diastematic

en-adj

diastematic (comparative more diastematic, superlative most diastematic)

more diastematic (comparative)
most diastematic (superlative)

(music) Describing a musical notation in which the pitch of a note is represented by its vertical position on the page.


diatonism

(music) The characteristic of being diatonic


overblow

en-verb

overblow (third-person singular simple present overblows, present participle overblowing, simple past overblew, past participle overblown)

overblows (present singular third-person)
overblowing (participle present)
overblew (past)
overblown (participle past)

From Middle English overblowen, equivalent to over- + blow.

The upper octaves of the flute's compass are produced by overblowing.

1909, Leander Jan Bekker, Stokes' Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians

(transitive, music) To blow a wind instrument (typically a whistle, recorder or flute) hard to produce a higher pitch than usual.

The oboe overblows at the octave; the clarinet at the twelfth.

(intransitive, music) Of a wind instrument, to move from its lower to its higher register.


diesis

From Ancient Greek δίεσις (díesis, “sending through, the smallest interval in the scale”).

uder

(music) Any of several intervals, smaller than a tone, in ancient Greek music.


backpacker

Blacks and Latinos were more likely to be gangsta rappers than backpackers.

2014, Geoff Harkness, Chicago Hustle and Flow: Gangs, Gangsta Rap, and Social Class

To him the white backpackers are abject, 'safari wiggers' who threaten to undo all his careful work at 'passing' in this culture. With their earnestness and clumsy naiveté they betray the scandalous truth of his posturing.

2017, Patrick Turner, Hip Hop Versus Rap: The Politics of Droppin' Knowledge, page 129

(music, slang) A fan or performer of backpack rap.


ditone

(obsolete, music) An interval of two tones


crab canon

From the mistaken medieval notion that crabs move backwards.

(music) A contrapuntal composition in which one melody is superimposed on the same melody in reverse


decuplet

From decuple (“multiply by ten”) + -et (“forming diminutives”).

af

(music) A group of ten notes played in place of four or eight.


hexatonic

(music) Describing a mode or scale that has six pitches in an octave.


heptatonic

(music) Describing a mode or scale that has seven pitches in an octave


enharmonic

From Latin enharmonicus, from Late Latin enarmonius, from Ancient Greek ἐναρμόνιος (enarmónios), from ἐν (en)+ἁρμονία (harmonía).

C sharp is enharmonic to D flat in twelve-tone equal temperament, but in most other tuning systems they are distinct pitches.

(music) Describing two or more identical or almost identical notes that are written differently when in different keys. (Whether they are identical and what the exact equivalences are depends on the tuning used.)

enharmoninen

Describing two or more identical notes that are written differently when in different key

εναρμονικός m, εναρμονική f, εναρμονικό n, ενάρμονος m or f, ενάρμονη f, ενάρμονο n)

(music) Of or pertaining to a tetrachord.


hemiola

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἡμιόλιος (hēmiólios), "containing one and a half; half as much again; in the ratio of 3:2".

(music) The articulation of two bars in triple time as if they were three bars in duple time.


baglamas

From Greek μπαγλαμάς (baglamás), from Turkish bağlama.

This was the time when the younger cousin of the bouzouki, the baglamas, came into its own – the more easily to be concealed beneath clothing or in a specially designed pocket sewn into an overcoat.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 262

(music) A plucked stringed instrument, a long-necked bowl lute, played in Greek music and often made of improvised materials; it is a high-pitched and small bouzouki with one string in an octave pair on the lower D and unison pairs on the four highest strings.


split single

(music) A single featuring songs by more than one artist.


zongora

(music) A guitar-like musical instrument of Romania, having originally two strings and now four or five.


igil

(music) A string instrument with a teardrop-shaped body and two strings, played with a bow, originating in Tuvan folk music.


sonata form

(music) A form of classical music consisting of a single movement divided into three main sections, the exposition, development and recapitulation, sometimes followed by a coda.


MMA

MIDI Manufacturers Association
w:MIDI Manufacturers Association

(music) Initialism of MIDI Manufacturers Association.


fingerpicking

en-noun

fingerpicking (usually uncountable, plural fingerpickings)

Her largely unadorned sound hinges on scratchy, intimate fingerpickings and her warm Northern Ireland accent — and is a worthy, pensive addition to record shelves already lined with Sharon Van Etten and Damien Rice.

2015 July 9, “Pop & Rock Listings for July 10-16”, in New York Times

(music) The plucking of the individual strings of a stringed instrument with the fingers


fingerpick

en-verb

fingerpick (third-person singular simple present fingerpicks, present participle fingerpicking, simple past and past participle fingerpicked)

fingerpicks (present singular third-person)
fingerpicking (participle present)
fingerpicked (participle past)
fingerpicked (past)

/ˈfɪŋ.ɡə(ɹ)ˌpɪk/

(music) To play a stringed instrument by plucking individual strings with the fingers.


mensuralism

(music) European system(s) of musical notation, in use in different forms from c.1260 to c.1600, in which each note was given an exact time value


membranophone

(music) Any musical instrument that produces sound via the vibration of a stretched membrane.


mensuralist

en-adj

mensuralist (comparative more mensuralist, superlative most mensuralist)

more mensuralist (comparative)
most mensuralist (superlative)

(music) Of or pertaining to mensuralism.


homorhythmic

homorhythmic (comparative more homorhythmic, superlative most homorhythmic)

more homorhythmic (comparative)
most homorhythmic (superlative)

(music) Having the same rhythm throughout


homorhythm

(music) A style of music that has the same rhythm throughout.


manele

Borrowed from Romanian manele, plural of manea, of Turkish origin.

(music) A genre of folk music from the Balkans


neume

From 15th c. Middle English newme, nevme, neme; from Middle French neume, in turn from Medieval Latin neuma or pneuma, either from Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”) or νεῦμα (neûma, “sign”), or else a corruption of πνεῦμα (pneûma, “breath”). Doublet of pneuma.

(music) Any of a set of signs used in early musical notation.

(music) A sequence of notes to be sung to one syllable.


descarga

Jimmy Bosch is a trombonist who savors the Latin jazz tradition of the descarga, a jam session everyone can dance to.

2007 January 12, “Rock/Pop Listings”, in New York Times

(music) A jam session in the tradition of Cuban music


saxhorn

(music) Any of a group of similar brass instruments, resembling a bugle in shape, but with valves


ponticello

From Italian ponticello (literally “little bridge”).


recitativo

en-noun

recitativo (plural recitativos or recitativoes)

recitativos (plural)
recitativoes (plural)


rebec

From Middle French rebec, alteration of rubebe (see English ribibe), from Arabic رَبَاب (rabāb).

The villages also must have their visitors to enquire what lectures the bagpipe and the rebbeck reads ev'n to the ballatry, and the gammuth of every municipal fidler, for these are the Countrymans Arcadia's and his Monte Mayors.

(music) An early three-stringed instrument, somewhat like a simple violin only pear shaped, played with a bow and used in Medieval and the early Renaissance eras.


psalmody

psalmody (countable and uncountable, plural psalmodies)

Borrowed from Latin psalmōdia, from Koine Greek ψαλμῳδίᾱ (psalmōidíā), from Ancient Greek ψαλμός (psalmós, “psalm”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”).

(music, uncountable) The singing or the writing of psalms.

(music, countable) A collection of psalms.


synth rock

(music) Any of several genres of rock music featuring electronic synthesizers


timbric

en-adj

timbric (comparative more timbric, superlative most timbric)

more timbric (comparative)
most timbric (superlative)


vielle

From Old French viele, vielle. Doublet of viola.

(music) A medieval stringed instrument similar to a violin.


chantant

chantant (comparative more chantant, superlative most chantant)

more chantant (comparative)
most chantant (superlative)

(music) Played in a melodious and singsong style.


ternary form

(music) A style of composition in which one contrasting section of music is written between two similar outer sections.


noodler

(music, sometimes derogatory) One who improvises.


hoquet

en-noun

hoquet (countable and uncountable, plural hoquets)


dayereh

From Persian دایره (dâyere), from Arabic دَائِرَة (dāʔira). Doublet of daerah.

(music) A large Central Asian frame drum with jingles attached, a type of tambourine.


pardessus

(music) A pardessus de viole; a bowed stringed instrument with a fretted neck and five or six strings, the highest pitched member of the viol family.


(music) A 440 Hertz musical pitch, which serves as the tuning standard for the note A above middle C in concert pitch.


Neginoth

Borrowed from Biblical Hebrew נְגִינוֹת (nəḡīnōṯ), plural of נְגִינָה (nəḡīnā, “playing of music on a stringed instrument”).

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. (Psalms 4:1, WBS)

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song. God be merciful to us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah (Psalms 67:1, WBS)

More Psalms with Neginoth: 6, 54, 55, 61, 76.

(Jewish music) A direction for the musical accompaniment of a psalm that has been interpreted as "stringed instruments".


CW

CW (countable and uncountable, plural CWs)

country and western
country and western#English

(music) Initialism of country and western.


alap

The alaap is the part of our classical music that I like best. It is an inward voyage, an odyssey into the unknown.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 176

(music) The opening, improvised section of a Classical raga performance, before the formal recitation.


khene

There are processions led by dancers with castanets and accompanied by musicians playing the Kène.

1951, Norman Lewis, A Dragon Apparent, Eland, published 2003, page 296

The khene was once used to call warriors to fight. Now it is used for ceremonies.

1997, Dolly Brittan, The Hmong, Rosen Publishing, published 1997, page 32

The Lao khaen, however, is the most sophisticated of all the bamboo mouth organs – it takes great skill to play it properly.

2000, Simon Broughton et al., The Rough Guide to World Music, Rough Guides, page 171

I then suggested that he should play a tune on the khène while I improvised an accompaniment on the ukelele.

2001, Mervyn Brown, War in Shangri-La, Radcliffe, published 2001, page 155

(music) A traditional musical instrument of Laos, being a type of bamboo mouth organ.


taan

Her voice was steady as a surgeon's hand. When it zigzagged, it was because she wanted to take a taan that slithered like a snake as it flashed past, progressing sideways across the sand.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 147

(music) A rapid melodic vocal technique in raga singing.


come in

en-verb

come in (third-person singular simple present comes in, present participle coming in, simple past came in, past participle come in)

comes in (present singular third-person)
coming in (participle present)
came in (past)
come in (participle past)

From Middle English com in, imperative form of Middle English incomen (“to come in; enter”), from Old English incuman (“to come in; enter”), from Proto-Germanic *inkwemaną (“to come in; enter”), equivalent to come + in. Compare Dutch kom in (“come in”), singular imperative form of inkomen (“to come in; enter”), German einkommen (“to come in; enter”). See also income, incoming.

inh

They started together, but the drummer came in late.

(music) To join or enter; to begin playing with a group.


languente

en-adv

languente (comparative more languente, superlative most languente)

more languente (comparative)
most languente (superlative)

Italian, present participle of languire. See languish.

(music) In a languishing manner; pathetically.


copedant

Pedal steel player Tom Bradshaw coined the term in the 1970s, as an abbreviation for chord-pedal arrangement.

