| d' |
(French) of; abbreviation of de |
| D |
the second note in the musical scale of C
major: in 'fixed do' solfeggio the note called
re |
| D |
after Otto Erick Deutsch the cataloguer of
music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828); after
Minos Dounias the cataloguer of music by
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) |
| Da |
(Italian) of, from |
| Da capo, D.C. (abbrev.) |
(Italian) from the beginning
more... |
| Da capo al fine, D.C. al fine |
(Italian) return to the beginning and end at
the point marked by the word fine
more... |
| Da capo al segno, D.C. al segno |
(Italian) return to the beginning and end at
the point marked with a sign
more... |
| Da capo aria |
a lyric song in ternary or A-B-A
form commonly found in operas, cantatas and
oratorios |
| Dactyl |
a musical foot consisting of one long note
or syllable, followed by two short
more... |
| Dadaiko |
large Japanese barrel drum. It is usually
around two metres in diameter |
| Dadra |
light classical Indian song |
| Daduk |
Bulgarian flute |
| Daechwita |
(Korean) processional military music |
| Daegum |
(Korean) a bamboo flute
more... |
| Daegum |
(Korean) a large gong, slightly bigger than
the jing
more... |
| Daf, Daff |
see def |
| Dafri |
a very small Indian frame drum, usually only
several centimetres in diameter. The frame is
sometimes ornamental and the head is made from
snake skin |
| Dagaa gyil |
a long xylophone, about 1.5 metres long,
with seventeen keys, each with a corresponding
gourd resonator (Ghana). Also known simply as
gyil |
| Dagu |
large Chinese drum; a larger Chinese erhu,
pitched an octave lower than the standard
erhu |
| Dahnso |
(Korean) there are two forms of this Korean
wind instrument, the ordinary dahnso,
with it's pirecing clear sound, and the
pyongjo-dahnso, adjusted to be more suitable
for playing in the pyongjo (major) mode
more... |
| Dai |
general Japanese term for a drum stand |
| Daira |
Afghan frame drum |
| Daiko (Tsuri-Daiko) |
a generic term for many styles of Japanese
cylindrically shaped drums that have their drum
head either tacked directly on to the body or
attached by ropes or cords
more... |
| Daira |
Afghan frame drum with jingles inside the
frame, traditionally played by women; Mozambican
term for drums |
| Daire |
a round, single-headed drum of the Balkans |
| Dal segno, D.S. (abbrev.) |
|
| Daluo |
large Chinese gong |
| Damian |
a popular six string instrument used by
nomadic people of Tibetan origin living in
Ladakh (India) |
| Damaru |
small Tibetan drum shaped like an hourglass
with two pieces of string at the end of which
are small round strikers. The drum is turned
rapidly left and right. The strikers whip around
and alternately strike each drum head. Also
known as ton dhar |
| Damman |
a set of two kettledrums called fo
and mo, meaning male and female. Fo
has a hole under it so that water can be poured
into it to produce a heavy, deep sound. They are
played with small sticks called damshing.
The damman provides a deep pulsating,
resonant beat and is played with dances and
singing in Ladakh (India) |
| Damman-ishkun |
double-headed Iranian bass drum |
| Damp |
to quieten a stringed instrument or drum by
touching the string(s) or drum-skin with a soft
material |
| Damper pedal, Damping pedal |
a mechanism operated via a pedal that
realigns a piano hammer under the instrument's
strings so that the hammer will strike only one
string to give a more veiled tone as well as a
reduced volume; more properly, the device should
be called the una corda pedal |
| Dämpfen |
muffle, deaden or restrain the tone of an
instrument, as in mit Dämpfer meaning
'with the mute' |
| Dämpfer |
(German) mute |
| Dämpfung |
(German) muting, on a piano 'using the soft
pedal' |
| Dan bau |
the dan bau is a one-string zither
native to Vietnam. It is constructed of a long
narrow sound box, with a tall curved stem made
from water buffalo horn inserted at one end. The
single string runs between the soundbox and a
small wooden gourd attached to the stem. The
stem is bent to change the pitch of the string.
