divertimento

divertimento (plural divertimentos or divertimenti)

divertimentos (plural)
divertimenti (plural)

/dɪˌvɜːtɪˈmɛntəʊ/

Borrowed from Italian, from divertire (“to amuse, to entertain”), from Latin dīvertere.

(music) composition that has several short movements, a style that composers started to use in the 18th century.

دِيفِرْتِمِنْتُو

eighteenth-century composition in several short movements


vivace

(music) Played, or to be played, at a brisk, lively tempo.


vivace

(music) A piece to be played at a brisk, lively tempo.


quena

Coordinate term: charango

One song the group performed on Thursday, “La Partida,” featured lovely bell harmonics from the guitars, a shifting pattern of cross‐rhythms on the guitar‐like charango, and a quena lead.

1978 April 14, “Music: Inti‐Illimani, From the Andes”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

As the band’s traditional instrumentalist, Yuri Callisaya, shrilled on the quena, the band’s fans sang along with Mr. Méndez: “Ama sua, ama llulla, ama quella,” which translates as, “Don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t be lazy.”

2013 December 31, William Neuman, “Headbanging in Bolivia to the Flutes of Yore”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

(music) A traditional flute of the Andes.


sprezzatura

en-noun

sprezzatura (usually uncountable, plural sprezzaturas)

Borrowed from Italian sprezzatura (“nonchalance”), which was coined in 1528 by Baldassare Castiglione; the term gained currency in English in the mid-20th century, often to describe art.

[…] I have found quite a universal rule which in this matter seems to me valid above all others, and in all human affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as though it were some very rough and dangerous reef; and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain sprezzatura [nonchalance], so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.

1959, Charles S. Singleton, transl., The Book of the Courtier, translation of Il libro del Cortegiano by Baldassare Castiglione, The First Book, page 43

Cassandra Wilson's music is the essence of sprezzatura, or calculated nonchalance, that special attitude described nearly 500 years ago by Baldassare Castiglione in “The Courtier,” his primer on how to ingratiate yourself with the aristocracy.

2002 February 19, Ben Ratliff, “Seeming So Nonchalant Can Be Harder Than It Looks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Mr. Mork played with soulful intensity (and impeccable intonation), and the interplay between him and Mr. Repin, with nicely coordinated gestures and phrasings, was enjoyable to watch. But Mr. Repin’s technical struggles were all too evident — the very opposite of sprezzatura.

2013 August 18, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, “Unloading the Weightiness of Brahms With a Few Flicks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

In men's fashion the ultimate style move is sprezzatura, embracing intentional errors such as undone buttons and misaligned neckties. Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat, wore watches over his shirtsleeves.

2022, W. David Marx, chapter 4, in Status and Culture, Viking

(chiefly art, music) The art of performing a difficult task so gracefully that it looks effortless; calculated nonchalance.


funky

en-adj

funky (comparative funkier or more funky, superlative funkiest or most funky)

funkier (comparative)
more funky (comparative)
funkiest (superlative)
most funky (superlative)

(music) Relating to or reminiscent of various genres of African American music, especially funk.


picked

picked (comparative more picked, superlative most picked)

more picked (comparative)
most picked (superlative)


pedal

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pedal (noun, verb).wav

Borrowed from French pédale, Latin pedālis.

(music) An effects unit, especially one designed to be activated by being stepped on.

A small organ commonly has only one or two ranks on the pedal.

(music) The ranks of pipes played from the pedal-board of an organ.


Tin Pan Alley

Purported to be a reference to the constant sound of pianos as songwriters worked out their tunes.

From its inception the OWI framed directives that offered guidelines for songwriters to aid them in the composition of “proper” war songs, and, in the public press, the OWI rebuked Tin Pan Alley for its uninterrupted production of “nostalgic” hit songs.

2003, Kathleen E. R. Smith, God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War, University Press of Kentucky, page 81

At the time, almost all Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songs had two parts.

2009, Tighe E. Zimmers, Tin Pan Alley Girl: A Biography of Ann Ronell, McFarland, page 11

(metonymically, music) The songwriting and publishing industry which was built around the songs produced in Tin Pan Alley; the style of popular music produced by this industry.


temper

en-verb

temper (third-person singular simple present tempers, present participle tempering, simple past and past participle tempered)

tempers (present singular third-person)
tempering (participle present)
tempered (participle past)
tempered (past)

From Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō (“I divide or proportion duly, I moderate, I regulate; intransitive senses I am moderate, I am temperate”), from tempus (“time, fit season”). Compare also French tempérer. Doublet of tamper. See temporal.

der

(music) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.


missa

From Ecclesiastical Latin missa (“mass”).

(music) a mass, in the sense of a composition setting several sung parts of the liturgical service (most often chosen from the ordinary parts Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Agnus Dei and/or Sanctus) to music, notably when the text in Latin is used (as long universally prescribed by Rome)


groove

From Middle English grov, grove, groof, grofe (“cave; pit; mining shaft”), from Old English grōf (“trench, furrow, something dug”), from Proto-West Germanic *grōbu, from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“groove, furrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scrape, bury”). Cognate with Dutch groef, groeve (“groove; pit, grave”), German Grube (“ditch, pit”), Norwegian grov (“brook, riverbed”), Serbo-Croatian grèbati (“scratch, dig”). Directly descended from Old English grafan (“to dig”). More at grave.

der

Now, what you hear is not a test, I'm rapping to the beat / And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet

1979, “Rapper's Delight”, performed by The Sugarhill Gang

Let the music play / He won't get away / This groove he can't ignore

1983, Chris Barbosa, Ed Chisolm (lyrics and music), “Let the Music Play”, performed by Shannon

Get into the groove / Boy, you've got to prove / Your love to me / Get up on your feet / Yeah, step to the beat

1985, Stephen Bray, Madonna (lyrics and music), “Into the Groove”, in Like a Virgin, performed by Madonna


New Age music

New age music is a general term for a wide and eclectic range of music styles blended together under one label to form a new crossover style of music. It is also closely linked with a lifestyle that is broadly called new age, which centers on […]

2019, Janet Sturman, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, SAGE Publications

(music) A genre of music of a mystical and meditative nature, associated with New Age philosophies, usually in the style of world music and using the sounds of nature.


partition

en-noun

partition (countable and uncountable, plural partitions)

/pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃən/

/pɑɹˈtɪ.ʃɪn/

Recorded c.1430, "division into shares, distinction," from Middle English particioun, from Old French particion (modern partition), from Latin partitio, partitionem (“division, portion”), from partitus, the past participle of partire (“to split (up), part(ition)”).


suling

Borrowed from Sundanese ᮞᮥᮜᮤᮀ (suling). Compare with Acehnese suléng.

She attributes the initial idea to her husband, who suggested combining the kecapi with suling in 1960, shortly after their move to the kabupaten Sidenreng-Rappang (Sidrap), where he had been assigned as district head (Ind. bupati).

2002, R. Anderson Sutton, Calling Back the Spirit: Music, Dance, and Cultural Politics in Lowland South Sulawesi, Oxford University Press, page 55

(music) An Indonesian flute made of bamboo.


New Age

en-adj

New Age (comparative more New Age, superlative most New Age)

more New Age (comparative)
most New Age (superlative)

(music) Of or relating to New Age music.


articulation

en-noun

articulation (countable and uncountable, plural articulations)

From Middle English articulacioun, from Old French articulacion, from Medieval Latin articulatio. Equivalent to articulate + -ion.

The articulation in this piece is tricky because it alternates between legato and staccato.

(music, uncountable) The manner in which something is articulated (tongued, slurred or bowed).


sweeten

en-verb

sweeten (third-person singular simple present sweetens, present participle sweetening, simple past and past participle sweetened)

sweetens (present singular third-person)
sweetening (participle present)
sweetened (participle past)
sweetened (past)

sour

antonym(s) of “to make warm and fertile”

From sweet + -en. Eclipsed and superseded non-native Middle English doucen and endoucen, borrowed from Old French adoucir and endoucir (“to sweeten”).

In most popular music the bowed strings usually play long, sustained, sweeping parts, and are sometimes added to a vocal track later in a process known as sweetening.

2011, Russell Dean Vines, Composing Digital Music For Dummies, page 326

Rather than employ strings to “sweeten” the songs, Motown's arrangements used strings as a timbral layer, in conjunction with syncopated horn lines, for a fuller sound; […]

2014, Mellonee V. Burnim, Portia K. Maultsby, African American Music: An Introduction, page 259

(music, transitive) To supplement (a composition) with additional instruments, especially strings.


honky-tonk

en-noun

honky-tonk (countable and uncountable, plural honky-tonks)

From honk-a-tonk (“a cheap nightclub”), possibly imitative.

(music, uncountable) A style of country music emphasizing traditional country instruments (e.g., guitar, steel guitar and fiddle); a rough, nasal vocal style; and tragic themes such as heartbreak, infidelity and alcoholism often associated with patrons of honky-tonks.


madrigal

/ˈmæd͡ɹɪɡəl/

From Italian madrigale, from Latin mātrīcālis.

(music) A song for a small number of unaccompanied voices; from 13th century Italy.

(music) A polyphonic song for about six voices, from 16th century Italy.


songwriter

We are now collaborating with a famous songwriter.

(music) A musician who composes songs; especially writing the song's lyrics and/or creating a melody or a tune for the song.

liedjieskrywer

someone who writes the lyrics and usually the music of songs


hairpin

→ Japanese: ヘアピン

From hair + pin, 1788 (as hair pin). Adjective sense 1906 in hairpin turn etc.

(music) An elongated horizontal v-shaped sign placed underneath a staff to indicate a crescendo or decrescendo.


counterpoint

counterpoint (countable and uncountable, plural counterpoints)

Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Middle French contrepoint, from Medieval Latin contrāpūnctum. Equivalent to counter- + point.

I noticed […] that when a very cheesy synthesized violin sound plays in counterpoint with a real violin, it can quite convincingly seem as if two violins are playing.

2009, Roger T. Dean, The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music

(music) A melody added to an existing one, especially one added to provide harmony whilst each retains its simultaneous identity; a composition consisting of such contrapuntal melodies.

對位法

(music) a melody added to an existing one


one drop

1995: You have different intricate things that you do with your high hat while your bass drum and your snare might be playing the same beat, like the one drop, where the bass drum and the snare drum is playing identically. — drummer Nelson Miller interviewed by Carter Van Pelt in The Roots Is In The Rhythm

(music) A style of drumming, prevalent in reggae and attributed to Winston Grennan, in which the snare and bass play on the same beat.


unproduced

en-adj

unproduced (comparative more unproduced, superlative most unproduced)

more unproduced (comparative)
most unproduced (superlative)

The new album has a very unproduced sound, unlike their earlier efforts.

(music) Recording the music directly, with a minimum of overdubs, effects and other processing.