(music, rare) The setup of a pedal steel guitar: the tuning plus pedal and knee lever pitch changes.


Liebestod

From German Liebestod, from Liebe (“love”) + Tod (“death”).

She saw how his jaw began to slaver and the room was full of the clamour of the forest's Liebestod but the wise child never flinched […]

1979, Angela Carter, “The Company of Wolves”, in The Bloody Chamber, Vintage, published 2006, page 138

(music, literature) An aria or duet performed in opera marking the suicide of lovers; a suicide.


pipework

en-noun

pipework (usually uncountable, plural pipeworks)

(music) The pipes and stops of an organ.


crotale

In contrast to the cymbals of beaten metal, the British Museum collection includes several pairs of cast crotales. Strictly speaking, crotales are metal castanets, resembling cymbals. A pair of bronze crotales (from Thebes c. 200 BC) with large central boss and upturned rim, measure 2⁷/₁₆ inches in diameter, a thickness of approximately ¹/₈ inch, and a weight of 1³/₄ ozs.

1970, James Blades, Percussion Instruments and Their History, published 1992, page 167

Orchestrally, however, crotales and antique cymbals are virtually synonymous, the only difference being that strictly speaking crotales are thicker and less finely wrought and unlike antique cymbals are not held freely in the hands.

1983, Norman Del Mar, Anatomy of the Orchestra, page 420

Tension gradually mounts through the instrumental section as the dynamics build to a climactic point at bar 69 (5.12): the first occasion on which we hear the double-bass player strike the crotale - tuned, of course, to g³, the note identified by Harvey as the ‘death note’.

2009, Michael Downes, Jonathan Harvey: Song Offerings and White As Jasmine, page 69

(music, usually in the plural) A percussion instrument of archaic origin, resembling a metal castanet or cymbal.


Lydian

(music) Designating a mode of ancient Greek music, reputed to be light and effeminate.


duranguense

From Spanish el pasito duranguense, from Durango, a state in northwestern Mexico.

The two-stage festival's lineup reads like a who's who of norteño, duranguense and banda sinaloense acts, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda el Recodo, Conjunto Primavera, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and K-Paz de la Sierra.

2010 April 17, Ayala Ben-Yehuda, “Field of Dreams: Vive Grupero Festival Snares Regional Mexican Artists For Free”, in Billboard, volume 122, number 15, page 8

(music) A genre of Mexican music related to banda and norteño, emerged in the 2000s.


Blockflöte

(music) Alternative form of block flute.


semiclassical

en-adj

semiclassical (comparative more semiclassical, superlative most semiclassical)

more semiclassical (comparative)
most semiclassical (superlative)

(music) Describing classical music of broad, popular appeal


mean

table From Middle English meene, borrowed from Old French meien (French moyen), Late Latin mediānus (“that is in the middle, middle”), from Latin medius (“middle”). Cognate with mid. For the musical sense, compare the cognate Italian mezzano. Doublet of median and mizzen.

cog

Of these [rattles] they have Base, Tenor, Countertenor, Meane, and Treble.

1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 147

(music, now historical) The middle part of three-part polyphonic music; now specifically, the alto part in polyphonic music; an alto instrument.


instrumentals

(music) The backing track of a song. The audio of a song without the vocal track.


emotronic

Blend of emo + electronic, referring to electronic music.

(music) A genre of music that fuses emo and electronic music, typically combining emotional lyrics with instruments such as synthesizers, bass guitars, and sequencer.


duplet

(music) A tuplet of two notes played in the time of three.


broken consort

(music) an instrumental ensemble that developed in Europe during the Renaissance.


sintir

Playing the sintir (a long-necked, resonant lute), Mr. Hakmoun leads spellbinding trance ceremonies, and with castanets around his ankles, performs acrobatic dances.

2007 January 12, The New York Times, “Rock/Pop Listings”, in New York Times

(music) A three-stringed, skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people of Morocco.


tonguing

(music) A technique used with wind instruments to enunciate different notes using the tongue on the reed or mouthpiece.


Stradivarius

en-noun

Stradivarius (plural Stradivariuses or Stradivarii)

Stradivariuses (plural)
Stradivarii (plural)

/ˌstɹadɪˈvɛəɹɪ.əs/

Named after the Stradivari family (Latin Stradivarius), an Italian surname either from the plural of Lombard stradivare (“toll-man”), or from strada averta (“open road”) in the Cremonese dialect.

(music) A stringed instrument built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari.

斯特拉迪瓦里琴

(music) A violin made by another manufacturer, named to capitalise on the fame of the instruments made by Antonio Stradivari.


ribattuta

ribattuta (plural ribattutas or ribattute)

(music) A musical ornament consisting of a trill on a long-short dotted rhythm accelerating to end on either a tremolo or a regular trill.


bimeter

A sophisticated variant of the bimeter in Figure 7 occurs when the values in the right-hand part are not even, but nevertheless establish a feeling of meter opposed to that in the bass (Figure 8).

1973, Roland Nadeau, “The Grace and Beauty of Classic Rags: Structural Elements in a Distinct Musical Genre”, in Music Educators Journal, volume 59, number 8

(music) The setting of one meter against another.


prog

prog (countable and uncountable, plural progs)

He listens to a lot of prog.

Progressive rock
progressive rock#English

(uncountable, informal, music) Progressive rock.


romanesca

The ninth piece in the manuscript is a romanesca, untransposed.

1985, John Caldwell, English Keyboard Music Before the Nineteenth Century, page 97


polyrhythmic

en-adj

polyrhythmic (comparative more polyrhythmic, superlative most polyrhythmic)

more polyrhythmic (comparative)
most polyrhythmic (superlative)

(music) Having multiple, simultaneous rhythms.


polymodality

(music) The use of multiple modes in a piece if music


supergroup

In 1974, David Geffen, Asylum's main man, applied his negotiating abilities to creating a country-rock supergroup along the lines of Crosby, Stills & Nash.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, page 365

A supergroup is a rock and pop music term for a group whose members are already successful and well known, either as solo performers or part of other groups. It was first applied in 1968, to Cream, whose three members had already achieved prominence, […]]

[2017, Norman Abjorensen, Historical Dictionary of Popular Music, Rowman & Littlefield, page 487

(music) A group of musicians, each a star of another band (especially in rock music).

supergroep

group of star musicians, from other bands


remastering

(music) The production of a new version of a recording by remixing the original master recordings.


remaster

en-verb

remaster (third-person singular simple present remasters, present participle remastering, simple past and past participle remastered)

remasters (present singular third-person)
remastering (participle present)
remastered (participle past)
remastered (past)

(music) To produce a new version of a recording by remixing the original master recordings.


timbales

(music) A pair of tunable single-headed, metal-shelled cylindrical drums, used in Latin American music


multiphonics

(music) The sounding of two or more pitches simultaneously, either with the voice, or on an instrument that normally sounds only single notes.


Minimoog

(music) An early monophonic analog synthesizer.


metalcore

(music) A subgenre of rock music which fuses extreme metal and hardcore punk.


chiptune

From chip + tune, referring to a computer's sound chip; see chip (“electronic circuit”). Initially in the meaning of modules, as an antonym to 'real' chip music, then generalized/recontextualized.

Composers of chiptune and demoscene music practice the art of game music in vitro, with no particular commercial endeavor.

2007, Mark J. P. Wolf, The Video Game Explosion

[…] it has been so popular with chiptune musicians […]

(music) A piece of computer music in which the sounds are generated and mixed in realtime, common before the advent of mass storage for prerecorded sound.

(music) A style of music that samples or emulates the audio capabilities of older sound chips, but ignores certain hardware or software limitations inherent to them.

(music, demoscene) Tracker modules simulating the sound of early 8-bit computers, like Commodore 64, usually small in size and often used in cracktros.


caxixi

Borrowed from Portuguese caxixi, which is probably borrowed from an African language.

(music) A small, indirectly struck idiophone filled with seeds, commonly used in Brazil.


berimbau

/ˌbɛɹɪmˈbaʊ/

Borrowed from Portuguese berimbau, ultimately from an African language.

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) A percussion instrument, consisting of a gourd (as resonator) and a single wire stretched along a pole, used in Brazil, has a pivotal role in capoeira ensembles.


sit in

sit in (third-person singular simple present sits in, present participle sitting in, simple past and past participle sat in)

sits in (present singular third-person)
sitting in (participle present)
sat in (participle past)
sat in (past)

(music) To take part in a group musical performance, especially a jazz session, as a temporary guest.


unlistenable

en-adj

unlistenable (comparative more unlistenable, superlative most unlistenable)

more unlistenable (comparative)
most unlistenable (superlative)

Many older adults find rap music unlistenable.

'[…] you'd prefer some Stravinsky or Stockhausen. Something unlistenable.'

1997, Keith Topping, Martin Day, chapter 6, in The Devil Goblins from Neptune, page 69

(music, acoustics) Of a sound quality or characteristic that a person cannot long listen to.


four-four time

(music) A meter or rhythm with four beats to a measure and four beats to a whole note. Specifically simple quadruple time or common time.


chroma

en-noun

chroma (countable and uncountable, plural chromas)

From Ancient Greek χρῶμα (khrôma, “color”).


scenester

One of those nights was recorded and, with production by local scenester Chris D., is now seeing the light of day.

1986 January 5, Cary Darling, “Australian Rock: Boiling from Down Under”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 2009-04-18

Their job is to deny entry to those who don't belong, the wannabe scenester as opposed to the real scenester.

2014, Dirk Wittenborn, Jazz Johnson, The Social Climber's Bible

Some scenesters told me of their manic daily life, made of entire days and nights spent without any sleep or food, focusing on the music until exhaustion.

2019, Stefano Barone, Metal, Rap, and Electro in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia: A Fragile Underground

(music) A non-musician who is active in a particular musical scene, especially one whose involvement carries social status.


arioso

(music) A musical style, in opera and oratorio, that is more melodic than recitative, but less so than aria


ariose

en-adj

ariose (comparative more ariose, superlative most ariose)

more ariose (comparative)
most ariose (superlative)

From Italian arioso (“airy, breezy”) (from aria (“air; aria, song”) (from Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr, “air; wind”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- (“dawn; east”)) + -oso) + -ose.

der

Much easy-listening music is light and ariose.

AR′IŌSE, a. [From arioso.] Characterized by melody, as distinguished from harmony; as, the ariose beauty of Handel.]

[1863, John Ogilvie, “ARIOSE”, in The Imperial Dictionary, English, Technological, and Scientific, on the Basis of Webster’s English Dictionary, […], volume I, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh: Blackie and Son, […], →OCLC, page 29

In the promise of Jesus, "Upon this rock will I build my church," the recitative is succeeded by ariose, and then by the triumphant base aria of Peter, the dramatic being reached in the C major chorus, "The Church is built." […] In the opening passages [of the second scene] of mingled recitative and ariose Peter is forewarned that he shall deny his master, and his half-indignant remonstrance is seconded by the voices of the other disciples.