The player touches the string lightly with the
heel of the hand at harmonic producing nodal
points while plucking with the fingers. This
produces the dan bau's characteristic
high clear sound. The Vietnamese group Khac
Chi has added frets to the instrument's
already complex array of pitch production
mechanisms. As the sound box of the dan bau
is very narrow, it is not a loud instrument, and
was traditionally used in more intimate
environments. In recent years an electric
version has been introduced, to be played in
ensembles and large concerts. The bass danbau
was adapted from the dan bau to provide a
musical range equivalent to that of a bass
guitar. It is simply an electric dan bau
with a very thick string on it. Due to the
thickness of the string, it is quite a difficult
instrument to play |
| Dance |
a form of expression using movement |
| Dance band |
a group of instrumentalists that play music
for dancing to |
| Dance ronde |
Breton dance tune |
| Dan da |
(Vietnam) a 6,000-year old stone xylophone
tuned to the notes D-F-G-A-C-D,
six notes of the pentatonic scale, playing by
striking them with heavy wooden mallets |
| Dan day |
(Vietnam) a long-necked lute with three silk
strings and 10 frets, a feature of ca tru
or 'tally card singing' |
| Dan mo |
Vietnamese set of wood blocks and bamboo
rasps used for percussive effect
more... |
| Danpigu |
single headed drum (China) |
| Danse |
(French) dance |
| Dan tranh |
sixteen string zither from Vietnam
more... |
| Dan trong |
small single-headed Vietnamese barrel drums
of varying sizes and depths |
| Dantzari |
specialist dancers who perform the more
difficult sequences in Basque folk dance |
| Danza |
(Italian & Spanish) dance |
| Danza antigua de Hermigua |
ancient warrior dance from the Hermigua
region in the Gomera Island (Canary Islands,
Spain), accompanied by drums and chácaras
(large castanets) |
| Danza de damas y galanes |
religious dance of ladies and gentlemen from
La Coruña (Galicia, Spain), in which a drum and
bagpipe accompany four ladies, eight gentlemen
and a lead dancer. The dancers come out of a
church backwards and start dancing once they get
to the atrium. The dancers mimic reverence and
greetings |
| Danza de las ánimas |
(literally 'dance of the souls') an ancient
folk dance from Albaladejo in the Spanish region
of La Mancha. Seven dancers plus a captain hold
swords and cover their heads while a musician
plays a melody on the tiplillo (a tiny
guitar). The dancers weave and unweave a cord
out of ribbons tied to a pole |
| Danza del cordón |
(full name: danza del cordón de la
carrera y del paloteo al Cristo de la Viga)a
series of dances from the village of Villacañas
(Toledo, Spain). It honours Christ of la Viga.
On April 27 the eight dancers kneel to a banner
representing Christ asking for forgiveness.
During several days, the participants run and
dance across town. On May 1st they dance playing
castanets. A man nails a stick to the ground
that holds eight ribbons of different colours.
Every dancer holds a ribbon and makes a number
of crossings with the other dancers, tying the
ribbons until a cord is made. After that, the
dancers run, performing the running dance
throughout the town |
| Danza de los diablos |
(literally 'dance of the devils') an ancient
dance from the town of Huete (Cuenca, Spain) in
which three groups of men or women carry sticks
and chains. The dancers create a percussive
sound by pairing with other dancers and hitting
their respective sticks and chasing away a man
representing the devil |
| Danza del paloteo |
(full name: danza del paloteo y el cordón
a La Virgen de La Piedad)a dance from the La
Mancha region of Toledo (Spain). Eight dancers
and a young man are needed. The young man dances
in the middle of the other eight participants
using a whip. The eight dancers use castanets
and canes to create the rhythm, accompanied by a
drummer and a dulzaina. They march
through town dancing and running |
| Danza del venado, La |
Yaqui Indian dance from the state of Sonora
(Mexico) known as 'the dance of the deer'. The
dance honours the deer's endurance of spirit, as
depicted through the deer's struggle against
pursuing hunters |
| Danza española |
a dance in simple duple rhythm originating
from Spain |
| Danzantes y pecados |
eucharistic dance of sinners from the town
of Camuñas (Toledo, Spain), which some believe
could be the remnant of an ancient pagan dance
assimilated by Christianity. The dancers arrive
to the Eucharist bringing symbols of the passion
