zarzuela

zarzuela (countable and uncountable, plural zarzuelas)

Borrowed from Spanish zarzuela, probably from the Palace of Zarzuela, royal residence near Madrid where it was first performed.

(music) A form of Spanish opera having spoken dialogue and usually a comic subject.


symphonic

en-adj

symphonic (comparative more symphonic, superlative most symphonic)

more symphonic (comparative)
most symphonic (superlative)

1923: George Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite - Finally, Mozart's most dramatic finales and concerted numbers are more or less in sonata form, like symphonic movements, and must therefore be classed as musical prose.


keynote

(music) The note on which a musical key is based; the tonic.


quill

From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”).
Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.

cog

(music) The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.

(music) The tube of a musical instrument.


saccade

(music) The sounding of two violin strings together by using a sudden strong pressure of the bow.

saccadé

music: sounding of two violin strings together


sonata

From Italian sonata, from the feminine past participle of sonare (modern suonare), from Latin sonāre (“to make sound”). Doublet of sounded.

(music) A musical composition for one or a few instruments, one of which is frequently a piano, in three or four movements that vary in key and tempo.

sonate

a musical composition for one or a few instruments


cakewalk

From cake + walk. Originally an African-American form of dance and music that developed after the Civil War, later popularised by minstrel shows. It was danced at social events, with the best dancers often receiving cake as a prize. It derives from dance competitions by plantation slaves in which the style of dance lampooned the ballroom dances of the slaveowners. Slaveowners seem to have found the competitions entertaining and the habit of offering cake may originate from this period. The name is sometimes also applied to the dance's precursor on the plantations. Doing the cakewalk well required virtuosity, and a major esthetic aspect of that virtuosity was the apparent ease with which the dance was performed. This gave rise to the idiom as easy as a cakewalk, which in turn led to the sense of cakewalk as something that is easy.
See the linked Wikipedia article for more.

(music) The style of music associated with such a contest.


tympan

(music) The stretched membrane of a drum.

(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end.


secundo

Italian secondo (“second”). Doublet of second.


dobro

From the trade name "Dobro", used by Gibson Guitar Corporation, from Dopyera or Dopjera, name of the inventors + brothers, also punning on Slovak dobro (“good”).

The longest and most incandescent track is “Twilight Kingdom,” which includes Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on dobro and David Grier on guitar.

2007 January 21, Nate Chinen, “Dueling Banjos, Gospel Harmonies, Arabesques and Electric Eels”, in New York Times

(music) An acoustic guitar with a metal resonator


CDM

en-noun

CDM (countable and uncountable, plural CDMs)

Caribbean dance music
Caribbean dance music#English

(music) Initialism of Caribbean dance music.


decima

Borrowed from Latin decima (“a tenth”), now particularly via Italian decima. Doublet of decime.

(generally obsolete) A tenth, particularly

(obsolete, music) A tenth: a note nine degrees of the scale above or below a given note (and thus ten degrees separate counting inclusively) or the interval between such notes.

(music) An organ stop a tenth above the normal 8-foot pitch.


chiffre

Borrowed from French chiffre. Doublet of cipher and zero.

At the end of the eighteenth century, French opera composers like A. E. Grétry (Richard Coeur de Lion, 1784), L. Cherubini (Medeé, 1797), and J. Fr. Le Cueur (Ossian ou les Bardes, 1804) began to “assign musical chiffres to precise dramatic situations or single figures on the stage, which were played again when these figures appeared again,” according to Bern University professor Anselm Gerhard.

2014, Peter Wegele, Max Steiner: Composing, Casablanca, and the Golden Age of Film Music

(music) A figure or motif (short melodic or lyrical passage that is repeated).


DS

DS (countable and uncountable, plural DSs or DSes)


back beat

(music) Any of the even beats in music, as opposed to the odd downbeats


classical music

classical music (usually uncountable, plural classical musics)

(music) Music of the classical period; the music of Mozart, Haydn, etc; the musical period before the romantic.

(music) The more serious forms of music, taught through formal education and performed according to strict rules, as opposed to folk music or popular music.

klassieke musiek

the more serious forms of European and American music


organum

organum (countable and uncountable, plural organums or organa)

/ˈɔː.ɡə.nəm/

/ˈɔɹ.ɡə.nəm/

Borrowed from Latin organum, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “organ, instrument, tool”). Doublet of organ, organon, and orgue.

der

(music) A type of medieval polyphony which builds upon an existing plainsong.


Muzak

The noun is a blend of music + the letters ak from Kodak, a well-known brand in 1934 when the word was coined by the American inventor, scientist, and soldier George Owen Squier (1865–1934), who developed the original technical basis for the service.
The verb is derived from the noun.

coinage

There's no way I can change internal body functions. Only yogis can do that. Muzak, for example, can't change you. Aaron Copeland [i.e., Aaron Copland] calls Muzak 'the obsequious.' We're super-saturated with shitty music. [Originally published in New Times.]

1975 February 7, Michael Gross, quoting Tom Turicchi, “The Hits Just Keep on Coming”, in Robert Atwan, Barry Orton, William Vesterman, American Mass Media: Industries and Issues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 1978, part 3 (The Sound Media), page 320, column 2

Some people, of course, have no trouble making that decision: they know they don't like Muzak. Critics charge that Muzak invades what could be pleasurable silence, disrupts conversation, or smacks of George Orwell's 1984. [Originally published in American Way.]

1983 November, Bill Hunter, “It’s Muzak through Your Ears”, in Robert Atwan, Barry Orton, William Vesterman, American Mass Media: Industries and Issues, 3rd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 1986, part 3 (The Sound Media), page 289, column 1

(music, trademark) Recorded background music characterized by soft, soothing instrumental sounds which is transmitted by wire, radio, or recorded media (originally on a subscription basis) to doctors' offices, shops, and other business premises.


Muzak

The sound you make is muzak to my ears / You must have learned something in all those years

1971 September 9, John Lennon (lyrics and music), “How Do You Sleep?”, in Imagine

[T]he supermarket is very crowded, because of course it's the time of day when all other people with jobs also try to squeeze in some grocery shopping, and the store is hideously, fluorescently lit, and infused with soul-killing Muzak or corporate pop, and it's pretty much the last place you want to be, but you can't just get in and quickly out.

2005 May 21, David Foster Wallace, This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, published April 2009

(music) Easy listening music, whether played live or recorded, especially if regarded as uninteresting.

hissimusiikki

easy listening music, especially if regarded as uninteresting


sync

en-noun

sync (usually uncountable, plural syncs)

(music) A music synchronization license, allowing the music to be synchronized with visual media such as films.


quatreble

(obsolete, music) A voice pitched a fifth above treble.


A & R

artist(s) and repertoire/repertory
w:artists and repertoire

(music) Initialism of artist(s) and repertoire/repertory.


deacon

en-verb

deacon (third-person singular simple present deacons, present participle deaconing, simple past and past participle deaconed)

deacons (present singular third-person)
deaconing (participle present)
deaconed (participle past)
deaconed (past)

Inherited from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).

der

(Christianity, music) For a choir leader to lead a hymn by speaking one or two lines at a time, which are then sung by the choir.


drum cadence

(music) A work played exclusively by the percussion section of a modern marching band, descended from early military marches, primarily as a purposefully emphasized means of providing a beat to marchers.


drummer

From drum + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).

march to the beat of a different drummer


pneuma

From Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma, “wind, breath, spirit”), from πνέω (pnéō, “I blow, breathe”). Doublet of neume.

bor

With swaying arms they wail in pneuma over the recreant Bloom.


homophonic

(music) Having a single, accompanied, melodic line; not polyphonic.

homofon

music: having a single, accompanied, melodic line


wah

onom

Imitative


hepcat

From hep + cat, from hep (“sophisticated, aware”). Compare cat (“jazz enthusiast”). Attested in the sense of “sophisticated person” from the 1920s.

(informal, music) A jazz performer, especially one from the 1940s and 1950s.


vocalize

en-verb

vocalize (third-person singular simple present vocalizes, present participle vocalizing, simple past and past participle vocalized)

vocalizes (present singular third-person)
vocalizing (participle present)
vocalized (participle past)
vocalized (past)


syncope

en-noun

syncope (countable and uncountable, plural syncopes)

Learned borrowing from Late Latin syncopē, from Ancient Greek συγκοπή (sunkopḗ), from συγκόπτω (sunkóptō, “cut up”) + -η (-ē, nominalization suffix), from σύν (sún, “beside, with”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “strike, cut off”).

lbor

She was a volatile creature, full of mischievous surprise: at their first music practice, after playing over some hymns on the pipe-organ, she burst into jazz, filling the quiet grove with the clamorous syncope of Paddy-Paws, a favourite song that summer.

1922, Christopher Morley, Where the Blue Begins

(music) A missed beat or off-beat stress in music resulting in syncopation.


shamisen

(music) A kind of three-stringed Japanese fretless lute.

jabisen

used mainly in reference to archaic forms of the instrument from the Ryukyu Islands


pallet

(music) In the organ, a valve between the wind chest and the mouth of a pipe or row of pipes.


re-entry

en-noun

re-entry (countable and uncountable, plural re-entries)

(music, of a ukulele) A break in the pitch order of strings.


chillout

chillout (countable and uncountable, plural chillouts)


electronic organ

electronic organ (plural electronic organs)

(music) A keyboard musical instrument, resembling a spinet, or upright, piano in size and general shape, in which tone is generated by electronic circuits and radiated by loudspeaker.


quarter note

(Canada, US, music) A musical note one beat long in 4/4 time.


musette

2011 Tour de France
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Thor Hushovd

From both of the following:
* Late Middle English musette (“type of bagpipe”), from Middle French musette, Old French musette (“type of bagpipe”) (modern French musette), from muse (“bagpipe”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Muse is derived from muser (“to play the bagpipe; (figuratively) to flatter”), perhaps from musel (“muzzle (protruding part of an animal’s head)”) (alluding to a bagpipe player puffing out the cheeks), from Late Latin mūsus (“muzzle”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps expressive of protruding lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgiō (“to bellow, low, moo”), from Proto-Indo-European *mug-, *mūg- (onomatopoeia of the lowing of cattle).
* Borrowed from French musette in the 18th century.
Sense 2 (“small bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap”) is due to the resemblance of the original knapsack to the bag of bagpipes.

ref

From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, U.S.A.

musette

any of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows

(historical) Any of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows, which were popular in France in the 17th and early 18th century.