1873 May 17, “Mr. Paine’s Oratorio. (From the New York World, March 31.) ST. PETER; An Oratorio. The Words Selected from the Bible, and the Music Composed by John Knowles Paine. Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co. 1873.”, in [John Sullivan Dwight], editor, Dwight’s Journal of Music, volume XXXIII, number 3 (number 837 overall), Boston, Mass.: Oliver Ditson & Co., →OCLC, page 21, column 1

He tried to speak in an ariose, teasing manner, not wanting to offend his charge.

2016, Bill Broun, Night of the Animals: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Ecco Press

The question becomes why certain settings in music, and a certain playing of simple against more complex lyrics, can remake debased language and restore the innocence of emotional expression. (Opera singers know this, in the ariose transformations of "Un bel dì" [One fine day] or "O mio babbino caro" [Oh my dear papa]. But then opera criticism, too, has a long-standing problem with lyrics.)

2016, Mark Greif, “Radiohead, or the Philosophy of Pop”, in Against Everything: Essays, New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books, section III, page 112


figural

en-adj

figural (comparative more figural, superlative most figural)

more figural (comparative)
most figural (superlative)

From Old French figural, from late Latin figūrālis, from figūra (“figure”).


canzona

Mr. Milnes had a turn in the spotlight with a canzona for solo organ by Johann Caspar Kerll.

2007 January 15, Steve Smith, “Classic Viennese Music, the Prequel”, in New York Times

(music) A type of instrumental composition based on multipart vocal settings of canzoni, produced chiefly in the 16th and 17th centuries


Dvořák

/dɪˈvɔːʒɑːk/

(music) Antonín Leopold Dvořák, Czech composer


accentus

Coordinate term: concentus

(music) A style of church music that emphasizes spoken word.


benna

(music, Antigua and Barbuda) A calypso-like genre of traditional music from Antigua and Barbuda.


risoluto

(music) (To be played) boldly, resolutely


kalimba

(music) A type of thumb piano, similar to the mbira.


mbira

(music) A thumb piano, a musical instrument having a small sound box fitted with a row of tuned tabs that are plucked with the thumbs, originating among the Shona of southern Africa; any type of plucked lamellophone of the same type as the Shona instrument.


pedal steel guitar

en-noun

pedal steel guitar (plural pedal steel guitars)

(music) The elements of an electric steel guitar, mounted horizontally on a stand and played by a standing musician, using a combination of a steel bar and foot pedals to vary the pitch of the instrument.


detune

en-verb

detune (third-person singular simple present detunes, present participle detuning, simple past and past participle detuned)

detunes (present singular third-person)
detuning (participle present)
detuned (participle past)
detuned (past)

Some avant-garde composers request that performers detune their instruments before playing.

(music) To intentionally lower or raise the pitch produced by a musical instrument. Often done to produce sounds not normally possible, or in the case of stringed instruments to reduce tension for the purposes of shipping or maintenance.


uptempo

en-adj

uptempo (comparative more uptempo, superlative most uptempo)

more uptempo (comparative)
most uptempo (superlative)


boppy

boppy (comparative boppier, superlative boppiest)

boppier (comparative)
boppiest (superlative)

Panic excursions to tribal Jazz wombs and transfusions
Heroin nights of birth/ and soaring/ over boppy new ground.

1965, Bob Kaufman, Walking Parker Home (poem)


terzetto

From Italian terzetto, diminutive of Italian terzo (“the third”), from Latin tertius. See tierce.

(music) A composition in three voice parts.

(music) A vocal (or, rarely, instrumental) trio.


kontra

(music) A large instrument, similar to a viola but with three strings and a flat bridge, originating in the traditional music of Transylvania.

(music) The harmonic and rhythmic part of certain Hungarian folk music, as opposed to the melodic part.


blues-rock

(music) A musical genre combining elements of blues and rock and roll


soft rock

CSN&Y didn't shy away from politics, but many artists who followed in their footsteps used the new soft rock synthesis to warble inoffensive pop to a nation tired of controversy. […] Subsequently, many artists rode the soft rock formula all the way to the bank—or at least their labels did.

2010, Christopher Knowles, The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll, Simon and Schuster

(music) A comparatively unaggressive, melodic rock music genre in which the arrangement and lyrics are emphasized more than the beat; a reaction against hard rock.


ariette

From French ariette, from Italian arietta.


five-finger exercise

en-noun

five-finger exercise (plural five-finger exercises)

It was the singular room which Carlyle had constructed in the hopes that he could shut out all the noises of the universe, the crowing of cocks, and the jingling of a young lady's five-finger exercise in particular.

1899, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 20, in A Duet

(music) A musical composition for the piano, designed to require the use of all the fingers of the hand for the purpose of skill development.


acid rock

(music) A rock music genre originating from the late 1960s, heavily inspired by drug-induced experiences.


birl

(music, bagpipes) A type of grace note movement that quickly switches between low-A and low-G several times, producing a low rippling sound.


ride cymbal

(music) A type of cymbal, the function of which is to maintain a steady rhythmic pattern.


IDM

IDM (countable and uncountable, plural IDMs)

intelligent dance music
intelligent dance music#English

(music) Initialism of intelligent dance music.


junkanoo

junkanoo (countable and uncountable, plural junkanoos)

From John Canoe, the older name of the festival, perhaps named after folk hero John Canoe.

Rafael sang from his stuffings, the beat swirled, the brass blasted, and in a three-month period, America bought a bargeful of the Munings' "junkanoo" sound.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, page 274

Junkanoo also became established among expatriate Bahamian communities, notably in Miami and Toronto, where Junkanoo bands were to be seen at the Orange Bowl and Caribana parades respectively.

2000, Michael Craton, Gail Saunders, A History of the Bahamian People, University of Georgia Press, page 490

(music) A style of goombay traditionally played on goatskin drums and cowbells during the parade.


flanging

flanging (countable and uncountable, plural flangings)

(music) A time-based audio effect produced when two identical signals are mixed together, but with one signal time-delayed by a small and gradually changing amount, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds.


choro

choro (usually uncountable, plural choros)

Borrowed from Portuguese choro (“lament”).

(music) A genre of Brazilian popular music


dulciana

(music) An organ stop with a sweet tone.


bassetto

(music) A tenor viol or small bass viol.


crumhorn

(music) Any of several related simple woodwind instruments having a bent horn


sarrusophone

/səˈɹuːsəˌfəʊn/

From Pierre-Auguste Sarrus, French bandmaster.

(music) Any of a family of wind instruments intended to replace the oboe and bassoon in bands.


dulcian

From German Dulzian, or a variant of dulciana.

(music) A Renaissance bass woodwind instrument, with a double reed and a folded conical bore


upright piano

(music) A piano whose strings are vertical.


ska punk

ska punk (countable and uncountable, plural ska punks)

Thus, ska punk managed to revitalize punk through the popularization of a more unusual genre.

2019, Kevin L. Ferguson, Pop Goes the Decade: The Nineties, ABC-CLIO, page 126

(uncountable, music) A style of music combining ska and punk rock popular in the 1990s.


musical box

Beneath the clothes [of the poupard] a squeaker would be concealed, and more elaborate ones would have a musical-box, the music being played by twirling the doll around.

1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 38

(music) Any of various devices that play tunes by means of pins, on a rotating disk or revolving drum, that strike or pluck metal teeth; a music box.


Typically far more complex than the songs of the 8-bit games, songs in Amiga games had a highly varied structure, but usually followed the same basic principles seen in the 8-bit games (shorter loops with fewer distinct sections for battle music, and longer loops with more distinct sections for in-game music).

2008 January 1, Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design, MIT Press

Much of La-Mulanas 8-bit' aesthetic is tied to its self-imposed graphical limitations. To start, the native resolution of 256 × 192 pixels is (as we would expect) much less than that of contemporary standards[…]

2008 November 12, Brett Camper, “Retro Reflexivity: La-Mulana”, in Bernard Perron, Mark J.P. Wolf, editors, The Video Game Theory Reader 2, Routledge

(computer graphics, music) Originating from or resembling the art or music of the 8-bit computer era.


perfect fifth

The perfect fifth has a pitch ratio close to 3:2.

(music) An interval equal to that of between the second and third harmonics of the harmonic series. In twelve-tone equal temperament, it spans seven semitones or five degrees of the diatonic scale.

čistá kvinta

interval between the first and second overtones or of seven semitones


BGM

BGM (countable and uncountable, plural BGMs)

From Japanese BGM (BGM), an initialism of English background music.

background music
background music#English

(music) Initialism of background music, occasionally used with reference to Japanese media (video games, television, etc.).


futurepop

Modern industrial music subgenres and fusion-genres include EBM, futurepop, power-noise, aggrotech (terror-EBM), coldwave, elektro, dark-electro, and industrial-metal. Yes, it can be quite confusing.

2007, Raven Digitalis, Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, page 37

Despite—or more likely, because of—futurepop's sudden and visible popularity within the global industrial scene, it was subject to harsh criticism in the early and mid-2000s.

2013, S. Alexander Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music, page 296

Music festivals that feature futurepop bands include Infest, Wave Gotik Treffen and M'era Luna.

[…] a substantial offering of futurepop (e.g., Covenant, Wolfsheim, VNV Nation, Apoptygma Bezerk), a smattering of aggrotech (e.g. Suicide Commando, Combichrist), and a number of other subgenres.

2015, Isabella van Elferen, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture

(music) A genre of electronic dance music with influences from synthpop, trance, and EBM.


tucket

From tuck (“a blow, a drum beat”), from Old French touchet (“stroke, blow”). Compare toccata. Compare also Middle French toquer from Old French *toquer (“to strike”).

[T]hen let the Trumpets ſound / The Tucket Sonuance, and the Note to mount: / For our approach ſhall ſo much dare the field, / That England ſhall couch downe in feare, and yeeld.

c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act IV, scene ii, page 86

(music) A fanfare played on one or more trumpets, bugles or similar.


instrumentalize

en-verb

instrumentalize (third-person singular simple present instrumentalizes, present participle instrumentalizing, simple past and past participle instrumentalized)

instrumentalizes (present singular third-person)
instrumentalizing (participle present)
instrumentalized (participle past)
instrumentalized (past)

(music, transitive) To transcribe for instrumental execution a piece of music written for the human voice


clacker

(music) A percussion instrument that makes a clacking noise.


timoroso

(music) (To be played) in a timid, hesitant manner.


largando

(music) (To be played) gradually slower and broader.


xylorimba

(music) A pitched percussion instrument corresponding to a xylophone with an extended range.


pitch pipe

(music) A device much like a harmonica, used to supply a sought pitch.


lick

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”).
See also Saterland Frisian likje, Dutch likken, German lecken; also Old Irish ligid, Latin lingō (“lick”), ligguriō (“to lap, lick up”), Lithuanian laižyti, Old Church Slavonic лизати (lizati), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō), Old Armenian լիզեմ (lizem), Persian لیسیدن (lisidan), Sanskrit लेढि (léḍhi), रेढि (réḍhi).

