| t |
abbr. for tasto, tempo, tenor, toe, trill, tonic, and tutti |
| t.s. |
abbr. for tasto solo |
|
ta'amim |
ecphonetic notation |
|
tabla |
a pair of drums from northern India, which are played with the
hands |
| tablature |
systems of notation whereby specific strings and frets are
indicated |
| tabor |
a small side drum, which was traditionally used in folk dancing. tabors usually have a snare made from gut stretched across the side that is
beaten |
|
tacet |
be silent |
|
tactus |
a fixed "beat" approximately one second |
|
tafelmusik |
indicates music used to accompany banquets.
Telemann provides a well known example in three sets of musique de table, more commonly seen now under the
German title, tafelmusik. |
|
tagliato |
obsolete term for the alla breve sign |
|
taille |
middle voice, usually the tenor |
|
takt |
beat or measure |
|
talon |
nut, frog (of violin bow) |
|
tambora |
double-headed drum with goatskin heads |
|
tamborito |
Panamanian dance of decidedly African influences, where a female vocalist sings accompanied by
percussion |
| tambour |
the term is normally used nowadays to describe a kind of tambourine without jingles. |
|
tambourin |
two headed medieval drum |
| tambourine |
a small single-headed hand-drum with jingles in its wooden frame. it is an instrument of some antiquity, but first found an occasional place in the symphony orchestra only in the 19th century, when it came to be used for exotic effects, as in the capriccio
Espanola and Sheherazade of Rimsky-Korsakov, where it gives a touch of the
Spanish and the Middle Eastern respectively. |
|
tambur |
Afghanistan lute with long neck and round body |
|
tambura |
drone lute of India |
|
tamburin |
tambourine |
|
tamburo |
drum or timpani |
| tampon |
two-headed drumstick used to make a bass drum-roll |
|
tamtam |
a gong, an instrument of Chinese origin in its western orchestral form.
It is first found in this context towards the end of the 18th century, when it is used for dramatic effect.
Gustav Holst makes use of the tam-tam in mars, from the planets, and sets of gongs of a more obviously oriental kind are used by
Puccini in his operas Madam Butterfly and Turandot |
|
tanbur |
lute of Balkan and Middle Eastern countries, similar to tambur |
| tangent |
brass blade that hits the strings of the clavichord |
| tango |
an erotic Argentinean dance, which became popular in Europe in the period just before
WW I |
|
tanto |
is occasionally found in tempo indications, as in allegro ma non tanto, similar in meaning, if slightly weaker than allegro ma non troppo, allegro but not too
much |
|
tanz |
dance |
| tarantella |
a lively dance named after Taranto in southern Italy.
Two legends connect the dance with the tarantula spider, which also derives its name from the town. the first is that the spider's bite causes a madness that induces wild dancing; the second is that the sweat produced acts as an antidote to the spider's poison. |
|
tardamente |
slowly |
|
tardando |
slowing down |
|
tardo |
slow |
|
tarogato |
originally, a Hungarian wooden natural horn. now a wooden
saxophone |
|
taschengeige |
kit |
| taste |
key of keyboard |
|
tastiera |
keyboard |
|
tasto |
key (of keyboard) |
|
tasto solo |
bass only |
|
tattoo |
military signal to call soldiers to their barracks |
|
te deum |
is a canticle sung in thanksgiving and forming a part of the divine office, where it appears after matins on
Sundays and major feast days. It later formed part of the church of England
morning service. well known examples are found in two settings by Handel, the
Utrecht te Deum and the Dettingen te Deum, with more elaborate settings in the 19th century from
Berlioz and Bruckner. |
|
technic |
skill in playing or singing |
|
telyn |
Welsh harp |
|
tema |
theme |
| temperament |
system of tuning in which the intervals deviate from the pure
Pythagorean intervals to deal with chromatics |
| temperaments |
are the various alterations of strict tuning necessary for practical purposes.
Equal temperament, now in general use, involves the division of the octave into twelve equal semitones, a procedure that necessitates some modification of intervals from their true form, according to the ratios of physics.
Equal temperament, exemplified in Johann
Sebastian Bach's 48 preludes and fugues for the well-tempered clavier, won gradual acceptance in the 18th century, replacing earlier systems of tuning.