Ba

(music, Japan) Abbreviation of bass guitar (of a rock band)


jawbone

en-noun

jawbone (countable and uncountable, plural jawbones)

From Middle English jawe bone, a variant of chawlbone, chawylbon, chavylbone, chavyl bon (“jaw bone”, literally “chavel bone”), see chavel-bone; equivalent to jaw + bone.

(countable, singular or plural, music) A shaken musical instrument (an idiophone) made from the jawbone of an animal and shaken such that the teeth vibrate in their sockets to produce sound.


dux

Borrowed from Latin dux (“leader”). Doublet of doge, duc, and duke.

(music) The subject of a fugue, answered by the comes.


reggae

From Jamaican Creole rege (“rags; a quarrel”), see rag; originally used in the 1960s to describe a Jamaican dance. Compare ragtime. Broader musical sense popularized by the 1968 song "Do the Reggay".

der

I mean, the very name reggae. I mean, it wasn’t called reggae in the first place. It came from blue beat, just ska, you know? Ska and blue beat, the era, and then reggae. Because it was a dance, originally. And the DJs thought, “That’s a nice name,” and the kept saying “reggae music, reggae music” on the air all the time. “Reggae music, reggae music, the DJs on the radio. So everyone kept on saying “Reggae music”. They classed it as …(other Matumbi band members join in) Reggae.

1978, 05:35 from the start, in Wolfgang Büld, director, Reggae In a Babylon (film (documentary)), spoken by Dennis Bovell (as himself, a member of the band Matumbi)

(Rastafari, music) A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and is heavily associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies.


E-flat major

{\key es\major es'f'g'aes'bes'cdes2}

(music) The major key with E-flat as its tonic, with the notes E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D the key signature of which has three flats:

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


Bach

From German Bach. The surname was brought to the Anglo-Saxon world by immigrants from other Germanic countries. Doublet of Beach.

(music) Johann Sebastian Bach, a German organist and composer.


ISO

(music, derogatory) Abbreviation of instrument-shaped object. Used to refer to a musical instrument that is of very low quality.


Mass

en-noun

Mass (countable and uncountable, plural Masses)

From Middle English messe, from Old English mæsse and Old French messe, both from Late Latin missa, from Latin mittō (“to send, dismiss”), compare French messe.
In the ancient churches, the public services at which the catechumens were permitted to be present were called missa catechumenorum, ending with the reading of the Gospel. Then they were dismissed with the words: "Ite, missa est", the congregation is dismissed. After that the sacrifice proper began. At its close the same words were said to those who remained. So the word gave the name of Mass to the sacrifice in the Catholic Church. Compare Christmas, Lammas, missal. Doublet of missa.

(music) A musical composition set to portions, or all, of the Mass.

messu

a musical composition set to portions of the Mass


Stick

(music) The Chapman Stick, an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman.


Suomi

(music) A freeform variation of psytrance music said to originate in Finland, where it is called suomisaundi.


C

(music) The first note in the C chromatic and major scales.


palmas

[…] she performed in an ensemble that included one uncle (José Carbonell) on guitar, and another (Antonio Carbonell) accompanying her with palmas, or handclapping.

2007 February 6, Ben Ratliff, “Embodying the Past and Future of an Old Form”, in New York Times


punk rock

See punk + rock. First attested in 1970 in reference to rockabilly; possibly coined in its current sense by American music critic Dave Marsh in the May 1971 issue of Creem, from earlier punk music.

(music) A genre of rock music associated with short, loud, energetic songs played on electric guitars and drums and employing angry, offensive, and/or political lyrics.


F

The fourth note of the diatonic scale of C major, called fa in solfège.

The scale or key which has that note for its tonic.

On a piano keyboard, the white key next to the left of each group of three black keys (see figure).

The degree of a staff assigned to such a key or tone; a note on such a degree.


B

From abbreviations of various terms beginning with or containing the letter ‘B’.
* (billion): abbreviation of billion
* (cricket): abbreviation of balls
* (bitch): abbreviation of bitch


B

From the use of the letter ‘B’ as an arbitrary label among other letter labels.
* (personality type): from contrast with the letter ‘A’ and its corresponding personality type
* (academic grade): from the position of the letter ‘B’ in the English alphabet

(music) The seventh note in the C major scale.


D

D (countable and uncountable, plural Ds)

Symphony No. 4 Tragic D 417

(music) Abbreviation of Deutsch number in the Schubert Thematic Catalogue.


pianississimo

en-adv

pianississimo (comparative more pianississimo, superlative most pianississimo)

more pianississimo (comparative)
most pianississimo (superlative)

(music) The musical notation indicating that the piece should be played quieter than pianissimo. Abbreviation: ppp.


espressivo

(music) To be played in an expressive manner.


fortississimo

(music) The musical notation indicating that the piece is played louder than fortissimo.


fortississimo

(music) The dynamic sign indicating that the piece should be played louder than fortissimo. Abbreviation: fff.


china

en-noun

china (countable and uncountable, plural chinas)

From clippings of attributive use of China, q.v., the country in East Asia. In reference to porcelain and porcelain objects, via clipping of china-ware and via this sense of Persian چین (čini) in Persia and India, which influenced the pronunciation (see below). In reference to medicine, via clipping of China root. In reference to flowers, via clipping of China rose. In reference to tea, via clipping of China tea. In Cockney slang, a clipping of china plate as a rhyme of mate (“friend”). In reference to drum cymbals, a clipping of China cymbal and as a genericization of a kind of Zildjian-brand cymbal.

China cymbals are a type of short sound cymbal. [Brand X] makes chinas with really short sounds.

2010, Carmine Appice, Drums for Everyone, page 78

(countable, music) A kind of drum cymbal approximating a Chinese style of cymbal, but usually with Turkish influences.


EDM

EDM (countable and uncountable, plural EDMs)

But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which [Justin] Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM accouterments, seeking a comfortable middle ground where Bieber’s impressively refined pop-R&B croon can rub up on techno blasts and garish dubstep drops (and occasionally grind on some AutoTune, not necessarily because it needs it, but because a certain amount of robo-voice is expected these days).

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

electronic dance music
electronic dance music#English

(music) Initialism of electronic dance music.


BACH motif

These four notes spell Bach's name; in German musical nomenclature “B” stands for B flat, whereas “H” means B natural.

{bes'a'cb'}

(music) A sequence of four notes (B flat, A, C, B natural), included in a piece of music as a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach.


vibrato

/vɪˈbɹɑːtoʊ/

Borrowed from Italian vibrato m, past participle of vibrare (“to vibrate”).

He felt his teeth methodically, one after the other, with a vibrato movement of finger and thumb.

1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 429

(music) The musical effect or technique where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound.


vox

From Latin vōx (“voice”). Doublet of voice.

(music) The voice, especially one's singing voice; vocals.


arpeggio

Borrowed from Italian arpeggio, from arpeggiare (“to play a harp”).

He struck the opening chords of the passage; but this time Irene's voice was silent. Victor stopped in the middle of an arpeggio.

1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind

(music) The notes of a chord played individually instead of simultaneously, usually moving from lowest to highest.


groupetto

groupetto (plural groupetti or groupettos)

Alteration of Italian grupetto after group.

I used to be a master of the groupetto, but it has been many years since I’ve been forced to ride in a bona fide, terminally dropped group. It’s strange to be back. Riding in the groupetto requires a different mentality and skill set.

2005, Bradley McGee, Riding in the Groupetto

(music, cycle racing) Alternative form of gruppetto


K

Abbreviations.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of counter, prefix counter-, sequence contr.

ng

prefix <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">counter-</i>, sequence contr.

Die Zauberflöte, K. 620


grunge

Alice liked to wear plaids and ripped jeans, and listen to grunge.

(music) A subgenre of alternative rock, originating from Seattle, Washington, which melds punk and metal.


spanker

(dated, music) A musician who plays his instrument well.


T

en-noun

T (countable and uncountable, plural Ts)


strings

(music) Collectively, the stringed instruments in an orchestra.


descend

en-verb

descend (third-person singular simple present descends, present participle descending, simple past and past participle descended)

descends (present singular third-person)
descending (participle present)
descended (participle past)
descended (past)
descend (infinitive)

PIE word
 *de
The verb is derived from Middle English descenden (“to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to go from a better to a worse condition, decline, degenerate; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.”), from Anglo-Norman descendere, descendre, and Old French descendere, descendre (“to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.”) (modern French descendre), and from their etymon Latin dēscendere, the present active infinitive of dēscendō (“to come or go down, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant; etc.”), from de- (prefix meaning ‘from; down from’) + scandō (“to ascend, climb; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump”)).
The noun is derived from the verb.

laskea

to pass from a higher to a lower part of (something)

afgaan

to physically move or pass from a higher to a lower place or position

Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

(music) To pass from a higher to a lower note or tone; to fall in pitch.

alentua

to pass from a higher to a lower note or tone; to fall in pitch


pentatonic

The middle movement is completely pentatonic, giving it an unusual sound.


tuplet

(music) A note value with a non-standard duration; a set of notes subdivided within a single beat.


rota

Along the creek bed he came, plucking a rota, a zither of five strings with bone-yoke facings and a beaverskin carrying-bag thrown over his shoulder.

2011, A. A. Attanasio, The Wolf and the Crown (The Perilous Order of Camelot)

(music) A kind of zither used in the Middle Ages in church music.


secco

Borrowed from Italian secco (“dry”). Doublet of sec.

(music) dry – sparse accompaniment, staccato, without resonance


scoop

From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to cut, to scrape, to hack”). Cognate with Old Frisian skuppe (“shovel”), Middle Low German schōpe (“scoop, shovel”), German Low German Schüppe, Schüpp (“shovel”), German Schüppe, Schippe (“shovel, spade”). Related to English shovel.

gloss

"a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">schop</i> (“spade”)

cog

Jazz symbols include many contoured articulations and inflections, such as doits, fall-offs, and scoops.

1995, Music & Computers, volume 1, numbers 2-4, page 57

(music) A note that begins slightly below and slides up to the target pitch.


scoop

en-verb

scoop (third-person singular simple present scoops, present participle scooping, simple past and past participle scooped)

scoops (present singular third-person)
scooping (participle present)
scooped (participle past)
scooped (past)

(music, often with "up") To begin a vocal note slightly below the target pitch and then to slide up to the target pitch, especially in country music.


post-rock

From post- + rock, coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994).

(music) A genre of music which uses rock instrumentation for songs with gradually unfolding structures that depend more on ambience and timbre than melody.


percussion

en-noun

percussion (countable and uncountable, plural percussions)

From Middle English percussioun, from Middle French, Old French percussion, from Latin percussiō (“striking”), from percutiō (“I strike”).

percussion instrument
percussion instrument

(music) The section of an orchestra or band containing percussion instruments; such instruments considered as a group; in bands, may be separate from drum kits.