There are some really good blues licks in this solo.


aleatoric

en-adj

aleatoric (comparative more aleatoric, superlative most aleatoric)

more aleatoric (comparative)
most aleatoric (superlative)

/eɪliːəˈtɔəɹɪk/

From Latin āleātōrius (see aleatory) + -ic.

aleatoric music

Some artists, like John Cage, have adopted aleatoric methods of composition in order to remove any trace of authorial expression from their work.

2005, Noël Carroll, “Formalism”, in The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, eds. Berys Gaut and Dominic McIver Lopes (Master e-book IBSN 0203991923), page 89

(art, music, not comparable) Of or pertaining to works that have been produced with an element of chance (aleatoricism).


surla

A variant of Turkish zurna (“woodwind instrument”), from Classical Persian سرنا (surnā); see there for more. Cognate with English horn, Latin cornu (“horn”).


rasgado

en-noun

rasgado (countable and uncountable, plural rasgados)


supermajor

(music) An interval larger in size than a major interval but smaller than the next largest minor interval.


barology

/bəɹˈɒlədʒi/

The barology is realised through the subtle agogic placement of beats and bars relative to each other in the hierarchy of the pypermeter; in other words, some beats sound late and some early; and some bars sound early and some late.

2022, Graham J. McPhail, Knowledge and Music Education

(music) A method of analyzing music according to hypermeter, deriving a structure of strong and weak bars and then phrases.


dissonate

en-verb

dissonate (third-person singular simple present dissonates, present participle dissonating, simple past and past participle dissonated)

dissonates (present singular third-person)
dissonating (participle present)
dissonated (participle past)
dissonated (past)


fughetta

(music) A short, condensed version of a fugue.


no wave

A punning rejection of the more commercial new wave movement.

To dream that tall, mean, vegan Jeff, in turtlenecks and chinos like Sterling Morrison, was the only one I talked to at all the no wave shows I went to alone.

2020, “Jinx”, in Timmy's Unbuttoned Gen X Meditations, performed by Good Fuck

(music) A broad musical and artistic movement originating in the mid-1970s in New York City, typified by experimentation and performance art.


tsimbl

From Yiddish צימבל (tsimbl). Doublet of cymbal.

(music) A cymbalom, or hammered dulcimer, used in klezmer music.


darkwave

From dark + -wave, meaning the “dark” counterpart of new wave.

As well as mainstream pop you'll find dance, funk and all kinds of club music, world music and even very select genres such as darkwave medieval, darkwave gothic to darkwave neofolk.

2002, Jules Brown, Dinah Gardner, Hong Kong and Macau, page 315

Since the 1980s, several goth substyles have mixed the Batcave heritage with other musical genres into new goth substyles. New wave was gothed into darkwave, classic rock into gothic rock, and metal into gothic metal. […] The term darkwave originated in the 1980s as an indicator of the “dark” counterpart of new wave.

2015, Isabella van Elferen, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture, Routledge, page 25

(music) A musical movement that originated in the late 1970s, combining elements of new wave and gothic rock with dark, thoughtful lyrics and an undertone of sorrow.

dark wave

musical movement combining elements of new wave and gothic rock


chaconne

From French chaconne, from Spanish chacona, likely from Basque chucun (“pretty”).

(music) The music for such a dance, often containing variations on a theme.


flamenco guitar

en-noun

flamenco guitar (plural flamenco guitars)

(music) A type of acoustic guitar with reduced internal bracing and thinner tops. It is used mainly in the performance of toques, the guitar part of flamenco music.


kamancheh

(music) A long-necked stringed instrument (a spike fiddle) with a bowl-shaped body, traditionally featuring three silk strings but now more often four metal ones, played with a bow, common among the peoples of the Caucasus, Anatolia and the Near East.


junglist

(music) A dedicated listener to jungle or drum and bass music.


jazzman

→ French: jazzman

→ Spanish: jazzman


ledger line

(music) A musical notation to inscribe notes outside the lines and spaces of the regular musical staves; a line slightly longer than the note is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distances as the notes within the staff.

apuviiva

notation to inscribe notes outside the musical staffs


technopop

(music) An early synthpop genre with a cold, robotic sound.


(music) A meter of three quarter notes per measure.


(music) A meter of two quarter notes per measure.


(music) A meter of six eighth notes per measure, usually with secondary stress on the fourth eighth note.


(music) A meter of two half notes per measure.


(music) A meter of four quarter notes per measure.


gabba

gabba (countable and uncountable, plural gabbas)


reed instrument

reed instrument (plural reed instruments)

(music) Any musical wind instrument played by blowing air through a reed, such as the oboe or the clarinet.


promenader

(chiefly UK, music) An attender at, or devotee of, promenade concerts.


duettino

From Italian, diminutive from duetto (“a duet”).


braindance

From brain + dance, from its relatively complex (i.e. intellectual) structure and use of elements of dance music. Coined by the label Rephlex Records.

For the devoted, this is a rare chance to devour an hour of box-fresh blockbuster braindance that might somehow bring them closer to their master.

2014, Piers Martin, “Aphex Twin: ‘His music is a perfect mix of mystery and adrenaline’”, in The Guardian

(music) Synonym of intelligent dance music


intelligent dance music

It was a record that helped to launch the careers of Autechre, Aphex Twin and Richie Hawtin, birthed the genre that would later become known as intelligent dance music (or IDM), and changed the idea of electronic music as merely a tool for dancing.

2017 July 3, Ben Cardew, “Machines of loving grace: how Artificial Intelligence helped techno grow up”, in The Guardian

(music) A genre of experimental electronic music that combines elements of techno and dance music with complex rhythmic structures and atypical melodic patterns.


half note

(Canada, US, music) A musical note that is two beats long, which is half the length of a semibreve and equal in length to two crotchets; a minim.


cry the blues

en-verb

cry the blues (third-person singular simple present cries the blues, present participle crying the blues, simple past and past participle cried the blues)

cries the blues (present singular third-person)
crying the blues (participle present)
cried the blues (participle past)
cried the blues (past)

"Young people have forgotten how to cry the blues," said Big Bill Broonzy as he lay dying in a dark room above the littered streets of Chicago's Negro South Side.

1958 September 1, “Best of the Blues”, in Time

(music) To sing in the style of blues music.


concertmistress

head

concertmistress (plural concertmistresses, masculine concertmaster)

concertmistresses (plural)
concertmaster (masculine)

Possibly a calque of German Konzertmeisterin, corresponding to concert + mistress.


sharping

(music) The raising of the pitch of a note by half a step.


sharped

(music) Raised in pitch by half a note. Made into a sharp note.


wah-wah

onom

Imitative

(music) Modifying the resonance of musical notes to produce the effect of a human voice.

wah-wah

modifying the resonance of musical notes to produce the effect of a human voice


wah-wah

Imitative

(music) A wavering sound produced by means of a movable mute or by electronic means


wah-wah

en-verb

wah-wah (third-person singular simple present wah-wahs, present participle wah-wahing, simple past and past participle wah-wahed)

wah-wahs (present singular third-person)
wah-wahing (participle present)
wah-wahed (participle past)
wah-wahed (past)

onom

Imitative


klang

(music) Any periodic sound, especially one composed of a fundamental and harmonics, as opposed to simple periodic sounds (sine tones).


wah-wah pedal

Go on Ted, go on, beat those drum! / Get in there! / Ah shit, let's give Cordell some, on that wah-wah pedal now!

1974, Betty Davis (lyrics and music), “Git In There”, in They Say I'm Different, performed by Betty Davis

(music) A pedal for an electric guitar that mimics the sound of the human voice.


B-bender

(music) A guitar accessory that enables a player to mechanically bend the B-string up a full tone to C-sharp.


chorded

Afterwards, I would play jazz tunes in a chorded-melody style; the first time through one of us would play the melody and the other the chords, and then we'd switch.

2009, Ed Petkus, Someone Out There Is Listening, page 240

This chording technique works well for learning any tune, but this is the only tune of the set that I will write out completely as a chorded version for you.

2011, Dan Levenson, Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch, page 42

(music) Composed of or containing chords.


talking drum

Two men, bowed over, were beating a tune on hourglass-shaped talking drums.

2015, Chigozie Obioma, The Fishermen, ONE, page 209

(music) Any of several drums whose pitch can be regulated by squeezing the sides.


coldwave

From cold + wave, perhaps influenced by earlier genres such as new wave and darkwave. In France the post-punk genre was called la vague froide.

Band member Azzedine Amrani reflects: “[…] Then, The Cure came to our ears; therefore we started to turn into coldwave music with brand new instruments [such as keyboards and drum machines].”

2014, Andi Harriman, Marloes Bontje, Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace: A Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s, Intellect Books, page 24

(music) A European style of post-punk music in the 1980s.

Modern industrial music subgenres and fusion-genres include EBM, futurepop, power-noise, aggrotech (terror-EBM), coldwave, elektro, dark-electro, and industrial-metal. Yes, it can be quite confusing.

2007, Raven Digitalis, Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, page 37

(music, US) The industrial metal music genre in the 1990s.


electropop

Coordinate term: synthpop

I said, I bet that you look good on the dancefloor / Dancing to electropop like a robot from 1984

2005, Alex Turner (lyrics and music), “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, performed by Arctic Monkeys

Electropop songs are essentially pop songs, often with simple, catchy hooks and dance beats, but they differentiated from those of electronic dance music genres in that the songwriting takes precedence over danceability.

2017, Norman Abjorensen, Historical Dictionary of Popular Music, Rowman & Littlefield, page 160

(music) a genre fusing electronic and pop music; technopop


post-punk

→ Russian: постпа́нк (postpánk)

Its tight, jabby songs, influenced equally by minimalist post-punk and sentimental white soul, end just when you think you’ve figured them out.

2008 April 4, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

(music) A rock music genre that followed punk rock and was more artistic and experimental, laying the foundations for alternative rock.


nu skool

Informal respelling of new school; compare old skool.

(music) Designating various style of popular music typically incorporating breakbeats; opposed to old school.


meane

(archaic, music) The middle voice of a three-voice polyphonic musical composition.


plica

en-noun

plica (countable and uncountable, plural plicas or plicae)

From Medieval Latin, from Latin plicare (“to fold”).

(music) A neume, in the form of a tail at the end of a ligature, indicating an additional note.


coupler

(music) A device that connects two keyboards of an organ together so that they play together.


ESC

Eurovision Song Contest
w:Eurovision Song Contest

(music) Initialism of Eurovision Song Contest.


diapente

From Latin
, from Ancient Greek διά (diá, “through, across”) + πέντε (pénte, “five”).

uder

(music, obsolete) The interval of the fifth or the harmonic ratio 3:2.


diatessaron

en-noun

diatessaron (plural diatessarons or diatessara)

diatessarons (plural)
diatessara (plural)

From Latin
, from Ancient Greek διά (diá, “through, across”) + τεσσάρων (tessárōn) (genitive plural of τέσσαρες (téssares, “four”)).

(music, obsolete) The interval of a fourth or the harmonic ratio 4:3.


blue-eyed

blue-eyed soul; blue-eyed jazz

Characteristic of or pertaining to white people; Caucasian.

