step higher


double flat

Coordinate term: double sharp

(music) An accidental that indicates that a note should be played a whole step lower.

dubbelmol

music: an accidental that indicates that a note should be played a whole step lower


octatonic scale

octatonic scale (plural octatonic scales)

(music) A scale that has four half step intervals and four whole step intervals that alternate.


hemitonic pentatonic scale

hemitonic pentatonic scale (plural hemitonic pentatonic scales)

(music) A pentatonic scale that contains half steps.


augmented second

augmented second (plural augmented seconds)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to a major second widened by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, this is equal to three half steps where the notes are in consecutive staff positions (compare minor third.)


anhemitonic pentatonic scale

anhemitonic pentatonic scale (plural anhemitonic pentatonic scales)

(music) A pentatonic scale that does not contain half steps.


sixty-fourth note

sixty-fourth note (plural sixty-fourth notes)

(music) a note with 1/64 the value of a whole note


leading tone

(music) scale degree seven when the first scale degree is one half step higher than the seventh scale degree


yé-yé

yé-yé (countable and uncountable, plural yé-yés)

From French yéyé, from English yeah-yeah.

[…] she (Françoise Hardy) is so today, so white boots and yé-yé, that she can make anyone over 25 (me) feel prehistoric, raccoon coat and rah-rah.

1966 December 18, Joan Barthel, “Francoise from France: White Boots and Ye-Ye”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(uncountable, music) A genre of pop music of the early 1960s in Europe.


funkabilly

(music) A subgenre of popular music that blends rockabilly with funk.


jazzcore

Their new jazzcore outing is everything the men in furs are not: chaotic, uncontrolled, sloppy, and low-fi.

1997, CMJ New Music Monthly, number 41, page 46

(music) An aggressive style of jazz with hardcore punk elements.


cuddlecore

[…]the syrupy cuddlecore of bands like cub and Shonen Knife.

(music, informal) A twee, childlike style of alternative rock.


Frenchcore

(music) A French style of rave or gabber music.


darkcore

From dark + -core, perhaps from the 1993 track Darkcore by Two Dark Troopers, released on Basement Records.

Of course, even amid the beeps and beats good old guitar music never went away, and there are plenty of indie, punk and alternative bands gigging to appreciative audiences, as well as the resolutely grim Gothic and darkcore fringe.

2002, Andrea Schulte-Peevers, Berlin, page 36

(music) A subgenre of jungle music with morbid, horror-based themes.


mathcore

While all that herky-jerky mathcore in your collection might not fit the bill, put some Portishead on your Pod and the attached OhMiBod will respond rhythmically in kind.

(music) A rhythmically complex and dissonant style of metalcore music.


funkcore

Five songs of spunky funkcore. Bouncy, peppy stuff with annoying tempo changes and whiny singing.

And even if you really want to, you can always buy your suit on the cheap from Overstock.com, hope nobody notices, and use the $500 you saved to buy studio time for your new indie-funkcore-folk band.

2006, New Zealand Centre for Independent Studies, Policy, volume 22

(music) An aggressive style of funk music influenced by rock or metal.


skacore

TVT's Buck-O-Nine will deliver more San Diego skacore on "Libido" in September.

1998, Billboard, volume 110, number 34, page 59

Cut for cut, Pay Attention is another step in songwriting evolution for the once-plaid-clad architects of the fusion of punk rock and Afro-Caribbean dance music known as skacore.

2000, CMJ New Music Monthly, number 81, page 47

(music) A genre that blends ska music with hardcore punk.


pornocore

[…]pornocore rap, a subgenre of hardcore rap that features only sexual graphic lyrics and themes[…]

2009, Ramona Demetriou, Programmatic Presentations in the Songs of African American Female Singers, page 91

(music) A style of hip-hop music with sexually explicit themes.


happycore

Shortening, equivalent to happy + -core.

In large part, happycore was the result of an exodus of white ravers from the jungle scene, in reaction to the influx of black youth and the attendant mood change from bonhomie to surliness.

2013, Simon Reynolds, Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, page 291


breakcore

The head-on collision between DJ Ricky Rabbit's fractured breakcore and MC Vulture Voltaire's fuming invective is a spectacle of almost physical impossibility, like trying to rap along to an earthquake while getting tased[…]

2008, SPIN, volume 24, number 2, page 93

Where breakcore picks up on rave's daftness, dubstep fixates on its darkness, sometimes to a shlocky degree[…]

2008, Marc Masters, Weasel Walter, Rob Young, No Wave

(music) A style of electronic music characterised by a high tempo, complex and intricate breakbeats, and a wide palette of samples from various sources, especially the "Amen break".


Nintendocore

From Nintendo (“Japanese multinational video game company”) + -core (suffix denoting a music genre, especially one influenced by hardcore music), with reference to the simplistic sound effects of early video game consoles. The word was coined by the American musician Nathan Winneke, the frontman of the metalcore band Horse the Band, as a joke; the band posted the word on the Internet and also printed it on a label on the compact disc of their first demo I Am a Small Wooden Statue on a Patch of Crabgrass Next to a Dried Up Riverbed (2001).

coinage

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to mix the theme song from the original Mario Bros. games with chugging guitars and the vocal stylings of someone who wasn't hugged enough as a child? You're not alone. In fact, there's an entire genre of music devoted to this sound – it's called nintendocore. Growing out of metalcore – a fusion of heavy metal and punk – nintendocore derives its distinctive sound from the use of synths reminiscent of mid-eighties video games.

2009 November 2, Amy Plachta, “You Never Knew You Loved … Nintendocore a Unique Sound Worth Exploring”, in Interrobang: Fanshawe College’s Student Voice, volume 42, number 11, London, Ont.: Fanshawe College Student Union, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-03-31

In the ever-changing landscape of music, that's given way to such genres as emo, screamo, nu metal and Nintendocore, one question remains! Does anyone play rock music anymore?

2010 May, Jake Brown, Alice in Chains: In the Studio, Nashville, Tenn.: Rock ’N’ Roll Books

At the time of writing, Spotify currently lists over 4,000 online categories and sub-categories of music ranging from Nintendocore – a genre delineated solely by the overlay of bludgeoning, bowel-stewing grunge riffs on old-school videogame soundtracks – to Pornogrind, a maximum security subgenre of Grindcore (a convulsing fusion of rawboned, buzz-sawing death metal and tightly coiled hardcore punk).

2020, Kevin Dutton, Black and White Thinking: The Burden of a Binary Brain in a Complex World, London: Bantam Press

In the US, a well-known Brooklyn music venue hosted a Minecraft concert featuring much loved bands[…]. The sprawling nightclub was painstakingly recreated and featured performances from the popular emo act American Football, "Nintendocore" videogame musicians Anamanaguchi and electronic artist Baths[…].

2020, Larissa Hjorth, Ingrid Richardson, Hugh Davies, William Balmford, “Playing during and post COVID-19 Pandemic”, in Exploring Minecraft: Ethnographies of Play and Creativity (Palgrave Games in Context), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, page 171

(music, video games) An aggressive genre of modern rock music influenced by chiptunes (“music that samples or emulates the audio capabilities of older sound chips”) and video game music.

Nintendocore

aggressive genre of modern rock music influenced by chiptunes and video game music


G-flat major

{\key ges \major ges'aes'bes'cesdeseesfges2}

(music) a major key with the notes G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, and F, the key signature of which has 6 flats.

(music) The major chord with a root of G.