آلَة إِيقَاعِيَّة

music: section of percussion instruments


triplet

PIE word
 *tréyes
From triple + -et, q.v.

(music) A group of three notes played or written where two notes would ordinarily be; a form of tuplet.

triola

(music) group of three notes played in place of two


S

Abbreviation.
S
# (stenoscript) the sound sequence /st/ in a word, e.g. it's the transcription of the suffix -ist.
# (stenoscript) the prefix sub-
#: [some manuals advise lower-case s for the prefix sub-]
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of south.


quintuple

From Middle French quintuple, from Latin quīntuplus, from quīntus (“fifth”) + -plus (“-ple”).


frottola

(music) The predominant type of Italian popular secular song of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, and the most important and widespread predecessor to the madrigal.


calabash

From French calebasse, from Spanish calabaza (“gourd; pumpkin”), possibly from Arabic قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ (qarʕatun yābisatun, “dry gourd”) or directly from its etymon Persian خربزه (xarboze, “melon”), possibly ultimately from Sanskrit त्रपुस (trapusa, “colocynth fruit”) (compare Persian تربزه (tarboze, “watermelon”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan carabassa (“pumpkin; orange colour”), Galician cabaza (“gourd, pumpkin, squash; calabash (container)”), Occitan calebasso, carabasso, carbasso, Portuguese cabaça (“gourd; calabash (container)”), Sicilian caravazza (and caramazza).

der

قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ

cog

The inſtrument moſt in requeſt uſed by the Abundi, being the people of the kingdom of Angola, Matamba, and others, is the Marimba; it conſiſts of ſixteen calabaſhes orderly placed along the middle between two ſide-boards joined together, or a long frame, hanging about a man's neck with a thong. Over the mouths of the calabaſhes there are thin ſounding ſlips of red wood called Tanilla, a little above a ſpan long, which being beaten with two little ſticks, returns a ſound from the calabaſhes of ſeveral ſizes not unlike an organ.

1814, Jerom Merolla da Sorrento, “A Voyage to Congo, and Several Other Countries, Chiefly in Southern Africk. […]”, in John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World; […], volume XVI, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme,and Brown, […]; and Cadell and Davies, […], →OCLC, page 245

(music) A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit.


PT

en-noun

PT (countable and uncountable, plural PTs)


pedalboard

(music) A large keyboard at the base of an electronic or pipe organ console that the organist plays with the feet.

(music) A flat board or panel that holds effects pedals for an electric guitar, along with the patchbay and power supply.


passacaglia

passacaglia (countable and uncountable, plural passacaglias)

Borrowed from Italian passacaglia, from Spanish pasacalle, from pasar (“to pass”) + calle (“street”).

(music) A form of historical Spanish or Italian dance characterised by a serious nature, triple metre, and use of a ground bass.

(music, by extension) Any piece of classical music with similar characteristics.


VIP

VIP (countable and uncountable, plural VIPs)

(music) Initialism of variation in production: the remixing of one's own track


EP

You put your headphones on and load up Kelsey Lu’s EP, Church, an album full of orchestral loops designed to reach towards a quiet ecstasy.

2021, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water, Viking, page 41

(music) Initialism of extended play (a vinyl record (or recording on other media, such as a CD) that is shorter than an LP but longer than a single.)


contra

(music, informal) Any of the musical instruments in the contrabass range, e.g. contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet or, especially, double bass.


TD

TD (countable and uncountable, plural TDs)


RH

RH (countable and uncountable, plural RHs)

Work wraps together with wrapped sts as you come to them, as follows: Insert RH ndl into wrap at base of wrapped st from beneath, then bring RH ndl up and into st on LH ndl, ready to work the st[…]

2012, Stefanie Japel, Mom and Me Knits, page 13

(music, knitting) Initialism of right hand.


potpourri

potpourri (countable and uncountable, plural potpourris)

/ˌpəʊ.pəˈɹiː/

/pəʊˈpʊə.ɹi/

/pəʊˈpɔː.ɹi/

From French pot-pourri (“stew, potpourri”), a Calque of Spanish olla podrida (“stew”, literally “rotten pot”). Doublet of olla podrida.


sext

From Latin sexta (“sixth; sixth hour”). Doublet of siesta.

(music) A sixth: an interval of six diatonic degrees.

(music, obsolete) An organ stop of two ranks of pipes an interval of a sixth apart.


turntablism

en-noun

turntablism (usually uncountable, plural turntablisms)

(music) The art of using one or more turntables and mixers to create an original musical piece.


tutti

From Italian tutti, from Latin totus (“all”).

(music) All together. Indicates that the remainder of a group should join in playing after a solo or other passage with a reduced number of voices.


tutti

a tutti passage

(music) All together; with all playing at once.


tutti

Even so, the orchestra endowed tuttis with a positively radiant glow.

2008 February 19, Steve Smith, “Hispanic Classics Flavor a New York Debut”, in New York Times

(music) A passage in which all members of an orchestra are playing


domino

1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”).

cog

Any player is liable to make a 'domino' — that is to say, he goes wool-gathering and continues to play when everyone else has stopped. If he does so at a grown-up concert the fault is irredeemable […]

1932, The Musical Times and Singing-class Circular, page 263

(music, colloquial) A mistake in performing.


tr.

en-noun

tr. (countable and uncountable, plural trr.)


temperament

temperament (countable and uncountable, plural temperaments)

Inherited from Middle English temperament, borrowed from Middle French tempérament, from Latin temperāmentum.

inh+

(music) The altering of certain intervals from their correct values in order to improve the moving from key to key.

temperatura

the altering of certain intervals from their correct values in order to improve the moving from key to key


unisonal

en-adj

unisonal (comparative more unisonal, superlative most unisonal)

more unisonal (comparative)
most unisonal (superlative)


cavatina

From Italian cavatina, diminutive of cavata.

(music) An operatic song in slow tempo, either complete in itself or (e.g., in Bellini and Verdi) followed by a faster, more resolute section: hence

(music) A rather slow, song-like instrumental movement; the title, for example, of a movement in Beethoven's string quartet in B flat, op. 130 (1826) and of a once-famous piece (originally for violin and piano) by Raff, and of the slow movement of Rubra's string quartet No. 2.


timekeeper

There was no consensus among jazz musicians about who was the primary timekeeper in a jazz band; some said the drummers and others said the bassist.

2011, Harris M. Berger, Metal, Rock, and Jazz: Perception and the Phenomenology of Musical Experience, Wesleyan University Press, page 152

(music) The group member who controls the rhythm of the music when a group of musicians play together.


techno

(music) A repetitive style of music originally produced for use in a continuous DJ set. The central rhythmic component is most often in common time (4/4), where time is marked with a bass drum on each quarter note pulse, a backbeat played by snare or clap on the second and fourth pulses of the bar, and an open hi-hat sounding every second eighth note.


new jack swing

(music) A variety of swingbeat dance music combining elements of rhythm and blues, soul music, hip hop and rap.


negro spiritual

en-noun

negro spiritual (plural negro spirituals)

(music) A genre of African American song, usually with a Christian text, and sung a cappella with no harmony; it developed into gospel music.


ballet music

Piano and drums make for very good ballet music!

(music) Music composed primarily to accompany a ballet performance


rhythm and blues

From early 1940s, replacing earlier race music.

(music) A style of music combining elements of jazz and blues, with syncopated rhythms and a strong backbeat, originating among African Americans in the 1940s.


soul music

(music) A genre of music that originated in black American gospel, characterized by the use of secular lyrics, and an earthy, intensely emotional style.


gospel music

gospel music (usually uncountable, plural gospel musics)

(music) A type of Christian music genre that is a cornerstone of the Christian media that originated amongst African-Americans based on the folk music melodies with the addition of elements of spirituals and jazz.


rinky-dink

rinky-dink (countable and uncountable, plural rinky-dinks)

/ˈɹɪŋkɪdɪŋk/

/ˈɹɪŋkiˌdɪŋk/

Origin unknown; possibly a variant of rickety (“of an object: not strong or sturdy; of a person: feeble in the joints, tottering”), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. The noun is attested earlier than the adjective.

The [King] Oliver band had a new kind of beat, a real jazz beat instead of the ragtime rinky-dink.

1947, Bud Freeman, “Louis Armstrong, a Reminiscence”, in Ralph de Toledano, editor, Frontiers of Jazz, 3rd edition, Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, published 1994, page 119

Devon on the run, then. No longer playing rinky-dink in fag clubs, pumping the organ in skidroad missions, humping ivories for small change and beer.

1990, D[onald] M[urray] Fraser, “In the Aftermath”, in Bryan Carson, editor, Ignorant Armies, Vancouver, B.C.: Pulp Press Book Publishers, page 98

In his symphony, the form of the notes is the form of the moment, and the form of the moment is strings (lustre), horn (sheen), oboe (edge), harp (light) and glockenspiel (a touch of the rinky-dink).

2013, John Kefala Kerr, Thimio’s House, Ropley, Hampshire: Perfect Edge, John Hunt Publishing

(uncountable, music) Alternative form of rinky-tink (“a tinkling, tinny style of music; honky-tonk”)


rinky-dink

/ˈɹɪŋkɪdɪŋk/

/ˈɹɪŋkiˌdɪŋk/

As I child, I learned to play on that old pump organ and so had my father. This piano was very special. It had an extra floor pedal which gave the piano a rinky-dink sound like no other.

2007, Johnny Stark, “Another New Beginning”, in From Poverty to Silvered Wings of Flight, Bloomington, Ind.: Xlibris, page 55

The loud rinky-dink music and the wafting blue cigar smoke made the scene a dime novel cover.

2013, Conn Hamlett, John Lee Johnson and the Gunslingers, page 13

But Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe has no sax sound tagging along behind him, and when love interest Lauren Bacall makes her entrance at a swanky nightspot, a rinky-dink piano accompanies her sway; there's not a sax in sight (or sound).

2017, Kenneth LaFave, Experiencing Film Music: A Listener's Companion, page 32

(music) Alternative form of rinky-tink (“tinkling and tinny”)


b/w

(music) Initialism of backed with. Commonly used with old 45 and 78 RPM records, referring to the flip side (commonly called "B-side") of the record.


filler

(television, music) material of lower cost or quality that is used to fill a certain television time slot or physical medium, such as a music album


ballet

ballet (countable and uncountable, plural ballets)

Borrowed from French ballet, from Italian balletto (“short dance, ballet”), diminutive form of ballo (“group dance”), from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

der

(music) A light part song, frequently with a fa-la-la chorus, common among Elizabethan and Italian Renaissance composers.


gamelan

en-noun

gamelan (countable and uncountable, plural gamelans)

/ˈɡæ.məˌlæn/

Borrowed from Javanese ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀ (gamelan), from Old Javanese gamelan.