(by extension) A pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating such an instrument; also, a dance performed to this music.

musette

pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music

(historical) An organ stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators, found in organs in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.

musetti

A small oboe without a cap for its reed, which evolved from the chanter or pipe of bagpipes; a piccolo oboe.


fretted

The dulcimer and sitar are fretted instruments.

(music, of a musical instrument) Having frets.


number one

(music) The single that has sold the most in a given period.


diatonic

From French diatonique or Late Latin diatonicus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διατονικός (diatonikós), in the phrase [γένος (génos, “type, genus”)] διατονικός (diatonikós) (in reference to the diatonic tetrachord, and in contrast to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrachords), from διάτονος (diátonos) (διά (diá) + τόνος (tónos)), of disputed etymology, as both components are ambiguous.
Most plausibly, διάτονος (diátonos) refers to “stretched intervals”, as the intervals of the diatonic tetrachord are the most evenly distributed or “stretched out”, compared to the chromatic and enharmonic tetrads, which use smaller, more crowded together intervals. Compare pyknon, from πυκνός (puknós, “dense, compressed”), referring to the lower part of the non-diatonic tetrachords: the diatonic tetrachord has widely spaced notes (“stretched out”), while the other tetrachords have a closely spaced notes (“compressed”).

(music) Relating to or characteristic of a musical scale which contains seven pitches and a pattern of five whole tones and two semitones; particularly, of the major or natural minor scales.


turntable

Inside a belt-driven turntable is a small motor with a rubber band linking it to the underside of the deckplatter (the part you put the record on). […] Direct-driven turntables are a better option than belt-driven ones. […] [I]n direct-driven turntables the centre spindle is the motor (so it drives the motor directly).

2006, John Steventon, “Getting Decked Out with Turntables”, in DJing for Dummies (For Dummies), Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, part II (Navigating the Maze: Equipment Essentials), page 66

He played two copies of the same record, one on each turntable, at the same time. He cut back and forth between the two records by lifting the turntables’ needles and dropping them back on the vinyl. This allowed him to replay the same part of the record over and over again, which lengthened the break from several seconds to several minutes.

2015, Marylou Morano Kjelle, chapter 1, in Trends in Hip-hop Dance (Dance & Fitness Trends), Hockessin, Del.: Mitchell Lane Publishers, page 8

(music) The circular rotating platform of a record player or a disk jockey's console on which the record rests during play; (by extension), a record player.


turntable

en-verb

turntable (third-person singular simple present turntables, present participle turntabling, simple past and past participle turntabled)

turntables (present singular third-person)
turntabling (participle present)
turntabled (participle past)
turntabled (past)

Traditional carols we all know. Holiday Baroque, Renaissance and medieval music is not, and therefore makes a distinctive gift for the discriminating recordphile and is certain to be turntabled other times of the year, too: […]

1982, “Holiday Music”, in Westways, volume 74, Los Angeles, Calif.: Automobile Club of Southern California, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 66, column 3

Rik Shaw of Deadly Dragon Soundsystem continues his weekly residency by turntabling the rudest Jamaican dance records ever pressed.

2006, Spin, volume 22, New York, N.Y.: Spin Magazine, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 101, column 2

(transitive, music) To play (a record) using a turntable.

We particularly like hovering next to DJ Sid Wilson and seeing how he spends the large chunks of time where he's not turntabling.

2017 May 6, Zach Dionne, “Slipknot Classic ‘The Shape’ Gets a 360 Virtual Reality Live Video”, in Fuse, archived from the original on 2017-10-06

(intransitive, music) To manipulate sound using turntables; to perform turntablism; to scratch


philharmonic

(music) Appreciative of music, but especially to its performance; devoted to music.

filharmònic

appreciative of the performance of music


feedback

feedback (third-person singular simple present feedbacks, present participle feedbacking, simple past and past participle feedbacked)

feedbacks (present singular third-person)
feedbacking (participle present)
feedbacked (participle past)
feedbacked (past)

The show ended with a riot of feedbacking guitars.

(music) To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker to cause vibration of the sound generator of a musical instrument connected by an amplifier to the speaker.


ragtime

en-noun

ragtime (countable and uncountable, plural ragtimes)

Likely from ragged + time, in reference to its heavy use of syncopation, or from rag, an American dialect term for a dance ball.

(music, uncountable) A musical form having a rhythm characterized by strong syncopation in the melody with a regularly accented accompaniment.

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


electronica

By mid-decade, electronica began to chart, in the music of acts such as Bjork, Chemical Brothers, and Moby, and the resources of electronica were integrated into other non-pop styles, such as the industrial music of Trent Reznor […]

2012, Michael Campbell, Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On

New Age music […] like all musics, has its margins, and these are blurred with ambient, techno, and other electronica.

2014, Timothy D. Taylor, Strange Sounds: Music, Technology and Culture

(music) Any of a wide range of electronic music genres.

電子樂

any of a wide range of electronic music genres


glitter rock

Glitter rock isn't associated with a specific musical style as much as a period of time, roughly between 1972 and 1975 when it reached a glorious apex in the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (featuring the debut of Meat Loaf).

1992, Ted Greenwald, Rock and Roll, Mallard Press

(music) Glam rock, a music style popular in the early 1970s.


glam rock

Although David Bowie is perhaps glam rock’s best-known star today, it was his friend, Marc Bolan – they met in their late teens in Soho – who sparked the movement.

2020 June 22, Joobin Bekhrad, “Glitter and curls: Marc Bolan and the birth of glam rock style”, in The Guardian

(music) A style of English rock music from the early 1970s, distinguished by the glamorous, glittery costumes of its performers and its bouncy beat and lyrics.


Magnificat

Borrowed from Latin magnificat, the first word of the Latin version of the canticle.

(Christianity, music) The liturgical canticle of the Virgin Mary, sung in Christian churches; taken from her reported words upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.


tacet

Borrowed from Latin tacet (“it is silent”), third-person singular present active indicative form of taceō (“I am silent”).

(music) An instruction indicating silence on the part of the performers of a piece.


glam

Blokes sporting make-up and vertiginous platform boots, songs that were precision-tooled melodramas of bubblegum pop and football-terrace stomp, a belief in pop itself as a liberating space for fantasy and shape-shifting: it’s perhaps unsurprising that glam, in whose rise Bowie played a huge part, has never been taken very seriously.

2016 October 7, Sukhdev Sandhu, “Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy by Simon Reynolds”, in The Guardian

(music, fashion) Ellipsis of glam rock.; the fashion and culture associated with this genre.


sludge

sludge (countable and uncountable, plural sludges)

→ Italian: sludge

(uncountable, music) Ellipsis of sludge metal.


go-go

1964, US, partly from Whisky a Go Go, an influential American nightclub (in turn from French à gogo (“abundant”)), partly by reduplication of go, from 1962 slang the go (“the rage, fashionable”), from sense the go (“in motion”) as in on the go.
Compare to French yéyé (yeah-yeah), of contemporary coinage.

(music) A style of funk music from the 1970s.


middle of the road

Damon Albarn has disappointed fans expecting the third Adele album to take a drill’n’bass direction by saying that the tracks he has heard are “very middle of the road”.

2015 September 10, Damon Albarn, quotee, “Damon Albarn suggests new Adele album is ‘very middle of the road’”, in The Guardian

(music, sometimes derogatory) Of a type of melodic popular music that has wide appeal.


kyrie

/ˈkɪəɹ.ɪˌeɪ/

From Ecclesiastical Latin Kyrie, contraction of the Ancient Greek phrase Κύριε ἐλέησον (Kúrie eléēson, “Lord, have mercy”), from Ancient Greek Κύριε (Kúrie), vocative form of Κύριος (Kúrios, “Lord”), from κῦρος (kûros, “supremacy, authority”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēw-, *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, spread out, be strong, prevail”).

(music) A setting of the traditional kyrie text to music for a Mass.


indie

indie (countable and uncountable, plural indies)

From independent, by shortening, + -ie. Used of popular music since the 1980s, and of cinema for some decades before that.

(uncountable, music) A type of rock music, generally soft-style without screaming or aggression, mixed with synthesized music and electronic.


goth

Goth subculture
The Doors
gothic architecture
gothic art
gothic fiction

From gothic rock, first used by John Stickney in reference to The Doors in 1967 and used by the late 1970s to describe the musical scene that gave rise to the goth subculture, both from a supposed aesthetic similarity to dark and moody 19th century gothic fiction and earlier gothic art and architecture, from Late Latin gothicus (“Gothic, barbaric”), from Ancient Greek Γοτθικός (Gotthikós), from Ancient Greek Γότθοι (Gótthoi, “Goths”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), proposed to derive from unattested Gothic *𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌰 (*guta).

der

(uncountable, music) A style of punk rock influenced by glam rock; gothic rock.


relaxation

en-noun

relaxation (countable and uncountable, plural relaxations)

/ˌɹɪlækˈseɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin relaxatio, relaxationis; equivalent to relax + -ation.

(music) The release following musical tension.


dur

From German Dur, from Latin dūrus (“hard, firm, vigorous”).

C dur

(music, obsolete) Major; in the major mode.


absolute pitch

absolute pitch (plural absolute pitches)

(music, countable or uncountable) The exact pitch of a note as established by its rate of vibration based on a standard scale.

absolute toonhoogte

pitch established by its rate of vibration

(music, uncountable) Perfect pitch; the ability to identify or produce any tone without need of an external reference.


viol

Borrowed from Middle French viole, from Old French viol, from Old Occitan viola (modern Occitan viula), from Medieval Latin vitula (“stringed instrument”). Doublet of viola.

der

He sayd that yᵉ ground opened, and he was brought into strange places underground, where they used musicall Instruments, violls, and Lutes, such (he sayd) as Mr. Thomas did play on.

1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 30

(music) A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold


steal

en-verb

steal (third-person singular simple present steals, present participle stealing, simple past stole, past participle stolen or (nonstandard, colloquial) stole)

steals (present singular third-person)
stealing (participle present)
stole (past)
stolen (participle past)
stole (colloquial nonstandard participle past)

From Middle English stelen, from Old English stelan, from Proto-West Germanic *stelan, from Proto-Germanic *stelaną.
Compare West Frisian stelle, Low German stehlen, Dutch stelen, German stehlen, Danish stjæle, Swedish stjäla, Norwegian Bokmål stjele, Norwegian Nynorsk stela, Sanskrit स्तेय (steya); see below for more.
For the meaning development compare with Russian красть (krastʹ, “to steal”) and Russian кра́сться (krástʹsja, “to stalk, to prowl, to slink”).
etymology notes
Proposed etymologies beyond Germanic are numerous and include
* Proto-Indo-European *ster-: compare Welsh herw (“theft, raid”), Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive of”)
* Proto-Indo-European *stel(H)- (“to stretch”): compare Albanian pë/mbështjell (“I confuse, mess up, mix, wrap up”), Old Church Slavonic стєлѭ (steljǫ, “I spread out (bed, roof)”), Ancient Greek τηλία (tēlía, “playing table”)
* Proto-Indo-European *tsel- (“to sneak”): compare Sanskrit त्सरति (tsárati, “creep, sneak up on”) and other forms under Pokorny 5. *sel- "schleichen, kriechen"

cog

don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep

They stole my idea for a biodegradable, disposable garbage de-odorizer.