It has been plausibly suggested that the system of equal temperament was borrowed from
China, where its mathematical basis was published towards the end of the 16th century. |
|
tempestoso |
as a storm. |
|
tempo giusto |
in exact tempo |
|
tempo i |
resume opening tempo |
|
tempo indications |
descriptive words or numbers to instruct a performer as to the tempo of a piece of
music |
|
tempo primo |
resume opening tempo |
|
tempo rubato |
in tempo ad libitum |
| tempo |
means the speed at which a piece of music is played. sometimes the exact tempo is given at the beginning of a piece of music with the number of beats to a minute, as measured by a metronome.
More often tempo indications give the performer more latitude, although the
Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, for example, gives exact timings, often of each section of a work. in much earlier music the tempo is implicit in the notation or in the type of music. |
|
temps |
beat |
| ten |
abbr. for tenuto, tenor |
|
teneramente |
tenderly |
| tenor |
the highest non-falsetto or castrato adult male voice. instruments of similar pitch, such as the recorder, trombone, tuba and saxophone, are also
referred to as tenor |
|
tenor c |
the space "c" of the bass clef |
|
tenor clef |
the "c" clef on the fourth line of the staff |
| tenor drum |
similar to the snare drum, but larger, much deeper, and usually without
snares |
|
tenorlied |
a German song, in which the tenor vocal line predominates, or has the
melody |
|
tenorschlussel |
tenor clef |
| tenth |
an octave plus a third |
|
tenuta |
see tenuto |
|
tenute |
see tenuto |
|
tenuto |
a line placed above or below the note meaning to sustain for full
value |
|
teponaztli |
pre-Columbian barrel-shaped drum with head perforation in the shape of the letter "h," creating two facing tongues, used in central
America |
|
terce |
the fourth of the canonical hours |
|
ternary form |
is a tripartite musical structure, three-part song-form, in which the third part is an exact or modified repetition of the first.
Standard examples of ternary form can be heard in the minuet and trio movements of
Haydn and Mozart |
|
ternery form |
a b a form |
|
tertian harmony |
harmony based on thirds |
|
terz |
third |
|
terzett(o) |
vocal trio |
|
terzina |
triplet |
|
tessitura |
the range in which a voice part spends most of the time. this has a dramatic effect on
sing ability, far more than an isolated low or high, due to the fact that the vocal muscles tire if they are forced to hold the same position for too
long |
|
testo |
witness, narrator |
|
testudo |
lyra, frequently made of tortoise shell |
|
tetrachord |
part of the descending scale of ancient Greek music going through the fourth. any four scale notes contained in the perfect
fourth |
| text |
words, lyrics set to music |
| texture |
the character of a composition as determined by the relationship of its melodies,
countermelodies, and/or chords |
|
the forty-eight |
the well-tempered clavier |
|
the tonic |
principal and lowest note of the scale in which a piece of music is
set |
|
the well-tempered clavier |
the forty-eight |
| theme |
a theme is a complete tune or melody which is of fundamental importance in a piece of music.
Thematic metamorphosis or thematic transformation describes a process used by
Liszt and others in which a theme may undergo transformation to provide material to sustain other movements or sections of a work, where new and apparently unrelated themes might otherwise have been used. |
|
themenaufstellung |
exposition |
|
theory |
the study of the system of music, including rhythms, notation, form, scales, harmony,
etc. |
|
theremin |
an electronic instrument invented by Leon Theremin, a scientist of
French origin who lived and worked in Russia, has the original feature of being played without the performer touching it.
Frequencies and dynamics are controlled by the movement of the player's hands in the air, with pitch varying according to the distance of the right hand from an antenna and dynamics varying by the similar use of the left hand. |
| thesis |
downbeat, usually used in chant |
| third |
the interval of three diatonic degrees |
|
thirty-second note |
one eighth of a quarter note. usually written with three
flags |
|
thorough bass |
bass with written roots and numbers rather than fully notated
harmony |
| through-composed |
applied to songs in which new music is composed for each repeating
stanza |
|
thunder machine |
a percussion instrument that simulates the sound of
thunder |
| tie |
a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch, indicating that the second is not to be re-attacked, but merely sustained as an extension of the
first |
|
tierce |
third. An organ stop that sounds the third of a harmonic of the key
played |
| tierce de picardie |
picardy third |
|
timbale |
kettledrum |
|
timbre |
the spectral pattern defining the tone quality |
|
timbrel |
tambourine |
| time |
tempo, meter, or the length of notes |
|
time signature |
consists of two numbers at the beginning of a piece of music but can change throughout the piece.