of Christ and wearing strange masks, one of the
penitents using a large wooden hammer to pound
on a block of wood, thus providing a beat that
accompanies the dancers |
| Danzón |
a ballroom dance played by the Cuban
charangas, descended from the popular French
contradanza brought by Haitian immigrants
and the Spanish danza of the 1800s |
| Daouli |
two headed goatskin drum from Greece |
| Dap |
a Chinese frame drum with a round mulberry
frame covered with python skin on one side |
| Dar |
a hybrid of traditional Moroccan music with
house, breakbeat, garage and other British
electronic dance beats |
| Darabuka |
see darabukka |
| Darabukka |
an Arabic goblet-shaped drum made from
earthenware or terra-cotta pottery, wood or
metal with a single drum head (the other end
being left open), made from stretched parchment,
bayard-fish, goatskin or other leather, attached
directly to the frame by nails and glue or laced
onto the head which is struck directly with hand
or fingers with the body held under the player's
arm
more... |
| Darabukkah |
see darabukka |
| Darbouka |
see darabukka |
| Darbucca |
see darabukka |
| Dargason |
an English folk tune |
| Darrabuka |
see dumbeck |
| Da ruan |
see ruan |
| Darunter |
(German) under there, amongst them |
| Das |
(German) the |
| Dast-gâh |
Iranian modal system, made up of twelve
modes, divided into seven principal modes
(called Dast-gâh) and five secondary
modes (called avaz) |
| Dash |
a mark placed above a note to indicate how
it should be articulated; a vertical dash above
a note means 'play the note very staccato,
where a dot above the note means play the note
staccato; a horizontal dash above a note
means 'sustain the note for its full length',
i.e. tenuto; a horizontal dash appearing
in a figured bass part indicates that the
preceding harmony should be continued |
| Dasselbe |
(German) the same |
| Dati |
Chinese term for cello |
| Datonggu |
large Chinese barrel drum |
| Dauer |
(German) duration |
| Dauernd |
(German) lasting, continuing |
| Da'uli-da'uli |
a xylophone from Nias, Indonesia, also found
in Madagascar, consisting of three or four loose
pieces of resonating wood, sometimes flat but
often with a rounded cross section sometimes
laid on the top of a wooden box, that rests
across the legs of a seated player or across a
hole in the ground, and which is struck with
wooden mallets
more... |
| Davadyensivka |
Ukrainian wind instrument. It is a diatonic
double sopilka |
| Davuli |
Kosovar Albanian short wooden cylinder
covered at each open end with leather-stretched
with rope. It is played with two wooden
drumsticks |
| Dayera |
Uzbek frame drum, also known as dayereh |
| Dayereh |
Persian and Uzbek frame drum |
| De |
(French) of, from |
| Debile (It.), Débile (Fr.) |
weak |
| Debole |
(Italian) weak |
| Début |
first public performance |
| Decani |
a term applied in Anglican church music that
refers to the half of the choir sitting on the
dean's side of the church, that which sits on
the right side of the congregation, i.e. the
south side. The other half of the choir is
referred to as the cantoris which is to
the left of the congregation, i.e. the north
side, nearest the cantor |
| Decay |
the process by which a sound gradually
disappears from the audible spectrum after the
source has fallen silent; the time scale of this
process is termed 'decay time' or 'period of
reverberation' |
| Deceptive cadence |
see
interrupted cadence |
| Déchant |
(French) descant |
| Decibel |
a logarithmic unit of the intensity of
sound, abbreviated dB |
| Décidé (Fr.), Decido (It.) |
with decision |
| Decima |
(Latin, literally 'a tenth') an interval
covering ten degrees of the scale, equivalent to
an octave and a third |
| Décima |
a poetic rhyme (ten-line octosyllabic
stanzas) music style originated in Spain that
later became popular in Spanish America,
especially Venezuela, Panama and Puerto Rico;
also known as espinela, trovo, and
rima en poesía, the themes range from the
religious to love, death and mythology |
| Decimette |
a composition for ten performers |
| Decisivo |
(Italian) perform in a bold, decisive manner |
| Declamando, Declamato |
(Italian) in a declamatory style |
| Declamatory rhythm |
melodic rhythm that mirrors the way a piece
of text might be declaimed |
| Déoupler |
(French) to uncouple |
| Decrescendo, Decresciuto |
 |
(Italian) to get gradually softer
|
|
| Deest (sing.), Desunt (pl.) |
(from the Latin deesse meaning
absent) placed after a catalogue abbreviation to
indicate that this particular work does not