F-sharp major

{\key fis\major fis'gis'ais'b'cisdiseisfis2}

(music) a musical key with the notes F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, and E♯, the key signature of which has 6 sharps

(music) a musical chord with the notes F♯, A♯, and C♯


C-flat major

{\key ces \major ces'des'es'fes'ges'aes'bes'ces2}

(music) a major key with the notes C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭, the key signature of which has seven flats:

(music) a chord with the notes C♭, E♭, and G♭:


C-sharp major

{\key cis \major cis'dis'eis'fis'gis'ais'bis'cis2}

(music) a key with the notes C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, and B♯, the key signature of which has seven sharps:

(music) a chord with the notes C♯, E♯, and G♯:


perfect interval

en-noun

perfect interval (plural perfect intervals)

(music) an interval that is either a unison, fourth, fifth, or an octave


major interval

(music) an interval that is either a major second, major third, major sixth, or a major seventh


diminished interval

diminished interval (plural diminished intervals)

(music) An interval that is decreased from either a minor interval or a perfect interval.


generic interval

generic interval (plural generic intervals)

(music) the distance between notes only regarding the distance on the staff


augmented interval

augmented interval (plural augmented intervals)

(music) An interval that is increased one half step from either a major interval or a perfect interval.


minor interval

(music) an interval that is either a minor second, minor third, minor sixth, or a minor seventh


minor second

(music) an interval that is equivalent to the difference between the third and fourth degrees of a diatonic major scale.


major second

(music) An interval in Western music that approximates a frequency ratio of 9/8 or 10/9, less commonly 8/7.


worldbeat

DJ King Scratch will spin worldbeat music all night, including Byron Lee's calypso, Machito's salsa, and Segun Adawale's African high-life.

1989 May 26, Achy Obejas, “Calendar”, in Chicago Reader

Diners sit amongst peaceful concrete trees and plastic leaves, listening to soothing worldbeat music; renderings of globes appear throughout, as do references to FoodlifeUs massive recycling program and the healthiness of the establishment's victuals.

1996 April 12, Tom Frank, “Capital Lies: Swallow it Whole”, in Chicago Reader

Sawt El Atlas delivers what the worldbeat bands of the 80s couldn't: instead of being grafted onto native forms, the Western elements are seamlessly incorporated.

2001 July 13, Peter Margasak, “Sawt El Atlas”, in Chicago Reader

(music) A music genre that blends Western pop music with traditional folk music or world music.


G-sharp minor

{\key gis\minor gis'ais'b'cisdisefisgis2}

(music) a minor key with the notes G♯, A♯, B, C♯, D♯, E, F♯

(music) the minor chord with a root of G-sharp


E-flat minor

{\key es\minor es'f'ges'aes'bes'cesdeses2}

(music) a minor key with the notes E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭

(music) the minor chord with a root of E-flat


D-sharp minor

{\key dis\minor dis'eis'fis'gis'ais'b'cisdis2}

(music) a minor key with the notes D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯

(music) the minor chord with a root of D-sharp


F-sharp minor

{\key fis\minor fis'gis'a'b'cisdefis2}

(music) a minor key with the notes F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D, E

(music) the minor chord with a root of F-sharp


C-sharp minor

{\key cis\minor cis'dis'e'fis'gis'a'b'cis2}

(music) a minor key with the notes C♯, D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, B

(music) the minor chord with a root of C-sharp


A-flat minor

{\key aes\minor aes bes ces'des'es'fes'ges'aes'2}

(music) a minor key with the notes A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, and G♭

(music) the minor chord with a root of A-flat


A-sharp minor

{\key ais\minor ais'bis'cisdiseisfisgisais2}

(music) a minor key with the notes A♯, B♯, C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯

(music) the minor chord with a root of A-sharp


B-flat minor

{\key bes\minor bes c'des'es'f'ges'aes'bes'2}

(music) a minor key with the notes B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭

(music) a minor chord with a root of B♭.


F minor

{\key f\minor f'g'aes'bes'cdesesf2}

(music) a minor key with the notes F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭

(music) the minor chord with a root of F


G minor

{\key g\minor g'a'bes'cdesfg2}

(music) a minor key with the notes G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F

(music) the minor chord with a root of G


D minor

{\key d\minor d'e'f'g'a'bes'cd2}

(music) A minor key with the notes D, E, F, G, A, B♭, C.

(music) The minor chord with a root of D.


relative key

(music, chiefly in the plural) A key with the same key signature as another key.


parallel key

(music, chiefly in the plural) A key with the same tonic as another key.


C minor

{\key c\minor c'd'es'f'g'aes'bes'c2}

(music) a minor key with the notes C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭/B

(music) the minor chord with a root of C


E minor

{\key e\minor e'fis'g'a'b'cde2}

(music) a minor key with the notes E, F♯, G, A, B, C, and D

(music) the minor chord with a root of E


B minor

{\key b\minor b'cisdefisgab2}

(music) a minor key with the notes B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, A

(music) the minor chord with a root of B


decad

Doublet of decade. By surface analysis, dec- + -ad.

(music) A group of ten notes from which the consonant triads may be constructed


Locrian mode

Starting on the note C, a Locrian mode produces a scale with the notes C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C

{c'des'es'f'ges'aes'bes'c}

(music) A mode whose scale is the same as a natural minor scale except with the second and fifth scale degrees lowered by one half step each, yielding the interval pattern (semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone).


country rock

country rock (countable and uncountable, plural country rocks)

(music, uncountable) A genre of music combining elements of country music and rock music.

xenolith

when present as an inclusion in igneous rock from a local magma source


diminished third

diminished third (plural diminished thirds)

(music) An interval that is equivalent to a minor third narrowed by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, this is equivalent to a major second.


diminished second

diminished second (plural diminished seconds)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to a major second lowered by two chromatic semitones, or a minor second narrowed by a chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, this interval is equal to a unison, but in most other tunings, it is a distinct interval.


diminished sixth

diminished sixth (plural diminished sixths)

(music) an interval that is formed by chromatically lowering the upper note of a minor sixth.


diminished ninth

diminished ninth (plural diminished ninths)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to narrowing a minor ninth by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, it is equivalent to an octave.


augmented third

augmented third (plural augmented thirds)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to a major third widened by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, this is equivalent to a perfect fourth.


perfect unison

(music) an interval that has no difference between two notes


augmented unison

augmented unison (plural augmented unisons)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to a unison with one of the two notes altered by a chromatic semitone


augmented seventh

augmented seventh (plural augmented sevenths)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to widening a major seventh by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, it is equivalent to an octave.


augmented sixth

augmented sixth (plural augmented sixths)

(music) an interval that is equivalent to a major sixth widened by one chromatic semitone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, this is equivalent to a minor seventh.


major ninth

(music) An interval that is one chromatic semitone wider than a minor ninth.


diminished triad

diminished triad (plural diminished triads)

(music) a triad that has a diminished fifth between the bottom note and the top note


major triad

(music) a triad that has a major third between the root and the third and a minor third between the third and the fifth


minor triad

(music) a triad with a minor third between the root and the third, and a major third between the third and the fifth


augmented triad

augmented triad (plural augmented triads)

(music) a triad with an augmented fifth between the bottom note and the top note


seventh chord

The interval between the tonic and the top note is a seventh.

(music) a chord that contains four notes that make three thirds


augmented ninth

augmented ninth (plural augmented ninths)

An augmented ninth on C
1

(music) an interval that is one octave wider than an augmented second


half cadence

(music) a cadence that moves up from a tonic, supertonic, mediant, or subdominant chord to a dominant triad


mopstick

(music, historical) In an old pianoforte movement, a rod that raises the damper as the key is depressed.


collectional

The "collectional information" one receives is ambiguous since the collection { C, E, F, G, A } occurs in the key of C and in the key of F

2005, Neil Minturn, The Last Waltz of The Band, page 112

The collectional reference typically consists of either the octatonic or diatonic collections, although a significant amount of the work can also be analyzed using the modes of non-diatonic minor scales.

2006, Daniel Chemistruck, Imposing Harmonic Restrictions on Symmetrical Scales, page 9

Not finding any overarching tonal organization to hold things together, whether in the form of a traditional key scheme or something more loosely (if still functionally) construed as tonal, music analysts may find their best alternative in a "collectional" approach, using pitch or pitch-class sets.

2012, Marguerite Boland, John Link, Elliott Carter Studies, page 22

Between sketches B and C, the contents of the highest and lowest lines have been exchanged, associating the different interval patterns of the outer voices with each other's collectional contents.