(transitive, of ideas, words, music, a look, credit, etc.) To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.

words; a look; credit; words; a look; credit


fackeltanz

Borrowed from German Fackeltanz (“torch dance”).

afterwards he drove her and her cousins (two guardsmen disguised as flowergirls) in his divine new convertible through the streets to see the tremendous birthday illumination, and the fackeltanz in the park, and the fireworks, and the pale upturned faces.

(music) a kind of polonaise, associated with German royal wedding celebrations


attune

en-verb

attune (third-person singular simple present attunes, present participle attuning, simple past and past participle attuned)

attunes (present singular third-person)
attuning (participle present)
attuned (participle past)
attuned (past)

(music, transitive) To bring into musical accord.

(music, transitive) To tune (an instrument).


mixtape

(music) A compilation of songs on a tape, usually encompassing many different artists and assembled by fans, without legal permission.


jubilee

en-noun

jubilee (countable and uncountable, plural jubilees)

/ˌd͡ʒuːbɪˈliː/

senses 3.3 and 3.4 when spelled jubile, obsolete

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

From Late Middle English jubile (“Jewish practice of celebrating the end of a fifty-year period; (Roman Catholicism) year declared by the Pope for remission of sins; celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of an event; (figuratively) occasion of rejoicing”) [and other forms], from Middle French jubile, from Old French jubilee, jubileus (modern French jubilé), from Late Latin iūbilaeus (adjective, also treated as a noun), from Ancient Greek ἰωβηλαῖος (iōbēlaîos, “of a jubilee”), from ἰώβηλος (iṓbēlos, “jubilee”) + -ῐος (-ios, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Ἰώβηλος (Iṓbēlos) is derived from Hebrew יובל (yōḇēl, “ram, trumpet made from a ram’s horn; jubilee”) (because a ram’s horn trumpet was originally used to proclaim the event; see Leviticus 25:9), influenced by Latin iūbilum (“a cry, a shout”) and iūbilō (“to cheer, shout or sing joyfully”). Cognate with Italian giubileo, Spanish jubileo.

der

(countable, African-American Vernacular, music, often attributively) A joyful African-American (usually Christian) folk song.


smoky

en-adj

smoky (comparative smokier, superlative smokiest)

smokier (comparative)
smokiest (superlative)

From Middle English smoky, smokie, equivalent to smoke + -y.

a few smoky jazz notes

1962, Philip Larkin, “Billie’s Golden Years,” The Daily Telegraph, 17 October, 1962, republished in All What Jazz: A Record Diary, 1961—1971, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1985, p. 73,
[…] the sombre and magnificent Davis fronts both his Quartet and Gil Evans’s orchestra, pouring out a succession of smoky and sonorous solos […]

The organ took on a dark, smoky sonority at evening service, and there was no doubt that the organ was adapting its normal sounds to accompany God’s own sepulchral responses […] to those prayers that were offered to him.

1981, Wole Soyinka, chapter 1, in Aké: The Years of Childhood, New York: Vintage, published 1983, page 1

[…] there emerged from the car a pair of the sort of legs which soundtrack editors are unable to see without needing to slap a smoky saxophone solo all over […]

1988, Douglas Adams, chapter 11, in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, London: Pan Books, published 1989, pages 90–91

Then, just as the music, slow and smoky, loads up the air, his smile bright as ever, he wrinkles his nose and turns away.

1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, New York: Plume, published 1993, page 67

(music) Having a dark, thick, bass sound.


strap-on

→ Greek: στραπόν (strapón)

→ Russian: страпо́н (strapón)

→ Swedish: strap-on

→ Turkish: strapon

→ Ukrainian: страпо́н (strapón)

If you want a portable keyboard, a strap-on could be the answer. Strap-ons have been around since Billy Preston and Edgar Winter used to sling Univox electric pianos around their necks in the pre-MIDI days of the early ’70s.

1988, Helen Casabona, David Frederick, “Alternate Controllers”, in Brent Hurtig, editor, Advanced MIDI Applications: Computers, Time Codes, and Beyond (Keyboard Magazine Library for Electronic Musicians), Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing, pages 34–35

(informal, music) Synonym of keytar (“keyboard supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders”).


tessitura

en-noun

tessitura (countable and uncountable, plural tessituras or tessiture)

/tɛsɪˈtʊəɹə/

Borrowed from Italian tessitura. Doublet of texture.

Coordinate term: compass

Byrne shrugged. He started writing a bravura / Opera based on Cleopatra’s death, / Exploiting all Maria’s tessitura, / With a high F before her final breath.

Anne's talented voice made the lines I had written swoop, howl, and whine through an authentically Thatcherite tessitura [...].

2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 257

In classical voice training, and in the world of classical singing, voices are divided into categories dependent on timbre or tonal colour and tessitura or comfortable average pitch range.

2014, Jane Streeton, Philip Raymond, Singing on Stage, A&C Black, page 146

(music) The most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a singer or musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding timbre.

äänialan sisäinen mukavuusalue

most comfortable vocal range for a given singer


diminution

diminution (countable and uncountable, plural diminutions)

From Middle English diminucioun, from Anglo-Norman diminuciun, Old French diminucion, from Latin dīminūtiō.

(music) a compositional technique where the composer shortens the melody by shortening its note values.


soca

soca (usually uncountable, plural socas)

—Carnival? With soca music?

2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 684

(music) A genre of music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 1970s and developed into a range of styles during the 1980s and after which primarily includes influences of African and Indian rhythms.

ソカ

a style of popular dance music from the West Indies


syrinx

/sɪˈɹɪnd͡ʒiːz/

Learned borrowing from Latin sȳrinx (“reed; reed pipe, panpipes”), from Ancient Greek σῦριγξ (sûrinx, “panpipes; pipe-shaped object”), from Pre-Greek. Doublet of syringe.
The plural form syringes is a learned borrowing from Latin sȳringes.

der

[T]he Syrinx might give occaſion to the bagpipe, by leading the vvay to its invention; for it vvas certainly very natural, both for eaſe in playing, and for the ſaving of breath, and even for the health and ſafety of the performer's lungs, to contrive a method of conveying vvind to the ſeveral pipes by means of bellovvs.

1754 March 25 (date written), Paul Gemsage, “[Further Remarks on the Antient Syrinx]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XXIV, London: […] D[avid] Henry and R. Cave, […], published April 1754, →OCLC, page 161, column 2

In Dr. Sven Hedin's collection there is a fragment of a neck of a jar, which shows a whole circle of Gandharvas performing on drums, harps, syrinxes, etc. Noteworthy is the existence of the syrinx on artware of Eastern Turkestan. That instrument has never, so far as I am aware, been observed in Indian art.

1901, A. F. Rudolf Hoernle [i.e., Augustus Frederic Rudolf Hoernlé], “A Report on the British Collection of Antiquities from Central Asia [Part II]”, in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, volume LXX, part I (History, Literature, &c.), number 1 (extra), Calcutta: […] Baptist Mission Press [for the Asiatic Society of Bengal], →OCLC, section IV (Pottery, Terracottas, Miscellaneous Objects), page 49

The Panpipe is indeed one of the most characteristic instruments of South America, especially of the Western regions. the ancient Peruvian civilizations produced syrinxes not only of reeds but also of terra cotta (those of the coastal civilizations, especially of Nazca, are sometimes real works of art) and even carved in stone, chiefly among the Araucans.

1961, Alain Gheerbrant, “Book 2”, in [Inca] Garcilaso de la Vega, translated by Maria Jolas, edited by Alain Gheerbrant, The Incas: The Royal Commentaries of the Inca […] (An Avon Library Book), New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, published 1966, →OCLC, footnote 26, page 87


kora

He is performing here with his Symmetric Orchestra, an ensemble of West African musicians who play both traditional instruments (kora, balafon, bolombatto, djembe) and slightly more contemporary ones (guitars, keyboards).

2009 April 17, The New York Times, “Pop Listings”, in New York Times

(music) A type of harp played in West Africa.


mezzo forte

(music) Louder than mezzo piano, but softer than forte.


mezzo forte

(music) Louder then mezzo piano, but softer than forte.


conga

For the dance:
* Borrowed from Spanish Congo (“Congo dance”), so-called for being of sub-Saharan African origin.

(music) A tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban hand drum of African origin.


decrescendo

/diːˌkɹɛˈʃɛndəʊ/

(music) An instruction to play gradually more softly.


decrescendo

en-verb

decrescendo (third-person singular simple present decrescendos, present participle decrescendoing, simple past and past participle decrescendoed)

decrescendos (present singular third-person)
decrescendoing (participle present)
decrescendoed (participle past)
decrescendoed (past)

/diːˌkɹɛˈʃɛndəʊ/


hurdy-gurdy

Probably onomatopoeic in imitation of the sound produced by the stringed instrument. Compare obsolete hirdy-girdy (“an uproar; noise”). Attested from the 1740s.

(music) A stringed instrument that produces a droning sound by turning a handle that connects to a wheel that rubs against a rosined string, with a keyboard also used to alter the pitch of the string.

He flung open the door, and found there only a ragged boy with a hurdy-gurdy on his back.

1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 83

(music) Synonym of street organ, often considered a misnomer.


major chord

(music) Any musical chord which has the tones a major third (as opposed to a minor third) and a perfect fifth above its root, i.e. the notes of a major triad, but possibly containing other intervals, such as a seventh or ninth.

duurisointu

musical chord containing a major third and perfect fifth above its root


augmented

en-adj

augmented (comparative more augmented, superlative most augmented)

more augmented (comparative)
most augmented (superlative)


vocable

From French vocable or Latin vocābulum, from Latin vocō (“I call”).

