Music Terms

If you're starting out on your musical journey, it can be like conquering a whole new language. However, do not panic - we have compiled a musician's glossary, which contains all the basic musical terms. Let's start deciphering! Without further ado, here are musical terms to expand your knowledge as an artist. This musical terminology will not only help you understand music, but will also help you communicate with other creative people.

  • Music Terms

    Vivace, vivo; vivache, vivo |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts Italian, lit. – alive, lively A term that prescribes the lively nature of the performance of music. Like other similar designations, it was placed at the beginning of the work to indicate dominance. it contains an affect (see Affect theory). Initially, it was not associated with the idea of ​​u2bu19btempo and was used by Ch. arr. as an addition to other terms (allegro v., allegretto v., andante v., etc.), but as an independent designation – only in plays, the tempo of which was determined by their genre (march, polonaise, etc.) .). Starting from the XNUMXnd floor. XNUMXth century partly loses its original meaning and becomes…

  • Music Terms

    All, тутти |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts ital. – all 1) Joint play of all instruments of the orchestra. In the 17th century the word “T.” used as a synonym for the terms ripieno, omnes, plenus chorus, etc., denoting the joint sound of all choirs, groups of instruments and organs in multi-choir wok.-instr. prod. In the 18th century in concerto grosso and other genres that use the principle of juxtaposition of sound masses, the word tutti in the score indicated the entry of all instruments in the ripieno sections after the designation solo in concertino. In modern the orchestra distinguishes between large and small T.; the second involves the participation of an…

  • Music Terms

    Stolen time, тeмпо рубaто |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts Italian, lit. – stolen pace Free to rhythmic. regarding the music. performance, for the sake of emotional expressiveness, deviating from a uniform tempo. The term originated in wok. music of the Baroque era (Tosi R. F., Opinioni de cantori antichi e moderni o siene osservazioni sopra il canto figurato, Bologna, 1723, Russian translation in the book: Mazurin K., “Singing Methodology”, part 1, M ., 1902) and originally meant the freedom to reject the main melodic. voices from the accompaniment performed at a constant tempo. About application of such T. r. in instr. wrote music in his Skr. school L. Mozart. In clavier music of the…

  • Music Terms

    Strambotto, strambotto |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts ital.; Old French. estrabot; Spanish esrambote A poetic form that was widespread in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries. S. is a one-line poem of 8 lines. Rhyming may be different. Main variety S. – so-called. the Roman octave, or simply the octave (abab abcc), met, etc. the Sicilian octave, or Sicilian (abababab), etc. The form was widely used in poems representing imitations of folk poetry. The most famous author was Serafino dal ‘Aquila from Rome. Since its inception, S. has been closely associated with music – poets often created S. as a wok. improvisations accompanied by a lute. The surviving manuscript collections and…

  • Music Terms

    Staccato, staccato |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts ital. – abruptly, from staccare – tear off, separate Short, abrupt performance of sounds, clearly separating them from each other. Belongs to the main methods of sound production, is the opposite of legato – a coherent performance of sounds with the smoothest possible, imperceptible transitions from one to another. It is indicated by the word “staccato” (abbr. – stacc, a general indication for a relatively extended passage) or a dot at the note (usually placed at the head, above or below, depending on the location of the stem). In the past, wedges at notes also served as staccato signs; over time, they came to mean…

  • Music Terms

    Spiccato, спиккaто |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts ital., from spiccare – to tear off, separate, abbr. – spic. A stroke used when playing stringed bowed instruments. Refers to the group of “jumping” strokes. With S., the sound is extracted by throwing the bow on the string from a short distance; because the bow immediately rebounds from the string, the sound is short, jerky. From S. one should distinguish the bow stroke sautillé (sautilli, French, from sautiller – jump, bounce), also belonging to the group of “jumping” strokes. This stroke is performed by fast and small movements of the bow, lying on the string and only slightly rebounding due to the elasticity and…

  • Music Terms

    Supported, состенуто |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts Italian, lit. – sustained, as well as restrained, concentrated; abbr. — sost. Performed designation. Indicates that each sound is kept at the same volume level (without fading out) until it ends. S. prevents haste and therefore usually implies a moderate tempo (Roso sostenuto at the beginning of Beethoven’s 7th symphony and Brahms’ 1st symphony). However, at the beginning of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony, the designation sostenuto indicates primarily the length of sounds, not the “fanfare” nature of the performance. In cases where the term “S.” combined with the designation of tempo, ch. arr. moderate, eg. andante sostenuto, as a rule, means a certain swarm…

  • Music Terms

    Sforzando, sforzando |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts sforzato, forzato (sforzato, forzato, ital., from sforzare, forzare – strain strength; abbr. sf, sfz, fz A designation that prescribes a louder performance of a sound or chord, with which it stands. Since the 19th century together with rinforzando (rin-forzato) is often regarded as equivalent to sforzato piano (sfp), i.e. sf followed by piano. A particularly strong emphasis on a sound or chord is indicated by the superlative degree from S. – sforzatissimo (abbr. ffz, sffz).

  • Music Terms

    Considered, ритенуто |

    Dictionary categories terms and concepts Italian, lit. – detainee; abbr. rit. The designation of slowing down the tempo used in musical writing, unlike rallentando and ritardando, is not smooth, gradual, but fast, almost instantaneous. It is also used in combination with the word roso (a little). A new, slower tempo is maintained without changes until the designation a tempo, which prescribes a return to the previous tempo. Since the abbreviation R. (rit.) coincides with the abbreviation ritardando, when deciphering it, the performer must conform to his muses. taste.