2014, Andrew Mead, An Introduction to the Music of Milton Babbitt, page 15

(music) Pertaining to a collection (set of pitch classes).


major seventh chord

major seventh chord (plural major seventh chords)

(music) a chord with the bass note and its major third, perfect fifth, and major seventh above it


diminished seventh chord

diminished seventh chord (plural diminished seventh chords)

(music) a chord with the bass note, minor third, diminished fifth, and diminished seventh above it


dominant seventh chord

dominant seventh chord (plural dominant seventh chords)

(music) a chord with the bass note and the major third, perfect fifth, and the minor seventh above it


minor seventh chord

minor seventh chord (plural minor seventh chords)

(music) a chord with the bass note, the minor third, perfect fifth, and the minor seventh above it


half-diminished seventh chord

half-diminished seventh chord (plural half-diminished seventh chords)

(music) a chord with the bass note and the minor third, diminished fifth, and minor seventh above it, often denoted with 𝆩.


ninth chord

(music) A chord with five notes that are thirds apart.


backfall

(music) A lever in the coupler of an organ.


programmist

the leit-motif, that much-vaunted invention of programmists

1916, Daniel Gregory Mason, The Art of Music: The Opera

Yet all the while I find myself seriously distrusting the psychological validity of the current classification of composers into absolutists and programmists or impressionists.

1999, Edward Sapir, Regna Darnell, Culture, page 901


demicadence

Borrowed from French demi-cadence, demi- + cadence.

(music) An imperfect or half cadence, falling on the dominant instead of on the keynote.


orchestra hit

(music) A sampled sound consisting of a number of different orchestral instruments playing a single staccato note or chord at the same time.


concert pitch

concert pitch (countable and uncountable, plural concert pitches)

(music) the reference pitch to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance

normaalisävel

music: reference pitch to which a group of musical instruments are tuned for a performance

(music) the reference pitch using the standard of A440

normaalisävel

music: reference pitch using the standard of A440

(music) the pitch that is heard (usually as played by one or more transposing instruments or a combination of transposing and non-transposing instruments)


fidicinal

From Latin fidicen, fidicinis (“lute player”) + -al.

der

(music, archaic) stringed (of or pertaining to a stringed instrument).


serinette

(music) A small barrel organ once used to teach tunes to canaries


downslur

(music) A slur in which the pitch of the note descends.


upslur

(music) A slur in which the pitch of the note rises.


sticcado

Compare Italian steccato (“a palisade”).

(music) A musical instrument resembling a xylophone.


sextolet

(music) A double triplet; a group of six equal notes played in the time of four.


first inversion

en-noun

first inversion (plural first inversions)

(music) a position of a chord when the third of the chord is the lowest note


second inversion

second inversion (plural second inversions)

(music) The position of a chord when the fifth of the chord is the lowest note.


third inversion

third inversion (plural third inversions)

(music) a position of a seventh chord when the seventh of the chord is the lowest note


root position

(music) a position of a chord when the root is the lowest note


isographic

isographic K-nets


overbend

en-verb

overbend (third-person singular simple present overbends, present participle overbending, simple past and past participle overbent)

overbends (present singular third-person)
overbending (participle present)
overbent (participle past)
overbent (past)

Try not to overbend that B flat.

1962, Artie Traum, Arti Funaro, The Legends of Rock Guitar

Try it very slowly and listen hard to the sound you make – don't 'overbend' the string as you move it as good vibrato begins with only a minor variation improvement.

However, they do require a lot of control – be careful here not to overbend and overshoot your target note.

2014, James Martin, Zero Point Guitar, page 74

(guitar) To increase the tension on a string at the fret, causing the note to sharpen.


overbend

Figure 32 is an example of an overbend on the G string: Note how my 2nd and 1st fingers are helping the 3rd finger to bend the string , while the index finger serves the added function of pushing the other strings out of the way .

1988, Helen Casabona, Basic Guitar, page 53

It perfectly embodies the idea of a "feel solo," with its brilliant excursion, rife with crying bends, overbends, and just the right amount of space to let the notes resonate.

2009, Bob Gulla, Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History, page 94

That said, Jimmy's taste was no less eclectic, the young guitarist already familiar with the wild overbends of Buddy Guy, the economical beauty of Howlin' Wolf's Hubert Sumlin and even the lush Indian sitar stylings of Ravi Shankar, of whom Page was an extremely early and vocal supporter.

2014, Martin Power, Hot Wired Guitar: The Life of Jeff Beck

(guitar) A note that is played sharp due to overbending.


wrest block

(music) A wooden block in the pianoforte, often made of several pieces, into which the wrest-pins are driven.

pionnachlár

music: a wooden block in the pianoforte into which the wrest-pins are driven


superdominant

(music) The sixth tone of the scale, immediately above the dominant.


passing tone

(music) a non-harmonic tone that is a second lower than a note in one chord and a second higher than a note in the other chord


neighbor tone

(music) a non-harmonic tone that is a second either higher or lower than two notes that are unison in two chords


escape tone

(music) a non-harmonic tone that is a second from a note in the previous chord and more than a second from a note in the next chord


non-harmonic tone

en-noun

non-harmonic tone (plural non-harmonic tones)

(music) a note that is played or sung between two chords that is not a part of either chord


E-flat

The clarinet played a long E-flat.

(music) A tone one semitone lower than E, between D and E.

I had to take it to the shop because the E-flat was stuck.

(music) A key or other mechanism for producing an E-flat.

We will now hear the third sonata, in E-flat.


tendency tone

(music) a pitch that tends to move toward another pitch, usually the submediant or the leading tone


thumb position

(music) The position when the thumb is contacting the string or strings of a stringed instrument.


baritone horn

(music) A brass instrument in the baritone range that is similar to a euphonium.


whole-tone scale

whole-tone scale (plural whole-tone scales)

(music) a scale with intervals of only whole steps


timist

(obsolete, music) A performer who keeps good time.


9-8 suspension

(music) a suspension that consists of the ninth chord tone that resolves to the eighth (or the one).


ranz des vaches

ranz des vaches (plural ranz des vaches)

The herald cries his summons to the lists,
But no sound comes to these sequestered valleys;
I only hear the melancholy note

1972, Friedrich Schiller, translated by William F. Mainland, Wilhelm Tell, act II, scene i

Of cowbells and the dreary ranz des vaches.

(music) Any of numerous traditional Swiss melodies played on the alpenhorn, originally to call cows in from the mountains.


7-6 suspension

(music) a suspension that has the suspended note a seventh (plus any number that is a multiple of seven) from the bass move down a step to the note in the chord where the suspension is happening that is a sixth (plus any number that is a multiple of seven) above the bass note


unremixed

(music) Not remixed; not having been remixed.


semidemiquaver

(music) A demisemiquaver; a thirty-second note.


figurated

en-adj

figurated (comparative more figurated, superlative most figurated)

more figurated (comparative)
most figurated (superlative)

(music) Involving a consistent metrical transformation of simple chords.


chromatics

From chromatic + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum).


toe-tapper

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-toe-tapper.wav

Associated Press
FOX News
Larry Craig
Larry Craig scandal
The New York Times
The New York Times Company

From toe + tapper.
Sense 2 (“joke”) derives from the practice of tapping one’s toes to indicate pleasure; compare toe-tappingly. Sense 3 (“closeted homosexual, especially one who solicits gay sex”) derives from the 2007 Larry Craig scandal in which then-Senator Larry Craig (born 1945) of Idaho, USA, was arrested after tapping his right foot in a men’s restroom, an action seen as covert solicitation of sex.

"I'd Be Lost Without You" seems somewhat out of place from a vocal viewpoint — Lewis's slightly reedy middle soprano is very expressive and absolutely true, but doesn't have enough dark body to fully deal with the torchy melody. It fares better in the ballads and toe-tappers that comprise the rest of the album.

1989 August 12, Caroline Foty, “Hindsights”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 5, page 7

[Emily] Blunt, for one, knows exactly what she's doing. She glides through her scenes even when she's not literally aloft, offsetting her sterner side with prim but genuine affection in her dialogue, then grinning her way through the energetic toe-tappers.