(music) Written or performed by white people.


shock rock

(music) A genre of rock music typified by elements of theatrical shock value in live performances.


musical notation

musical notation (usually uncountable, plural musical notations)

(music) A system that represents music through the use of written symbols.


arpeggiation

arpeggiation (countable and uncountable, plural arpeggiations)

(music) The act of arpeggiating, of spreading a chord out instead of playing the notes simultaneously.


bar line

(music) A vertical line in musical notation used to separate two bars or measures.


virtuosically

en-adv

virtuosically (comparative more virtuosically, superlative most virtuosically)

more virtuosically (comparative)
most virtuosically (superlative)

(chiefly music) In the manner of a virtuoso; with virtuosity


passagework

en-noun

passagework (usually uncountable, plural passageworks)

More octaves ensue, followed by chromatic passagework with filigree scales.

1987, Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists, page 189

(music) An ornamental passage in a musical work, often resembling a scale; or the performance of such a passage


bassline

bassline (countable and uncountable, plural basslines)

(music, countable) The relatively low-pitched instrumental part of a piece of popular music.

(music, uncountable) A music genre, closely related to UK garage, that originated in South Yorkshire and the West Midlands in the early 2000s, having a four-on-the-floor rhythm and a strong emphasis on bass, with chopped-up vocal samples and a pop music aesthetic.


program music

(music) A form of art music, generally without vocal parts, that attempts to convey a scene, image, or mood.


set to music

en-verb

set to music (third-person singular simple present sets to music, present participle setting to music, simple past and past participle set to music)

sets to music (present singular third-person)
setting to music (participle present)
set to music (participle past)
set to music (past)

(music) To adapt a literary work by adding music (and often song)


multireedist

(music) Someone who can perform on multiple reed instruments


fusioneer

They like Sting as much as flamenco, and though the famous Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt is a strong influence, so is fusioneer Al DiMeola […]

1989, “Gipsy Kings Stay True to Musical Roots”, in Atlanta Journal-Constitution

(music) A performer or composer of fusion music


postpunk

postpunk industrial music

(music) Of or pertaining to the period following the punk period


folky

en-adj

folky (comparative folkier, superlative folkiest)

folkier (comparative)
folkiest (superlative)

James Taylor flew into England to see if he could interest the Beatles' Apple label into recording "Carolina In My Mind" and some of his other folky material.

1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, page 244

The band opened with a folky little number.

(music, informal) Having the character of folk music


baryton

From the German Baryton, from bary- + Ton. Doublet of baritone and barytone.

I love his music, but it is a bit disconcerting to realize that you could die in extreme old age and still only be familiar with a mere handful of the baryton trios.

2013, Simon Winder, Danubia, Picador, published 2014, page 281

(music) A viol-like stringed instrument (chordophone) mainly played with a bow but with a set of plucked strings as well, originating in European music prior to the 1800s.


kobza

Borrowed from Ukrainian ко́бза (kóbza), itself from Proto-Turkic *kopuŕ.
Doublet of komuz and cobza.

(music) A lute-like stringed instrument traditionally made from a single block of wood, with a medium-length neck, originating in Ukrainian folk music.


folkish

folkish (comparative more folkish, superlative most folkish)

more folkish (comparative)
most folkish (superlative)

universalist

chiefly US; related to their opponents, neopagan groups that support marginalized people

From folk + -ish. (Compare Old English folcisc, and German völkisch.)

neo-völkisch

related to far-right or racist neopagan groups


shoegaze

Historically, it is filed by music critics under the shoegaze genre. I suppose this is because the band used a lot of the same guitar tones as shoegaze outfits from the same time, but it was really a bit too psychedelic to fit the genre.

2011, Courtney E. Smith, Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd, One Album at a Time, page 144

Most of the releases from the Boo Radleys during their shoegaze phase feature just such a baroque, as do Killing Time by Bleach (1992; with a prawn) and ... x, y and z by Moose (1992; with a sunflower).[…]In the same way that the image of the sheep is common for EDM releases at this time, the cat comes to typify shoegaze.

2013, Benjamin Halligan, “3: Shoegaze as the Third Wave: Affective Psychedelic Noise, 1965-91”, in Michael Goddard, Benjamin Halligan, Nicola Spelman, editors, Resonances: Noise and Contemporary Music, page 58

The shoegaze influence in the early Oasis sound is just as pronounced as the debt to the grunge of Nevermind. Although they were viewed as something of an anomaly within the shoegaze label Creation, Oasis were nevertheless a neo-psychedelic rock band with a taste for distorted guitars and classic sixties pop, so in fact they fitted in pretty well with the Creation house style.

2014, Alex Niven, Oasis' Definitely Maybe, page 44


shoegaze

en-verb

shoegaze (third-person singular simple present shoegazes, present participle shoegazing, simple past and past participle shoegazed)

shoegazes (present singular third-person)
shoegazing (participle present)
shoegazed (participle past)
shoegazed (past)

Ever the pedestrian, Jason shoegazes to the side of his rhythm section, his body limp against a guitar and greased locks flowing down over his arched brow.

2004, Erik Morse, Spacemen 3 and the Birth of Spiritualized, page 86

(music) To perform in the shoegazing style.


staccatissimo

en-adj

staccatissimo (comparative more staccatissimo, superlative most staccatissimo)

more staccatissimo (comparative)
most staccatissimo (superlative)


muzaky

muzaky (comparative more muzaky, superlative most muzaky)

more muzaky (comparative)
most muzaky (superlative)

[…] whose voice might be nice enough to make you forgive the rotten songs and the Muzaky backgrounds he covered […]

It's difficult to appreciate the innovative breakbeats when they're sandwiched between muzaky sex-talk, and the album mostly fails because of it.

2001, Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, John Bush, All Music Guide to Electronica

Copyright-free music can be a bit tacky and muzaky, but it is a low-budget option.

2002, Moi Ali, Practical Marketing and Public Relations for the Small Business

(informal, music, derogatory) Reminiscent of Muzak; insipid and monotonous.


melodicism

No sense of aloofness or distance diluted his warm melodicism.

2000, Ted Gioia, “Cool Jazz and West Coast Jazz”, in Bill Kirchner, editor, Oxford Companion to Jazz, page 340

(music) A focus on the development of melody


theme song

“Liberty Bell March” is the theme song to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

(music, broadcasting) A song which accompanies a television or radio program, usually as an intro or outro.


electrophone

(music) any instrument designed to create sounds using electric currents


lutelike

lutelike (comparative more lutelike, superlative most lutelike)

more lutelike (comparative)
most lutelike (superlative)

a lutelike instrument

And an African ensemble, with Kewulay Kamara narrating and Missia Sarah Dioubate singing to the accompaniment of the lutelike kora and percussion, offered "A Badenya Greeting: Being of One Mother."

2009 January 2, Allan Kozinn, “Reflecting on Peace in the Quiet Light of Song”, in New York Times

(music) Resembling a lute in form or sound


folklike

folklike (comparative more folklike, superlative most folklike)

more folklike (comparative)
most folklike (superlative)

Fortunately, Lucy Wainwright Roche sings and writes gentle, lapping, folklike songs, and her clear, steady voice feels like a beacon of sorts, slicing straight through the room.

2009 January 2, Amanda Petrusich, Ben Sisario, Jon Pareles, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

(music) Resembling the style of folk music


pickin' and grinnin'

From Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap there was a lot less pickin’ and grinnin’ and a lot more soft rockers and heartbroken love ballads.

1987 March 20, Scott Mervis, “Country Slickers”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 2009-01-03, page 19

In this city of guitars and grits, Andersen is the ambassador of pickin’ and grinnin’.

2008 June 25, Joe Edwards, “Guitar-playing 'ambassador' greets visitors at Nashville's Hall of Fame”, in USA Today, retrieved 2009-01-03

(chiefly US, music, idiomatic) Vigorous playing of folk or country music on a stringed musical instrument, especially the guitar or banjo, while smiling broadly.


ciranda

Borrowed from Portuguese ciranda, which is from Spanish zaranda (“sieve”), from Andalusian Arabic سرند, from Persian سرند (“sieve”).

(music) A traditional Brazilian children's dance.


mysterioso

(music) Alternative spelling of misterioso


trancey

trancey (comparative more trancey, superlative most trancey)

more trancey (comparative)
most trancey (superlative)

Video monitors play the latest clips from Bjork and Peaches while DJs take the dance floor in a trancey direction.

At the foot of the hill, trancey music from a garage party beckoned.

2005, Matt Rauscher, The Unborn Spouse Situation

(informal, music) Resembling or pertaining to trance music, i.e. immersively melodic with a strong electronic dance beat.


pianism

en-noun

pianism (countable and uncountable, plural pianisms)

There is nothing showy in her pianism, nothing cloying about her expressivity.

2009 January 5, Anthony Tommasini, “Reopening a Pianist's Treasury of Chopin”, in New York Times


contradanza

contradanza (countable and uncountable, plural contradanzas)

The music of Cuba has had a worldwide influence on forms of song and dance. René Buch who conceived and directed a musical “collage” called “¡Habana!” at the Repertorio Español on East 27th Street, points out the influence on Spain, for example, which received ‘habaneras’ and ‘contradanzas’ from Cuba; in this century, in the 1920's, the “rumba” and such songs as “El Manisero” and “Siboney” made their way north to become part of United States culture.

1982 December 27, Edward Rothstein, “Music: 40 Songs of Cuba”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, page C12

The programming was far from random. The habanera is a hybrid seed of great potency. An adaptation of the European contradanza by slaves from West Africa, it is not only an early version of a New World rhythm that took over the globe, but also a direct ancestor for much of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.

2018 March 5, Brian Seibert, “Review: Tapping Out Some New World Rhythms”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(music) A popular Cuban dance music genre of the 19th century, or a work composed in this genre.


middle eight

(music) The third of four eight-bar sections in thirty-two-bar-form (AABA-form) music.


riffy

en-adj

riffy (comparative riffier, superlative riffiest)

riffier (comparative)
riffiest (superlative)

(informal, music) Characterized by a lot of guitar riffs.


soloistic

soloistic (comparative more soloistic, superlative most soloistic)

more soloistic (comparative)
most soloistic (superlative)

Much the same could be said for the drummer Gerald Cleaver, who brought a lot of color and soloistic ideas into his steady time.

2009 January 9, Ben Ratliff, “Nodding to Tradition While Pursuing the Ideal”, in New York Times

(music) Pertaining to, or characteristic of, a soloist


vallenato

en-noun

vallenato (countable and uncountable, plural vallenatos)

From Spanish vallenato, from valle (“valley”) nato (“born”).

(music, uncountable) A popular style of folk music from Colombia.

100% COLOMBIANO (Tonight) This showcase of upbeat Colombian music includes exuberant salsa from Orquesta Guayacán and Son de Cali, with accordion-pumped vallenatos from the duos of Jorge Celedón-Jimmy Zambrano and Herbert Vargas-Silvestre Dangond, and vallenato-rooted rock from Fonseca.