The top number tells you the number of counts in each measure; the bottom number tells you the type of note that
receives one count. |
| timing |
the length of a performance, needed for recording and
broadcasting |
|
timoroso |
timidly, hesitantly |
|
timpan |
psaltery or dulcimer type instrument, either plucked or
struck |
|
timpani |
the only tune able drum. A membrane stretched over the top of a hollow metal shell is tightened or slacked for tuning by screws on the rim or by a pedal. |
|
tin whistle |
a wind instrument with six holes. Originally made from tin, and now mostly from
steel |
|
tintinnalulum |
bell |
|
tiple |
soprano; a small guitar |
|
tirade, tirata |
baroque ornament consisting of a long scale passage |
|
tirana |
Andalusia dance song |
|
tirare |
to draw |
|
tirasse |
pedals of organ which were coupled to regular pipes |
|
tirer, tirez |
down bow |
|
toccata |
is an instrumental piece, often designed to display the technical proficiency of a performer and found particularly in keyboard music from the 15th century onwards.
There are notable examples in the organ music of Bach |
|
toccatina |
short toccata |
| todeslied |
dirge |
|
tokkate |
toccatta |
| tombeau |
is a title used by French composers in tributes offered to predecessors or contemporaries. ravel had recourse to this baroque title in his 1914 tombeau de
couperin. |
| tom-tom |
a family of African drums of various sizes and pitches, with a fairly pure
tone |
|
ton |
tone, sound, pitch, key, mode |
|
tonabstand |
interval |
|
tonada |
lyrical folksong in quatrains with refrain |
|
tonadilla |
short comic opera |
| tonal |
music with a center, or tonic, which employs tones which relate to that tonic in a predictable and measurable
manner |
| tonal |
of, or pertaining to tone or tonality |
| tonality |
the system on which tonal compositions are based; use of a scale and or a series of harmonies to cause in the listener a perceived tonal
center |
|
tonart |
key, mode, or scale |
| tonary |
thematic catalog of chants |
|
tondichtung |
tone poem |
| tone |
a sound of definite pitch. also used to describe an interval of two semitones (whole tone) or the characteristics of a
sound |
|
tone cluster |
vaguely specified group of notes that are close together on the keyboard, and are played with some part of the body other than the fingers or a foreign
object |
|
tone color |
tone quality, timbre |
|
tone poem |
is a symphonic poem, an orchestral composition that seeks to express extra-musical ideas in music.
The term tondichtung was preferred by Richard
Strauss, a master of the form. |
|
tone row |
see twelve-tone |
| tonette |
an instrument in the ocarina family |
| tonguing |
articulation of notes with the tongue in wind
instruments |
|
tonhohe |
pitch |
|
tonic |
the first note of a scale; a chord built on the first note of a
scale |
|
tonic minor |
parallel minor (but relative minor = relative minor) |
|
tonika |
tonic |
|
tonkunst |
music |
|
tonkunstler |
composer |
|
tonleiter |
scale |
|
tonmalerei |
music which describes |
|
tono |
tone, key |
|
tono llanero |
folksong of Venezuelan and Colombian plains that has no trace of
African origins |
|
tonsatz |
composition |
|
tonschrift |
tone writing, notation |
|
tonus |
whole tone |
|
torbellino |
Colombian dance in 3/4 with fermatas and vocal ornamentations on the
upbeats |
|
tosto |
quickly |
| touch |
the manner in which a keyboard key is sounded |
|
touche |
keyboard, fingerboard |
|
toye |
short piece for the virginal |
|
tpt |
abbr. trumpet |
| tr |
abbr. for trill, trombone, treble, transpose |
|
tracker action |
mechanical key action in pipe organ |
| tract |
item used in place of alleluia |
|
traktur |
tracker action |
|
tranquillamente |
tranquilly |
|
tranquillo |
tranquil |
| transcribe |
to rearrange music for instruments other than the ones for which it was originally
written |
| transcription |
music may be transcribed or arranged for instruments other than those for which it was originally designed. well known transcriptions are found among the short pieces arranged for violin and piano by the famous violinist
Fritz Kreisler |
| transient |
passing |
| transition |
a transient modulation; a passage leading from one motif to the
next |
| transpose |
to play music in a key or octave other than the one in which it was written, to suit a particular performer or
instrument |
|
transposing instruments |
instruments whose music is written in a key other than that in which they actually sound. e.g.