2018 December 12, Charles Bramesco, “A Spoonful of Nostalgia Helps the Calculated Mary Poppins Returns Go Down”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-05-24

(music) A piece of music with a prominent beat, to which one feels compelled to tap their toes.


tracklist

(music) A tracklisting; a list of tracks appearing on an album, EP, LP etc.


semidiatessaron

(music) An imperfect or diminished fourth.


tridiapason

(music, historical) A triple octave, or twenty-second.


villotta

(music) A form of popular song from Friuli


consequent phrase

en-noun

consequent phrase (plural consequent phrases)


antecedent phrase

antecedent phrase (plural antecedent phrases)


hemiditone

(music, Ancient Greece) The lesser third.


zanza

Idealized membranes, plates and bars are clearly inadequate and give way to the reality of tablas, gongs and zanzas.

2013, Simon Emmerson, Living Electronic Music, page 20

(music) A kind of thumb piano from Africa.


carnyx

Learned borrowing from Late Latin carnyx, from Byzantine Greek κάρνυξ (kárnux, “carnyx”), from κάρνον (kárnon, “carnyx”) (both translating Galatian words into Greek), from Gaulish carno- (“horn of an animal”) (used in names), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“head, top; horn of an animal”).

der

(music, historical) A bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts (c. 200 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.) as a type of battle trumpet; held vertically when played, it was shaped like an elongated S with a mouthpiece at the lower end and a bell (often resembling an animal with an open mouth) at the upper end.

карникс

bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet


circle progression

en-noun

circle progression (plural circle progressions)

\relative c' {1 }

The circle progression I–IV–viiᵒ-iii-vi-ii-V-I moves counterclockwise around the circle of fifths

(music) a chord progression with ascending fourths and/or descending fifths.


chord progression

chord progression (plural chord progressions)

You don’t have to start with a melody; you can base your tune on a specific chord progression and compose a melody that best fits the chords.

2005, Michael Miller, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory, 2nd edition, Alpha, page 142

(music) A pattern of two or more chords, often chords diatonic to a particular key.


ripienist

(music) A musician in the ripieno portion of an orchestra, especially as opposed to a soloist or concertino section.


glitchcore

Herbert is a former piano prodigy and Exeter drama student who went from touring with UK big bands to freaking clubbers with samplers and kitchen utensils, and his cozy records merge glitchcore buzz and tech-house heat […]

2001 March, SPIN, volume 17, number 3, page 150

Rather than UR-styled militant Techno, the first two singles, sleeved in exploding vector designs, showcase the glitchcore sounds of code warriors like Richard Devine, Kero and Mode Selektor.


double-dotted

(music, of a note or rest) Followed by two dots, increasing its note value by three-quarters of the base note.


harmonist

From harmony + -ist. Compare French harmoniste.

(music) One who understands the principles of harmony or is skillful in applying them in composition; a composer.


meantone

meantone (countable and uncountable, plural meantones)

(music) A musical temperament that generates all non-octave intervals from a stack of identical perfect fifths all tuned flat from their just ratio of 3/2. When the amount of flattening makes the major and minor thirds appropriate sizes, the syntonic comma is tempered out to a unison.


whole tone

(music) The musical interval equal (exactly or approximately) to a frequency ratio of 8/7, 9/8, or 10/9, depending on the tuning system used. In meantone tunings (including twelve-tone equal temperament), there is only one whole tone, though tuning systems that are not meantone have a "major tone" of 9/8 and a "minor tone" of 10/9.


tonal center

(music) The final, resolving note of a scale.


sev

One-two-three-four-five-six-sev-one.

(music) the seventh beat or pulse of a measure, spoken.


monophony

(music) The characteristic of a piece that has only a primary melody and no secondary melody or accompaniment.


contrapuntist

Now Counterpoint is certainly so much an Art , that to be , what they call , a learned Contrapuntist , is with Harmonists a title of no small excellence

a. 1797, William Mason, Essays on Church Music


euphonon

(music) A musical instrument resembling the organ in tone and the upright piano in form.


heptachord

From Ancient Greek ἑπτάχορδος (heptákhordos, “seven-stringed”), from ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”) + χορδή (khordḗ, “chord”). Compare French heptacorde.


isography

strong isographies of trichords

(music) The relationship between two pitch class sets that can be arranged into K-nets that are isographic (in the mathematical sense).


ecbole

en-noun

ecbole (countable and uncountable, plural ecboles)

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκβολή (ekbolḗ, “a digression”), from ἐκβάλλω (ekbállō, “to throw out”).

bor

Ecbole: a […] change in the enharmonic genus, by the accidental elevation of a chord, or string, five dieses above its ordinary pitch.

1813, J.M. Good & al., Pantologia, s.v. "Ecbole"

(music) The raising or sharping of a tone, especially (historical) in relation to Ancient Greek music.


E-la

(obsolete, music) The highest note in the scale proposed by Guido of Arezzo.


tonicize

en-verb

tonicize (third-person singular simple present tonicizes, present participle tonicizing, simple past and past participle tonicized)

tonicizes (present singular third-person)
tonicizing (participle present)
tonicized (participle past)
tonicized (past)

(music) To make (a tone) temporarily become tonic.


tonicization

en-noun

tonicization (countable and uncountable, plural tonicizations)

(music) The temporary change of an originally non-tonic tone to tonic.


consecution

consecution (countable and uncountable, plural consecutions)

From Middle English consecucioun (“attainment”), from Latin cōnsecūtiō (“effect, proper sequence, attainment”), from past participle of cōnsequor (“to follow, result, reach”).

der

(music) A succession of similar intervals in harmony.


cuarteto

Borrowed from Spanish cuarteto (“quartet”), because the early dance-hall numbers were invariably four-piece bands (violin, piano, accordion, bass). Doublet of quartet.

(music) An upbeat genre of music from Argentina, descended from Italian and Spanish dance ensembles.


liedertafel

Borrowed from German Liedertafel (literally “song table”).


simple meter

en-noun

simple meter (countable and uncountable, plural simple meters)

(music) meter with two subdivisions for every pulse


compound meter

(music) A meter with three subdivisions for every pulse.


asymmetric meter

asymmetric meter (plural asymmetric meters)

(music) meter with an irregular pulse (usually with the top number of the time signature being 5, 7, 11, etc.).


polyphonist

(music) A master of polyphony; a contrapuntist.


septimole

(music) A group of seven notes to be played in the time of four or six.


pegbox

(music, lutherie) The part of a violin or similar stringed instrument that holds the tuning pegs.


hyperbeat

(music) One unit of hypermeter, generally a measure.


hypermeasure

(music) A unit in which each regular measure is one beat (actually hyperbeat) of a larger meter.


triole

A very able pianist might shift the phase of the trioles in such a way that their first stroke falls between two 3x8 = 4x6 strokes of a quartole.


claribella

From Latin clarus (“clear”) + bellus (“fine”).

(music) An organ stop with a soft, fluty sound.


semichorus

(music) A half chorus; a passage to be sung by a selected portion of the voices, rather than the full choir.


F instrument

(music) an instrument that produces a concert pitch of F when a C is written in the music


C instrument

(music) an instrument that either does not transpose, or transposes by an octave or multiple octaves.


E♭ instrument

(music) an instrument that produces the concert pitch of E♭ when a C is written in the music


equisonance

equisonance (usually uncountable, plural equisonances)

From equi- + Latin sonans, present participle of sonare (“to sound”). Compare French équisonnance. See sonant.

(music) An equal and undistinguishable unison of voices; a perfect consonance.


B♭ instrument

(music) an instrument that produces a concert pitch of B♭ when a C is written in the music


sightsman

[…] indeed the lessons are evidently the production of a man who either never knew, or has forgotten, the elementary steps and helps necessary to make the future sightsman.

1842, The Musical World, volume 17, page 268


chiroplast

From Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + πλάσσω (plássō, “to shape”).

(music, historical) A sliding wooden frame clamped above the keys of the piano, into which the hands and fingers of a pianist are placed. It was used for learners of the piano in the early 19th century.


double stop

(music, stringed instruments) An instance of two notes being played simultaneously.


disquaire

Borrowed, with a change in meaning, from French disquaire (“record dealer; record shop”).

bor

Some discothèques allow their patrons to suggest tunes to the disquaire, but at many such an impertinence would be unthinkable—like asking Pablo Casals to play Melancholy Baby.