Many Native American songs employ vocables, syllables that do not have referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text.

a. 2010, Victoria Lindsay Levine, Native American Music, Encyclopaedia Britannica

(music) A syllable or sound without specific meaning, used together with or in place of actual words in a song.

lallatus

music: syllable or sound without specific meaning


paradiddle-diddle

/ˈpæɹəˌdɪdəl dɪdəl/

(music) A percussive exercise (one of many rudiments) which involves playing six even strokes in the order ‘right left right right left left’ or ‘left right left left right right’.


rangy

rangy (comparative rangier, superlative rangiest)

rangier (comparative)
rangiest (superlative)

The Star Spangled Banner has been criticized as too rangy for many people to sing along to comfortably

(music) Requiring a large vocal range; having a great difference from the highest to the lowest notes.


progressive rock

(music) A rock music genre originating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, heavily influenced by classical music and jazz.


engine room

And no steel band would be complete without its rhythm section or engine room, as the percussion section is known.

2018, Polly Thomas, The Rough Guide to Trinidad and Tobago, Apa Publications

(figurative) The source of power in a team or other group.

(music) The rhythm section of a steel band.


pyrophone

(music) a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by flames of gas in tubes of different length


manche

Borrowed from French manche. Doublet of maunch.


garage rock

(US, music) A simple, relatively raw form of rock and roll from the mid-1960s.


breakable

(usually in the plural, music) A set of customized hardware that is part of a drum kit. Breakables typically consist of: the drummer's cymbals including high-hats, the snare drum, the kick pedal and the drummer's stool.


tuk

(music) A Barbadian musical style, based on British regimental music of the colonial era, but accompanied by costumed performances based on African characters.


pianola

(music) A mechanical piano which uses a roll of perforated paper to operate its keys, instead of being played by a pianist.


talea

From Latin tālea. Doublet of taille and tally.

(music) A repeated rhythmic pattern used in isorhythm.


ethnomusicology

en-noun

ethnomusicology (usually uncountable, plural ethnomusicologies)

(music) The study of music and culture; the study of music as it relates to its cultural context.


lip-sync

en-verb

lip-sync (third-person singular simple present lip-syncs, present participle lip-syncing, simple past and past participle lip-synced)

lip-syncs (present singular third-person)
lip-syncing (participle present)
lip-synced (participle past)
lip-synced (past)

She lip-synced to her own recording during the show because of her laryngitis.

There was a great scandal when it was discovered the singer had been only lip-syncing.

Tolokonnikova is one of two members of the punk group Pussy Riot who are serving two-year sentences for lip-syncing and playing air guitar for 40 seconds in a peaceful protest in the largest Moscow cathedral.

2013 September 23, Masha Gessen, “Life in a Russian Prison”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-24

(music, singing) To move lips in synchronization with sounds (generally recorded) so it appears they are the source of the sounds.

假唱

to move lips in synchronization with sounds


unison

en-noun

unison (usually uncountable, plural unisons)

From Middle English unisoun, from Middle French unisson, from Medieval Latin ūnisonus (“having the same sound”), from ūni- + sonus (“sound”).

der

The unison has a pitch ratio of 1:1.

The young principal timpanist, Timothy Genis, was superb throughout, though his sidekick timpanist sometimes lagged in the final unisons.

2007 July 16, James R. Oestreich, “With Levine as Tour Guide, a Journey Through Mahler’s Third Symphony”, in New York Times

(music, acoustics) Identical pitch between two notes or sounds; the simultaneous playing of notes of identical pitch (or separated by one or more octaves).

unisoon

music: the simultaneous playing of an identical note more than once

(music, acoustics) A sound or note having the same pitch as another, especially when used as the base note for an interval; a unison string.


screamer

(music) A march played at a circus to enliven the crowd.


sega

(music) A genre of popular music mainly associated with Mauritius.


hyphy

en-adj

hyphy (comparative hyphier, superlative hyphiest)

hyphier (comparative)
hyphiest (superlative)

Oakland is the place to look for 'hyphy' (hyperactive) New Bay hip-hop, while SoCal is still riding the 'crunk' (crazy-drunk) drum and bass beats with […]

2006, Andrea Schulte-Peevers et al., California, Lonely Planet Publications, page 46

(slang, music) Of or relating to the hyphy music subgenre or culture.


hyphy

It was Oakland rapper Keak Da Sneak who claims to have invented the term: upon being told by his mother that he was “hyperactive”, Keak repeated the term as “hyphy”. Since then, hyphy has come to refer to a complex group of cultural activities synonymous with Oakland: it is at once a sound, a behavior, a choice in recreational drugs.

2009, Mickey Hess, editor, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide, volume 1, ABC-CLIO, page 281

San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area

(slang, music) A subgenre of rap music and related activities associated with the San Francisco Bay Area.


lur

(music, historical) A long natural blowing horn without finger holes, played by embouchure.


double time

(music) A musical rhythm twice as fast as the overall beat, with this pattern of note lengths: 3/16 3/16 1/4 3/16 3/16.


buka

(music) The short introduction to a gamelan piece, generally played by a single instrument in a free rhythm, with the kendhang coming in on the last few notes to set the tempo.


syncopate

en-verb

syncopate (third-person singular simple present syncopates, present participle syncopating, simple past and past participle syncopated)

syncopates (present singular third-person)
syncopating (participle present)
syncopated (participle past)
syncopated (past)

From Medieval Latin syncopātus, past participle of syncopō, from Late Latin syncopa, from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “cut”).

(transitive, music) to stress or accentuate the weak beat of a rhythm; to use syncopation


in tune

I need to fiddle with the strings on my violin. It doesn't sound in tune.

(music) Having the correct musical pitch.


spina

Unadapted borrowing from Latin spīna (“a thorn; a prickle, spine”). Doublet of spine.


jati

Borrowed from Sanskrit जाति (jāti). Doublet of gens, genesis, and kind.

(music) A rhythm pattern in Indian music


tabla

From Hindustani طبلہ / तबला (tablā), from Arabic طَبْلَة (ṭabla). Cognate of Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese tambor.

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

2013, Simon Emmerson, Living Electronic Music, page 20

(music) A pair of tuned hand drums, used in various musical genres of the Indian subcontinent, that are similar to bongos.


partita

He starts with scales and arpeggios, then something more substantial, on a recent day one of Bach’s partitas for the violin.

2007 June 3, Ian Fisher, “Fingers That Keep the Most Treasured Violins Fit”, in New York Times

(music) A type of instrumental suite popular in the 18th century


VSO

(music, derogatory) Initialism of violin-shaped object., referring to a violin that is of very low quality.


longhair

I would rather see a musical, but my wife, who loves longhair music, is dragging me to the symphony again.

(derogatory, music) Concerning or characteristic of classical music.


pennywhistle

(music) A six-holed flute-like instrument with a fipple. They have approximately a two octave range (sometimes a little higher). Stereotypically, they are made out of tin, but in reality they come in all sorts of varieties, including tin, brass, nickel, cane, polymer, etc.


kwaito

From Camtho, from Afrikaans kwaai (“cool”, literally “angry”).

der

Kwaito is a genre-defying style blending the programmed percussion and vibrant call-and-response vocals of 1980s bubble-gum with British garage, American hip-hop and the new Jamaican ragga music; this inter-cultural mix, in turn, is framed by laid-back bass lines that can sound like Chicago-based house music in slow motion.

2005, Martin Scherzinger, “The Globalisation of South African Art Music”, in Christine Lucia, editor, The World of South African Music, Cambridge Scholars Press

The residue of this otherworldliness is still audible in contemporary kwaito, which consistently thwarts any simple identification with ethnicity, language, or social position.

2016, Gavin Steingo, Kwaito's Promise: Music and the Aesthetics of Freedom in South Africa, University of Chicago Press, page 43

(South Africa, music) A style of music featuring words chanted over house music, originating in Johannesburg during the 1990s.


amoroso

Borrowed from Italian amoroso. Doublet of amorous and amoureux.


kwela

(South Africa, music) A style of music, first played in the townships, whose principal instrument is the penny whistle.


flipside

Nice tune. What's on the flipside?

(music) The B-side of a phonograph record.


Dixieland

My sis is tying the knot. I want you to play for the reception. She likes Dixieland. Two of my boys say you play good Dixieland.

(music) A type of jazz that originated in New Orleans.


gothic rock

First coined by John Stickney in reference to The Doors in 1967 and used by the late 1970s to describe the musical scene that gave rise to the goth subculture, both from a supposed aesthetic similarity to dark and moody 19th century gothic fiction and earlier gothic art and architecture.

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.

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

(music) A style of music that developed out of punk rock in the late 1970s, with lyrics and imagery often referring to morbid, spooky or mystical ideas.

The Doors
gothic architecture
gothic art
gothic fiction
gothic rock


tapping

en-noun

tapping (countable and uncountable, plural tappings)

(music) A guitar technique in which the strings are tapped against the fingerboard


concerted

en-adj

concerted (comparative more concerted, superlative most concerted)

more concerted (comparative)
most concerted (superlative)

(music) Having separate parts for voices and instruments.


scratch

en-verb

scratch (third-person singular simple present scratches, present participle scratching, simple past and past participle scratched)

scratches (present singular third-person)
scratching (participle present)
scratched (participle past)
scratched (past)

From Middle English scracchen, of uncertain origin. Probably a blend of Middle English scratten (“to scratch”) and cracchen (“to scratch”). More at scrat and cratch.

scratch a liberal and you'll find a fascist

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours

(music) To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also scratching).


scratch

en-noun

scratch (countable and uncountable, plural scratches)

(music) A genre of Virgin Islander music, better known as fungi.


guembri

Borrowed from Arabic كَمْبْرِي (kambrī).

A mu'alim (master musician) directs his musicians even as he also actively participates by playing an instrument known as the guembri to help draw the attention of the spirit world. The guembri, a three-stringed lute plucked with the fingers to […]

2016, Abdelmajid Hannoum, Practicing Sufism: Sufi Politics and Performance in Africa, Routledge, page 137

(music) A kind of lute used by Berber musicians.


panpipes

From Pan (“Greek god of nature”) + pipes.

(music) An instrument consisting of a series of ten or more tubes of different lengths, typically closed at the bottom and open at the top. The instrument is played by blowing across the open end at the top.


djembe

From French djembé, from Mandinka jembe which derives from the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace." As a result, "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose.

There are three principal types of traditional drums in Guinean Sousou culture: the djembe, the dundun, and the tama. The djembe is a single-headed goblet-shaped drum with a relatively high-pitched tone.

2007, Karin Gaynell Patterson, Expressions of Africa in Los Angeles Public Performance, 1781—1994, page 133

The djembe is one of the best-known and popular African drums, particular with those in the West who are interested in learning a drumming tradition.