appear in it |
| Def |
large frame drum without jingles used in
Turkey, Egypt, Kurdistan, Kosovo, Armenia,
Greece and other countries and regions in the
Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Turkic countries |
| Défaut |
(French) fault, lack |
| Degree |
the position of a note in the scale, for
example, G is the second degree in the scale of
F; the eight degrees of the scale may be
numbered using 1 - 8 or Roman numerals I - VIII
or i - viii
more... |
| Dehors |
(French) outside, prominent |
| De la |
(French) of the, from the |
| Delicato, Delicatamente, Delicatissimo,
Delicatezza |
(Italian) delicate, delicately, as
delicately as possible, delicacy |
| Délié |
(French, literally 'untied') staccato,
detached, supple |
| Delirio, Delirante |
(Italian) frenzy, frenzied |
| Delizioso |
(Italian) delicious, sweet |
| Démancher |
(French) the shift the left hand close to
the bridge |
| Demi |
(French) half |
| Demi-jeu |
(French) a term meaning 'to play at half
strength' |
| Demi-pause |
 |
(French) a minim rest (half rest), a
rest half the value of a semibreve rest
(whole rest) |
|
| Demisemiquaver |
|
a thirty-second note, a note one
thirty-second the time value of a whole
note or semibreve |
|
| Demisemiquaver rest |
 |
a thirty-second rest, a rest one
thirty-second the time value of a whole
rest or semibreve rest |
|
| Demi-soupir |
 |
(French) a quaver rest (eighth
rest), a rest one eighth the time value
of a whole rest or semibreve rest |
|
| Demi-ton |
(French) semitone, half step |
| Demi-tone |
(French) producing a very soft tone, playing
with restraint, underplaying |
| Demi-voix |
(French, literally 'half voice') an
instruction to sing very quietly |
| Demung |
Javanese Gamelan metal-keyed melodic
instrument |
| Demütig, Demüthig |
(German) meek |
| Dennoch |
(German) nevertheless |
| Deploration |
(French) compositions of the Medieval and
Renaissance eras inspired by the death of a
composer, commonly written in the phrygian mode |
| Der |
(German) the |
| Derabucca |
see darbuka |
| Derb |
(German) firm, solid, rough |
| Derbacki |
see darbuka |
| Derbekki |
see darbuka |
| Derdeba |
Gnawa ceremonies (Morocco) |
| Deritta, Deritto |
(Italian) the right hand |
| Derselbe |
(German) the same |
| Des |
(German) of the, the note 'D flat'; (French)
the |
| Descant |
the soprano recorder; a line extemporized
above the tune; the top vocal line |
| Descarga |
a salsa jam or improvisation |
| Descending |
a melodic line steadily falling in pitch |
| Descriptive music |
program music |
| Deses |
(German) the note 'D double flat' |
| Desiderio |
(Italian) desire |
| Desinvolto, Desinvoltura |
(Italian) ease |
| Dessous |
(French) below |
| Dessus |
(French) above |
| Desto |
(Italian) bouyant, sprightly |
| Destro, Destra |
(Italian) right, dexterous |
| De suite |
(French) immediately, one following the
other |
| Détaché |
(French) staccato, detached |
| Determinato |
(Italian) determined |
| Deutlich |
(German) distinct |
| Deutsch |
(German) German |
| Deux |
(French) two |
| Deuxième |
(French) second |
| Deux temps |
(French) in 2/2 time, in a tempo where there
are two dance steps to a bar whatever the time
signature |
| Development |
a musical form during which thematic
material, introduced earlier, is greatly
extended |
| Devil drum |
a rural percussion instrument from Latvia
made from a tree branch with a string joining
both ends. Jingles or bells hang from the
string. The string is struck with a small stick.
The Latvian name is vella bumgas |
| Devoto |
(Italian) devout, with devotion |
| Devozione |
(Italian) devotion |
| DF |
after Dan Fog the cataloguer of music by
C.E.F. Weyse (1774-1842) |
| Dhad |
a small, double-sided, hourglass shaped
drum. It is held in one hand, and struck with
the other. The hand holding it constricts the
tightening strings as it is struck, thus
creating a unique sound. It is generally used in
the Punjab region (India/Pakistan) by Sikh poets
while singing praises of historical figures in
battle |
| Dhapari |
Indian percussion instrument made of
multiple strips of skin |
| Dhimotiká |
general term for Greek folk music |
| Dhiplopadoura |
double reed pipe from Crete |
| Dhol |
ancient Armenian drum. The instrument is
hung from the player’s neck and features two
heads, of which only one is actually played. The
dhol can also be played with sticks;
large, double-sided barrel shaped drum from the
Punjab region in South Asia. Its thundering
sound is the heart of the Bhangra dance form.