A standard trumpet is in b-flat, but music that sounds in b-flat appears in the key of
c |
| transposition |
music may be transposed when the original key is changed, a process all too necessary in accompanying singers and for whom a transposition of the music down a tone or two may be necessary.
Some instruments are known as transposing instruments because the written notes for them sound higher or lower than the apparent written pitch, when they are
played |
|
transverse flute |
the modern flute (held perpendicular to the body), as differentiated from the
recorder |
| transverse flute |
the orchestral flute is transverse, held horizontally, as opposed to the recorder, which is held
vertically |
| traps |
special sound effect devices. in jazz, the sound effect producers plus normal
drums |
|
trascinando |
dragging |
|
trattenuto |
delayed |
|
trauermusik |
music for funerals |
|
traumerisch |
dreamy |
|
tre |
three |
|
tre corda |
three strings. Means to release the soft pedal |
|
tre corde |
literally, three strings. It is an indication in piano music to release the
soft-pedal |
| treble |
the treble voice is a voice in the higher register.
The word is generally used for the unbroken voice of boys, although the register may be similar to that of the female soprano.
Treble instruments are instruments of higher register and the g clef in use for this register is commonly known as the treble clef.
Originally the treble or triplum was the third part added above a duplum or second additional part, lying above the lowest part, the tenor of the medieval motet. |
|
treble clef |
also called the "g clef"; read by saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinets, trumpet,
French horn & mallet percussion |
|
tredezime |
thirteenth (compound sixth) |
|
treibend |
hurrying |
|
tremando |
trembling effect |
|
tremelo |
quivering, fluttering. produced as follows. strings. rapid alternation of bow strokes. voice. improper air flow caused by nerves or poor technique, piano. rapid alternation between two notes of an octave. organ. use of a vibrato or tremulant
stop |
|
tremulant |
organ stop used to produce tremolo |
|
trepak |
Cossack dance in 2 |
|
tres |
very |
| triad |
any chord composed of a root, third and fifth |
| triangle |
the triangle is now part of the orchestral percussion section.
It is an instrument of indefinite pitch made from a steel bar bent into the shape of an equilateral triangle and is played by being struck with a steel beater or, for softer effects, a wooden stick.
It was used occasionally in opera in the earlier 18th century, but came into its own with the
Turkish music of, for example, Mozart's
opera the abduction from the Seraglio (die entfuhrung aus dem serail). its appearance in
Liszt's e flat piano concerto in 1853 caused some amusement among hostile critics.
Tremolo effects are occasionally demanded |
|
tricesimoprimal temperament |
division of the octave into 31 microtones |
|
tricinium |
vocal composition in three parts |
| trill |
an ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two pitches, the main pitch, and the pitch a whole or half step above
it |
|
triller |
trill |
|
trinklied |
drinking song |
|
trio |
composition for three parts, or the ensemble itself; contrasting section in certain forms such as rags, marches,
minuets |
|
trio sonata |
the most popular of middle and late baroque instrumental forms, is a sonata for two melody instruments and basso continuo, usually a bass instrument and a chordal instrument, and consequently usually calls for four players.
Trio sonatas are found at their best in the work of Corelli at the end of the 17th century. these consist of two sets of a dozen church sonatas (sonate da chiesa) and two sets of a dozen chamber sonatas (sonate da camera).
There are distinguished later examples by Telemann, Handel and
Johann Sebastian Bach, although the six organ trio sonatas by
Bach interweave three strands of melody, one for each hand and one for the feet, and are, of course, for one player. |
|
triole |
riplet |
|
triple time |
a time signature, in which the primary division is into three beats per bar, such as 3/4 or
3/2 |
| triplet |
group of three notes played or sung in the time
normally taken by two notes |
|
triste |
lovelorn song , in a Spanish Indian patois, mostly pentatonic, from
Peru and northern Argentina |
|
tritone |
the diminished fifth or augmented fourth, exactly three whole steps, and divides the octave right down the
middle |
|
tromba |
trumpet or bugle |
| trombone |
made it's first appearance in the middle of the 15th century.