2009, Tamara Dean, Composition for Computer Musicians, page 51

The djembe has become the most recognizable drum from West Africa, with a history that can be traced to the twelfth century Mali Empire and the Mandinka people.

2010, Randy Raine-Reusch, Play the World: The 101 World Instrument Primer, page 91

Very few djembes are perfectly round. Most are slightly egg- or triangle-shaped. Lack of roundness is not a problem for sound: many such djembes sound excellent.

2012, Michi Henning, Djembe Construction: A Comprehensive Guide, page 13

(music) A large, rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with the bare hands, used in West African and some fusion music.


polonaise

Borrowed from French polonaise (“Polish”).


sciolto

Borrowed from Italian sciolto, from sciogliere (“to set free”).

(music) Light, free and easy; without strictness or legato.


sciolto

(music) A directive in a score specifying that the music is to be played in this manner.


in rilievo

Borrowed from Italian in rilievo (“in relief”), from in + rilievo.

(music) The musical notation that indicates that a particular instrument to play slightly louder than the others so as to stand out over the ensemble; in relief.


al niente

I would, anyhow, put my money on Nunc Dimittis with its atmospheric mood and beautifully original ending where, after the impact of a robust Gloria a solo soprano quietly reiterates the opening phrase senza misura with the rest of the choir singing Amens al niente on open fifths.

There is a strong feeling of renunciation, but this is softened somewhat by her enigmatic smile which implies a certain contentment and satisfaction, and the music dies away al niente.

2005, Michael Halliwell, Opera and the Novel: The Case of Henry James

The Prelude ends ambiguously, in that the two crotchet rests in bar 26 act as a fermata of indeterminate length as the resonance sustained by the open pedal fades al niente.

2016, Mine Doğantan-Dack, Artistic Practice as Research in Music: Theory, Criticism, Practice

(music) Indicating in music notation that the dynamics fade to nothing.


marcato

Borrowed from Italian marcato, past participle of marcare (“to stress”).


barytone

en-adj

barytone (comparative more barytone, superlative most barytone)

more barytone (comparative)
most barytone (superlative)

From Latin barytonos, from Ancient Greek βαρύτονος (barútonos, “not oxytone”). Doublet of baritone and baryton.


power chord

(music, idiomatic) A chord or combination of notes used in rock music and typically selected to sound good at high volume and high levels of distortion. Power chords make extensive use of intervals such as open fourths and fifths.


Woodstock

en-proper noun

Woodstock (countable and uncountable, plural Woodstocks)

From Old English wudu (“wood”) + stoc (“dwelling”).

(music) Ellipsis of Woodstock Festival., an American rock music festival originally held in 1969 in New York state near Woodstock.


repercussion

en-noun

repercussion (countable and uncountable, plural repercussions)

/ˌɹiː.pəˈkʌʃ.ən/

/ˌɹɛ.pɚˈkʌʃ.ən/

From Middle French répercussion, from Latin repercussio (“rebounding; repercussion”), from repercutio (“cause to rebound, reflect, strike against”), from re- + percutio (“beat, strike”), from per- (“thoroughly”) + quatio (“shake”).

uder

(music) Rapid reiteration of the same sound.

reperkussio

music: rapid reiteration of the same sound


English horn

(music) a woodwind instrument similar to an oboe, but larger and pitched a fifth lower


kick-off

(music) The opening sequence of notes in a song, usually played by the song's main instrument, to indicate the beginning of the song.


ripsaw

en-noun

ripsaw (countable and uncountable, plural ripsaws)

Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands

(uncountable, music, Caribbean) A genre of music played with a ripsaw and other instruments, originally associated mainly with Turks and Caicos Islands.


lapa

(music) A metal wind instrument of 19th-century China, resembling the oboe.


virga

virga (countable and uncountable, plural virgas or virgae)

Borrowed from Latin virga (“rod”). Doublet of verge.

(music) A type of note used in plainsong notation, having a tail and representing a single tone.


helicon

Probably from Ancient Greek ἕλῐξ (hélix) + -on, after bombardon.

(music) A large tuba whose coils fit around the player's shoulders.


ratamacue

(music) A percussion rudiment consisting of a diddled grace note followed by a triplet and downbeat, with right and left as (LL)RLRL or (RR)LRLR.


cotillion

/kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/

Circa 1750, in the sense of the dance, from French cotillon (“petticoat”), extended to the dance because of the distinctive lift of dress revealing the petticoat, from cotte (“dress”) + -illon (diminutive). Said to derive from the then-popular song Ma commère, quand je danse, mon cotillion va-t-il bien.

1848 I kept a parlor open for the reception of visitors, many came here to practise with me, and many more to listen to us—several young men put themselves under my tuition, and although I had never been taught myself, they progressed finely in their studies and I soon brought out, not only the best field music, but also for dinners, balls, cotilion and tea parties, weddings, &c. THRILLING SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE DISTINGUISHED CHIEF OKAH TUBBEE ALIAS, WM. CHUBBEE, Son of the Head Chief, Mosholeh Tubbee, of theChoctaw Nation of Indians. BY REV. L. L. ALLEN, AUTHOR OF “PENCILLINGS UPON THE RIO GRANDE,” &c. NEW YORK, 1848. ENTERED according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by Okah Tubbee, alias William Chubbee, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. AN ESSAY UPON THE INDIAN CHARACTER.http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/tubbee1848/tubbee1848.xml

(music) The music regulating the cotillion.


dubbing

dubbing (countable and uncountable, plural dubbings)

(music) The transfer of recorded music from one medium to another.


Fach

Unadapted borrowing from German Fach, short for Stimmfach. Doublet of fack.

(music) A method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, according to the range, weight, and color of their voices.


inverted

(music) (of a chord) Having the lowest note transposed an octave higher.


sampler

→ Russian: се́мплер (sémpler)

(music) An electronic musical instrument that records and plays back samples of recordings.


half-time

half-time (countable and uncountable, plural half-times)

(music) A tempo in which the rhythm is emphasized so that it seems to have half as many metric divisions (e.g. emphasizing the start of every other bar rather than every bar).


J-pop

Borrowed from Japanese J-POP (jeipoppu), from J- + pop, an abbreviation of English Japanese pop, coined by Tokyo radio station J‑WAVE in 1988.

The girls are constantly reshuffled into new permutations in order to feed the J-pop market's insatiable demand for fresh looks and faces.

2005 August 21, Chris Campion, “J-Pop's dream factory”, in The Observer, →ISSN

She may be declining in popularity, relevance and quality, but Ayumi Hamasaki is still the undisputed Queen of J-Pop, and it will be a long while before anyone can surpass her.

2010 March 25, Teresa Nieman, “Why Japanese pop matters”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

(music) Japanese pop music influenced by western genres.


ripieno

[…] on Sunday four more violinists, a second violist and a harpsichordist were added to give the ripieno sections of the fast movements a heftier punch than the smaller group delivered.

2009 January 20, Allan Kozinn, “Shafts of Sun in Winter From the Italian Baroque”, in New York Times

(music) The part of a concerto grosso in which the ensemble plays together; contrasted with the concertino.


retardation

retardation (countable and uncountable, plural retardations)

The act of retarding or delaying; hindrance.

(music) The act of diminishing the rate of speed.

(music) A suspension which resolves upwards.


programmatic

/ˌpɹəʊ.ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪk/

/ˌpɹoʊ.ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪk/

[ˌpɹoʊ.ɡɹəˈmæɾ.ɪk]

/ˌpɹəʉ.ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪk/

[ˌpɹəʉ.ɡɹəˈmæɾ.ɪk]

/ˌpɹoː.ɡɹəˈmæt.ɪk/

/ˌpɹoː.ɡɹɑːˈmæt.ɪk/

(music) Of or relating to program music.


introit

PIE word
 *h₁én
From Late Middle English introite (“act of entering in or into, entrance; place of entrance”), borrowed from Old French introït, introïte (“introit”) (modern French introït), or from its etymon Latin introitus (“act of entering in or into, entrance; passage; place of entrance; (figuratively) beginning, introduction, prelude”), from introeō (“to enter, go in”) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Introeō is derived from intrō (“to enter, go into”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”)) + eō (“to go”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”)).

refn

From the collection of the Helsinki University Library in Helsinki, Finland.

der

The Glossary of Terms used by ecclesiastics in the middle ages, who describe a day by the “introit,” or commencement of the service appointed by the church to be performed thereon, and an explanation of the Canonical Hours, Watches, &c. will frequently be found useful.]

[1833, [Nicholas] Harris Nicolas, “Preface”, in Dionysius Lardner, editor, The Chronology of History. […] (The Cabinet Cyclopædia; XLIV), London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, […]; and John Taylor, […], →OCLC, page xvii

Adorate Dominum. The introit* and name of the third Sunday after the Epiphany. [Footnote *: Introit.—The first two or more words that form the commencement of a mass, which, from being appropriated to a certain Sunday, or other festival, give the name of such commencement or "introit" to these days.]

1833, [Nicholas] Harris Nicolas, “A Glossary of Dates; […]”, in Dionysius Lardner, editor, The Chronology of History. […] (The Cabinet Cyclopædia; XLIV), London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, […]; and John Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 110, column 1

At some time during these sacerdotal preces the choir will usually have started the sung introit, the exact time for beginning the item dependent on a number of features such as the distance from sacristy to altar.

1982, Andrew Hughes, “Mass”, in Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office: A Guide to Their Organization and Terminology, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, published 2004, page 84

The earliest unequivocal reference to the Roman introit is from the turn-of-the-eighth-century Ordo romanus I, where the chant is described in its fully developed early medieval form. Consisting of an antiphon and psalm, it is sung during the entrance of the pope at the beginning of Mass.

2000, James [W.] McKinnon, “The Introit”, in The Advent Project: The Later-seventh-century Creation of the Roman Mass Proper, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif., London: University of California Press, page 195

(Roman Catholicism, music) A prayer, typically part of a psalm or other portion of the Bible, read or sung at the start of Mass while or immediately after the priest ascends to the altar.

ܒܝܬܐ

part of a psalm or other portion of the Bible read or sung at Mass immediately after the priest ascends to the altar

(Christianity, chiefly Protestantism, music) Any piece of vocal music, especially a setting of an anthem or a psalm, sung at the opening of a church service.


cran

(music) An embellishment played on the lowest note of a chanter of a bagpipe, consisting of a series of grace notes produced by rapid sequential lifting of the fingers of the lower hand.


stringed

From Middle English strynged, y-strenged, equivalent to string + -ed.