The dhol is generally made from Mango
wood or Sheesham wood, and played with two
sticks, a thin switch made from cane, and a
heavier, curved stick generally cut from the
roots of the Acacia tree |
| Dholak |
a small double-ended barrel-shaped drum from
India and Pakistan, made from a hollowed out
block of wood traditionally used across the
Indian subcontinent. The heads are tensioned by
lacing that passes through small metal rings |
| Dholki |
see dholak |
| Dhon dholok cholom |
a drum dance, usually performed in the
spring, from the Indian state of Manipur where
the performers leap and twirl while beating
their instruments |
| Dhrupad |
the oldest vocal style of Indian classical
music, devotional in nature and consisting of
two parts, alap and dhamar |
| Dhul |
Afghan double-ended barrel drum |
| Dhun |
a short piece in the style of Indian folk
music |
| Dhungchen |
long copper horns played by the monks of
Tibet |
| Dhut |
large Javanese drum |
| Di |
(Italian) by, from, of; in solfeggio, di
is the second note of the ascending chromatic
scale; in 'fixed do' solfeggio, di is
always the note 'C sharp' |
| Diabolus in musica |
the tritone, diminished fifth or augmented
fourth; two notes whose frequencies, under equal
temperament, have the ratio √2 : 1 |
| Diapason |
octave |
| Diapason normal |
(French) standard pitch |
| Diapente |
(Greek) the interval of a fifth |
| Diastema |
(ancient Greek) a musical interval |
| Diastematic |
notation that indicates the pitch of a note
by its vertical placing on the page |
| Diatonic |
notes that occur naturally in a scale,
without being modified by accidentals other than
those in the relevent key signature
|
| Diatonic interval |
the interval between any two notes that both
appear in the major or minor scales of the
prevailing keynote, for example, C to E flat is
a diatonic interval because both notes appear in
the scale of C minor, but C to D sharp is not,
because D sharp does not appear in any of the
scales on C
more... |
| Diatonic scale |
in the Middle Ages, this scale would be any
of the modes based on a particular key note; on
a modern keyboard, this scale is any of the
major, natural minor, melodic minor or harmonic
minor scales based on a particular key note |
| Dice music |
see 'aleatoric' |
| Dichtung |
(German) poem |
| Dick |
(German) thick |
| Diction |
a word generally used to mean 'enunciation',
the clarity of a musical line and, in the case
of vocal music, of the words |
| Didadi |
athletic dance rhythm from the Wasulu
(Wassoulou) region of Mali |
| Didgeridoo, Didjeridu |
an end-blown, straight, natural wind
instrument made from a termite hollowed
eucalyptus branch. Used by aborigines of
Northern Australia
more... |
| Didjeribone |
a tuned didjeridu made out of
plastic, with a rubber mouth, invented by
Charlie McMahon |
| Die |
(German) the |
| Dieci |
(Italian) ten |
| Dieis |
 |
(Italian) sharp sign, a sign to show
that a note should be raised one
semitone in pitch |
|
| Diesis |
the difference between three justly tuned
major thirds and one octave. It is expressed by
the ratio 128:125, and is equal to 41.06 cents.
However, it has been used also to mean other
small intervals |
| Dièse |
| |
(French) sharp sign, a sign to show
that a note should be raised one
semitone in pitch |
|
| Dieselbe |
(German) the same |
| Dies irae |
(Latin, literally 'day of wrath') a
principal movement in the Requiem |
| Dietro |
(Italian) behind |
| Difference tone, Differential tone |
a third note, with a frequency given by the
difference in the frequencies of two other notes
played together |
| Dignita |
(Italian) grandeur |
| Dihn pa |
Vietnamese percussive bamboo tubes struck on
the ends by padded sticks |
| Dihu |
Chinese low pitched bowed lute |
| Dijeridu |
see 'didgeridoo' |
| Dilruba |
a cross between the sitar and
sarangi, it is extremely close to the
esraj and the mayuri vina, indeed, so
close that most people are unable to tell them
apart. The difference is to be found in the
shape of the resonators and the manner in which
the sympathetic strings attach. Still they are
so similar that a dilruba player has no
trouble playing an esraj or a mayuri
vina. The neck has approximately 18 strings
but like the sitar, almost all of the
playing is performed upon only one string. There
are a number of metallic frets, some of which
will be moved according to the requirements of
the rag. It has a series of sympathetic
strings which are tuned to the notes of the
rag. The dilruba is bowed with a bow
(known as gaz) in a manner very much like
the sarangi. It is bowed with the right
hand while the left hand fingers the strings.
Although the frets are similar to those on the
sitar, it is not fingered in exactly the
same way; Where the sitar produces a
meend (slide) by pulling the strings
laterally, the dilruba does not. In short, we
can think of the frets of the dilruba as
being mere guides for correct finger placement |
| Diluendo |
(Italian) dying away |
| Dilungando |
(Italian) lengthening |
| Dimba |
a Mandinka dance rhythm played for older
women |
| Diminished |
in which a set of rhythmic values are
shortened; an interval narrowed by one semitone
from a perfect or minor interval, for example,
diminished fourth is one semitone narrow than a
perfect fourth, a diminished seventh is one
semitone narrow than a minor seventh |
| Diminished seventh |
see
seventh chords |
| Diminished triad |
see
triads |
| Diminuendo, dim. (abbr.) |
(Italian) gradually getting softer |
| Diminution |
when a melody is played in such a way that
the time value of every note is shortened,
generally halved, in value |
| Di molto |
(Italian) very |
| Ding tac ta |
used by the Ede people of Vietnam, a free
reed pipe with the fibre reed fitted flush with
the pipe and covered by a gourd wind chamber,
which is played by inhaling
more...
|
| Dinh pa and Bass dinh pa |
The dinh pa is a traditional
instrument from the highlands of Vietnam. It is
made from varying lengths of bamboo pipes
fastened together in two rows and stood upright.