(music) A genre of music of Indonesian origin typically featuring metallophones, xylophones, drums, gongs and a bamboo flute (called a siuling).


enclosed

en-adj

enclosed (comparative more enclosed, superlative most enclosed)

more enclosed (comparative)
most enclosed (superlative)

castellated

in reference to fountains, cisterns, &c.

(music, of a division within a pipe organ surrounded by a wooden box, one or more sides of which contain slats that can be opened or closed in order to increase or decrease volume) Having closed slats.


LV

(handbells) Abbreviation of laissez vibrer/let vibrate.


kapellmeister

(music) A leader or conductor of a musical group such as an orchestra.

The daily routine of the Hofkapelle was normally entrusted to the Kapellmeister. This was the most important musical position at court.

2014, Sterling E. Murray, The Career of an Eighteenth-Century Kapellmeister: The Life and Music of Antonio Rosetti, Boydell & Brewer, page 41

(music, historical) Person in charge of music at a noble court during the baroque and classical period.


zouk

From French secouer (“to shake up”), via creole.

From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Brooklyn’s own ReggaeLution band will perform, and at 9, D.J. Lumumba (a k a Revolution) will preside over an inclusive Caribbean dance party, from bachata to zouk and back again.

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

(music) A style of dance music originating in the French Antilles, combining Latin American, African and Western disco rhythms; a dance to this music


theorbo

/θi.ˈɔː.bəʊ/

From Italian tiorba, from Turkish torba.

(music) A baroque, double-necked lute having an extra set of open bass strings.


perfect pitch

en-noun

perfect pitch (countable and uncountable, plural perfect pitches)

Coordinate term: relative pitch

(music, uncountable) The ability to identify a note by name on hearing it, or to re-create a specified note from memory, without the benefit of an externally provided reference pitch.

(music, less common, countable or uncountable) The exact pitch of a note, described by its frequency in vibrations per second.


amplifier

(music) A portable encasement that houses a large speaker, used to amplify voices and musical instruments at live performances.


testudo

testudo (plural testudos or testudoes or testudines)

testudos (plural)
testudoes (plural)
testudines (plural)

Unadapted borrowing from Latin testūdō (“tortoise, turtle, lyre, type of military shelter”).

ubor

(music) A kind of lyre; so called in allusion to the lyre of Mercury, fabled to have been made of the shell of a tortoise.


cor anglais

/ˌkɔːɹ ˈɒŋɡleɪ/

/ˌkɔɹ ɔŋˈɡleɪ/

Borrowed from French cor anglais (literally “English horn”), calqued from a misunderstanding of Middle High German engellisches horn (“angelic horn”), from the resemblance of the instrument to horns played by angels as depicted in the Middle Ages.

der

(music) A double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family that is pitched in F, one-fifth lower than the oboe and is consequently approximately one-third longer than the oboe.


holler

American variant of holla, hallo or hollo.


roller

→ Welsh: rholer

* From Middle English rollere, equivalent to roll + -er.
* (credits in TV or film): These were originally printed on a physical cylinder that was rotated in front of the camera.

(slang, music) A type break that consists of drum rolls; a drum and bass track made with such breaks.


scherzo

Borrowed from Italian scherzo (“joke, play”), from scherzare (“to joke, jest”), from Lombardic *skerzan (“to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest”), from Proto-Germanic *skertaną (“to hop, jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerǝd- (“to dance, jump”). Akin to Middle High German scherzen (“to frolic, jump merrily, hop up and down”) (modern German scherzen (“to joke”), Scherz), Norwegian skjerta (“to joke”).

cog

At seven Val knocked – three shorts and one long, out of the scherzo of Beethoven’s Fifth – and I rushed to open.

(music) A piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony; especially, a piece of music played in a playful manner.


impressionism

en-noun

impressionism (countable and uncountable, plural impressionisms)

(music) A style that avoided traditional harmony, and sought to invoke the impressions of the composer.


serenade

/ˌsɛɹəˈneɪd/

Borrowed from French sérénade, from Italian serenata, from the past participle of serenare, from Latin serenare, from serenus (“calm”), of uncertain origin (see there).

“Eine kleine Nachtmusik” is a well-known serenade written by Mozart.

(music) An instrumental composition in several movements.


smear

smear (countable and uncountable, plural smears)

From Middle English smeren, smerien, from Old English smerian, smyrian, smierwan (“to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan, from Proto-Germanic *smirwijaną. Doublet of schmear.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian smeere, Dutch smeren, Low German smeren, German schmieren.

(music) A rough glissando in jazz music.


bop

bop (countable and uncountable, plural bops)

(uncountable, music) A style of improvised jazz from the 1940s.


selector

That's my sector, homosexual dissector / Come again, rewind selector

2009, “Medicine Ball”, in Relapse, performed by Eminem

This sonic body has to decide which music track to play at any particular moment. But when the selector is alone in front of the crowd, how do they know which track to play next?

2011, Julian Henriques, Sonic Bodies, A&C Black, page 125


svara

(music) A concept in Indian music, comparable to a note or tone.


klezmer

klezmer (countable and uncountable, plural klezmers or klezmorim)

Borrowed from Yiddish קלעזמער (klezmer), from Hebrew כְּלֵי זֶמֶר (kléy zémer, “musical instruments”).

der

כְּלֵי זֶמֶר

(music, uncountable) A type of popular Jewish folk music especially associated with Ashkenazi cultures.


bluegrass

From the band Blue Grass Boys, led by Bill Monroe; bluegrass is first attested in print in reference to the genre of music in 1956.

(music, uncountable) A subgenre of country music with roots in Scots-Irish Appalachian folk music, blues, and jazz and characterized by banjos, fiddles, acoustic guitars, dobros, and mandolins; but containing no drums, electric guitars, pianos or other keyboard or wind instruments.


spinet

He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, gin, whiskey, vermouth and sherry, mixed with violin bows, a flute, a toppling pile of books, six volumes of Grove's Dictionary mingled with paperback thrillers, a guitar without any strings, a pair of binoculars, a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and apricot jam.

1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind

(music) A short, compact harpsichord or piano.


toque

en-noun

toque (countable and uncountable, plural toques)

(music) A rhythm used in Latin music, especially Cuban religious rituals.

(music) The guitar part of flamenco music.


oom-pah

Onomatopoeia of the sound and rhythm of German folk music.

(music) A genre of Germanic music (especially Bavarian music) typically involving brass instruments.

{\clef bass<<{\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"muted trumpet"\repeat unfold4{c8r g,r
\\\new Staff\with{midiInstrument="muted trumpet"}{\clef bass\repeat unfold8{r8-.}}>>}}}

(music) A bassline characteristic of such music, alternating lower and higher notes or chords on the beat, or in a mid-high-low-high sequence.


lineup

After losing half the lineup, the band went on hiatus before reemerging in late 1991 with a new lineup of Goss, bassist Googe and the legendary Ginger Baker of Cream and Blind Faith on drums.

2013, Pete Crigler, Majorlabelland And Assorted Oddities, page 36

Honing the band's anthemic sound and stance, they relocated to Richmond and created a solid lineup.

2014, Kevin Prested, Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records, page 79

Throughout their career, Pearl Jam has experienced a number of lineup changes, and the band has had several members come and go over the years.

2023, Zander Pearce, The Journey Of Pearl Jam — From Grunge To Glory

(music) The members of a music group at any one time.


jingle

/ˈd͡ʒɪŋɡ(ə)l/

The verb, which is older than the noun, is from Middle English gyngle. Onomatopoeic; compare jangle.

Her tambourine didn't come with any jingles attached.

(music) A small piece of metal attached to a musical instrument, such as a tambourine, so as to make a jangling sound when the instrument is played.

sonall

That used-car dealership's jingle has been stuck in my head since we heard that song.

The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate, insanely catchy jingle about how “Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer.”

2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

(broadcasting, advertising, music) A memorable short song, or in some cases a snippet of a popular song with its lyrics modified, used for the purposes of advertising a product or service in a TV or radio commercial.


repetiteur

(music, theater) A tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers.


wonky

From English dialectal wanky, alteration of Middle English wankel (“unstable, shaky”), from Old English wancol (“unstable”), from Proto-West Germanic *wankul (“swaying, shaky, unstable”).

inh

By the late 2000s, dubstep had splintered into numerous factions, from brostep to wonky to the evocative “purple,” […]

2015, Jan Kyrre Berg O. Friis, Robert P. Crease, Technoscience and Postphenomenology: The Manhattan Papers

(music) A subgenre of electronic music employing unstable rhythms, complex time signatures, and mid-range synths.


cadence

en-noun

cadence (countable and uncountable, plural cadences)

Borrowed from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza (“conclusion of a phrase of music”), from Latin *cadentia (literally “a falling”), form of cadēns, the present participle of cadō (“I fall, I cease”). The Latin verb is inherited, via Proto-Italic *kadō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱad-e- (“to fall”, thematic present). Doublet of cadenza and chance.

závěr

(music) chord progression concluding a section or piece

(music) A progression of at least two chords which conclude a piece of music, section or musical phrases within it. Sometimes referred to analogously as musical punctuation.

(music) A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.


house music

Probably from The Warehouse, a nightclub in Chicago, Illinois, USA, where the music became popular around 1985.

Gotta have house music, all night long / With that house music, you can't go wrong / Give me that house music, set me free

1986, Marshall Jefferson (lyrics and music), “Move Your Body”

House is an uncontrollable desire to jack your body / And, as I told you before, this is our house and our house music

1987, “My House”, Chuck Roberts (lyrics), performed by Rhythm Controll

Corrugated-steel ceilings, a dozen blue-felted pool tables and DJ house music Thursday to Saturday.

2007, Danny Palmerlee, South America on a Shoestring, page 66

(music) A particular type of electronic dance music with an uptempo beat and recurring kickdrum.


chanterelle

/ˈtʃæntəɹɛl/

Borrowed from French chanterelle, from New Latin cantharellus, diminutive of Latin cantharus (“drinking vessel”), from Ancient Greek κάνθαρος (kántharos). Probably of Pre-Greek origin, cognate with Akkadian 𒃶𒁺𒊒𒌑 (/kanduru/, “kind of vessel”), from Sumerian 𒄑𒃶𒉡𒌉 (/gannu-tur/, “small vessel; potstand”, literally “little vessel, container, holder”).

cog

There were hushed moments of complete beauty when the melody moved out and hung above the chanterelle like a hummingbird poised over a flower.

2003, Paul Bowles, edited by Timothy Mangan and Irene Herrmann, Paul Bowles on Music, University of California Press, page 123

(music) The highest string of the violin or similar instrument.


dotted

en-adj

dotted (comparative more dotted, superlative most dotted)

more dotted (comparative)
most dotted (superlative)

(music, of notes and rests) With a dot after, increasing the value of the duration by half of the basic note.