2007 July 27, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

(music, countable) A piece performed in this style.


haunted house

haunted house (countable and uncountable, plural haunted houses)

بَيْت أَشْبَاح

house believed to be a center for supernatural occurrences

This enigmatic bunch are a reaction to Manchester's musical past, with a blend of haunted house and rave dynamics

2011 March 25, Paul Lester, “New band of the day: Christian AIDS (No 991)”, in The Guardian

(uncountable, music) Synonym of witch house (“music genre”)


highlife

highlife (countable and uncountable, plural highlifes)

(music, uncountable) A genre of music that originated in Ghana in the early 20th century, blending elements of traditional Akan music with Western instruments and ideas.

Then he left the stage and listened to us playing highlifes.

1985, John Collins, African Pop Roots: The Inside Rhythms of Africa, page 76

Several of the city's most prominent ensembles started to incorporate foreign rock 'n' roll numbers into their existing repertories of ballroom, calypsos, and highlifes.

2012, Nate Plageman, Highlife Saturday Night: Popular Music and Social Change in Urban Ghana, page 142

(music, countable) A work or performance in this style.


sakpata

(music) A rhythm used in the vodoun drumming of Benin to invoke Sakpata, the god of smallpox


beatboxer

(music) A performer who imitates the sound of musical instruments, especially percussion, with his or her voice


santur

Borrowed from Classical Persian سَنْتُور (santūr), of uncertain origin; sometimes suggested to be from Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion, “psaltery”).

der

(music) A type of hammered dulcimer played in Persian music


every good boy deserves fudge

(music, mnemonic) A mnemonic phrase to help remember the order of the five lines on a musical treble stave in order from the bottom to the top: E G B D F.


tombak

From Persian تنبک (tonbak). Doublet of dumbek.

(music) A type of goblet drum used heavily in Persian music.


rapmeister

The discussion is both friendly and intense; after two minutes, the rapmeister readjusts his baseball cap, bids the banker goodbye and grins...

1992 December, Black Enterprise, volume 23, number 5, page 66

"Ha, I pity your white ass," says Rapmeister Dommie, twelve going on twenty-nine.

2002, Carl Hiaasen, Basket case, page 242


stickman

Our second stickman was much more behind the scenes. Earl Young was the in-house drummer at Philadelphia Records.

2019, Alon Shulman, The Second Summer of Love: How Dance Music Took Over the World, Kings Road Publishing


bottleneck guitar

en-noun

bottleneck guitar (plural bottleneck guitars)

(music) A technique of playing guitar by sliding a metal tube, or (originally) a glass bottleneck, along the guitar strings to alter the pitch.


maximalist

en-adj

maximalist (comparative more maximalist, superlative most maximalist)

more maximalist (comparative)
most maximalist (superlative)

From maximal + -ist, by analogy with minimalist.

This, his [Frank Stella's] second Museum of Modern Art retrospective, shows him in his second incarnation, turning his back on Minimalist rationality and opting for a “maximalist,” seemingly free-wheeling Baroque complexity that helped set the stage for New-Expressionism.

1987 December 6, Roberta Smith, “Schnabel and Stella: Art, Myth and Ego”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Three elephantine examples of that trend have been in the news of late, and they call into question their underlying maximalist presumption that more is more.

1990 May 27, John Rockwell, “Complete Everything, or Is More Enough?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Mr. Shadbolt's maximalist, when-in-doubt-be-vivid style capaciously suits “Monday's Warriors,” his novel of the wars between the Maoris and the British in New Zealand in the mid-19th century; […]

1992 May 3, Ivan Doig, “Maps Made by Blind Men”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

The biennial also includes a sprawling cityscape by Chris Burden incorporating thousands of model buildings, cranes and automobiles, a maximalist vision where Mr. Ashkin's is minimalist.

1997 April 6, Trip Gabriel, “Trafficking in Toxic Waste and Human Loneliness”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Bach's choral music was once often heard in maximalist renditions, undertaken by large ensembles who by sheer vocal and instrumental weight emphasize the majestic side of his compositions.

1998 May 17, Sarah Bryan Miller, “Classical Brief”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

[Christian] Lacroix's maximalist aesthetic has been at odds with fashion trends in recent years. But fashion is just now beginning to swing back his way, with an emphasis on volume and flounce above sleekness.

2005 January 26, Jess Cartner-Morley, “Ovation for Lacroix as maximalist look makes a comeback”, in The Guardian

At the moment, for example, while a minimalist aesthetic, or the tail end of one, still manifests itself in a lot of painting and music, we are living in age of maximalist novels—books less concerned with le mot juste than with being full-service entertainment centers.

2005 April 17, Charles McGrath, “The Souped-Up, Knock-Out, Total Fiction Experience”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

You might call [Louis] Wain’s ‘mad’ style a version of the outsider mode in its paranoid or maximalist aspect.

2011 July 28, Terry Castle, “Do I like it?”, in London Review of Books, volume 33, number 15, →ISSN

Such a bustling, maximalist extravaganza is in keeping with the excitable energy of the crowd, who are clearly thrilled to revisit the block-party beats of Cruel Summer and tribal doo-wop of Really Sayin’ Somethin’.

2017 November 14, Graeme Virtue, “Bananarama review – hi-NRG poignancy as pop trio return for first proper tour”, in The Guardian

Returning to the sound of her maximalist electro-pop heyday, Gaga explores buried trauma, mental illness and the complexities of fame on this return to form

2020 May 29, Michael Cragg, “Lady Gaga: Chromatica review – Gaga rediscovers the riot on her most personal album”, in The Guardian

[Chappell] Roan draws from the mega-pop of the 2010s, from Lady Gaga to Taylor Swift – then laces it with sexually frank asides and lavish doses of camp, and performs it with a maximalist, absurd aesthetic indebted to drag, John Waters and Freddie Mercury.

2024 August 9, Laura Snapes, “It’s a femininomenon! How Chappell Roan slow-burned her way to stardom”, in The Guardian

(art, music, literature) Preferring redundancy; tending to do or provide more rather than less.


maximalist

Concerning his own purpose in making music, Mr. Babbitt says he would call himself a maximalist: “I try to make music as much as it has ever been or as much as it could be. I may try to put too much into a piece. […]”

1982 October 17, Joan Peyser, “Milton Babbitt's Serialism”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

The music, of course, for all of its determined frivolity, is wonderfully eloquent, and composers as diverse as Webern, the great Minimalist, and Mahler, a great “Maximalist,” have come to worship at the shrine.

1986 August 24, Tim Page, “Opera: ‘Die Fledermaus’ Gets a Change of Cast”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Critics have aptly borrowed those terms to characterize the difference between Mr. Beckett, for example, and his erstwhile master James Joyce, himself a maximalist except in his early works.

1986 December 28, John Barth, “A Few Words About Minimalism”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

In the 1960's, he [Peter Gourfain] was a Minimalist, using wood beams to build allusive and ephemeral constructions. This show is primarily concerned with the artist since he became a maximalist.

1987 April 3, Michael Brenson, “Works by Gourfain at Brooklyn Museum”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

A maximalist, Mr. [Craig] Baldwin is at once a collector and curator of 20th-century visual culture.

2009 January 14, Manohla Dargis, “Star Log: Trippy Sci-Fi Mash-Up Alert!”, in New York Times

David Foster Wallace was a maximalist. His masterpiece, Infinite Jest, is a 1,000-page, polyphonic epic about addiction and obsession in millennial America.

2015 May 25, Chris Power, “A brief survey of the short story: David Foster Wallace”, in the Guardian

Mohawke is known as a musical maximalist, which is a polite way of saying that he lumps prodigiously distorted beats on top of each other, as if playing techno Jenga.

2015 December 11, Ian Gittins, “Hudson Mohawke review – ferocious, apocalyptic electro”, in The Guardian

(art, literature, music) A person with maximalist beliefs or tendencies; someone who prefers redundancy or excess, especially in the arts.


dirgelike

dirgelike (comparative more dirgelike, superlative most dirgelike)

more dirgelike (comparative)
most dirgelike (superlative)

Her “Coronation Theme: Organon,” made of black stereo speakers stacked up to the ceiling, sends dirgelike royal fanfares laced with the noise of shouting crowds shuddering through the room.

2009 January 16, Holland Cotter, “Black History, Alive in Washington”, in New York Times

(music) Resembling a dirge: slow and depressing


stompy

stompy (comparative stompier, superlative stompiest)

stompier (comparative)
stompiest (superlative)

This Welsh five-piece plays stompy rock ’n’ roll with almost anthemic choruses and a hint of hardcore aggression — the vocalist Matt Davies has an epic scream, although he rarely employs it.

2009 January 16, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

(music) Of a stomping style of dance, or music appropriate to such a dance.


ultrafunky

ultrafunky (comparative more ultrafunky, superlative most ultrafunky)

more ultrafunky (comparative)
most ultrafunky (superlative)

(colloquial, chiefly music) Extremely funky.


melodeon

From French mélodium, with change of ending.

/mɪˈləʊdɪən/

The thin, nearsighted young woman who had been humped over the keyboard of the melodeon, straightened up. The worshipers relaxed a little and began to look about.

1909, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Keziah Coffin

(historical, music) A type of reed organ with a single keyboard.

But Chae said it didn't matter, he'd bring his melodeon and Long Rob his fiddle; and faith! if that didn't content the folk they were looking for a church parade of the Gordons, not a wedding.

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 147

His brother, Roy, joined him as a dancer - their two-man jigs were much admired - and his nephew, Jamie Wheeler, has become the side's principal musician, on melodeon and fiddle.

2009 January 13, Derek Schofield, “Francis Shergold”, in The Guardian

(music) An accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys.


folktronica

(music) A musical genre combining elements of folk music and electronica.


countryish

countryish (comparative more countryish, superlative most countryish)

more countryish (comparative)
most countryish (superlative)

Harvard's WHRB (FM 95.3) has everything from the punk-rocky “Record Hospital” at night to the country-ish “Hillbilly At Harvard” on Saturday mornings.

1998 January 24, “Boston: Vital Statistics (The Billboard Spotlight)”, in Billboard, volume 110, number 4, →ISSN, page 52

In “Beach Baby,” a countryish waltz, and “Babys,” a ballad with an itchy piano underlay, Mr. Vernon conjures thoughts of summertime from a distance.

2009 January 18, Nate Chinen, “Sonic Adventures, From a Cappella to Zydeco”, in The New York Times

(music) Having characteristics of country music.


multiphonic

He prefaced his next song with a row of hard, multiphonic squawks, sounding like a truck horn.

2009 January 22, Nate Chinen, “A Single Jazz Band, by Way of Two Trios”, in New York Times

(music) Having the character of multiphonics: sounding two or more pitches at the same time


predisco

Coordinate term: post-disco

The intimate Sneakers Annex space, which could just as easily pass for a mid-50s combination truck stop/clip joint (except for Mark Mac Lean's clever predisco music), teems with the eternally generic[…].