It is played by striking the top ends of the
pipes with a padded stick, although originally
the open hand was used. The bass dinh pa
is simply a much larger version of the dinh
pa |
| Di nuevo |
(Italian) anew |
| Diple |
Croatian reed instrument similar to a
bagpipe but without a drone. Also known as
mih and mjeh |
| Diplica |
Croatian reed instrument |
| Direct |
a cautionary symbol placed at the end of a
staff or page to indicate what the note
following will be |
| Direct motion |
see 'parallel motion' |
| Dirge |
a slow mournful piece associated with
funeral and momorial services |
| Dis |
(German) the note called 'D sharp' |
| Discant, Discantus (Latin) |
descant; top voice in a polyphonic
structure; in mediaeval music, the line composed
against the tenor; in the style of Notre Dame
organum, where all voices are measured, i.e.
they follow the rhythmic modes |
| Discant clausula |
a substitute clausula using
discant style, i.e. all voices follow one of
the rhythmic modes |
| Discant-tenor framework |
a term from early polyphony describing how
two principal voices, the discant and the
tenor, provide the harmonic structure,
particular at cadences where an interval of a
major sixth opens to the octave, or a mnor third
contracts to the unison |
| Disciolto |
(Italian) skilful, dexterous |
| Discord |
a combination of notes that sound dissonant
to the ear; see dissonance below |
| Discreto |
(Italian) discreet, reserved |
| Discrezione, Discretezza |
(Italian) discretion, reserve |
| Disinvolto |
(Italian) easy going, self-possessed |
| Disis |
(German) the note 'D double sharp' |
| Disjunct |
where the notes in a melody move in leaps,
intervals greater than a tone, rather than from
note to neighbouring notes only a semitone or
tone different |
| Diskader |
Breton response singer in the kan ha
diskan call and response songs |
| Di sopra |
(Italian) above |
| Disperato or Disperabile or Disperante,
Disperazione |
(Italian) desperate, despair |
| Dispersed harmony |
harmony where the notes that form the
various chords are widely dispersed |
| Dissonance |
pitches that played together cause a
discord, for example, seconds, sevenths and the
tritone; during the early Middle Ages, the third
and the sixth were also considered dissonant |
| Dissonant counterpoint |
counterpoint that makes significant use of
dissonance more than consonance |
| Distanza |
(Italian) distance |
| Distinto |
(Italian) distinct, clear |
| Dithyramb |
ancient Greek songs written in praise of
Dionysus; nineteenth-century term applied to
music associated with Bacchus |
| Diun diun |
see dunun |
| Div |
see divisi |
| Diva |
(Italian, literally 'goddess') a leading
female opera star |
| Divan |
largest member of the saz family,
about 140 cm long (Turkey) |
| Divertimento |
(Italian, literally 'an amusement') a suite
or collection of dance movements; a fantasia
based on airs from an opera |
| Divertissement |
(French, literally 'an amusement')
entr'acte, dances and songs inserted in an
eighteenth-century French opera; a fantasia |
| Divided accompaniment |
a piano accompaniment where both hands have
a similar accompanying role |
| Divine Office |
recitation of certain prayers in the
Breviary, called canonical hours, that the
Church obliged be performed at particular times
of day
more...
|
| Divisés (Fr.), Divisi (It.) |
a division of an orchestra section (most
commonly the first or second violins) so that
the section plays two musical lines that are
generally written as double notes (i.e. one
above the other) in the single part, generally
used to avoid double stopping |
| Division (sing.), Divisions (pl.) |
a form of variations, long ornamented vocal
lines |
| Division viol |
a smaller bass viol designed particularly
for the performance of 'divisions' |
| Divoto, Divotamente |
(Italian) devoutly |
| Divozione |
(Italian) devoutness |
| Dix |
(French) ten |
| Dixieland jazz |
an early twentieth-century style of jazz,
originally from New Orleans, with a simple,
cheerful character
more... |
| Dizi |
transverse bamboo flute of the Han Chinese
that has 6 open holes
more... |
| Djabara |
West African shakers made out of a hollow
gourd, with a loose net, with beads, grains or
shells worked into the net |
| Dja mblai |
a tranverse blown, single pipe, free reed of
the Hmong people of Laos, related to the meo
sao (Hmong flutes), the pi joom of
Thailand and the bawu of southern China
more... |
| Djegok |
xylophone used in the Gamelan orchestras of
Bali |
| Djembe |
 |
a West African drum, believed to
originate with the Malinke people in
Northeast Guinea, the djembe migrated to
the Mali empire in the ninth-century and
is now found in Senegal and Ivory Coast.