The violin is a stringed instrument but without frets.


prospect

From Latin prospectus, past participle of prospicere (“to look forward”), from pro (“before, forward”) + specere, spicere (“to look, to see”), equivalent to pro- + -spect. Doublet of prospectus.


tibial

(music) Of or relating to a pipe or flute.


clarion

The noun is derived from Middle English clarion, clarioun (“trumpet with a narrow tube and a shrill sound, clarion; clarion player”) [and other forms], from Old French claron, clarïon (“clarion”) [and other forms], from Medieval Latin clāriōn, clario, clārōn (“clarion; trumpet”), from Latin clārus (“audible; clear, distinct, loud; (visually) bright, clear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, summon; to cry”).
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.

nb...

clarionne, clarioune, claryon, claryoun, claryoune, claryounn, claryounne, claryowne

der

The clarion’s call to action has been heard.

(music, historical or poetic) A medieval brass instrument chiefly used as a battle signal; related to the trumpet, it had a narrow, straight pipe and a high-pitched, piercing sound.

եղջյուր

(music) An organ stop consisting of pipes with reeds giving a high-pitched note like that of a clarion (sense 1).


recitative

From Italian recitativo, from recitare, from Latin recitō.

In Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, Bunthorne performs the recitative "Am I Alone and Unobserved?" before going on to his solo aria "If You're Anxious For To Shine".

(music) dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo, serving to expound the plot.


roulade

From French roulade, from rouler (“to roll”), from Old French roler.

He leaned back in his chair, and little more than the whites of his upturned eyes were visible; and beating time upon the table with one hand, claw-wise, and with two or three queer, little thrills and roulades, which re-appeared with great precision in each verse, he delivered himself thus, in what I suspect was an old psalm tune: […]

1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

He heard only here and there the ecstatic burst of a mocking-bird's wonderful roulades.

1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 71

(music) An elaborate embellishment of several notes sung to one syllable.


volute

From French volute, from Italian voluta, from Latin volūta, from the feminine of volūtus, perfect passive participle of volvō. Doublet of vault.

(music) A scroll-shaped carving at the tuning head of a stringed musical instrument, similar to architectural volutes.

šnek

scroll shaped carving at the tuning head of stringed musical instruments


harmonium

Borrowed from French harmonium, a term coined by French inventor Alexandre Debain in 1840.

coin

It [Troutbeck] has religious isolation also, for it is several miles—and very strenuous miles in winter—from the parish church at Mungrisdale, and the introduction of the harmonium to the waiting room was due to the zeal of a vicar of many years ago who, in the absence of any other room in the village, obtained permission to use the premises for services, including Sunday School. Most of his successors have continued this self-sacrificing duty.

1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709

(music) A small keyboard instrument that consists of a series of reed pipes, which sound when one of the keys is pressed to open a valve that allows air to pass through.


pipe organ

(music) The largest of all musical instruments, played from an organ console which produces its sound by sending air through whistles and/or reeds called organ pipes, by direct mechanical action, or modernly, electrically.


chaabi

From Arabic شَعْبِيّ (šaʕbiyy, “popular, folksy”).

bor

(music) A kind of Moroccan popular music.

(music) A traditional style of music of Algiers.


plunk

en-verb

plunk (third-person singular simple present plunks, present participle plunking, simple past and past participle plunked)

plunks (present singular third-person)
plunking (participle present)
plunked (participle past)
plunked (past)

Your bass teacher loathed you for loathing the instrument. Every lesson was the same: You would plunk out a few notes, and he would stop you. “Did you practice ?" “Some," you would say. “You have to practice." “I know." Practicing was the most boring thing you had ever done. Plunk plunk plunk (rest). Plunk plunk plunk (rest). That was pretty much how the double bass part went in every piece of music your teacher assigned you.

2011, Dave Eggers, Guillermo del Toro, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 452

(transitive, music) To pluck and quickly release (a musical string).


spoons

(music) A pair of spoons used as a musical instrument by tapping them on parts of the body.


molle

B molle

F molle

(music, obsolete) flat; lowered by a semitone


melomania

From melo- + -mania, after French mélomanie.


urlar

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic ùrlar (“floor”).

The opening theme of a piobaireachd is called the Urlar, or ‘ground’ – the territory on which the whole composition stands.

2012, Hannah Rosefield, “Piping Up”, in Literary Review, section 401

(music) The base theme of a piece of classical bagpipe music.


prog rock

Its opening track, Mastermind, offers one possible answer to a theoretical question about what prog rock might have sounded like in the highly unlikely event that it had co-opted Giorgio Moroder’s brand of electronic disco: […]

2016 July 7, Alexis Petridis, “Roísín Murphy: Take Her Up to Monto review – still too strange for the bigtime”, in The Guardian

progressive rock
progressive rock#English


phrasing

fraseeraus

the way the musical phrases are put together

I found myself truly moved by a stage event for the first time in years. I found myself humming tunes that one might not rightfully call tunes. Days later, I still remember these musical phrasings in little swatches of sound.

1977 August 13, Jim Marko, “Swados' Rare and Moving Nightclub Cantata”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 6, page 11

(music) The way the musical phrases are put together in a composition or in its interpretation, with changes in tempo, volume, or emphasizing one or more instruments over others.


sight read

sight read (third-person singular simple present sight reads, present participle sight reading, simple past and past participle sight read)

sight reads (present singular third-person)
sight reading (participle present)
sight read (participle past)
sight read (past)

From sight + read, in reference to not being able to rely on muscle memory developed through practice.

I can sight read really simple music, but hard pieces need a lot of practice so I don't have to stop and figure out what I'm doing.

(music) To perform a musical piece while reading it for the first time, without rehearsal.

lukea nuoteista

to perform a musical piece while reading it for the first time


tempered

From Middle English tempred, itempered, ytempred, ytemprid, from Old English ġetemprod (“tempered, moderate, goverened, cured”), past participle of Old English ġetemprian (“to temper, moderate, govern, cure”), equivalent to temper + -ed.

der

(music) Pertaining to the well-tempered scale, where the twelve notes per octave of the standard keyboard are tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and it will not sound perceptibly out of tune.


quadrille

French, in sense of “group of knights”, from Spanish cuadrilla, diminutive of cuadra (“square”) (compare also cuadra (“four”)), from Latin quadra.

There was ol' Mickey Coote
Who played hard on his flute
When the ladies lined up for a set
He was tootin' with skill
For each sparkling quadrille
Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet

c. 19th century, J. M. Crofts (lyrics and music), “The Irish Rover”


polyphonic

en-adj

polyphonic (comparative more polyphonic, superlative most polyphonic)

more polyphonic (comparative)
most polyphonic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek πολύφωνος (polúphōnos) + -ic. Equivalent to poly- + -phonic.

Coordinate term: monophonic

Near-synonym: contrapuntal

(music) Having two or more independent but harmonic melodies.

polifònic

having two or more melodies — see also contrapuntal


ragga

Clipping of raggamuffin, variant of ragamuffin (“troublemaker”), influenced by reggae.

Tosh's brand of roots reggae, with its emphasis on uplifting anthems and melodic riffs, now sounds as dated as The Wailers' earliest incarnation as a straight-up ska band, especially when listened to alongside the shuddering bass of most contemporary ragga tracks.

1993 August, David Eimer, “Reel to Reel”, in The Wire, number 114, →ISSN, page 52

The song samples Ricky Martin's hit Shake Your Bom-Bom but adds ragga's roughness. When Bam Bam comes on, the crowd goes wild.

2001 September 15, Christopher John Farley, “Music Goes Global”, in Time, →ISSN

A sub-genre of reggae, ragga is a modern Jamaican sound with ties to the oldest traditional music of that island-nation. The name is taken from the word “raggamuffin”, a term used for disenfranchised youth. One popular ragga singer called Half Pint said, “A lot of people interpret raggamuffin as if it [is] a criminal morality.”

2016, Linda Dailey Paulson, “Ragga”, in edited by Dave DiMartino, Music in the 20th Century, volume 1, Routledge, page 514

Fling a ragga riddim like it's '03

2019, Wiley et al (lyrics and music), “Boasty”

(music) A subgenre of reggae and dancehall influenced by hip hop and digital production techniques such as sampling.


virginal

/ˈvɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒɪnəl/

From Middle English virginal, from Middle French virginal, from Latin virginālis. The musical instrument is probably so called from being played by young girls.

His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, to unlock the secrets of the heart, and to cleanse his bosom of the perilous stuff, and cure him by the spell of his music.

1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, in Friday's Business

(music) A musical instrument in the harpsichord family.


buffo

Signor Bruschino was updated from a generic buffo character to an oily, scholarly-looking, suit-clad neurotic, excellently acted and sung by Marco Nistico.

2007 January 27, Vivien Schweitzer, “Young Lovers, a Vespa and a Frolic by Rossini”, in New York Times

(music) A comic singer, particularly in comic opera


fagotto

en-noun

fagotto (plural fagottos or fagottoes or fagotti)

fagottos (plural)
fagottoes (plural)
fagotti (plural)

From Italian fagotto. So called from being divided into parts for ease of carrying, making it a sort of small bundle or fagot. Doublet of fagot and faggot.


tipping

tipping (countable and uncountable, plural tippings)

(music) A distinct articulation given in playing quick notes on the flute, by striking the tongue against the roof of the mouth; double-tonguing.


scooping

scooping (countable and uncountable, plural scoopings)

(music) A singing technique in which the singer begins by singing a note slightly below the desired pitch, and then slides up to it.


stop list

The history of the small organ is poorly documented; the earliest known stop list, written by the Lübeck organ builder Theodore Vogt, dates from about 1845.

1987, Kerala J. Snyder, Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck, page 81

(music) A list of the stops found on a particular organ.


country pop

(music) A subgenre of country music that combines it with elements of pop music, produced and marketed to reach a wide audience; or a specific genre of country pop, especially the Nashville sound.


Nashville sound

(music) A subgenre of country music that became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, containing elements of popular music and characterized by electronic string sections, background vocals, and orchestras.


fingering

fingering (countable and uncountable, plural fingerings)

She has a very good notion of fingering, though her taste is not equal to Anne's.

(music, uncountable) The act of using one's fingers in the playing of a musical instrument.

That chord has two fingerings.

(music, countable) A specific method of using the fingers to play an instrument.


Urban Cowboy

The term is borrowed from the title of a popular 1980 movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger and featuring several country music performances.