1988 January 8, Lawrence Bommer, “Live Dancers Tonite”, in Chicago Reader

(music) Of the period in the 1970s preceding the advent of disco music.


skronky

skronky (comparative more skronky, superlative most skronky)

more skronky (comparative)
most skronky (superlative)

MODESELEKTOR (Saturday) This duo, from Berlin, plays skronky, occasionally disconcerting electronic music, and has benefited enormously from the copious—and copiously heeded—praise of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.

2009 January 23, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

This is the kind of difficulty that has a kinship with skronky jazz, and avant-garde noise, and some hip-hop, and lots of punk rock.

(US, music, slang) Raw and discordant, especially of an electric guitar.


riffwise

My, they all were right up there with the Ted Nugents and Grand Funks riffwise, weren't they?

2000 February 8, George Smith, “Swede Surrender”, in Village Voice


popcraft

They've mastered one of the finer points of popcraft, the ability to create a texture you want to touch.

1988 January 22, Renaldo Migaldi, “Trip Shakespeare”, in Chicago Reader

(music) The art of composing or performing pop music


introitus

/ɪnˈtɹəʊ.ɪtəs/

Five have an introitus (introduction) that stands outside the isorhythmic scheme;¹⁰⁸ some of these introitus are instrumental rather than vocal […]

1954, Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance, W.W. Norton, page 22

As summarized in Example 3.14, nearly all of these introitus […]

1992, Jon Michael Allsen, Style and intertextuality in the isorhythmic motet 1400-1440, volume 1, University of Wisconsin-Madison, page 118

(music) A piece of music played before a mass; a musical introduction of any sort.


calypsolike

calypsolike (comparative more calypsolike, superlative most calypsolike)

more calypsolike (comparative)
most calypsolike (superlative)

The band is called Let Freedom Swing, and in Thursday night’s early set it played […] a calypsolike “We Shall Overcome”; and a version of Herbie Hancock ’s strange bossa nova “I Have a Dream.”

2009 January 24, Ben Ratliff, “Jazz With a Mission, and a Groove”, in New York Times


copublish

en-verb

copublish (third-person singular simple present copublishes, present participle copublishing, simple past and past participle copublished)

copublishes (present singular third-person)
copublishing (participle present)
copublished (participle past)
copublished (past)

(transitive, music business) To have credit as a publisher of (a work published by another).


avanzada

(music) A genre originated from the fusion of Paraguayan polka and guarania with elements of bossa nova and MPB.


chromatic scale

en-noun

chromatic scale (plural chromatic scales)

(music) A scale including all intervals of a particular tuning within an octave.

半音階

a scale including all intervals of a particular tuning within an octave


riyaz

(music) The rigorous practice of Hindustani classical music.


duetting

(music) The singing or playing of a duet.


shoop

If you want to know
(Shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop)
If he loves you so
(Shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop)
It's in his kiss.

1963, Rudy Clark (lyrics and music), “The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)”

But don't it make you feel good (Shoop shoop aaahh)
And don't it make you feel good (Shoop shoop aaahh)
Don't it make you feel good (Shoop shoop aaahh)
And don't it make you feel good (Shoop shoop aaahh)

1982, Bananarama (lyrics and music), “Shy Boy”, in Deep Sea Skiving

I like what ya do when you do what ya do
You make me wanna shoop
Shoop shoop ba-doop

1993, Salt-N-Pepa (lyrics and music), “Shoop”, in Very Necessary

But there comes a point when
When we exhale (yeah, yeah, say)
Shoop, shoop, shoop
Shoo be doop shoop shoop (yeah).

1995, Whitney Houston (lyrics and music), “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)”

(music) Used as a scat word in song lyrics.


bel canto

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bel canto.wav

Borrowed from Italian bel canto (literally “beautiful singing”).

bor

Bel canto, or the art of beautiful singing, in 17th- and 18th-century Italy cultivated embellishment through ornaments such as cadenzas, scales, and trills which declined as the size, power, and volume of the orchestra increased.

2012 March 22nd, David Blockley, Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (309), Oxford University Press, chapter 1: “From idea to reality”, page 5

(music) An elegant style of singing characterized by beautiful tone and an effortless technique.


ensembling

Some of the violin playing was inaudible during this section, and there was an ensembling problem between horn and trombone[…].

1988 October 7, Dennis Polkow, “New Works by Local Composers”, in Chicago Reader

(music) Playing harmoniously together in an ensemble


cumbia

en-noun

cumbia (usually uncountable, plural cumbias)

From Colombian and Panamanian Spanish cumbia.

There’s […] an accordion- and brass-pumped Colombian cumbia for “Cumbia de Los Aburridos” (“Cumbia of the Bored”).

2007 April 23, The New York Times, “New CDs”, in New York Times

(music) A traditional style of Colombian dance and music, or a piece in this style.


hitmaker

But those who stayed saw a strong set from the hitmaker Akon, who did “I Tried” with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

2007 June 5, Kelefa Sanneh, “In Search of New York at a Hip-Hop Summit”, in New York Times

(music) A musician who frequently produces hits; a star


multiplatinum

Ms. Sparks, 17, was named the winner of the competition, a television phenomenon that has spurred multiplatinum sales for an array of contestants[…].

2007 May 24, The New York Times, “Arizona Teenager Wins ‘American Idol’”, in New York Times

(music) Having exceeded the platinum level of sales on multiple occasions


serialist

(music) Of, pertaining to, or employing serialism


serialist

In the last decade or so, this once unabashedly complex serialist, now 68, seems to have allowed a lyrical generosity into his works.

2007 January 16, Anthony Tommasini, “Serious German Violinist Gets a Rock Star Ovation”, in New York Times

(music) A practitioner or adherent of serialism, an approach to composing which emphasizes the use of a series of notes, especially scales, to achieve coherence


coloristic

Christian Tetzlaff […] played the work with exquisite control and coloristic fluidity.

2007 March 17, Allan Kozinn, “Muscular Approach Accented With a Ghostly Whisper”, in New York Times

(art, music) Of, pertaining to, or focused on coloring or an enhanced use of colour


multitracked

When I turned it up and found it was McFerrin doing his usual multitracked, a cappella shtick, I was at first charmed.

1988 December 23, Ted Cox, “Don't Worry--Turn the Radio Off”, in Chicago Reader


hummable

en-adj

hummable (comparative more hummable, superlative most hummable)

more hummable (comparative)
most hummable (superlative)

It wasn't as though the Dead Kennedys played hummable tunes, but lead singer Jello Biafra is a superstar in his own right.

1988 February 26, Achy Obejas, “Calendar”, in Chicago Reader

(music) Suitable for humming or humming along to.


midtempo

This wry, midtempo track is familiar yet highly personal.

2009 January 31, John Sakamoto, “The Anti-Hit List”, in Toronto Star

(music) At a medium tempo, neither fast nor slow


motivic

In fact, Tucker's use of parallel motion and open fourths as a central motivic element particularly reminded me of Stravinsky's sacred music, especially the quieter sections of Symphony of Psalms and the Mass.

1988 April 8, Dennis Polkow, “Cross Dreams”, in Chicago Reader

(music) Used as, or relating to, a motif.


multitrack

Lush is the only word for Ulrich Schnauss’s “Goodbye” (Domino), an album that makes most multitrack pop confections sound spartan.

2007 July 15, Jon Pareles, “Sounds Dire, Droll, Dreamy and on the Edge of Kitsch”, in New York Times

Having or involving more than one track.


multitrack

en-verb

multitrack (third-person singular simple present multitracks, present participle multitracking, simple past and past participle multitracked)

multitracks (present singular third-person)
multitracking (participle present)
multitracked (participle past)
multitracked (past)

(music) To record on multiple tracks simultaneously (typically with each performer or instrument having its own track)


ranchera

/ɹænˈt͡ʃɛɹə/

Borrowed from Spanish (in Spanish the ending "a" usually is for feminine terms, like in this case, because originally is an adjective for música and/or canción, which are feminine nouns).

(music) A traditional Mexican song performed solo with a guitar.


microtonality

en-noun

microtonality (countable and uncountable, plural microtonalities)

[…] he proved that microtonality and the angular vocal and instrumental lines that typically evoke modernist angst can just as easily create manic comedy.

2007 June 23, Allan Kozinn, “Finding Inspiration in an Unlikely Place”, in New York Times

(music) The use of microtones in composition.


danciness

These and other writers also consciously strive for jazz's full-bodied swingingness, its danciness, its range of allusion, its trickbag of quicksilver improvisational impulses.

1998, Robert G. O'Meally, The Jazz Cadence of American Culture, page 536

The sheer danciness of most Balanchine ballets gives audiences a basically exhilarating time.

2007 September 25, Alastair Macaulay, “An Idiomatic Balanchine, Walking the Walk in Seattle”, in New York Times

(music) The quality of being dancy, suitable to or filled with dance.


chamberlike

en-adj

chamberlike (comparative more chamberlike, superlative most chamberlike)

more chamberlike (comparative)
most chamberlike (superlative)

“Fantasy” (Palmetto) is Mr. Mays’s other recent effort, and on it he presents chamberlike originals and canonical reinterpretations (again including Debussy, Bach and Scriabin).

2007 September 2, Nate Chinen, “That Ticking Sound? It’s Beck’s New Single”, in New York Times


geophone

(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a drum filled with pellets, played by swirling it around to produce a sound like shifting earth.


sonero

This annual concert at Madison Square Garden features two salsa giants: Victor Manuelle, a leading young sonero, or improvising singer, who is not above dipping into reggaetón to score a hit, and Gilberto Santa Rosa, an unswerving traditionalist for three decades.

2007 February 9, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times

(music) An improvising lead singer in salsa music


songcraft

/ˈsɒŋkɹɑːft/

From song + -craft, sometimes after Old English sangcræft (“singing, poetry; music”).

inh

The purpose of the anecdote is to show the bold recklessness of the warrior, who could amuse himself with his song-craft in the very face of the enemy.

1846, Thomas Wright, “Essay III. The Chansons de Geste, or Historical Romances of the Middle Ages”, in Essays on Subjects Connected with the Literature, Popular Superstitions, and History of England in the Middle Ages. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: John Russell Smith, 4, Old Compton Street, Soho Square, →OCLC, page 94

Pause by some neglected graveyard, / For a while to muse, and ponder / On a half-effaced inscription, / Written with little skill of song-craft, / Homely phrases, but each letter / Full of hope, and yet of heart-break, / Full of all the tender pathos / Of the Here and Hereafter;— / Stay and read this rude inscription, / Read this Song of Hiawatha!

1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, pages 8–9

[The] Mother Hips was the first band in the 1990s to emerge from the Chico, California, music scene and introduce itself to the wider world. […] During this era, many area venues frequently invoked a "no original material" policy, but the exemplary song craft and swelling fan base of Mother Hips led many bars and clubs to abandon that edict.