1963 July 5, “The Compleat Virtuosi”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2008-12-22

In fact, [Harry] Meyerson had Slim Hyatt, the "disquaire" (disk jockey) at Shepheards, assist him in programming the album.

1964 May 30, Mike Gross, “Deccareques Put Out for Discothequeniks”, in Billboard: The International Music-record Newsweekly, Cincinnati, Oh.: The Billboard Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 1, column 3

In France, clubs found they didn't need live musicians to get people to dance – just a disquaire who "programmed" dance records and moods for the evening. Such a place had a name too, a discotheque.

2010, Robert Milliken, “Lillian Roxon: Selected Writings”, in Mother of Rock: The Lillian Roxon Story, 2nd edition, U.S.A.: ReadHowYouWant.com, pages 408–409

He'd given the albums to the disquaire affiliated with Chez Castel, the popular Parisian discotheque.

2012, William J. Mann, “Spring 1964”, in Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, section 7, page 487

(dance, music, dated) A disc jockey, especially one in a French-speaking country.


disdiapason

(music, Ancient Greece) An interval of two octaves, or a fifteenth.


mixmaster

And though self-styled Scratch protege Fraser, who will also be on hand for this concert, is competent, he isn't half the mixmaster Perry once was.

1997 November 7, John Corbett, “Lee "Scratch" Perry”, in Chicago Reader


xenharmonic

Coined by Ivor Darreg, from xen- + harmonic

The back cover lists "Materials and Services", including Xenharmonikon (cooperation prevails in the xenharmonic world), and persons cooperating in a tape exchange--meaning that if you send a tape of your music, to someone on the list, you get back a tape of their music.

1978 September 30, Ivor Darreg, “A Xenharmonist's Message to the Computer Musicians”, in Computer Music Journal, volume 2, number 2, The MIT Press

Dissonance scores can also be applied in situations where no musical score exists, and two examples are given: a xenharmonic piece by Carlos, and a Balinese gamelan performance.

2013, William A. Sethares, Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale, page 189

Microtonal music is sometimes referred to as xenharmonic music, the term deriving from the Greek xenia (hospitable) and xenos (foreign or strange) (Chalmers 1974; Darreg 1977; Wilson 2014).

2015, Curtis Roads, Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic, page 219

(music) Not conforming to the common 12-tone equal temperament.


sesquialter

From Latin sēsquialter, from sēsqui- (“a half and a”) + alter (“another, a second”).

(music, obsolete) Synonym of sesquialteral, of or relating to 1½ notes.


sesquialter

(music, obsolete) Synonym of sesquialtera, a 1½ note.

(music, obsolete) Synonym of sesquialtera, an organ stop.


augmented sixth chord

en-noun

augmented sixth chord (plural augmented sixth chords)

(music) a chord that contains a lowered submediant scale degree and a raised subdominant scale degree


Italian augmented sixth chord

Italian augmented sixth chord (plural Italian augmented sixth chords)

(music) a chord with the tonic, lowered submediant, and raised subdominant scale degrees


German augmented sixth chord

German augmented sixth chord (plural German augmented sixth chords)

(music) a chord with the tonic, lowered submediant, lowered mediant, and raised subdominant scale degrees


French augmented sixth chord

French augmented sixth chord (plural French augmented sixth chords)

(music) a chord with the tonic, supertonic, lowered submediant, and raised subdominant scale degrees


Neapolitan chord

Neapolitan chord (plural Neapolitan chords)

(music) A major chord with the lowered supertonic scale degree as the root, denoted by ♭II in Roman numeral notation.


It⁺⁶

Italian augmented sixth chord
Italian augmented sixth chord


Fr⁺⁶

French augmented sixth chord
French augmented sixth chord


German augmented sixth chord
German augmented sixth chord


tripodian

(music) An ancient stringed instrument, resembling the Delphic tripod in form.


sesquitone

(music) A minor third, or interval of three semitones.


jump blues

(music) A type of boogie-woogie blues music influenced by big band swing, typically performed by a seven-piece combo and characterized by use of horns, shuffle rhythm, group singing during the choruses and raunchy lyrics.


avant-metal

(music) A genre of heavy metal music characterized by experimental and unconventional elements.


lentando

From Italian [Term?], present participle of lentare (“to make slow”).


systaltic

From Latin systalticus (“drawing together”), from Ancient Greek συσταλτικός (sustaltikós), from συστέλλω (sustéllō). Compare systole.

(music) Of Ancient Greek music: having a depressing influence.


faburden

From French faux bourdon. See false, and burden (“a verse”).

(music) A kind of counterpoint with a drone bass.

(music) A succession of chords of the sixth.


cornettino

cornettino (plural cornettinos or cornettini)

cornettinos (plural)
cornettini (plural)

(music) The descant instrument of the cornetto family.


compound interval

compound interval (plural compound intervals)

(music) An interval that is greater than an octave.


false harmonic

(music, stringed instruments) a harmonic produced by lightly touching the string at the point where the notated pitch is played, but producing a different pitch


semiditone

(music) The lesser third, having its terms as 6 to 5; a hemiditone.


foldback

foldback (countable and uncountable, plural foldbacks)

(music) The use of rear-facing heavy-duty loudspeakers on stage during live music performances, to improve sound for the audience or to allow performers to hear and monitor themselves.


natural harmonic

natural harmonic (plural natural harmonics)

(music) a sound produced by lightly touching the string as opposed to pressing it against the fingerboard, usually with the actual pitch notated

Although stopping may have served to produce some chromatic sounds, and partially filled up some of the smaller gaps in the natural harmonic series, the characteristic clearness of trumpet-tone was largely lost when the instrument was thus muted by having the passage through the bell closed by the hand.

1939, Adam Carse, Musical Wind Instruments, pages 235–236

Desirably, a tuner gives the separate Larigot 1 1/3' rank the same perfect pitch as the natural harmonic.

1970, Thomas Scott Godfrey Burhrman, The American Organist - Volume 53, page 11

Each valve or valve combination forms its own natural harmonic series; however, every valve instrument is by nature out of tune with the equal tempered scale. That is, certain pitches within the natural harmonic series are out of tune relative to the pitches used in equal temperament.

2009, Mark C. Ely, Amy E. Van Deuren, Wind Talk for Brass, page 65

(music) The series of pitches produced by a wind instrument without modulation by a mute, valves, or keys.


a capriccio

From Italian capriccio (“sudden start or motion”).

bor

(music) At whatever tempo and with whatever expression the conductor or performer desires.


accent mark

(music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.

(music) A mark placed after a letter designating a note of music to indicate the octave in which it occurs.


thoroughbass

en-noun

thoroughbass (countable and uncountable, plural thoroughbasses)


snap pizzicato

snap pizzicato (countable and uncountable, plural snap pizzicatos)

(uncountable, music, stringed instruments) The act of plucking a string in a way that makes it hit the fingerboard.

(countable, music, stringed instruments) A note played in such a way.


double-tonguing

double-tonguing (countable and uncountable, plural double-tonguings)

(music) A peculiar action of the tongue by flute players in articulating staccato notes.

(music) The rapid repetition of notes in cornet or trumpet playing.


street organ

(music) A type of mechanically-played barrel organ designed to be played in the street.


a bene placito

Borrowed from Italian a bene placito (“at pleasure”).


mezza voce

From Italian mezza voce, from mezza (feminine of from mezzo (“middle, half”)) + voce (“voice”).


techstep

(music) A subgenre of drum and bass music heavily influenced by techno and industrial music.


orchestrelle

He had the orchestrelle moved to Dublin, although it was no small undertaking, for he needed the solace of its harmonies; […]

1912, Albert Bigelow Paine, chapter CCXXXV, in Mark Twain, A Biography: Volume III, Part 1: 1900-1907

(historical, music) A player organ designed to mimic the sound of an orchestra, manufactured and used from the late 19th century to early 20th century.


dital

From Italian [Term?], from Latin digitus (“finger”).

(music) A finger-operated key for raising the pitch of a guitar by a semitone.


new jill swing

(music) New jack swing music performed by female musicians.


kerfing

Do you prefer bent solid linings or kerfings in your guitar? If kerfings, would you like regular or reversed kerfing?