παρεστιγμένος

(of music notes and rests) with a dot after


backing

en-noun

backing (countable and uncountable, plural backings)

(music) Musicians and vocalists who support the main performer.


backing

(music) Providing support for the main performer.


headliner

(music) The headlining band or performer at a concert or similar event; the best-known and first billed musician, comedian, etc., often performing as the final act of the evening.


heavy metal

heavy metal (countable and uncountable, plural heavy metals)

Lester Bangs
Mike Saunders
Sandy Pearlman
William S. Burroughs

The origin of the music genre sense is often disputed; it was used by William S. Burroughs in Soft Machine and Nova Express and various music critics claim to have coined it: Sandy Pearlman, Lester Bangs and Mike Saunders.

(music, uncountable) A genre descended from rock music, characterized by the use of emphatic drumbeats, highly amplified distortion, and overall loudness; often featuring extended instrumental solos and powerful vocals.


ragged

en-adj

ragged (comparative more ragged, superlative most ragged)

more ragged (comparative)
most ragged (superlative)

From Middle English ragged, from North Germanic. Compare with Old Norse rǫgvaðr (“tufted”) and Norwegian ragget (“shaggy”).

(music) Performed in a syncopated manner, especially in ragtime.


plectrum

Borrowed from Latin plēctrum, from Ancient Greek πλῆκτρον (plêktron, “anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point”), from πλήσσειν (plḗssein, “to strike, to smite, to sting”).

uder

(music) A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.


formalism

en-noun

formalism (countable and uncountable, plural formalisms)

/ˈfɔɹml̩ˌɪzm̩/

(music) The tendency to elevate formal above expressive value in music, as in serialism.

形式主義

music: tendency to elevate formal above expressive value


gangsta rap

gangsta rap (countable and uncountable, plural gangsta raps)

(music) A subgenre of hip-hop music associated with urban street gangs and characterized by a focus on lyrics about crime, urban life, and materialistic excess.


contrapuntal

en-adj

contrapuntal (comparative more contrapuntal, superlative most contrapuntal)

more contrapuntal (comparative)
most contrapuntal (superlative)

From Latin Latin punctus contra punctum (“note against note”).

der

(music, of a piece of music) With two or more independent melodic lines.


gabber

en-noun

gabber (countable and uncountable, plural gabbers)

Borrowed from Dutch gabber (literally “friend”), from Yiddish חבֿר (khaver). Doublet of chaver, kubber.

This, in turn, birthed all kinds of mainly regional variations that have lasted from the 90s to today, most notably gabber—a relentless mix of superfast BPMS, distorted kickdrums and roared vocals that evoked the distilled nihilism of Rotterdam skinheads.

2020 January 10, Joe Muggs, “Gabber: return of dance music’s gloriously tasteless subgenre”, in The Guardian

(uncountable, music) A subgenre of hardcore techno characterised by an intense, distorted kick sound and controversial lyrics or samples.


venu

From Sanskrit वेणु (veṇu, “a bamboo, reed, cane; a flute, fife, pipe”).

der

(music) One of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music.


cantata

en-noun

cantata (plural cantatas or (less common, modeled on Italian) cantate)

From Italian cantata. Doublet of chanty.

(music) A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.


entrée

Borrowed from French entrée. Doublet of entrada and entry.


lip sync

(music, singing) The synchronization of prerecorded audio signals and movement of the lips such that there is no lack of simultaneity between them.


descending

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

تَنَازُلِيّ

ordered such that each element is less than or equal to the previous element


bazooka

→ Arabic: بازوكة (bāzūka)

→ Chinese: 巴祖卡 (bāzǔkǎ)

→ French: bazooka

→ Dutch: bazooka

→ Finnish: bazooka

→ German: Bazooka

→ Indonesian: bazoka

→ Japanese: バズーカ (bazūka)

→ Korean: 바주카 (bajuka)

→ Macedonian: базука (bazuka)

→ Maranao: basoka

→ Polish: bazooka

→ Portuguese: bazuca

→ Romanian: bazooka

→ Spanish: bazuca

→ Swedish: bazooka

Bazooka (disambiguation)
Bob Burns (humorist)
European debt crisis

From an extension of the word bazoo (“mouth, boastful talk”), which ultimately probably stems from Dutch bazuin (“trumpet”). In the finance sense first used by policymakers during the European debt crisis (2010).

(music) A primitive trombone having wide tubes.


company front

(music) a marching formation consisting of the entire band or corps standing side by side in a single row.


pentatonic scale

pentatonic scale (plural pentatonic scales)

{\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"koto"\override Score.TimeSignature#'stencil =##f{\time6/4 e'f'a'b'c2
}}

(music) A scale having five notes per octave.


doit

Borrowed from Middle Low German doyt, cognate with Middle Dutch duit. Doublet of thwaite.

Jazz symbols include many contoured articulations and inflections, such as doits, fall-offs, and scoops.

1995, Music & Computers, volume 1, numbers 2-4, page 57

(music) In jazz music, a note that slides to an indefinite pitch chromatically upwards.


MIPI

(Australia, music) Initialism of Music Industry Piracy Investigations.


exposition

exposition (countable and uncountable, plural expositions)

From Middle English exposicioun, from Old French esposicion, from Latin expositiō, from expōnere (“to put forth”). The sense meaning "exhibition" is a later semantic loan from French exposition.

(music) The opening section of a movement in sonata form; the opening section of a fugue.

مَعْرِض

action of putting something out to public view


PSB

Adult love, loss, triumph and decline is catalogued by PSB's words, rhythms, clothes and politics. The Pet Shop Boys have staying power.

2008, Tara Brabazon, Thinking Popular Culture: War, Terrorism and Writing, page 155


player piano

(music) An acoustic piano that is played automatically by mechanical means.


ictus

ictus (plural ictus or ictuses or ictusses)

ictus (plural)
ictuses (plural)
ictusses (plural)

From Latin ictus (“a blow”), from īco (“I hit, strike, or smite”; “I stab or sting”).

(music) In conducting, the indication of a musical event, most often the beat of the tempo or the entry of a section of the orchestra.


outro

Blend of out + intro, an analogy using out as the opposite of in.

[…] talking over the intro of a record and off the outro, weaving back and forth between two records spinning […]

1977, Claude Hall, Barbara Hall, This business of radio programming

Find the spot in the script where you want the outro to start fading up.

1992, Bruce Bartlett, Jenny Bartlett, Practical recording techniques

2009, 24 September, Jude Rogers in The Guardian, The trouble with remastered records
But then something happens on I Want You (She's So Heavy), two minutes into the song's intense outro, when a cloud of white noise comes in, […]

(music, informal) A portion of music at the end of a song; like an intro, but at the end instead of the beginning.


discant

en-verb

discant (third-person singular simple present discants, present participle discanting, simple past and past participle discanted)

discants (present singular third-person)
discanting (participle present)
discanted (participle past)
discanted (past)


tonality

en-noun

tonality (countable and uncountable, plural tonalities)

(music) The system of seven tones built on a tonic key; the 24 major and minor scales.

(music) A sound of specific pitch and quality; timbre.

(music) The quality of all the tones in a composition heard in relation to the tonic.


sestet

From Italian sestetto, from sesto (“sixth”), Latin
 sextus, from sex (“six”).

(music) A piece of music composed for six voices or six instruments; a sextet or sestuor.


gallop

From Middle English galopen (“to gallop”), from Old French galoper (compare modern French galoper), from Frankish *wala hlaupan (“to run well”), from *wala (“well”) + *hlaupan (“to run”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to run, leap, spring”), from Proto-Indo-European *klaup-, *klaub- (“to spring, stumble”). Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (“battle run”) from *wal (“battlefield”) from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "dead, victim, slain" from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“death in battle, killed in battle”) + *hlaup (“course, track”) from *hlaupan (“to run”).
More at well, leap, valkyrie. See also the doublet wallop, coming from the same source through an Old Northern French variant.

der

\drums{\repeat unfold4{wbl8wbh16 16
}}

(music) A rhythm consisting of an 8th note followed by two 16th notes, resembling a horse's gallop.


continuum

en-noun

continuum (plural continuums or continua)

Borrowed from Latin continuum, neuter form of continuus, from contineō (“contain, enclose”).

(music) A touch-sensitive strip, similar to an electronic standard musical keyboard, except that the note steps are ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a semitone, and so are not separately marked.


saturation

saturation (usually uncountable, plural saturations)

Etymology tree
Late Latin saturatiobor.
English saturation
Borrowed from Late Latin saturatio, saturationem.

etymon

(music) An effect on the sound of an electric guitar, used primarily in heavy metal music.


ensemble

(music) A piece for several instrumentalists or vocalists.

но́мер

многоголо́сый вока́льный


ensemble

en-verb

ensemble (third-person singular simple present ensembles, present participle ensembling, simple past and past participle ensembled)

ensembles (present singular third-person)
ensembling (participle present)
ensembled (participle past)
ensembled (past)

(music) To perform in a musical ensemble.


shredding

en-noun

shredding (countable and uncountable, plural shreddings)

(music, uncountable) A style of very fast and very complex guitar playing.


embouchure

embouchure (countable and uncountable, plural embouchures)

/ˌɒm.bʊˈʃʊə/

/ˌɑm.bəˈʃʊɹ/

From French embouchure, from emboucher (“to put in one’s mouth”), from en- (“in”) + bouche (“mouth”), from Latin bucca (“cheek”).

you could see the twin lines running down from either side of his lower lip, etched in by the force of his embouchure, looking like extensions of his mustache.

(music) The use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth when playing a wind instrument.


dodecaphony

(music) Twelve-tone music, a form of composition using all twelve tones of the chromatic scale in such a way that they are equal, i.e. having no tonic, no dominant, no major key or minor keys, and no distinction between harmony and dissonance.


trigger

Originally tricker, from Dutch trekker (“pull”, noun, as in drawer-pull, bell-pull), from Dutch trekken (“to drag, draw, pull”).

laukaisin

music: electronic transducer allowing a percussion instrument to control an electronic device

(music) An electronic transducer allowing a drum, cymbal, etc. to control an electronic drum unit or similar device.

(music) A device that manually lengthens (or sometimes shortens) the slide or tubing of a brass instrument, allowing the pitch range to be altered while playing.

liipaisin

music: device that manually lengthens the slide or tubing of a brass instrument


cajón

From Spanish cajón, augmentative of caja (“box”). Doublet of caisson and cassone.