1998, Dean Budnick, “Mother Hips”, in Jam Bands: North America’s Hottest Live Groups: Plus How to Tape and Trade Their Shows, Toronto, Ont.: ECW Press, page 176

A child weaned on Police Academy sequels or, say, the appalling robot pimp in 1984's The Ice Pirates could have no trouble giggling at song parodies like "Eat It" or "I Lost On Jeopardy," but might come to appreciate, however unconsciously, ["Weird Al"] Yankovic's songcraft or the peculiar places his lyrics could go.

2012 July 14, Scott Tobias, “Weird Al’s UHF is uneven, but that just made it ahead of its time”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2013-11-28

(music) The practice or skill of crafting or composing songs.


torchy

en-adj

torchy (comparative torchier, superlative torchiest)

torchier (comparative)
torchiest (superlative)

[…] the lovelorn Sally sings a torchy blues (the poignant "Losing My Mind"), hypocritical Ben masquerades as a carefree song-and-dance man in the bubbly, Gershwin-esque "Live, Laugh, Love," and so on.

1988 October 21, Albert Williams, “Follies; 1000 Airplanes on the Roof”, in Chicago Reader

"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

(music) Having the character of a torch song.


suitelike

suitelike (comparative more suitelike, superlative most suitelike)

more suitelike (comparative)
most suitelike (superlative)

The music of both the symphonic “Florentine Tragedy” and the more suitelike “Dwarf,” whose dances evoke the Spanish court, dramatically mirrors onstage emotions.

2007 July 30, Vivien Schweitzer, “A Double Bill of Viennese Romanticism”, in New York Times


verset

From Middle English verset, from Old French verset; equivalent to verse + -et.

(music) A very short organ interlude or prelude.


dhol

From Hindi ढोल (ḍhol), from Sanskrit ढोल (ḍhola).

On the TV news men in pink and saffron turbans are at the airport, jigging frantically to the music of dhols.

2017, Salman Rushdie, The Golden House, Jonathan Cape, published 2017, page 106


fugato

(music) A fugal passage in a composition that is not a strict or complete fugue.


hambone

(music, dance) A certain type of dance that involves making noise with the body, especially by slapping parts of the body with one's hands


salsero

This afternoon of Puerto Rican musical pride at Celebrate Brooklyn has a strong lineup, with Tito Rojas, a leading salsero since the 1980s[…].

2007 July 27, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in New York Times


splittercore

(music) A subgenre of speedcore with aggressive themes and a particularly high BPM (beats per minute).


clavinet

(music) An electrophonic keyboard instrument, an electronically amplified clavichord with a distinctive bright staccato sound.

klavinetti

electronic clavichord with a staccato sound


urtext

(music, linguistics, anthropology) The original version of a piece of music or text, as created by the composer or writer.


motoric

motoric (comparative more motoric, superlative most motoric)

more motoric (comparative)
most motoric (superlative)

In between were the Bang on a Can All-Stars, a contemporary chamber-music group, playing the part of their repertory — drum-driven, motoric, yet by no means primitive — closest to rock.

2007 May 18, Jon Pareles, “A Tenderhearted Introvert, Crooning in Eclectic Company”, in New York Times

(music, of a rhythm) Based on repetition of a single note length.


marchy

marchy (comparative marchier, superlative marchiest)

marchier (comparative)
marchiest (superlative)

But halfway through, this stateliness devolves into the kind of marchy clatter that Wagner’s Italian counterparts were writing.

2009 February 27, Allan Kozinn, “A Viennese Meal Served With the Dessert First”, in New York Times


lyrist

On “Kabibi” he connects breezily with the Tanzanian singer and thumb pianist Anania Ngoliga; on “Pakugyenda Balebauo,” also in Tanzania, he trades phrases with a lyrist named Warema Masiaga Cha Cha. The title track, which Mr. Fleck wrote in his own style, features the Malian ngoni players Bassekou Kouyate and Haruna Samake.

2009 March 2, The New York Times, “New CDs”, in New York Times


tenorial

tenorial (comparative more tenorial, superlative most tenorial)

more tenorial (comparative)
most tenorial (superlative)

But for sheer Italianate tenorial beauty, Mr. Pavarotti was hard to top.

2007 September 7, Anthony Tommasini, “That Voice: Warm, Urgent, Italian, Singular”, in New York Times

(music) Of, pertaining or proper to the tenor voice


mridangam

/mɹɪ.ˈdʌŋ.ɡəm/

Borrowed from Malayalam മൃദംഗം (mr̥daṅgaṁ), from Sanskrit मृदङ्ग (mṛdaṅga). Alternative forms are from various other Indian languages such as miruthangam, mirudhangam are borrowed from Tamil மிருதங்கம் (mirutaṅkam), mridang from Hindi मृदङ्ग (mŕdaṅg) etc.

bor+

A sarangi player set the tone and Kalavati began to sing in her sweet, melodious voce; mridangam and sitar accompanied her.

2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 145

(music) A percussion instrument used in southern Indian music, consisting of a two-sided drum whose body is usually made from a hollowed piece of jackfruit wood.


megaband

(music, informal) A particularly successful band.


drummerless

Just over a decade ago, the bassist Charlie Haden played a drummerless New York nightclub engagement with the pianist Kenny Barron.

2007 August 3, The New York Times, “Jazz Listings”, in New York Times


barrelhouse

From barrel + house. Originally used to refer specifically to a bar that served whiskey directly from the barrel.

A barrelhouse blues was being shouted over the stamping of feet on a wooden floor. Miss Grace, the good-time woman, had her usual Saturday-night customers.

1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 18, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 111

(music) A loud, percussive type of blues piano suitable for noisy bars or taverns.


marchlike

en-adj

marchlike (comparative more marchlike, superlative most marchlike)

more marchlike (comparative)
most marchlike (superlative)

His work, “La Devinette d’Arlequin,” seemed less the riddle of its title than a busy, marchlike exercise in calculated harshness […].

2007 April 24, Bernard Holland, “Composers Near and Far, Speaking a Language of Now”, in New York Times


mbalax

Borrowed from Wolof [Term?], meaning "rhythm".

Another local style — the Senegalese funk called mbalax — arrived with the singer Fallou Dieng, a protégé of the Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour.

2008 January 15, Jon Pareles, “To See (and Hear) the World in Five Hours: Unique Sounds Ripe for Import”, in New York Times

(music) A genre of popular dance music chiefly performed in Senegal and The Gambia


tambura

He was among the singers in the celebratory chorus of “Yellow Submarine,” and he played tambura (an Indian drone instrument) on “Within You Without You,” harmonica on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” and percussion on “Magical Mystery Tour.”

2008 March 25, Allan Kozinn, “Neil Aspinall, Beatles’ Aide, Dies at 66”, in New York Times

(music) A type of long-necked lute-like stringed instrument found throughout the world.


soukous

The title makes reference to Congolese soukous music, and so does Mr. Koenig’s guitar figure.

2007 June 18, Kelefa Sanneh, “Preppie Afro-Pop and Other Odd Blends”, in New York Times

(music) A genre of African popular music, resembling rumba, that originated in the Congo region in the 1930s.


soundboard

(music) A wide, flat board placed within, or forming part of the body of, a musical instrument in order to improve vibrations and increase volume.


overamplification

en-noun

overamplification (usually uncountable, plural overamplifications)

Although there is some recorded music, the 10 musicians […] add further vitality to the program, despite bad overamplification.

2007 October 16, Roslyn Sulcas, “The Costumes, the Rifles, the Six-Foot Headdresses”, in New York Times

(chiefly music) Excessive amplification.


reductivism

reductivism (countable and uncountable, plural reductivisms)

(music) A minimalist school of music with similar aims.


grand C

Grand C is the highest C on a 76-key keyboard.

(music) the C note exactly one octave above high C


narcocorrido

narcocorrido (countable and uncountable, plural narcocorridos)

From Spanish narcocorrido, from narco- (“drug”) + corrido (“ballad”).

(music) A genre of Mexican music based on the polka, depicting drug smugglers, cartels, and other criminal activities.

They were nonjudgmental first-person stories, including the notorious narcocorrido “Pacas de a Kilo,” (“One-Kilo Packets”) told from the point of view of a proud marijuana grower.

2007 February 19, Ben Ratliff, “Singing Stories From Lives Lived Far Away From Home”, in New York Times

(music, countable) Any song in this genre.


benga

(music) A genre of Kenyan popular music in an urban style associated with stringed instrumentation.


rockish

en-adj

rockish (comparative more rockish, superlative most rockish)

more rockish (comparative)
most rockish (superlative)

(music) That has the characteristics of rock music.


polymetric

(poetry, music) Involving more than one metre


overamped

overamped (comparative more overamped, superlative most overamped)

more overamped (comparative)
most overamped (superlative)

(music) Excessively amplified; very loud and distorted.


krautrock

From Kraut (“German”) + rock (“rock music”).

Many krautrock bands arose out of the West German student counterculture and connected leftist political activism with experimental rock music and, later, electronic sounds.

2016, Ulrich Adelt, Krautrock: German Music in the Seventies, University of Michigan Press, page 2

(music, sometimes capitalized) A genre of German experimental rock music from the 1970s.

krautrock

a genre of German experimental rock music from the 1970s


schlager

en-noun

schlager (countable and uncountable, plural schlagers)

From German Schlager (late 19th century), from schlagen (“to hit”), thus similar to English hit (“successful song”, early 20th century).

(music, uncountable) A chiefly European style of popular music with light melodies (often easily danceable) and typically facile, sentimental lyrics.

(music, countable) A piece made in this style.


pomposo

en-adj

pomposo (comparative more pomposo, superlative most pomposo)

more pomposo (comparative)
most pomposo (superlative)

From Italian pomposo (“magnificent”). Doublet of pompous.


pomposo

(music) in a ceremonious and dignified manner


singspiel

en-noun

singspiel (countable and uncountable, plural singspiels)

(music, uncountable) An early German form of opera consisting of spoken dialogue interspersed with song.

(music, countable) An opera in this style.


pop punk

Last fall, Bring Me the Horizon kicked off a new era of their band with a standalone single called "DiE4u", which sounded like a a heavy, metallic take on My Chemical Romance-style pop-punk mixed with the electronic flair of modern emo-rap.

2022 July 6, Eli Enis, “See Bring Me the Horizon's Horrifying, NSFW Video for New Song "sTraNgeRs"”, in Revolver

(music) A genre that combines elements of punk rock with elements of pop music.


trancester

(music, informal, rare) A musician who composes trance music.


mandocello

(music) A string instrument similar to a large mandolin


mallcore

From mall + -core, since it may be played as background music in shopping centres.

[…]a time when the hardcore scene badly needs to overthrow the mallcore bands, the naughty yet non-threatening pop punk groups who wear their tattoos like designer labels instead of inner scars.

(slang, derogatory, music) Popular music that is overproduced, mainstream, corporately controlled, etc., as opposed to popular music that is independent or artistic.

Troves of angst-ridden, mall-invading teens adopted Slipknot as their patron-saint back in 1999 (when the band’s self-titled debut came out), instantly earning the band a “mallcore” seal of disapproval by their critics

2009, Munson the Destroyer, WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE TO HATE SLIPKNOT


unkeyed

an unkeyed flute