(music, chiefly lutherie) A thin strip of wood kerfed to allow easy bending and then glued inside the body of a string instrument along the rim between its two abutting sides to reinforce the joint.


Bartók pizzicato

Bartók pizzicato (countable and uncountable, plural Bartók pizzicatos)

From the name of composer Béla Bartók. There is an indication for the Celli and Double Basses in the 3rd mvt. of Gustave Mahler's 7th Symphony: which states: "so stark anreissen, das die saiten an das holz schlagen" (Pull so hard that the strings hit the wood). Mahler lived before Bartok, so this snap effect is falsely attributed to Bartok.


interversion

interversion (countable and uncountable, plural interversions)

Reti's explanation that interversion is sometimes responsible for thematic unity, while without academic precedent, is based upon an acute perception of musical structure.

1963, Alan Walker, A Study in Musical Analysis, page 74

Repeated permutation according to this reading order, which Messiaen explores in full in "Île de Feu," results in ten different interversions (as the last column in the table shows, the tenth interversion restores the chromatic pitches in their order from 1 to 12).

2008, Siglind Bruhn, Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity

But the two are not just related. They are the same! Inversion, retrogradation, retrograe, inversion, augmentation, diminution, partition, interversion, exclusion, inclusion, and textural change -- these composing operations are the very ones described by Holywelkin's equations!

2014, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Memory of Whiteness: A Scientific Romance

Theree is a clear distinction between the type of interversion utilised in the 'Experimental period' (1949-51) and the compositions of the early 1960s.

2016, Gareth Healey, Messiaen's Musical Techniques: The Composer's View and Beyond

(music) A composition technique in which a sequence of elements composed of notes or rhythms is repeated in permuted orders.


tremulant

From Italian tremolante (“trembling, shaking”).

bor

The tremulant is a small apparatus that gives to the tone of any department of an organ to which it may be applied a waving or undulating effect.

1855, Edward J. Hopkins, “XVI: The Tremulant”, in The Organ: Its History and Construction, page 70

The tremulant intentionally disturbs the stability of the wind in order to produce a desirable musical oscillation.

2009, John R. Shanon, Understanding the Pipe Organ, page 22

(music) A mechanical component of a musical organ, designed to add vibration to the sounds produced by the instrument.


rosalia

Compare French rosalie. Doublet of rusalka.

(music) A form of melody in which a phrase or passage is successively repeated, each time a tone or semi-tone higher or lower


additional accompaniment

en-noun

additional accompaniment (countable and uncountable, plural additional accompaniments)

(music) The practice of enlarging and revising the orchestration of an earlier work, usually a Baroque piece, to accommodate the larger contemporary orchestras and tastes of the time.


colotomy

(music) The rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music, involving the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals.


chironomy

chironomy (usually uncountable, plural chironomies)

From French chironomie and directly from Latin chīronomia, from Ancient Greek χειρονομία (kheironomía, “gesturing, gesticulation”), from χειρονόμος (kheironómos, “mime, skilled gesturer”), from χειρο- (kheiro-, “hand-”) + νόμος (nómos, “controller, manager”), from νέμω (némō, “to control, to manage”).

der

(music) The skill of conducting music with hand gestures.


semidiapente

It will have its true ratio from the tritone and the major semitone, but not from that of the semidiapente and the minor semitone, as the next calculation shows.

2003, Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music (translated from Italian by Claude V. Palisca)


apotome

Apotome
Euclid's Elements
Pythagoreanism#Music

Borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀποτομή (apotomḗ, “cutting off”). The musical sense originates from the Pythagorean tradition. The mathematical sense is attested in Euclid's Elements (Book X, proposition 73, et seq.).

bor

1813, Music, article in John Mason Good, Olinthus Gregory, Newton Bosworth, Pantologia: A New Cyclopaedia, Volume 8: MID—OZO, unnumbered page,
This semitone was termed by the Pythagoreans apotome, and the diatonic semitone was termed limma. They contended, that the apotome, or distance from B flat to B natural, was larger than the limma, or distance from A to B flat.

For the ratio of the excess of the apotome, above that which is truly a semitone, and which cannot be obtained in numbers, is thus called. This then is demonstrated. To what has been said however, it must be added, that we have called the ratio of d b a semitone, not that a sesquioctave is divided into two equal ratios; for no superparticular ratio is capable of being so divided; but because the followers of Aristoxenus assume a semitone after two sesquioctaves, the ratio of a semitone is assumed, as we have said, according to their position, in order to discover what the ratio is of the comma and apotome to the ratio of the leimma.

1820, Proclus, translated by Thomas Taylor, The Commentaries of Proclus on the Timæus of Plato, Volume 2, Facsimile edition, published 1967, pages 66–67

The traditional term, from ancient Greek theory, for the diatonic pythagorean semitone is 'limma'; and for the larger, chromatic semitone, ‘apotome’.
The oldest extant fretting formula, that of the ninth-century theorist Al-Kindi for the ud (the Arabic lute), is pythagorean. It calls for five frets, to make the following succession of semitones down from nut: limma, apotome, limma, apotome', limma.

1984, Mark Lindley, Lutes, Viols, Temperaments, Cambridge University Press, page 9

(music) The remaining part of a whole tone after a minor second has been deducted from it; an augmented unison. Most commonly used to refer to the Pythagorean chromatic semitone, which has a ratio of 2187/2048.


diazeuctic

Ancient Greek διαζευκτικός (diazeuktikós, “disjunctive”).

uder

διαζευκτικός

the diazeutic tone, which, like that from F to G in modern music, lay between two fourths, and, being joined to either, made a fifth

(music, obsolete) Disjoining two fourths.


bariolage

(music) A rapid alternation of two notes on two strings of a violin etc


portative organ

en-noun

portative organ (plural portative organs)

(music) A small pipe organ with one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a right angle.


pandura

From Late Latin pandura, from Ancient Greek πανδοῦρα (pandoûra), a Pre-Greek/substrate loan. Doublet of mandola.

(music) An Ancient Greek stringed instrument, a kind of lute with three strings that were stopped with a fingerboard to alter the tone, and with either a mandolin- or banjo-like shape.


sesquialteral

From Latin sesquialter + English -al, from sesqui (“a half and a”) + alter (“another, a second”).

(music) Of or related to sesquialtera, 1½ notes.


cornopean

From Latin cornus (“horn”) + English paean (“song of praise”).

[…]outside the school-gates were drawn up several chaises […] and a cornopean player, hired for the occasion, blowing away "A southerly wind and a cloudy sky," waking all peaceful inhabitants half-way down the High Street.

1857, Thomas Hughes, chapter 7, in Tom Brown's School Days, part I

(music, obsolete) A large valved horn or trumpet, similar to the orchestral cornet (cornet-à-piston).


slow march

Germany's newest song hit was hummed in streetcars, in movie theaters and at political meetings. . . . Its slow march tune was catchy, and its lyrics fitted Berlin's melancholy mood.

1946 January 21, “Music: Berlin Hit”, in Time

(music) A march with a relatively slow tempo.


choogle

Coined by John Fogerty of the band Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Hawkins was the king of the choogle, a southern guitarist from Louisiana who played with the down home swamp funk sound that characterized his greatest hit, the 1957 smash "Suzie Q," a tremendous inspiration on bayou rocker John Fogerty, who used it to get Creedence Clearwater Revival their first hit in the 70's.

1980, Ronald Zalkind, Contemporary Music Almanac, page 234

Their sound was a collision of glam rock strut, Stooges thuggery, and pub rock choogle.

2013, Chris Handyside, Fell in Love with a Band: The Story of The White Stripes, page 85

Highlights include the voodoo-choogle swamp rock of It's A Cold Night For Alligators and the driving, bubbling groove of Sputnik, driven along by Jeff Sutton's disco-tight, Clem Burke-like drumming, which Billy Miller claims is Roky's answer song to Joe Meek's Telstar.