It is a brass instrument with a cup-shaped mouthpiece and a slide that enables the player to shorten or lengthen the tube and hence the notes of a particular harmonic series.
The early trombone was known in English as a sackbut. The instrument had ceremonial associations and in the later 18th century was only occasionally used in the orchestra, notably by
Mozart in his Masonic opera
die Zauberflote and in his requiem mass. with Beethoven the trombone
became an accepted if not indispensable part of the orchestra |
|
trommel |
drum |
|
trommelbass |
stereotyped bass figures |
|
trope |
a type of plainchant used between 10th and 12th
centuries |
|
troper |
a book of tropes |
|
troppo |
too much, overdone |
| troubadour |
were the court poets and composers of southern France
in the 12th and 13th centuries. The trouveres flourished particularly in the 13th century to the north of the country.
Their surviving music forms an important body of secular song from this
period |
| troubadours |
musicians of 12th century France |
|
trouvere |
lyric poets or poet-musicians of northern France, writing in
French (langue d'oil), in the 12th and 13th centuries |
| trumpet |
a brass instrument with three valves, which change the length of the tube to alter its
pitch |
|
trutruka |
long wooden trumpet-like instrument, used by Araucan
Indians of southern South America |
| tuba |
a term applied to a variety of large, deep-toned brass instruments with valves. these include the euphonium, flugelhorn, helicon, saxhorn, and
sousaphone |
|
tubaphone |
percussion instrument similar to the glockenspiel, tubular
bells |
|
tubular bells |
are tuned metal tubes suspended from a vertical frame, are used in the percussion section of the modern orchestra for special effects, making their earlier appearance primarily in
opera |
| tune |
melody; also a verb meaning to align the pitches of an instrument with the other pitches of the same instrument, or with other
instruments |
| tuning |
the process of aligning the pitches of instruments, of getting them in
tune |
|
tuning fork |
a u-shaped steel rod with a handle at the base whose prongs produce a pure note of definite pitch. it is usually tuned to c or a but can be any note.
It is also used by choirs to indicate pitch |
|
tuning slide |
movable clip for tuning an organ pipe. the sliding part of a brass instrument that adjusts the
tuning |
|
tupan |
Balkan drum |
|
turca. alla turca |
is found in descriptive titles of music towards the end of the 18th century and thereafter, as in
Mozart's well known rondo alla turca, rondo in the
Turkish style. Turkish music, at that period, was superficially imitated, principally by the use of triangle, cymbals and bass drum, added to a supposedly typical melody of martial character, derived remotely from the janissary
band |
| Turkish crescent |
percussion instrument consisting of a stick mounted on crescent shaped crossbars, each hung with
bells |
| turn |
an embellishment consisting of four notes (usually) a principal note played twice with its higher and lower
auxiliary |
|
turn over |
turn pages, turn the page |
|
turn pages |
turn over |
|
tusch |
brass fanfare |
|
tutti |
an instruction in a musical score for all the performers to join in, typically after a solo section. also used in the phrase a tutti, meaning 'with full
force' |
|
tvisogur |
two part folk singing that resembles organum at the
fifth |
| twelfth |
octave plus a fifth |
|
twelve-note composition |
composition by the use of the twelve semitones of the octave in a predetermined order or series, which may be inverted, written in retrograde form or in retrograde inversion, and transposed.
The system of composition, developed by Arnold Schoenberg in the early 20th century, has had a strong influence over the course of music of the 20th century (see serialism) |
| twelve-tone music |
music in which no pitch class (or note) is repeated until all other chromatic pitches have been used. any group of twelve pitches arranged this way is called a
row |
|
twelve-tone technique |
series of the twelve half-steps of the octave with each given equal importance.
All twelve must be used before the series can begin again. This gives the music the effect of no tonal
center |
|
tympani |
timpani, kettledrum |
|
tyrolienne |
yodeling song in the form of a landler |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
