| k |
"köchel", used instead of opus numbers to designate the works of
Mozart |
| |
"kirkpatrick", used to designate the works of
Domenico Scarlatti |
|
kadenz |
cadence or cadenza |
|
kalevala |
Finnish national epic, upon which are based several famous
Finnish musical compositions |
|
kamanja |
a form of Arabic music |
|
kammer |
chamber |
|
kanon |
canon |
|
kantate |
cantata |
|
kantele |
a traditional Finnish stringed instrument, laid flat on the knees or on a table, and
plucked |
|
kantor |
the name used to denote the person leading the singing or chanting in
Jewish and early Christian worship. Kantor also denotes the director of music in a
German protestant church |
|
kantorei |
vocal ensemble in the employ of a court |
|
kanun |
a many stringed Psalter |
|
kanzone |
canzona |
|
kapelle |
originally referring to the musical establishment of a private royal chapel, it came to mean any musical
institution or orchestra |
|
kapellmeister |
the director of music of a musical establishment, either of a king or prince, or of an opera-house or municipality.
The term kapellmeistermusik has a pejorative implication, suggesting music that is correct but uninspired, a criticism widely if inaccurately applied to a number of 19th century composers now subject to re-evaluation. |
|
kapodaster |
capotasto |
| kazoo |
a type of mirliton, the kazoo is generally regarded today as a child's toy.
When a player hums into one end of the cigar-shaped tube, a membrane covering a hole on one side of the tube vibrates, producing a buzzing
sound |
| keen |
an Irish funeral song |
|
kehraus |
the last dance |
|
kent bugle |
a six-keyed bugle |
|
kesselpauke |
kettledrums, timpani |
| kettledrum |
drum used in orchestra, made of brass or copper vessel with a calfskin head.
Kettledrums generally come in pairs, and are tuned in fifths |
| key |
tonality, the tonal center of a composition |
| |
the initial component of the action chain of a keyboard, the part that is struck with the
fingers |
| |
the levers controlling the covers for sound holes of a wind
instrument |
|
key characteristics |
the psychological differences between the various
keys |
|
key note |
principal and lowest note of the scale in which a piece of music is
set |
|
key relationship |
the musical relationship between two keys |
| key signature |
the way the key of any piece is denoted in the written score. all sharps or flats for the scale of that key are shown on the staff at the beginning of each line of music and whenever the key changes, throughout the
score |
| keyboard |
a continuous arrangement of keys for the fingers, as with the piano, or for the feet, as with the pedal keyboard of certain types of
organ |
|
khorovod |
Russian folk-chorus |
|
kielflugel |
harpsichord |
| kin |
small koto |
|
kirche |
church |
| kit |
a small violin about 16 inches long |
| kit, drum kit |
drum set |
|
kitchen department |
an irreverent description of the percussion section of an
orchestra |
|
kithara |
the most common instrument of ancient Greece. It had a
sound box and two curved arms connected by a crosspiece. The kithara was strung with a varying number of strings. |
|
klagend |
lamenting, complaining |
|
klang |
sound |
|
klangfarbe |
tone coloration |
|
klappe |
key of wind instrument |
|
klar |
clear |
|
klarinette |
clarinet |
|
klausel |
cadence |
|
klaviatur |
keyboard |
|
klavier |
any keyboard instrument. in modern usage it usually indicates the
piano |
|
knarre |
rattle |
|
kniegeige |
viola da gamba |
|
koboz |
Hungarian name for short necked lute |
|
kolenda |
bohemian, Polish or Romanian Christmas carol |
|
kollektivzug |
composition stop of organ |
|
kolorieren |
to insert coloratura into a piece |
|
komplementarfigur |
a figure that passes between voices in keyboard music |
|
kontakion |
a Byzantine style of melodic notation, undeciphered |
|
konzert |
concert, concerto. |
|
konzertmeister |
the leader of an orchestra (that is, the principal first violin) is known in
German as a konzertmeister and in the U.S.A. as a concertmaster, the latter term now finding more general
favor in other English speaking countries, apart from Great Britain, where the word leader is still preferred. |
|
kopfstimme |
head voice |
|
koppel |
coupler |
|
kora |
a West African plucked stringed instrument, using a skin-covered gourd as a sound
box |
|
kornett |
a wooden or ivory wind instrument used during the renaissance period in ensemble music.
It has a cup-shaped mouthpiece like a modern brass instrument but finger holes like a modern woodwind
instrument |
|
kortholt |
a double-reed instrument with a reed cap, also a curtal |
|
koto |
a Japanese instrument, similar to a zither. The 13 strings are played by three plectrums worn on two fingers and the thumb. |
|
kräftig |
strong, forceful |
|
krakowiak |
Polish dance in syncopated 2 |
|
krebskanon |
crab canon |
|
kreuz |
sharp |
|
kreuzflote |
transverse flute |
|
krummhorn |
organ stop, also cromorne |
|
kurz |
short |
|
kyrie |
"Lord." in the mass, the first part of the
ordinary |