2015, Ben Graham, A Gathering of Promises

In fact, it might be a stretch to call R.E.O. Speedwagon prog at all, if they didn't temper the riverboat-pianoed bonfire-in-the-woods choogle of their first two albums with occasional outrageously ambitious, amp-cranking, Hammond-pumping gloom monsters that, like sundry early Kansas/ Head East / Styx tracks, seemed to owe more than a bit to the majestic post-psychedelic organ-metal funderals of the UK's Uriah Heep.

2016, Chuck Eddy, Terminated for Reasons of Taste


decameride

(music, obsolete) An interval of pitch equal to 1/10 of a heptameride, or 1/3010 of an octave.


eptameride

1963, Scripta Mathematica, vol. 1, page 296, ISSN 0036-9713.
Later he spoke of "subdividing each Eptameride into ten parts, called Decamerides." But he did not use this more subtle division in practice.

The second contribution of Sauveur is the development of a more exact method of computing intervals based upon logarithmic numbers which he terms merides, eptamerides and decamerides.

1964, James Woodrow Krehbiel, “Harmonic Principles of Jean-Philippe Rameau and his Contemporaries”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), →OCLC, page 9

1991, Theoria, vol. 5-6, page 26, ISSN 1554-1312.
The interval of the fifth, it will be recalled, contains 176 eptamerides or 25 merides (plus 1 eptameride).

The Merides were divided into seven parts called Eptamerides. For more subtle distinctions, Sauveur suggested using Decamerides, 10 of which comprised one Eptameride.

2004, J. Murray Barbour, Tuning and Temperament: A Historical Survey, page 122

(music, obsolete) Alternative spelling of heptameride


heptameride

From French heptaméride, from Ancient Greek ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”) + French méride (compare meridian).

Sauveur divided the heptameride into two demi-heptamerides. One demi-heptameride is 1/602 of an octave, with frequency ratio 1:2 = 1.001 154 or 1.993 cents, very nearly 1/12 of a ditonic comma.

1984, Joseph Sauveur (trans. Rudolf Rasch), Collected Writings on Musical Acoustics: (Paris 1700-1713), page 28

As 301 = 7 × 43, he called each degree a heptameride, which he made = .03987 of an (equal) Semitone.

2007, Translator's notes in: Hermann von Helmholtz, On the Sensations of Tone, page 437

Sauveur stresses that the difference between the pure 5th (176 heptamerides) and the tempered 5th (175) is equal to 1: so the temperaments of all the other intervals will also be multiples of 1:

2008, Patrizio Barbieri, Enharmonic: Instruments and Music 1470-1900, page 378

(music, obsolete) An interval of pitch equal to 1/7 of a meride, or 1/301 of an octave.


savart

(music, obsolete) An interval of pitch equal to 1/1000 of a decade, practically identical to a heptameride.


meride

(music, obsolete) An interval of pitch equal to 1/43 of an octave.


whammy bar

(music) A lever at the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar, used to add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings.


abeng

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole abeng, from Akan abɛŋ (“animal horn; wind instrument”) (Twi).

der

(Jamaica, music) An animal (usually bull) horn used by the Maroon people of Jamaica as a musical instrument; and also (historical) formerly by slaveholders to summon slaves to canefields and by the Maroon army to communicate cryptic messages over great distances.

abɛŋ

animal horn used by the Maroon people of Jamaica as a musical instrument, etc.


furniture music

Calque of French musique d’ameublement (literally “furnishing music”), coined by Erik Satie in 1917.

cal

Furniture music is thus more like a chair than a painting in a gallery. One sits in rather than contemplates the chair. So too furniture music: “it creates vibration; it has no other purpose; it fills the same role as light, warmth and comfort in all its forms.”

2018, John T. Lysaker, Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, Oxford University Press, page 84

(music) Background music originally played by live performers.


homorhythmically

(music) With the same rhythm throughout.


superoctave

Succeeding superoctaves are pitches found at frequencies four, eight, sixteen times, and so on, of the fundamental frequency.

(music) A coupler in the organ by means of which is sounded an octave higher than the one struck.

(music) An organ stop two octaves above the principal.


hypophrygian

/ˌhaɪpəʊˈfɹɪd͡ʒi.ən/

(music) Of or relating to a musical mode or diatonic scale in medieval chant theory, the fourth mode of church music and the plagal counterpart of the authentic third mode, or Phrygian.


hypophrygian

/ˌhaɪpəʊˈfɹɪd͡ʒi.ən/


terzet

His poem also consists of 50 terzets, after the model of Sarteano, and like his, it is clear but lacking in vigor.

1911, A. B. Rhine, “Secular Hebrew Poetry of Italy”, in The Jewish Quarterly Review, volume 1, page 353

(music) A terzetto; a composition in three voice parts.


contrabasso

en-noun

contrabasso (plural contrabassos or contrabassi)

contrabassos (plural)
contrabassi (plural)


mandolin-banjo

(music) A hybrid string instrument (chordophone), combining the membrane-soundboard body of a banjo and the neck of a mandolin or violin.


banjo-mandolin

(music) A four-stringed instrument with the body of a mandolin and the neck of a banjo.


manjo

(music, Ireland, informal) A mandolin-banjo


waveshaping

(music) A type of distortion synthesis in which complex spectra are produced from simple tones by altering the shape of the waveform.


waveshaper

(music) An audio effect that performs waveshaping.


krar

(music) A five-stringed, bowl-shaped lyre of Eritrea and Ethiopia.


supersaw

From super- + saw. Derived from the name of this sound as it was featured on the Roland JP-8000 synthesizer.

(music) A synthesized sound created by mixing several sawtooth waves, slightly detuned to one another.


Ratnangi

Meaning “gem-bodied one”, from Sanskrit रत्न (rátna, “gem”) + Telugu అంగి (aṅgi, “bodied”)

(music) A raga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the second melakarta raga in the 72 melakarta raga system of Carnatic music.


Kanakangi

“Golden-bodied one”, from Sanskrit कनक (kanaka, “gold”) + Telugu అంగి (aṅgi, “bodied”).

(music) Name of a raga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the first melakarta raga in the 72 melakarta raga system of Carnatic music.


B-flat

(music) The note one semitone below B, notated B♭.


Ganamurti

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 3rd Melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


melakarta

(music) A collection of fundamental ragas (scales) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music).


villancico

From Spanish villancico, from villano (“peasant”), from Medieval Latin vīllānus (“villager”).

The villancicos are strophic, but they tend not to extend to the many strophes of narration that were typical of the romance. A standard form for a villancico strophe is ABBA, in which the first A is called the estribillo (refrain), the Bs represent the statement of the music for the copla (stanza) twice (as copla and mudanza), and the return of the estribillo as the vuelta.

2014, James Haar, editor, European Music, 1520–1640, Boydell & Brewer, page 447

(music, poetry) A traditional Spanish (or Portuguese) folk song with short stanzas and a refrain; now especially common as a Christmas carol.

gabon-kanta

traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song


shadjam

(music) The first of the seven swaras, or primary musical notes.


limma

(music) Any of several small musical intervals, such as the semitone. Most commonly referrs to the diatonic semitone or minor second, which has a ratio of approximately 16/15 or 27/25 in meantone temperaments or 256/243 in Pythagorean tuning.


Vanaspati

Borrowed from Sanskrit वनस्पति (vanaspati).

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the fourth melakarta rāgam of the 72 melakarta rāgams of Carnatic music.


Manavati

(music) A rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the fifth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Hanumatodi

(music) name of a rāgam in Carnatic music, the eighth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system


Tanarupi

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the sixth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Senavati

(music) A rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the seventh melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Dhenuka

(music) A rāgam (musical scale) in Carnatic music. It is the ninth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Natakapriya

From Sanskrit नाटक (nāṭaka) + प्रिया (priyā).

(music) A rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the tenth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system.


Kokilapriya

Borrowed from Telugu కోకిలప్రియ (kōkilapriya), from Sanskrit कोकिल (kokila) + प्रिया (priyā).

bor+

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the eleventh melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Rupavati

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the twelfth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Gayakapriya

From Sanskrit गायक (gāyak) + प्रिया (priyā).

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the thirteenth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Vakulabharanam

(music) A rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the fourteenth melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system of Carnatic music.