(music, uncountable) Pop-styled country music which became popular during the early 1980s, following the release of the movie Urban Cowboy (1980).


rockabilly

rockabilly (countable and uncountable, plural rockabillies or rockabillys)

rockabillies (plural)
rockabillys (plural)

/ˈɹɒkəˌbɪli/

/ˈɹɑːkəˌbɪli/

(uncountable, music) A genre of music originating from the South (United States) and mixing elements of rock, blues, country, hillbilly boogie and bluegrass music.


warhorse

a Wagner warhorse

I remember taking the old warhorse, “Una Voce Poco Fa,” from Il Barbiere (Rossini) to three of the greatest living singing masters in Italy.

1910, Millie Ryan, What Every Singer Should Know, Omaha, Nebr.: Franklin Publishing Co.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo[…] presented a typical program of Russian warhorses of the 19th and early 20th centuries[…]

1997 August 6, Jennifer Dunning, “Horsing Around With Balletic Warhorses”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

A Mendelssohn Warhorse Gets the Perlman Treatment [title]

1995 August 5, Anthony Tommasini, “A Mendelssohn Warhorse Gets the Perlman Treatment”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

[…] the ROH mounts a new production of an Italian repertory warhorse that is fully on the level of the one it replaces […]

2006 June 11, Stephen Jay-Taylor, “Tosca dress”, in rec.music.opera (Usenet)

(theater, music) A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed.


serial music

(music) Music, especially from the 20th century, in which the themes are based on a definite order of notes of an equal-tempered scale.


drum machine

/ˈdɹʌm məˌʃiːn/

(music) An electronic musical instrument that can be programmed to create percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns.


country and western

(music) A diverse field of American popular music that grew out of hillbilly music and features elements from rural peoples across the Southern and Western United States.


singing cowboy

singing cowboy (countable and uncountable, plural singing cowboys)

(music) A subgenre of country music and western music honoring the cowboy life and the West.


guest star

The neutering extends to Believe’s guest stars, with warm-and-fuzzy verses from Ludacris (“I love everything about you / You’re imperfectly perfect”), Big Sean (“I don’t know if this makes sense, but you’re my hallelujah”), Nicki Minaj (who at least squeaks a “bitches” into her verse), and especially Drake, whose desire to hug and kiss the object of his affection on “Right Here” is reminiscent of The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Krusty’s Comeback Special.

2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2020-08-06

(music) A guest on a music or other recording.


country music

A shortening of country and western. This version has been predominant since the 1950s.

He's a handsome country singer who plays the guitar with his beautiful girlfriend who plays the drums!

(music) A style of popular music that originated in the folk music of the rural population of the southern and western United States and characterized by string-band instruments and simple melodies.

old-time country

considered either coordinate or hyponymous


breakbeat

2001, CMJ New Music Monthlyhttps://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/CMJ/2001/CMJ%20New-Music-2001-05-06.pdf
A cornucopia of hyped-up breakbeats, keyboard squiggles, surf grooves, dancehall stylee, dumb loops and much atonal shouting along, Far In dares you not to smile.

(music, countable) A form of syncopated rhythm prominent in much African music.

electronic dance music
electronic dance music

(music, uncountable) A genre of electronic dance music based on such syncopated rhythms.


big beat

(music) A form of pop music having distorted breakbeats at a moderate tempo.


da capo al fine

From Italian da capo al fine (literally “from the beginning to the end”).

bor

(music) Repeat from the beginning up to the word fine ("end").


rock band

(music) A group of musicians who play rock music.


rock music

Shortening of rock and roll music, in use since circa 1966 to refer to genres of popular music which had grown sufficiently distinct from 1950s rock and roll.

(music) A broad genre of popular music, including especially those styles ultimately derived from rock and roll, employing electrical amplification, heavy use of guitars, 4/4 time with strong percussive rhythm on beats two and four (backbeat), and usually themes of bold wildness, rebellion, and sexuality.


grimy

en-adj

grimy (comparative grimier, superlative grimiest)

grimier (comparative)
grimiest (superlative)

Riffs from older songs seem to be more popular, as only two from the past decade made it into the top 20. They were Muse's Plug In Baby, at 11, and The White Stripes' grimy Seven Nation Army at 15.

2009 November 27, “Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has 'best guitar riff'”, in BBC

(music) From the urban musical genre called grime.


hyperrealism

en-noun

hyperrealism (countable and uncountable, plural hyperrealisms)

(music) A compositional style defined by Noah Creshevsky as "an electroacoustic musical language constructed from sounds that are found in our shared environment (realism), handled in ways that are somehow exaggerated or excessive (hyper)."


clarino

From Italian clarino (“straight trumpet”).


tre corde

Borrowed from Italian tre corde (“three strings”).

bor+

(music) Musical notation indicating that the player release the soft pedal of the piano. In many pianos, this results in the hammer striking three string rather than one as in una corda.


una corda

(music) In piano music, the notation indicating that the player depresses the soft pedal, altering, and reducing the volume of the sound. In many pianos, this results in the hammer striking two strings rather than three as in tre corde. Originally, it would have struck one string, but modern pianos have their strings too close together to achieve a true una corda - the movement of the hammers would result in also hitting the first string of the next note.


microtone

(music) Any interval smaller than a semitone


microtonal

en-adj

microtonal (comparative more microtonal, superlative most microtonal)

more microtonal (comparative)
most microtonal (superlative)

(music) Of, relating to, or written using microtones.


acid jazz

Humorously coined by DJ Gilles Peterson after blending jazz records with acid house in 1988.

(music, jazz) A genre of popular music combining jazz with elements of soul music, funk and disco.


comodo

Borrowed from Italian comodo. Doublet of commode.

(music) Comfortable, that is, at moderate speed.


capriccioso

From Italian capriccioso. Cognate with capricious.


sforzando

en-noun

sforzando (plural sforzandos or sforzandi)

(music) A mark that indicates that a note is to be played with a strong initial attack.


sforzando

en-adv

sforzando (comparative more sforzando, superlative most sforzando)

more sforzando (comparative)
most sforzando (superlative)


sforzando

(music) Describing a passage having this mark.


sackbut

From French sacqueboute, from Middle French sacquer (“to push”) + bouter (“to pull”).

(music) A brass instrument from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, and an ancestor of the modern trombone. It was derived from the medieval slide trumpet.

Sackbut in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)


sostenuto

(music) played in a sustained manner beyond the note's normal value


piffero

(music) A particular organ stop of 2' or 4' pitch imitative of the transverse flute.


duduk

A recent borrowing, from Armenian դուդուկ (duduk), itself from Ottoman Turkish دودوك (düdük).

(music) An Armenian woodwind instrument.


gliss

en-verb

gliss (third-person singular simple present glisses, present participle glissing, simple past and past participle glissed)

glisses (present singular third-person)
glissing (participle present)
glissed (participle past)
glissed (past)

Then he played the opening notes of “On Green Dolphin Street,” glissed down from B flat to sixth-position F, secured the slide lock, and set the trombone on its stand.

2013, J. F. Freedman, Key Witness, Open Road Media


batterie

Borrowed from French batterie, from battre (“to hit”). Doublet of battery.

(music) The percussion section of an orchestra or band, the battery; marching instruments in a drumline, as opposed to the pit.


claves

en-noun

claves pl (normally plural, singular clave)

Borrowed from Latin American Spanish claves (plural), from Latin clāvis (“a key; a lever, bar”).

(music) A percussion instrument, consisting of two sticks or blocks, in which one is struck against the other in order to produce a sound.


saltando

Mark the following excerpt to be played saltando.

1968, Richard D. Worthing, The Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a Programmed Course of Instruction in Orchestration for the Stringed Instruments, page 111

(music) Played with a rapid, bouncing stroke of the bow on a stringed instrument.


VG

(numismatics, bookselling, music, slang) Initialism of very good (condition).


drum and bass

Coordinate term: jungle

(music) A style of electronic dance music focusing heavily on loud bass and fast-tempo drumbeats.


maxima

From Latin maxima (“greatest”). Doublet of maxim.

(music) A music note equal to two (or sometimes three) longæ; in modern notation, this is typically equivalent to eight semibreves.


mashup

From mash (“to convert into a mash; to mix thoroughly”) + up.

(informal) Something consisting of two or more elements combined together.

(music, slang) A remix created by combining two or more songs from different artists into one piece of music.


qawwali

qawwali (countable and uncountable, plural qawwalis)

From Urdu قوالی (qawwālī), from Classical Persian قوالی (qawwālī).

Jameela Siddiqi listens to qawwali and talks to its performers […].

1994, Simon Broughton, World Music: The Rough Guide

(music, uncountable) A style of Muslim devotional music, especially among the South Asian Sufis, accompanied by drums and harmonium.

They are singing not a religious qawwali but its secular and lay cousin.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 223

Every Thursday, in the dargah's enclosure, musicians in shimmering turquoise kurtas, their fingers bejewelled with bling, perform qawwalis attributed to Khusrau […].

2016, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, published 2017, page 86

(music, countable) A song in this style.


pathopoeia

From Ancient Greek παθοποιία (pathopoiía); πάθος (páthos, “passion”) + ποιέω (poiéō, “make”).

(music) The arousing of emotion in someone who hears music; a passage designed to arouse emotions.


tempo mark

(music) A mark placed on the score by the composer describing at what speed the passage should be played.


accompagnato

Borrowed from Italian accompagnato, past participle of accompagnare (“to accompany”).

(music) A tempo mark directing that a recitative is to be accompanied by the orchestra.


accompagnato

(music) Describing a passage having this mark.


vocalization

vocalization (countable and uncountable, plural vocalizations)

vowelization

supplying vowels/diacritics to Arabic and Hebrew words/texts

(music) The production of musical sounds using the voice, especially as an exercise


alphorn

From Alemannic German Alphorn, German Alphorn.

(music) A long, curved, wooden horn used by mountain-dwelling herders in the Alps, originally to call cattle but now only as musical instrument in classical and folk tunes.


baila

(music) A genre of music from Sri Lanka and India, mainly using European instruments and rhythms.


ear candy

Mumba's music is ear candy: it crunches, it bubbles, it melts in the mouth.

2000 November 27, Christopher John Farley, “Irish Spring”, in Time, →ISSN

I wanted it to just be something fun to listen to, like ear candy. I think that's what we got.

2013, Mathew Klickstein, quoting Rachel Sweet, Slimed!, Penguin, page 129

(US, colloquial, music) Light popular music that has an instant appeal but no lasting impact or significance.

korvakarkki

light popular music that has an instant appeal but no lasting impact or significance


corrido

The Mexican corrido remains essentially true to these Iberian roots in regard to its poetic form and its handling of narrative subjects. It is probable that the term corrido is a shortening of the term romance corrido, meaning a through-sung ballad, as attested in Spanish usage during the sixteenth century (Simmons 1963).