The drum is covered in goat skin
more...
|
|
| Djundjun |
see dunun |
| Do |
in solfeggio, the first note of the
ascending chromatic scale; in the 'fixed do'
system do is always the note 'C' |
| Do |
general term used for the body of a drum
(Japan) |
| Dobe |
Romanian kettledrums |
| Doble bemol |
 |
(Spanish), double flat, the sign
that lowers a note by two semitones
|
|
| Doble sostenido |
 |
(Spanish), double sharp, the sign
that raises a note by two semitones
|
|
| Dobro |
slide guitar with one or more metal
resonator discs mounted inside the body |
| Doch |
(German) yet, still, nevertheless |
| Doctor of Music |
the highest musical degree, often
abbreviated to D. Mus., Mus. D. or Mus. Doc. |
| Doctrine of affections |
see 'affections, doctrine of' |
| Dodecaphonic music |
serial music |
| Dodecaphony |
a harmonic system employing the twelve-tone
principle of composition giving equal status to
all twelve chromatic notes |
| Doedelzak |
bagpipe from Flanders (Belgium) |
| Doglia, Doglioso, Dogliosamente |
(Italian) sorrow, sorrowful, sorrowfully |
| Doh |
see do |
| Dohol |
Armenian percussion |
| Dohollah |
brass tabla |
| Doigt |
(French) finger |
| Doigté |
(French) fingering |
| Doina |
melancholic Romanian folk song |
| Doira |
Tajik frame drum |
| Doit, Doivent |
(French) must |
| Dolce |
(Italian) sweet, soft |
| Dolak |
see dholak |
| Dolçaina |
Spanish traditional reed instrument made
from wood, about 70 cm long. The cone shaped
dolçaina is usually found in the Valencia
region. In many other parts of Spain it is known
as dulzaina or gaita |
| Dolcian |
see 'dulcian' |
| Dolciano |
(Italian) a small bassoon, formerly used as
a tenor to the oboe |
| Dolcissimo |
(Italian) very softly, very sweetly |
| Dolente, Dolentemente, Dolentissimo |
(Italian) 'doleful' or 'sorrowful',
sorrowfully, very sorrowful |
| Dolore, Doloroso, Dolorosamente |
(Italian) 'dolour' or 'pain', 'dolorous' or
'painful', painfully |
| Doli |
Georgian double-headed cylindrical drum |
| Dombak |
Persian hourglass drum, also known in North
Africa and Turkey as darbuka |
| Dominant |
the fifth degree of the diatonic scale |
| Dominant seventh |
see
seventh chords |
| Domra |
a central Asian or Russian plucked string
instrument with a convex back and three strings,
rather like a mandolin, used in folk music |
| Dona nobis pacem |
(Latin, literally 'grant us peace') the
closing movement in the Mass |
| Donbak |
see dombak |
| Dondon, Don-don |
talking drum from Ghana, hourglass shaped,
variable pitch pressure drum, also known as the
dun-dun |
| Dondondo |
Ghanaian thumb bell |
| Donna |
the principal female singers in opera |
| Donno |
hourglass-shaped taking drum from Ghana,
popular with the Dagomba people |
| Dopo |
(Italian) after, afterward |
| Doppel |
(German) double |
| Doppel B, Doppel-be |
|
(German) double flat sign, the sign
that lowers a note by two semitones
|
|
| Doppelfagott |
(German) double bassoon |
| Doppelganz, Doppelganznote |
 |
(German) a breve (double whole note)
equal to two semibreves (whole notes)
|
|
| Doppelganze Pause |
 |
(German) a breve rest (double whole
rest) equal to two semibreves (whole
notes) |
|
| Doppelgriffe |
(German) double stop, the technique of
playing two separate notes simultaneously by
using two separate strings on a stringed
instrument |
| Doppelkreuz |
|
(German) double sharp sign, the sign
that raises a note by two semitones
|
|
| Doppeln |
(German) to double |
| Doppelschlag |
(German) the ornament called 'the turn'
more... |
| Doppeltaktnote |
| |
(German) a breve (double whole note)
equal to two semibreves (whole notes)
|
|
| Doppelt so schnell |
(German) twice as fast |
| Doppio |
(Italian) double |
| Doppio bemolle |
|
(Italian) double flat sign, the sign
that lowers a note by two semitones
|
|
| Doppio diesis |
|
(Italian) double sharp sign, the
sign that raises a note by two semitones
|
|
| Doppio movimento |
(Italian) twice as fast |
| Dora |
Mongolian small gong with a deep lip and
pronounced centre |
| Dorian mode |
see
modes |
| Doshpuluur |
Tuvan two or three string banjo-like plucked
instrument |
| Doso |
double pit wooden xylophone (Benin). The
resonator is a pit dug into the ground. It is
the largest xylophone of its kind in the world.
