conservatory a school of music instruction.
consonance in-tune, harmony; pleasant-sounding. The opposite of dissonance.
consort a small instrumental ensemble.
counterpoint the combining of two or more different melodies to create a richer tapestry of sound. Similar to polyphony or the use of multiple voice parts.
cross rhythm the playing of two different rhythms at the same time.
decibel one unit in the measurement of sound volume.
demisemiquaver a thirty-second (V32) note.
diminution shortening the time values of notes, such as whole notes to half notes, half notes to quarter notes. Opposite of augmentation.
discord a harsh or unpleasant-sounding chord, dissonance.
dissonance harsh; unpleasant-sounding; disharmony.
Dixieland New Orleans jazz combining elements of ragtime and blues, originating in the early 20th century.
dotted note a note with a dot over it is to be played lightly and quickly, or staccato. A dot after a note has half of its time value added to it. That is, a dotted quarter (%) note equals % note plus V8 note, and so on. A double dot after a note adds three-fourths the time value to that note, so a double-dotted % note equals % note plus V8 note, plus У16 note.
double-handed a musician who can play two different instruments well.
downbeat the first beat in a measure, named for the starting downswing of a conductor's baton.
duet a performance by two musicians.
duple meter two beats per measure.
dynamics the graduations of sound volume, from soft to loud.
ear, playing by playing music without notation, either by memory or by improvising.
ear training the teaching of pitch and rhythm recognition.
echo a softly repeated musical passage.
eighth note a note having a time value equal to V8 of a whole note.
eighth rest a rest or silence lasting as long as an eighth note.
elegy a sad song, vocal or instrumental, lamenting the death of someone or something.
embouchure the placement, shaping, and actions of the mouth, lips, and tongue in achieving proper pitch, tone, and effects in a wind instrument. Also, the mouthpiece of a wind instrument. See tonguing.
enharmonics notes, intervals, or chords that sound the same but differ by name. For example, C sharp is the equivalent of D flat, D sharp the equivalent of E flat.
ensemble a small performing group of musicians.
etude French term for "study," referring to an instrumental composition designed to test and improve a player's skills, or any difficult piece containing arpeggios, trills, scales, and such like.
expression marks collective term for musical directives, including tempo, volume, technique, phrasing, and mood, often expressed in Italian.
fanfare a short piece for trumpets to announce the arrival of royalty or to begin some festivities.
fantasia any musical composition that relies more on the whims of the composer than on any standard form; music of an improvisational or fanciful quality. Also, a short mood piece.
finale the final movement in a composition.
fine Italian word for "end."
flamenco Spanish music with vocals, guitar, and percussive accompaniment by castanets and fingernail tapping on the belly of the guitar.
flat the pitch of a note subtracted by half a tone; an accidental that lowers the pitch by this amount. Also, of a note, played slightly below the correct pitch.
florid music that is highly ornamented.
frog the part of the violin bow that tightens the horsehair.
fughetta a short fugue.
fugue a polyphonic composition in which themes are sung sequentially by two or more performers and in imitation of the previous performer; a complex form of a round or canon.
fugue, double a fugue having two themes or subjects.
fugue, triple a fugue having three themes or subjects.
glissando sounding up or down the scale of an instrument very rapidly, as drawing one finger up or down the entire length of a piano keyboard or a fingerboard of a guitar, or moving the slide of a trombone to its full extension and back; the sound this produces.
gospel music with themes that center on Christ and salvation, often performed with a choir, originating in African-American churches.
grand opera any lavish or artistic opera production.
half note a note having a time value equal to % of a whole note.
half rest a rest or silence lasting the same length of time as a half note.
hemidemisemiquaver a sixty-fourth (V64) note.
hootenanny a performance by folk singers, usually with sing-alongs from the audience.
hymn any religious song praising God.
imitation the echoing or repetition of one singer's part by another.
improvisation music that is spontaneously generated, made up, faked, and so on.
incidental music music providing background atmosphere in a play or movie. Also, any music played between the acts of a play.
interlude a short passage within a composition, usually an instrumental section between vocals. Also, any incidental music played between acts of a play.
intermezzo originally, a musical playlet, often comic, inserted between acts of a play from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Today, a short piece of music performed to illustrate the passing of time in a play or opera. Also, an interlude.
interval the distance between the pitches of two notes, measured in tones and half-tones. Also, two notes played in unison.
intonation the production of pitch by an instrument. Good intonation is the production of accurate pitch.
jam any informal or unprepared performance by a pop, rock, jazz, or folk group. A jam session.
key signature following the clef on a musical staff, the sharp or flat symbols that indicate which key the music is in.
lament a composition of mourning.
ledger short extension lines appearing above or below the five standard staff lines, used to underscore very high or very low notes.
libretto the text of an opera.
lullaby any gentle song intended to put a baby to sleep.
lyrics the words of a song.
maestoso any stately musical passage or movement.
maestro master, as in master musician.
mariachi a Mexican ensemble consisting of at least one of each of the following: guitar, violin, harp, and bass guitar.
measure the section of music contained between two bar lines; same as a bar.
medley a performance of portions of favorite tunes played one after the other.
melisma one syllable of a lyric carried or sung through several notes.
melismatic pertaining to melisma.
melody a group of notes, catchy or at least memorable in some way, making up part or all of a song. Most songs usually have more than one melody.