2015, John Holmes McDowell, ¡Corrido!: The Living Ballad of Mexico's Western Coast, UNM Press, page 2

(music) A Mexican or Mexican-American ballad or folk song.


HM

When girls appropriate a male-dominated form like HM, can they discard its sexist content without replacing it with something else?

1982 April 24, “Women of Iron”, in Gay Community News, page 10


quint

A musical or piquet term, or a quintuplet

From Middle French quint, from Latin quīntus.


violins

The violins played most strenuously, but no one attended to them.

(music) the violin section of an orchestra


cha-cha

From Cuban/Latin American Spanish cha-cha, imitative of the music.

onomatopoeic

imitative


visualizer

Fittingly, “Mood Swings” ft. Lil Tijay has found a viral star to anchor its music video in actress, model, and former Kylie Jenner bff Jordyn Woods. In the visualizer, Jordyn Woods is the central baddie with a fatty, posing in pools and in sports cars with other baddies Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez.

2020 August 20, Chris Murphy, “Lil’ Baddie Jordyn Woods Stars in Pop Smoke’s Posthumous Video for ‘Mood Swings’”, in Vulture

(music) A video accompanying a song, usually simpler than a typical music video, intended to be a visual representation of the song.


con moto

(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played "with motion"


con moto

(music) describing a passage having this mark


atonality

en-noun

atonality (countable and uncountable, plural atonalities)

(uncountable, music) A style of music that is written without a key.

(countable, music) A passage written without a key.


walk-up

Deverbal from walk up; (northern flicker): imitative of the bird's call.

(music, especially bass) A harmonic line that raises in pitch stepwise, typically connecting two or more chords.


metronome

/ˈmɛtɹəˌnəʊm/

Coined in English from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”) + νόμος (nómos, “regulation, law”).

der

(music) A device, containing an inverted pendulum, used to mark time by means of regular ticks at adjustable intervals; an electronic equivalent that emits flashes.


intermezzo

en-noun

intermezzo (plural intermezzos or intermezzi)

intermezzos (plural)
intermezzi (plural)

She had ample time, too, to change for the next scene, which started with a longish intermezzo staged by a ballet company whose services Scotty had engaged [...].

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 8

(music, art) A short piece of music or act in the interval of the main spectacle; a theatrical interlude.


washtub bass

(music) A stringed instrument (chordophone), used in American folk music, that uses a metal washtub as resonator.


percussion instrument

percussion instrument (plural percussion instruments)

(music) An instrument in which the sound is produced by striking, scraping or shaking an object.


washboard

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) Such a board used as a simple percussion instrument.


motivo

Borrowed from Italian motivo. Doublet of motif and motive.

By the repetition, transposition, inversion, and combination of different motivos, the extended series of sounds is formed[…]

1853, Adolf Bernhard Marx, The universal school of music, translated by A. H. Wehrhan, page 165


rasgueado

rasgueado (countable and uncountable, plural rasgueados)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:rasgueo.

(music) A rhythmical strumming technique commonly associated with flamenco guitar music.


rasgueo

rasgueo (countable and uncountable, plural rasgueos)

From Andalusian Spanish rasgueo, regional form of rasgueado, from the verb rasguear (“strum”). Attested in English from the 20th century (see quotations below).

The prominent rhythm is ♩♫♩, with the first note receiving stress through an agogic or dynamic accent, by being arpeggiated rapidly, or with an upward movement of the rasgueo.

1981, Robert Edwin Fogal, Traditional Music and the Middle Class: A Case Study of Mercedes, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dissertation, Indiana University, page 189

There’s no denying that flamenco guitar with its machine-gun speed picking riffs and dizzying helicopter-like ‘rasgueo’ hand strums is physically punishing.

2011 March 14, Ciaran Giles, “Spaniards eat up Cdn guitarist; Flamenco guitar traditionally an area dominated by men”, in Trail Times, Trail, British Columbia, page 8

His technique on the instrument mainly consists of medium-tempo strums and is somewhat rudimentary—compared to the virtuosic rasgueos of Los Sumac Huaynas’ Chocni López (briefly discussed in Chapter 3)

2020, Fernando Rios, Panpipes and Ponchos : Musical Folklorization and the Rise of the Andean Conjunto Tradition in la Paz, Bolivia, page 157

There are several factors that contribute to the variety of options open to the guitar player when dealing with rasgueo. If a chord is held down by the left hand, the attack will sound differently depending on whether the fingers on the right hand thrust down, aided by gravity and the extension of the fingers, or are drawn up across the strings in a gripping action.

2021, Robin Foggo, “Flamenco: Musical Structure and the Practice of Improvisation”, in Musicologist, volume 5, →DOI, page 54

(music, uncountable) A strumming technique associated with flamenco guitar playing; rasgueado.

On a larger structural level, there are semi-independent musical units or blocks, which, when placed within a compás and assembled, create a piece. These components include rasgueos (here I refer to the structural unit, which is comprised of the technique mentioned above), falsetas, llamadas (Eng. call), cierres and remates.

2021, Robin Foggo, “Flamenco: Musical Structure and the Practice of Improvisation”, in Musicologist, volume 5, →DOI, page 57

(music) A passage within a song featuring guitar played with the technique.


diddle

diddle (countable and uncountable, plural diddles)

From dialectal duddle (“to trick”) (16th century), and diddle, duddle (“to totter”) (17th century), perhaps dissimilated from dialectal didder, dither (“to shake, tremble”), from Middle English dideren (“to shake, quiver, tremble”) and Middle English bididren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to trick, deceive”). Compare also Saterland Frisian diedelje (“to play or sing without a melody”), Dutch bedodden, bedotten (“to trick, fool, diddle”), German Low German Diedeldentjes (“pranks, pranking”). Possibly influenced or reinforced by the name (which itself was probably chosen as an allusion to duddle) of the swindling character Jeremy Diddler in Kenney's Raising the Wind (1803).
Meaning "to have sex with" is from the 19th century; "to masturbate" is from the 1950s. Compare dildo.

cog

(music, countable) In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed.


trillo

en-noun

trillo (plural trillos or trilloes or trilli)

trillos (plural)
trilloes (plural)
trilli (plural)


naker

From Old French nacaire, nacre (cognate with Italian nacchera, mediaeval Latin nacara), from Arabic نَقَّارَة (naqqāra, “drum”).

the Norman trumpets from the battlements […], mingled with the deep and hollow clang of the nakers, (a species of kettle-drum,) retorted in notes of defiance the challenge of the enemy.

(music) A small drum, of Arabic origin, and the forebear of the European kettledrum.


curtal

From older French courtault (modern French courtaud), from court (“short”) + -ault (pejorative suffix).


monophonic

Coordinate term: polyphonic

Near-synonym: monodic

(music) Having a single melodic line and no harmony.

yksiääninen

having a single melodic line and no harmony


off-key

en-adj

off-key (comparative more off-key, superlative most off-key)

more off-key (comparative)
most off-key (superlative)

(music) Pitched inaccurately either above or below the correct note.


double A-side

(music) A record, released as a single, with an album track on each side, rather than having a B-side.


polytonality

en-noun

polytonality (countable and uncountable, plural polytonalities)

(music) The use of multiple keys in the same composition, especially by multiple instruments at the same time

polyvalence

use of more than one harmonic function in one key


sul ponticello

(music, chiefly violin) Bowed near the bridge for the duration of a passage


senza sordino

(music) Without the mute. Specifically for the piano: with the sustain pedal.


poco a poco

Crescendo poco a poco – gradually getting louder.


hornpipe

From Middle English hornpipe, hornpype, hornepipe, equivalent to horn + pipe; so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.

(music) A musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals.


one-shot

Loops automatically conform to a project's tempo; one-shots ignore the tempo and maintain a fixed duration. One-shots are files, such as a percussion hit or a sound effect, that are not intended to be looped.

2010, Mary Plummer, Apple Training Series: GarageBand 09

Loops contain rhythmic patterns that sound designers can extend to fill any amount of time, while one-shots contain sound effects and other non-repeating sounds.

2016, Dave Collins, The Act of Musical Composition: Studies in the Creative Process

(music) A music sample that is played without immediate repetition.


postindustrial

en-adj

postindustrial (comparative more postindustrial, superlative most postindustrial)

more postindustrial (comparative)
most postindustrial (superlative)

(music) Of or relating to a genre of music derived from industrial music but with electronic and rock influences.


postlude

From post- + Latin lūdus (“play”) (modelled on prelude).

(music) The final part of a piece; especially music played (normally on the organ) at the end of a church service.


arrhythmic

arrhythmic (comparative more arrhythmic, superlative most arrhythmic)

more arrhythmic (comparative)
most arrhythmic (superlative)

Could there have been a more fatuous and arrhythmic and unmemorable conclusion to what had been, after all, my analysis, my only analysis?

1998 August 17, Adam Gopnik, “Man Goes To See a Doctor”, in The New Yorker


clavier

Borrowed from French clavier (“keyboard”), from Latin clavis (“key”).

[…]play certain of the stops in octaves to each other, while merely touching single notes on the clavier

1870, A Description of the Grand Organ in the Town Hall, Leeds

(music) The keyboard of an organ, pianoforte, or harmonium.


broken chord

(music) A chord whose notes are played in sequential descending or ascending order


RAC

rock against communism
rock against communism#English

(music) Initialism of rock against communism, a subgenre of hardcore punk associated with neo-nazism.


woodwinds

(music) The woodwind instruments of an orchestra collectively


woodblock

(music) A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow block of wood struck with a drumstick.


woodshed

en-verb

woodshed (third-person singular simple present woodsheds, present participle woodshedding, simple past and past participle woodshedded)

woodsheds (present singular third-person)
woodshedding (participle present)
woodshedded (participle past)
woodshedded (past)

His latest novel sheds light on an émigré writer’s woodshedding period.

2007 July 23, “A Free Life”, in Publishers Weekly

(slang, music) To practice or rehearse using a musical instrument.


two-step

(music) A piece of music for this dance.


bouzouki

From Greek μπουζούκι (bouzoúki, “bouzouki”), from Turkish bozuk (“out of order, rotten”). Doublet of buzuq.

The bouzouki itself, identified by this time almost equally with a ‘Turkish’ past and with the criminality of the underworld that cultivated it, became a symbol of subversion in the eyes of the authorities.

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

(music) A Greek long-necked plucked fretted lute with a sharp, metallic sound.