(music) A box-shaped percussion instrument played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes various implements.


phaser

* (science fiction): For the fictional weapon coined for Star Trek: originally a "ph(oton ma)ser," later changed canonically to a "phas(ed)-e(nergy) r(ectifier)" (of "nadions", not photons).
* (phase modulation): phase + -er

(music) An electronic device that produces special effects on the sound produced by an electric guitar etc.


rebar

en-verb

rebar (third-person singular simple present rebars, present participle rebarring, simple past and past participle rebarred)

rebars (present singular third-person)
rebarring (participle present)
rebarred (participle past)
rebarred (past)

/ɹiːˈbɑː(ɹ)/

(music, transitive) To redistribute the notes of a musical score across the bars, e.g. when changing time signature.


Doric

en-adj

Doric (comparative more Doric, superlative most Doric)

more Doric (comparative)
most Doric (superlative)

From Ancient Greek Δωρικός (Dōrikós, “related to Dorians”). The senses referring to dialects of Scottish are thought to have come from the Scots' rusticness associated with the Athenians' view of Dorians as uncivilised.

der

(music) Belonging to a certain mode of Ancient Greek music, the Dorian mode.


taille

en-noun

taille (countable and uncountable, plural tailles)

From Middle French taille (“cut”, noun). Doublet of talea and tally.

(music, obsolete) The tenor voice or part, especially the part for the tenor viol or viola.


G-string

(music) On a stringed musical instrument, the string that produces the note of G.

G-streng

on a stringed musical instrument, the string that produces G


comes

Borrowed from Latin comes (“a companion”). Doublet of comte, conte, and count.

(music) The answer to the theme, or dux, in a fugue.


sarabande

Borrowed from French sarabande, from Spanish zarabanda.

(music) The music for either of these dances.


steelpan

steelpan (countable and uncountable, plural steelpans)

(music, countable) A percussion instrument consisting of a drum made of steel, originally from Trinidad.

(music, uncountable) A style of music incorporating steelpans.


mando

Can't tell you about mandos, but the Stelling Banjos are exquisite. Geoff Stelling used to be in San Diego, Calif. but now he is out on the East Coast. His banjos have excellent crisp tone. I would suspect that his mandos are similar[.]

1995 December 4, Jm721, “Re: Stelling-Mandolin ?”, in rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic (Usenet)


ghetto house

(music) A style of house music from Chicago, featuring drum machines and sometimes sexually explicit lyrics.


leitmotif

From German Leitmotiv (“leading motif”), from leiten (“to lead”) + Motiv (“motif”), originally used to describe Wagnerian opera.

In Wagner's operas, especially his cycle of four operas known collectively as the Ring cycle, the leitmotif did not simply label or point to one particular character or object but rather conjured up a realm of ideas.

2014, Michael Slowik, After the Silents, Columbia University Press, page 14

(music) A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.


swell organ

(music) A section of a pipe organ in which the pipes are enclosed in a swell box


free reed

(music) a reed in a musical wind instrument whose edges do not overlap the edges of the opening over which it is fixed and that is used typically in the accordion, harmonium, concertina.


chancel organ

(music) A division of a pipe organ for accompanying a choir.


chamber organ

(music) a small pipe organ of a type suitable for domestic use as opposed to in a church or concert hall


64th note

(music) A note whose duration is one sixty-fourth that of a whole note.


agogic

From Ancient Greek ἀγωγός (agōgós, “leader”).

(music) an accent that accentuates a note by extending it slightly beyond its normal time value


thematic

en-adj

thematic (comparative more thematic, superlative most thematic)

more thematic (comparative)
most thematic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek θεματικός (thematikós), from θέμα (théma, “theme”). Equivalent to theme + -atic.


preside

en-verb

preside (third-person singular simple present presides, present participle presiding, simple past and past participle presided)

presides (present singular third-person)
presiding (participle present)
presided (participle past)
presided (past)

From Old French presider, from Latin praesidēre (“preside”), from pre- (“before”) + sedere (“to sit”). Displaced Old English foresittan, which might have been a calque of the Latin.

(intransitive, music) To be a featured solo performer.


voicing

(music) The final regulation of the pitch and tone of any sound-producing entity, especially of an organ or similar musical instrument.

virittäminen

music: final regulation of the pitch and tone

(music) A particular arrangement of notes to form a chord.

soinnutus

music: particular arrangement of notes to form a chord


beatbox

Self-styled 'black gentleman vampire' who followed his cousin in to hip-hop by rapping in front of a beatbox for his first shows on Long Island, New York.

1992, Colin Larkin, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 1340

But by 1980 Fenley had collaborated with Mark Freedman on the high-energy, repetitive sound score for Energizer by manipulating a beatbox, the omnipresent instrument of late disco music.

1994, Sally Banes, Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism, Wesleyan University Press, page 322

Hip-hop took the language and made it graffiti—it was music video on a wall with a beatbox blowing its subwoofers next to it.

2004, Ed Gaskell, Make Your Own Music Video, CMP, page 26

(music) A type of electronic percussion device.


beatbox

beatbox (third-person singular simple present beatboxes, present participle beatboxing, simple past and past participle beatboxed)

beatboxes (present singular third-person)
beatboxing (participle present)
beatboxed (participle past)
beatboxed (past)

Hell, why do so many of us still breakdance? Why do so many of us still beatbox? The two most successful rappers to come out of Chicago, Common Sense and The Brat, had nothing to do with the city-wide hip-hop scene.

2001, William Upski Wimsatt, Bomb the Suburbs, Soft Skull Press, page 69

Before you knew it, everyone, everywhere, was trying to copy Fresh's technique, and every rapper on the planet seemed intent on proving they could beatbox (with varying, occasionally embarrassing degrees of success).

2004, Neil Kulkarni, Hip Hop: Bring the Noise: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs, Thunder's Mouth Press, page 43

Turull, group elder, and Wright, the youngest, play off each other extraordinarily well, be it on cajon or when the latter jumps up to beatbox against Marina’s lyrical sidesteps.

2005, Derek Beres, Global Beat Fusion: The History of the Future of Music, iUniverse, page 102

(music) To use one’s mouth, lips, tongue, voice, etc. as a percussive instrument to create beats and rhythms for music.

beatboxen

to use one’s mouth, lips, tongue, voice, etc. as a percussive instrument


harmonize

harmonize (third-person singular simple present harmonizes, present participle harmonizing, simple past and past participle harmonized)

harmonizes (present singular third-person)
harmonizing (participle present)
harmonized (participle past)
harmonized (past)

From French harmoniser. By surface analysis, harmony + -ize.

(intransitive, music) To play or sing in harmony.

(transitive, music) To provide parts to.


fontanelle

Borrowed from French fontanelle, from Old French fontenelle, diminutive of fontaine (“fountain, spring”).

(music) A structural component of some woodwind instruments, such as recorders and shawms, resembling a barrel with holes bored into it, designed to protect the keywork and to allow the sound to project.


ligature

en-noun

ligature (countable and uncountable, plural ligatures)

From Middle English ligature, from Middle French ligature, from Late Latin ligātūra, from Latin ligātus, past participle of ligāre (“to tie, bind”).

(countable, music) A group of notes played as a phrase, or the curved line that indicates such a phrase.

легато

music: group of notes played as a musical phrase

(music) A curve or line connecting notes; a slur.


quantize

en-verb

quantize (third-person singular simple present quantizes, present participle quantizing, simple past and past participle quantized)

quantizes (present singular third-person)
quantizing (participle present)
quantized (participle past)
quantized (past)

→ Spanish: cuantizar

(transitive, music) To shift each beat in a rhythmic pattern to the nearest beat of a given resolution (eighth note, sixteenth note, etc.), or to adjust the frequency or pitch of a note to the nearest perfect tone in a given musical scale


bomba

This eclectic group is dedicated to preserving the Puerto Rican traditions of bomba and plena, two drum-focused (and African-derived) forms of traditional dance music.

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

(music) A form of traditional drumming, and an associated form of dance, from Puerto Rico.


guitary

en-adj

guitary (comparative more guitary, superlative most guitary)

more guitary (comparative)
most guitary (superlative)

(music, informal) Predominantly featuring guitars.


modality

en-noun

modality (countable and uncountable, plural modalities)

(music) The subject concerning certain diatonic scales known as musical modes.


jangle

jangle (countable and uncountable, plural jangles)

Bob Dylan
Mr. Tambourine Man
R.E.M.
The Beatles

From Middle English jangle (“gossip, idle talk; a dispute”), from Anglo-Norman jangle and Old French jangle (“gossip, idle talk; a dispute”), from Old French jangler (“to chatter, gossip; to argue noisily; to bawl”): see further at etymology 1. Later uses are derived directly from the verb.
Sense 3 (“sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars”) is said to derive from a line in the song Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (born 1941): “Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me / In the jingle jangle morning, I’ll come following you.”

der

/ˈd͡ʒæŋɡ(ə)l/

If you like ‘jangle guitar’—where the guitar parts are chordal, arpeggiated and rhythmic—listen to players like Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Peter Buck with R.E.M. (Life’s Rich Pageant) or Johnny Marr with The Smiths (The Queen Is Dead).

2008, Rikky Rooksby, Play Great Guitar: Brilliant Ideas for Getting More out of Your Six-string, Oxford, Oxfordshire: The Infinite Ideas Company, page 228

(music, attributively) A sound typified by undistorted, treble-heavy electric guitars, played in a droning chordal style, characteristic of 1960s folk rock and 1980s indie rock music.


antiphony

en-noun

antiphony (countable and uncountable, plural antiphonies)

(music, singing) Alternate, or responsive singing by a choir split into two parts; a piece sung or chanted in this manner.

antífona

singing by a choir split in two parts or a piece sung in this manner


backbeat

Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music / Any old way you choose it / It's got a back beat, you can't lose it, / Any old time you use it

1957, “Rock and Roll Music”, performed by Chuck Berry

(music) The sharp accent on the second and fourth beats of rock music in 4/4 time.


mandolin

From French mandoline, from Italian mandolino, diminutive of mandola, a large stringed instrument.

(music) A stringed instrument of the lute family, having eight strings in four courses, frequently tuned as a violin, and with either a bowl-shaped back or a flat back.


polychord

(music) Two or more chords, each constructed in a different manner, one on top of the other; multiple chords.

(music) A musical instrument having ten strings.

(music) A device, attached to a keyboard, for coupling two octave notes.


Christmas carol

Christmas carol (plural Christmas carols)

So also when he was born into the World, the holy Angels came down to sing his Christmas Carol, and at once to proclaim and celebrate his Nativity.

(music) A carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas.

تَرْنِيمة عِيد اَلْمِيلَاد

hymn whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas


tetrad

From Ancient Greek τετράς (tetrás), analysable as tetra- + -ad.