Mayamalavagowla

(music) A raga of Carnatic music. It is classified as the 15th melakarta raga.


Chakravakam

Borrowed from Sanskrit चक्रवाक (cakravāka).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 16th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system.


Hatakambari

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the eighteenth melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Suryakantam

Borrowed from Sanskrit सूर्यकान्त (sūryakānta).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 17th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system.


Natabhairavi

* From Sanskrit नट (naṭa) + भैरवी (bhairavī)

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 20th melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system.


Keeravani

Borrowed from Sanskrit कीरवाणि (kīravāṇi, literally “parrot's voice”), from कीर (kīra) + वाणि (vāṇi).

compound

कीर (kīra) + वाणि (vāṇi)

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 21st melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Kharaharapriya

Borrowed from Sanskrit खरहरप्रिया (kharaharapriyā, literally “loved by the slayer of demon Khara”), from खर (khara) + हर (hara) + प्रिया (priyā).

bor+

(music) Name of a rāgam in Carnatic music. It is the 22nd melakarta rāgam in the 72 melakarta rāgam system.


Gourimanohari

Transliteration of Sanskrit गौरीमनोहारी (gaurīmanohārī).

translit

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 23rd melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Mararanjani

From Sanskrit मार (māra) + रन्जनि (ranjani).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 25th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Varunapriya

Borrowed from Sanskrit वरुणप्रिया (varuṇapriyā), from वरुण (váruṇa) + प्रिया (priyā).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 24th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Sarasangi

From Sanskrit सरस (sarasa) + Telugu అంగి (aṅgi).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 27th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Harikambhoji

From Sanskrit हरि (hari) + काम्बोज (kāmboja).

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 28th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system.


Dheerasankarabharanam

From Sanskrit धीर (dhīra) + शंकराभरण (śaṃkarābharaṇa).

(music) A rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 29th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


Naganandini

From Sanskrit नाग (nāgá, “serpent, snake”) + नन्दिनी (nandinī).

(music) Name of a rāga in Carnatic music. It is the 30th melakarta rāga in the 72 melakarta rāga system of Carnatic music.


seraphine

(music) An early wind instrument with a keyboard, resembling a cross between a reed organ and an accordion, which makes its sound by the action of air being blown across metallic reeds.


white note

(music) Any of the notes (the naturals) produced by the white keys on a piano or similar keyed instrument.


black note

(music) Any of the notes (flats and sharps) produced by the black keys on a piano or similar keyed instrument.


decachord

From Ancient Greek δεκάχορδος (dekákhordos, “ten-stringed”), from δέκα (déka, “ten”) + χορδή (khordḗ, “guts, string of a musical instrument”).

compound

Using the logic employed by many subset-based similarity measures, the chromatic trichord apparently has twice the affinity to this decachord as it does to the chromatic pentachord, despite the fact that the trichord could be seen as the progenitor of the pentachord but not of the decachord.

1999, George Eric Lasker, James Rhodes, Systems Research in the Arts, page 2

The reduced span of the system either indicates that the system was devised for the octochord or the decachord, or for the octochord with different tunings, in respect of UET VII 74.

2005, Richard J. Dumbrill, The Archaeomusicology of the Ancient Near East, page 100

Two pentachords can be combined to create the decachord discussed by Carpenter.

2016, Andrew Kirkman, Alexander Ivashkin, Contemplating Shostakovich, page 22

With a slightly different line of reasoning, yet reaching a similar conclusion, Guy d'Eu, the monk who was put in charge of the Cistercians' chant reform in the twelfth century, explained the expansion of the octave, or diapason, into the decachord.

2016, Nigel Hiscock, The Symbol at Your Door

(music) A set of ten pitches used to create a musical mode.


flautando

en-adv

flautando (comparative more flautando, superlative most flautando)

more flautando (comparative)
most flautando (superlative)


funeral march

(music) A slow march in a "simple duple" meter, often played at funerals.


danzón

He draws from modernism and its malcontents: Morton Feldman, Olivier Messaien, Thelonious Monk. He pulls heavily from Cuban folk traditions: Changüi, Abakuá, danzón.

2022 November 30, Giovanni Russonello, “Best Jazz Albums of 2022”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

She leads the Ballet Theater orchestra throughout the run and lends vivid delicacy to the cinematic music, which incorporates traditional instruments and forms like danzón.

2023 June 23, Gia Kourlas, “Review: In ‘Like Water for Chocolate,’ Plot Overtakes Ballet”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(music) A Latin-American musical genre originating from Cuba, evolved from contradanza.


ecomusicology

en-noun

ecomusicology (usually uncountable, plural ecomusicologies)

(music) The study of music, culture, and nature, related to ecology and the natural environment. A mixture of the fields of ecocriticism and musicology.


mizmar

(music) A traditional Arabic wind instrument with a double or single reed.


overscore

en-verb

overscore (third-person singular simple present overscores, present participle overscoring, simple past and past participle overscored)

overscores (present singular third-person)
overscoring (participle present)
overscored (participle past)
overscored (past)

(transitive, intransitive, music) To score (a piece of music) for too many instruments.


zygonic

Introduced by Adam Ockelford, from Ancient Greek ζυγός (zugós, “yoke”) + -ic.

The following account of the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata K.333, which focuses largely on the opening bars, is intended to demonstrate zygonic theory in action in a music-analytical context.

2005, Adam Ockelford, Repetition in music: theoretical and metatheoretical perspectives, page 35

Half arrowheads are indicative of difference and are used in a zygonic context to show approximate imitation.

2006, Neil Lerner, Joseph Straus, Sounding Off: Theorizing Disability in Music, page 143

This research showed that a zygonic approach could provide an intuitively persuasive metric for the fluctuating patterns of musical influence as they unfolded, event by event.

2012, Raymond MacDonald, Gunter Kreutz, Laura Mitchell, Music, Health, and Wellbeing, page 290

(music) Of or relating to the theory that imitation is the ultimate organising force in music.


rhythmicon

(music) An early transposable keyboard instrument capable of playing notes in periodic rhythms proportional to the overtone series of a chosen fundamental pitch.


ghettotech

The second album features a 38-track mix featuring many of the "booty" or "ghettotech" anthems produced by the popular Detroit duo.

2001, Vladimir Bogdanov, All Music Guide to Electronica

The club benefits from crowd-pleasing regular appearances from the Party and the occasional drop-in from ghettotech MC Prince William.

2008 January, SPIN, volume 24, number 1, page 110

Ghettotech consists largely of four-on-the-floor dance beats at a faster tempo with lyrics that are sexually explicit and derogatory in nature.

2010, Emmett George Price, Encyclopedia of African American Music, volume 3, page 942

electronic dance music
electronic dance music

(music) A form of electronic dance music from Chicago, combining elements of house music with electro, hip-hop, and techno.


pakhavaj

/pəˈkɑːwʌdʒ/

We are all season clappers and along with the pakhawaj, we give the beat.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 181

(music) An Indian barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, a variant and descendant of the mridang.


zeloso

Borrowed from Italian zeloso, from zelo.

Because Steve's attitude had always been co-operative and zeloso, Mr. Brisk had appointed him part leader for the bassi.

1973, Clavier: A Magazine for Pianists & Organists, Volume 12, Instrumentalist Company, page 35

(music, of play) Zealous, energetic, enthusiastic; typically an annotation to direct the style of play.


zeloso

(music) (Played) zealously, energetically, with enthusiasm.


illbient

Blend of ill + ambient; coinage attributed to DJ Olive (Gregor Asch). See hip-hop slang sense of ill.

This describes the sound of what is known as illbient, a genre of electronic music that arose in New York in the mid-1990s. The first illbient compilations were released by the Asphodel label—Crooklyn Dub Consortium Vol. 1 in 1995 and Incursions in Illbient in 1996—and Olive was involved with both projects.

2012, Mark Katz, Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, Oxford University Press

(music) A music genre with layered soundscapes, dub and hip-hop influences (including the use of samples), and a progressive approach to beat programming.


well-tempered

(music) Having twelve notes per octave of the standard instrument tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and the resulting sound will not sound perceptibly too far out of tune.