steel band an ensemble of musicians playing steel drums.
stereophonic recorded with two or more microphones with the intention of playing it back through two or more speakers.
suite an instrumental composition consisting of several movements usually involving dance music, and each in the same key; a popular form from 1600 to 1750.
symphonic poem program music, or music that depicts a scene or story or emotion, usually performed in one extended movement.
symphony a long orchestral composition in four movements, similar to a sonata but performed by the entire orchestra.
syncopation changing time signatures suddenly, accenting the weak beat instead of the strong; off- time rhythms and beats, used widely in jazz, blues, ragtime, and jazz-rock fusion.
time signature at the opening of a composition, a sign consisting of two numbers, one over the other, the top designating beats per measure, the bottom the time value of the note receiving the beat.
toccata a highly elaborate and difficult keyboard composition featuring arpeggios, scales, ornaments, and other techniques.
tonguing the placement and action of the tongue to produce different pitches and effects in a wind instrument.
tonguing, flutter silently pronouncing the letter r repeatedly to produce a tremolo effect in the flute.
transcription see arrangement.
transpose to change the key of a composition in writing and in performance.
treble a high-pitched instrument.
tremolo a shaking or trembling effect produced by quick changes in volume, as in flutter tonguing on the flute.
trill a commonly used musical ornament produced by very quick alternation of a note with another note one-half or one full tone above it.
troubadour a poet-musician of the 12th to 13th century.
vamp to improvise an accompaniment when another musician is playing a solo, especially in a jazz composition.
vaudeville comic songs of the early 18th century French opera. Also, in the 20th-century United States, a variety show.
virtuoso an exceptionally skilled musician.
whole note note with the longest time value.
whole rest a rest or pause with a time value equal to one whole note.
percussion instruments
bass drum the largest, deepest-sounding drum. On a drum set, the floor drum that is kicked by a pedal.
bell lyre a portable glockenspiel.
bongos small Cuban drums played with the fingers, thumbs, and heels of the hands.
campanella a small bell.
carillon a set of tuned bells or chimes originating in the 13th century, usually hung in a church tower and played either automatically or by means of a keyboard and pedals.
castanets small, wooden clappers clicked together rhythmically in the hands, used in Spanish dances.
Chinese crash cymbal a crash cymbal with its edge turned up, providing a distinctive crashing sound when struck.
Chinese wood block a 7- to 8-inch block of slotted wood, making a distinctive "tock" sound when struck by a drumstick, popular with jazz drummers. Also known as a clog box.
choke cymbals two cymbals fixed face-to-face on a pedal and rod device and clapped together or struck with drumsticks to keep time or to add flourishes to the beat. More popularly known as a high-hat.
claves wooden stick approximately 8 to 10 inches long and clacked together to add percussion accompaniment in Latin music.
cowbell an actual cowbell with the clapper removed, used in percussive accompaniment.
crescent a Turkish instrument consisting of an inverted crescent hung with small bells.
cymbal, crash a cymbal designed to be struck powerfully to produce a loud crash.
cymbal, finger a pair of tiny, 2-inch cymbals placed on finger and thumb and rung together, of ancient origin but still in use in Greece and Turkey.
cymbal, ride a pop music cymbal that is played lightly to help keep the rhythm or beat.
cymbal, sizzle a type of crash cymbal embedded with loose rivets that produce a "sizzling" sound when struck.
glockenspiel a xylophonelike instrument having two rows of tuned steel bars arranged like the keyboard of a piano. A portable lyre-shaped version used in marching bands is known as a bell lyre.
gong a large bronze cymbal suspended by a cord and struck with a mallet.
grelots sleigh bells.
guiro a hollow gourd cut with a row of deep lines that are scraped with a metal prong to produce a rasping sound, used as percussive accompaniment in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean countries.
jingling Johnnie a crescent.
kettle drum see timpani.
maraca a dried gourd filled with seeds and used as a rattle in Latin American music.
marimba a xylophonelike instrument of Central America. It is distinguished from the xylophone by a row or rows of wooden bars with resonant gourds or tubes projecting underneath.
mridanga a two-headed Indian drum shaped like a barrel and played primarily with the fingertips.
pedal on a timpani, the foot pedal that changes the tension and pitch of a drumhead. Also, the foot or "kick" pedal of a bass drum.
roto toms modern, single-headed tom-toms whose pitch can be altered simply by rotating their heads slightly, used primarily in rock bands.
snare drum a somewhat flat drum fixed with a series of metallic strands or snares and used to carry the main beat in most modern music.
steel drum a Caribbean drum originally made from an oil drum, characterized by a multidented head, with each dent producing a different pitch; noted for its pleasing, tinkling sound, and popularly used in calypso music.
tablas a pair of Indian drums, one made from a log, the other made of metal.
tampon a double-headed drumstick shaken back and forth by the wrist to produce a roll on a bass drum.
tam-tam a gong.
timpani a large, kettle-shaped drum tuned to a specific pitch that can be changed instantly by means of a foot pedal. Also known as a kettle drum.
tom-toms small, supplemental drums used primarily for fills, rolls, and flourishes; usually mounted on the bass drum.
triangle a steel rod bent into the shape of a triangle and "clanged" by a metal stick.
tubular bells chimes.
vibraphone an instrument similar to the xylophone and marimba, having two rows of tuned metal bars with resonators fitted with lids that open and close to provide a continuous vibrato effect; a popular jazz instrument.
xylophone an instrument similar to a marimba, characterized by two rows of wooden bars of graduating length and struck by hammers to produce a "rattling skeleton" sound.
stringed instruments
aeolian harp named for the Greek god of winds, a stringed boxlike instrument placed in a window and played automatically by the wind, known since biblical times and popular from the 16th to the 19th centuries.