(music) A chord comprised of four notes; a tetrachord.


boogie-woogie

boogie-woogie (countable and uncountable, plural boogie-woogies)

/ˌbʊɡiˈwʊɡi/

Reduplication of boogie (“party”), of unknown origin.


polyphony

polyphony (countable and uncountable, plural polyphonies)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πολυφωνία (poluphōnía); equivalent to poly- + -phony.

lbor

(music) Musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony).

gjâmë

musical texture consisting of several independent melodic voices


bootleg

From boot + leg. Originally a nickname given to smugglers in King George III's reign, derived from the smugglers' custom of hiding packages of valuables in their large sea-boots when dodging the king's coastguardsmen.

(music) An unauthorized recording, e.g., of a live concert.

(music) A remix or mashup that is a combination of two songs but that is not authorized and audited for copyright use; primarily in the electronic music scene.


descant

From Anglo-Norman descaunt, from Medieval Latin discantus.

(music) A counterpoint melody sung or played above the theme.


descant

en-verb

descant (third-person singular simple present descants, present participle descanting, simple past and past participle descanted)

descants (present singular third-person)
descanting (participle present)
descanted (participle past)
descanted (past)

(intransitive, music) To sing or play a descant.


trump

Shortening of Jew's-trump, which may be from French jeu-trump, jeu tromp, jeu trompe (a trump, or toy, to play with).

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


BD

en-noun

BD (countable and uncountable, plural BDs)


diminished

en-adj

diminished (comparative more diminished, superlative most diminished)

more diminished (comparative)
most diminished (superlative)


dissonance

en-noun

dissonance (countable and uncountable, plural dissonances)

From Latin
 dissonantia via Middle French; by surface analysis, dis- + son- + -ance.

surf

(music) Conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding.

дисхармония

conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding


Ionian

en-adj

Ionian (comparative more Ionian, superlative most Ionian)

more Ionian (comparative)
most Ionian (superlative)

* (Hellenic, Ionia, architecture): Ionia + -an. From Ionia
* (moon of Jupiter): Io + -n- + -ian. From Io

(music) Designating the Ionian mode or scale; the name of the major key in modal theory.


contrafactum

(music) The substitution of one text for another without substantial change to the music.

(music) The use of a secular melody with a religious text.


Gregorian chant

en-noun

Gregorian chant (countable and uncountable, plural Gregorian chants)

Named after Pope Gregory I (540–604), and certainly dating back to that time in some form, but the exact origin is a matter of ongoing research.

(music) A style of unaccompanied monophonic singing in the Catholic Church.


changes

/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɪz/

Jazz musicians do that as they play the changes, improvising their way through a sequence of chords that gives stability, shape, and direction to the tune they play.

2015, Gregory Clark, Civic Jazz, The University of Chicago Press, page 142


Phrygian

/ˈfɹɪ.d͡ʒɪ.ən/

From Latin Phrygiānus + English -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Phrygianus is derived from Phrygia + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’); and Phrygia is from Ancient Greek Φρῠγῐ́ᾱ (Phrugíā, “region in Anatolia”), from Φρῠ́ξ (Phrúx, “person from Phrygia”) (further etymology unknown, possibly from Phrygian or related to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to ascend, rise up; to be elevated, up high”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns).


Romanticism

(art, music) An artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, peaking from 1800 to 1850, characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical.


barbershop quartet

en-noun

barbershop quartet (plural barbershop quartets)

(music) A group of four musicians who sing barbershop music. Usually contains high and lead tenors, baritone and bass.


backspin

backspin (countable and uncountable, plural backspins)


backspin

en-verb

backspin (third-person singular simple present backspins, present participle backspinning, simple past and past participle backspun)

backspins (present singular third-person)
backspinning (participle present)
backspun (participle past)
backspun (past)

(music) To play a section of a record in reverse, as a disc jockey; to apply spinback.


modulator

(music) A chart in the tonic sol-fa notation on which the modulations or changes from one scale to another are shown by the relative position of the notes.


modulation

en-noun

modulation (countable and uncountable, plural modulations)

/ˈmɑː.d͡ʒə.ˌleɪ.ʃən/

From Middle French modulation, from Latin modulatio.
Morphologically modulate + -ion


modal

en-adj

modal (comparative more modal, superlative most modal)

more modal (comparative)
most modal (superlative)

From Middle French modal, from Medieval Latin modālis (“pertaining to a mode”), from Latin modus (“mode”); equivalent to mode + -al. Compare to French, Spanish, and Portuguese modal and Italian modale.

der

(music) Of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided, associated with emotional moods in Ancient — and in medieval ecclesiastical — music.

modaal

music: of, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided


deceptive cadence

en-noun

deceptive cadence (plural deceptive cadences)

(music, US) a falling cadence in which the ear expects the a dominant chord to resolve to the tonic, but resolves to something else (usually a submediant chord) instead.

harhalopuke

falling cadence the dominant chord resolves to something other than the tonic (usually the submediant)


undulation

undulation (countable and uncountable, plural undulations)

From undulate + -ion, or borrowed from Medieval Latin undulātiō; compare French ondulation.

(music) A tremulous tone produced by a peculiar pressure of the finger on a string.

aaltomaisuus

a tremulous tone produced by a peculiar pressure of the finger on a string


sustained

en-adj

sustained (comparative more sustained, superlative most sustained)

more sustained (comparative)
most sustained (superlative)


folk song

(music) A song, in any folk style, originating among ordinary people, usually non-professional musicians, and handed down by oral tradition.

أُغْنِيَّة شَعْبِيَّة

song originating among the working people

Before my father, Hasidic music was mere folksong. He raised it to the level of art.

2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 190

(music) A song in the style of folk music, a modern genre of popular music.


DDD

en-noun

DDD (countable and uncountable, plural DDDs)

(music) A designation on prerecorded compact discs indicating a "full digital recording" (recorded, mixed and mastered in digital).


thumbstroke

(music) a stroke of the strings (of a guitar for example) made with the thumb


taiko

Borrowed from Japanese 太鼓 (たいこ taiko), from 太 (tʰàj, “great”) + 鼓 (kú, “drum”).

(music) A Japanese drum or a performance of several drummers in an ensemble (also called kumi-daiko).


compression

compression (countable and uncountable, plural compressions)

Borrowed from Middle French compression, from Latin compressiō.

(music) The electronic process by which any sound's gain is automatically controlled.

компреси́ране

(music) the electronic process by which any sound's gain is automatically controlled


suspended

(music, of a chord) Having had its third omitted and replaced with a major second or perfect fourth.


x

Taska Black x DROELOE, Steve Aoki x Lauren Jauregui, etc.

(music) Used in place of and in artist collaborations.


pianoforte

pianoforte (plural pianofortes or pianoforti)

pianofortes (plural)
pianoforti (plural)

/piˌænəʊˈfɔːteɪ/

/piˌænəʊˈfɔːt/


replicate

/ˈɹɛpləˌkət/

From Latin replicātus, past participle of replicāre (“to fold or bend back; reply”), from re (“back”) + plicāre (“to fold”); see ply. Doublet of reply and replica.

(music) A tone that is one or more octaves away from a given tone.


recorder

Recorder (musical instrument)
recorder (disambiguation)

table
From Middle English recorder, from record (“to practice (music)”); ultimately cognate with Etymology 1.

Recorders are made in various sizes, from the high soprano or descant recorder to the low bass recorder.

And when they paused on a hilltop for lunch, he whipped out his battered recorder and commenced to tootling “Greensleeves,” scaring off all living creatures within a five-mile radius—which may have been his intention.

1982, Anne Tyler, chapter 5, in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, New York: Knopf, page 133

[…] he had huffed into his white plastic recorder while scowling at the sheets of music that lay open on the wobbly stainless-steel stand.

2017, Daniel Mendelsohn, An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, New York: Penguin Random House

(music) A musical instrument of the woodwind family; a type of fipple flute, a simple internal duct flute.


fade in

en-verb

fade in (third-person singular simple present fades in, present participle fading in, simple past and past participle faded in)

fades in (present singular third-person)
fading in (participle present)
faded in (participle past)
faded in (past)

(music, audio, transitive, intransitive) To commence with silence in a song and then slowly increase the volume of the music until the intro of the song is over.


rapping

en-noun

rapping (countable and uncountable, plural rappings)

(music) Musical speech accompanied by a rhythm, most commonly as part of hip-hop music.


fade out

en-verb

fade out (third-person singular simple present fades out, present participle fading out, simple past and past participle faded out)

fades out (present singular third-person)
fading out (participle present)
faded out (participle past)
faded out (past)

(music, audio, transitive, intransitive) To decrease in volume, such as at the end of a song, until there is only silence.


nonet

From Italian nonetto, from nono (“ninth”).

The small-group sides are the best, with the nonet in particular coming through as a sparkling unit that deserves an LP to itself.

1955 January 15, The Saturday Review, Recordings Reports: Jazz On LPs, page 38

(music) A composition for nine instruments or nine voices.


quasihemidemisemiquaver

Telemann's ‘Gulliver’ suite for two violins includes a Lilliputian chaconne in quasihemidemisemiquavers and a Brobdignanian gigue in semibreves.

2004, Paul Griffins, The Penguin Companion to Classical Music

(music, principally UK) A note having a time value half as long as a hemidemisemiquaver or 64th note; a 128th note.


polyrhythm

en-noun

polyrhythm (countable and uncountable, plural polyrhythms)

(uncountable, music) Music with multiple rhythmic elements played simultaneously.

(countable, music) A rhythm or set of rhythms performed as part of a piece of music with multiple rhythmic elements played simultaneously, typically equally spaced in time and coprime.

(countable, music) Music containing such a rhythm.


anacrusis

Modern Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκρουσις (anákrousis, “pushing up”), from ἀνακρούω (anakroúō, “I push up”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + κρούω (kroúō, “I strike”).

uder

Then Etheridge poised his baton, jerked an upbeat, and made the violinists speak the low G and A of their anacrusis.

(music) An unstressed note or notes before the first strong beat (or downbeat) of a phrase.

anacrusi

(music) an unstressed note (or notes) before the first strong beat of a phrase


berceuse

What was in my mind as I waited for sleep and the engines thundered their ineffectual berceuse was the chapter, a brief one, about the Jews.

(music) A composition that resembles a lullaby, often in 6/8 time.


caprice

Borrowed from French caprice, from Italian capriccio, from caporiccio (“fright, sudden start”). Doublet of capriccio and chevron. Ultimately from Latin caper (“goat”).


hootenanny

Unknown; potentially Scottish. Use is tied to the Appalachian culture in the US.

Coordinate term: jam session

It bespoke country’s devotion to realism, to songs about Saturday night’s hootenanny and Sunday morning’s moral reckoning, not to mention the kitchen-table truths of Monday through Friday.