The longest keys are huge beams measuring 1.8
metres. The keys lie parallel to one another
over and across the pit, which is about 70
centimeters deep and almost 2 metres wide |
| Dot |
placed above or below the notehead it
indicates a staccato, namely that the note
should be held for half its written length, the
other half being silent; placed immediately
after a note it indicates that the note should
be extended by half as much again as its
principal time value; a second dot after the
note, that is a note with two dots following it,
indicates that the note should be extended by a
further quarter of its principal time value,
i.e. a total extension of three-quarters of its
principal time value |
| Dotar |
a two stringed version of the ektar,
it is a simple instrument that provides both
rhythmic accompaniment as well as a drone for
Indian folk music. However, in Bengal, there is
an unrelated instrument also called dotar
which is very similar to the Kabuli rabab |
| Double |
(French) variation |
| Double bar |
 |
a pair of vertical lines at the end
of a section of a work which if preceded
by a pair of vertical dots, called
repeat dots, indicate that the section
should be played twice |
|
| Double bass |
the largest member of the string family,
that plays the lowest notes in a symphony
orchestra; it has four or five strings and is
played either over- or under-arm with a bow; it
also features in jazz and in dance orchestras |
| Double bassoon |
aso called the contrabassoon, the lowest
member of the bassoon family, sounding an octave
below the bassoon |
| Double-bémol |
|
(French) double flat sign, the sign
that lowers a note by two semitones
|
|
| Double concerto |
a concerto for two solo instruments and
orchestra |
| Double counterpoint |
a method of counterpoint in which a second
melody is added to an existing melody, which
fits well when either above or below the first |
| Double-croche |
 |
(French) the semiquaver (sixteenth
note), a note one sixteenth the time
value of a whole note or semibreve |
|
| Double-dièse |
|
(French) double sharp sign, the sign
that raises a note by two semitones
|
|
| Double exposition |
in a concerto, when the theme is stated
twice, once by the orchestra and once by the
soloist |
| Double flat |
|
the sign that lowers a note by two
semitones
|
|
| Double fugue |
a fugue which has two separate subjects that
are each treated fugally; a double fugue should
properly consist of two different themes,
introduced separately, which eventually are
combined so the second theme forms a
countersubject. However, the term is also
applied to a fugue in which the theme and
countersubject appear simultaneously at the
beginning of the composition and are regularly
associated throughout |
| Double handed |
a player who can play two different
instruments |
| Double head drum |
Native American frame drum |
| Double-pause |
| |
(French) a breve rest (double whole
rest) equal to two semibreve rests
(whole note rests) |
|
| Double quartet |
a work written for eight players |
| Double reed |
a device consisting of two pieces of cane
bound together at the base but where the upper
thinner parts touch and are free to vibrate when
air is forced between them by the player; double
reed instruments include oboes, bassoons,
crumhorns, English horn, etc. |
| Double-ronde |
| |
(French) a breve (double whole note)
equal to two semibreves (whole notes)
|
|
| Double sharp |
|
the sign that raises a note by two
semitones
|
|
| Double stem |
when two voices or parts are written on the
same staff and play the same note, the note head
will have two stems, one going up (representing
the upper voice) and one going down
(representing the lower voice) |
| Double stopping |
a string-instrument technique in which the
player, placing two fingers on adjacent strings
and bowing the two strings simultaneously,
produces two notes at the same time - the term
may also by used even when one of the two
sounding strings is unstopped, i.e. open |
| Double-time |
in jazz, packing twice as many notes in a
bar (measure) as were there in the preceding bar
(measures) so that the tempo appears to gain a
great deal of momentum but the chord
progressions played by the rhythm guitarist,
bass and piano remain the same |
| Double tonguing |
a particular use of the tongue to produce
fast notes on wind-instruments |
| Double whole-note |
| |
a note equal to two semibreves
(whole notes) or one breve
|
|
| Double whole rest |
| |
a rest equal to two semibreve rests
(whole rests) or one breve rest
|
|
| Doubling |
where two instruments play the same part in
ensemble playing, or where an accompanying
instrument plays the same notes that a singer is
singing |
| Doubly augmented sixth chord |
an augmented sixth chord, which contains a
sharpened second from the tonic |
| Douce, Doux |
(French) sweet, soft, gentle |
| Doucement |
(French) sweetly, softly, gently |
| Doudoumba |
see dudumba |
| Douleur, Douloureux or Douloureuse,
Douloureusement |
(French) sadness, sad, sadly |
| Doumbec |
see dumbek |
| Doumbek |
see dumbek |
| Doundoun |
see danun |
| Dounias |
after Minos Dounias the cataloguer of music
by Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) |
| Down-bow |
 |
as when the bow, held below the | |