2013 August 11, Jody Rosen, “Jody Rosen on the Rise of Bro-Country”, in New York Magazine

(music) An informal, festive performance by folk singers, often including audience participation with the use of acoustic instruments.


bourdon

Inherited from Middle English burdoun (“accompaniment”), from Old French bordon, from Medieval Latin burdō, burdōnem (“drone”). The modern pronunciation is influenced by modern French bourdon.

der

The earth tremors resumed and made a bourdon to the loud psalms that they sang, interspersed with the odd ode of Horace recited by Silas.

1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked

(music, archaic) The burden or bass of a melody.


cantilena

Borrowed from Italian or Latin cantilēna.

He played a lazy tune that sinuated from C sharp down to G natural and back again. Astonishing that he could flute so lazy a cantilena while chasing nymphs.

1964, Anthony Burgess, The Eve of St Venus

(music) A vocal melody or instrumental passage in a smooth, lyrical style.


avaz

(music) An unmetered vocal section of a mode in Persian music.


diapason

Borrowed from Latin diapason, from Ancient Greek διαπασῶν (diapasôn), that is διά (diá, “through”) + πασῶν (pasôn, “all”) (χορδῶν (khordôn, “notes”)), “through all (notes)”.

2 to 1, which is a duple ratio, forms the [symphony] diapason

1818, Iamblichus, translated by Thomas Taylor, Life of Pythagoras, page 328

(music) A tonal grouping of the flue pipes of a pipe organ.


oud

From Arabic عُود (ʕūd). Doublet of lute.

Coordinate term: sintir

(music) A short-necked and fretless plucked stringed instrument of the lute family, of Arab and Turkish origin.


arabesque

/ˌæɹ.əˈbɛsk/

/ˌæɹ.əˈbɛsk/

Borrowed from French arabesque, from Italian arabesco, from arabo (“Arab”). By surface analysis, Arab + -esque.

(music) An ornate composition, especially for the piano.


Locrian

scattered piano keys (all white, an octave on B to be exact—or H, in the German nomenclature—the notes of the rejected Locrian mode

(music) Designating an ancient Greek mode, of uncertain detail.

(music) Designating a minor scale with the second and fifth scale degrees lowered by a semitone.

lokriszi

music: designating a minor scale with the second and fifth scale degrees lowered by a semitone


effected

Their palette was covered with heavily effected guitars, synthetic loops and samples, electronic drums, and cold industrial sound effects.

2000, John Joseph Thompson, Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll


Mixolydian

From Ancient Greek μιξο-Λυδιος (mixo-Ludios, “half-Lydian”), from μιξο- (mixo-) (from base of μιγνυναι (mignunai, “to mix”)) + Λυδιος (Ludios, “Lydia (an ancient country in Asia Minor)”); named in reference to Lydian (another Greek mode).

Johann Jakob Froberger's piece Canzona V in G is in the mixolydian mode.

(music) Designating the Mixolydian mode, the highest of the ancient Greek modes, and now having final G and D dominant.

miksolyydinen

designating a mode in music having (in the C scale) final G and D dominant


quindicessima

Borrowed from Italian quindicessima, the feminine ordinal form of quindici, meaning "fifteen".

(music) Two octaves higher. Marking indicates a passage to be transposed up two octaves. Abbreviation: 15ma.


fandango

en-noun

fandango (countable and uncountable, plural fandangos or fandangoes)

/ˈfæn.dæŋ.ɡəʊ/

Borrowed from Spanish fandango, of uncertain origin. Possibly related to Portuguese fado, or of West African origin.

Coordinate term: bolero

The soldiers were oftener gambling and dancing beneath the walls than keeping watch upon the battlements, and nothing was heard from morning till night but the noisy contests of cards and dice, mingled with the sound of the bolero or fandango, the drowsy strumming of the guitar, and the rattling of the castanets, while often the whole was interrupted by the loud brawl and fierce and bloody contest.

1829, Washington Irving, chapter XXVI, in Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

We skipped the light fandango / Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

1967, “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, in Procol Harum, performed by Procol Harum

I'm wearing a Spanish skirt so what's wrong with dancing a fandango.

2014, Rosie Harris, Looking For Love, page 179

(music, dance) A form of lively flamenco music and dance that has many regional variations (e.g. fandango de Huelva), some of which have their own names (e.g. malagueña, granadina).


ottava

From Italian ottava (“octave”) (also feminine form of ottavo (“eighth”), ordinal form of otto).

(music) One octave higher; as a marking, typically abbreviated 8va.


time signature

(music) A symbol or numerical sign placed on a stave to indicate the meter; in the case of a numerical time signature, the numerator is the number of beats per bar, the denominator represents the value of each beat.


concert grand

(music) A large grand piano, especially one used for concert performances.


rallentando

(music) slackening; becoming slower (used as a musical direction).


concerto grosso

(music) a musical form, common in the Baroque period, in which contrasting sections are played by full orchestra and by a small group of soloists.


musica ficta

From Medieval Latin mūsica ficta (literally “fashioned music”).

bor

(music) The use of chromatically altered tones in the contrapuntal music of the 10th to the 16th centuries.


Baroque period

(music) The musical period of time following the Renaissance, extending roughly between 1600-1750.


con brio

From Italian con brio (literally “with vigor”).

She ate, drank, worked, danced, and made love in exactly the same way: con brio.

The bags were obviously heavy but she carried them con brio, her back straight, her low heels clicking briskly.

2012, Stephen King, chapter 20, in 11/22/63, page 442

(music) with spirit, with vigor; vivaciously (used as a musical direction)


ritornello

en-noun

ritornello (plural ritornellos or ritornelli)

ritornellos (plural)
ritornelli (plural)

Italian ritornello, diminutive of ritorno (“return”), from ritornare (“to return”): compare French ritournelle.

(music) A recurring tutti passage in Baroque music for orchestra or chorus.


giocoso

en-adj

giocoso (comparative more giocoso, superlative most giocoso)

more giocoso (comparative)
most giocoso (superlative)

From Italian giocoso, from Latin iocōsus.


ritenuto

From Italian ritenuto. Doublet of retinue.

(music) (of a passage in a musical score) immediately slower, held back at a slower rate of pace.


baroque organ

(music) a pipe organ dating from or built to the specifications of the Baroque period at the time of J.S. Bach


grazioso

grazioso (comparative more grazioso, superlative most grazioso)

more grazioso (comparative)
most grazioso (superlative)

Borrowed from Italian grazioso (“graceful”), from Latin grātiōsus (“agreeable, popular”), from grātia (“grace”). Doublet of gracioso and gracious.


addolorato

(music) A tempo mark directing that a passage is to be played sorrowfully.


concertino

en-noun

concertino (plural concertinos or concertini)

concertinos (plural)
concertini (plural)

Borrowed from Italian concertino, from concerto + -ino (diminutive suffix).

(music) The group of solo instruments in a concerto grosso.

(music) A section in a concerto grosso played by three instruments.


music hall

(music) An auditorium for concerts and musical entertainments.


tam-tam

(music) A flat gong (without knob) that is struck with a felt-covered hammer.


basset horn

From German Bassetthorn, translation of French cor de bassette, from Italian corno di bassetto.

(music) An alto instrument of the clarinet family, pitched in F below middle C, with a range reaching down to F below that.


basso profondo

From Italian basso profondo (“deep bass”).

(music) A singer with a bass voice of the lowest range.

(music) A bass voice of the lowest range.


musicology

musicology (usually uncountable, plural musicologies)

(music) the scholarly or scientific study of music, as in historical research, musical theory, or the physical nature of sound.


sopranino

sopranino (plural sopraninos or sopranini)

From Italian soprano + -ino (diminutive).

(music) a musical instrument, especially a saxophone or recorder, that is a pitch higher than the soprano instrument of its class


remise

(music) The repetition or return of the opening material later in a composition.


celesta

/t͡ʃəˈlɛstə/

(music) A musical instrument consisting principally of a set of graduated steel plates struck with hammers that are activated by a keyboard.


clavichord

From German Klavichord, from Renaissance Latin clavichordium, from clāvis (“key”) + chorda (“cord, string”).

(music) An early keyboard instrument producing a soft sound by means of metal blades (called tangents) attached to the inner ends of the keys gently striking the strings.


crome

(music) Alternative form of croma (“a quaver”)


reprise

From Middle English reprise (noun) and reprisen (verb), from Old French reprise, from reprendre. In some senses borrowed anew from Modern French reprise.

(music) A repetition of a phrase, a return to an earlier theme, or a second rendition or version of a song in a programme or musical.

реприз

(music) a repetition of a phrase, or a return to an earlier theme


psaltery

A learned alteration of Middle English sauterie, sautrie (rarely psautry), from Old French psalterie, from Latin psaltērium, from Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion, “stringed instrument, psaltery, harp”), from ψάλλω (psállō, “to touch sharply, to pluck, to pull, to twitch” and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, “to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron”). Doublet of psalter, psalterion, and psalterium. Cognate of psalm and psalmody.

doublet

(music) A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.


matched

(informal, uncountable, music) Short for matched grip.


koto

Seated on the soft carpet with their drinks, they listened to a recording of koto, Japanese thirteen-string harp.

1962, Philip K. Dick, “The Man in the High Castle”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 94

(music) A Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of one hand.


celeste

en-noun

celeste (countable and uncountable, plural celestes)

Borrowed from French céleste (“heavenly”), from Latin caelestis.

(music) Alternative form of celesta, a musical instrument.

(music) An organ stop, deliberately slightly out of tune to give an undulating sound.


punctum

From Latin pūnctum. Doublet of point and punto.

(music) A neume representing a single tone.


trashy

en-adj

trashy (comparative trashier, superlative trashiest)

trashier (comparative)
trashiest (superlative)

trashy cymbals

I needed to have a cymbal setup that allowed me the flexibility to play with a clean or trashy sound at any time.

2001, Johnny Rabb, Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass for the Acoustic Drum Set, Alfred Music Publishing, page 20

(music) Having a sound like white noise.


harmonic

From Latin harmonicus, from Ancient Greek ἁρμονικός (harmonikós), from ἁρμονία (harmonía, “harmony”).

(music) The place where, on a bowed string instrument, a note in the harmonic series of a particular string can be played without the fundamental present.


tone poem

Calque of German Tondichtung (Ton (“tone”) + Dichtung (“poem”)).

(music) A piece of symphonic music which, like a poem, has a narrative or descriptive theme.


dancehall

en-noun

dancehall (countable and uncountable, plural dancehalls)

→ Japanese: ダンスホール (dansuhōru)

(uncountable, music) A genre of Jamaican dance music derived from dub and reggae.


symphonic poem

(music) A piece of orchestral music, in one movement, based on something non-musical, such as a story or a painting.

poema simfònic

piece of music based on something non-musical


treble clef

(music) a symbol showing that the second line from the bottom of the stave represents the G above middle C


G clef

(music) A clef indicating the position of one-lined G (g′ or G4) on a staff.