| G |
the fifth note in the musical scale of C major; in
'fixed do' solfeggio the note called sol |
| G |
after Sir Charles Grove who catalogued the music of
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827); after Yves Gerard the
cataloguer of the music of Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805);
after Giegling the cataloguer of music by Giuseppe
Torelli (1658-1709); after Giazzoto the cataloguer of
the music of Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824) |
| Gadon |
(Javanese) a style of chamber music, for a small
court gamelan ensemble without vocalists often
featuring the bowed-string rebab. The
compositions are generally abstract |
| Gadulka |
a three or four string Bulgarian fiddle played
upright
more... |
| Gadzo |
tall cylindrical peg-tuned drum from Ghana. The head
is made of antelope skin. The drum is played with the
hands or with one hand and a stick |
| Gaeng |
also called qeej or kehn; a free-reed
mouth organ of the Hmong people of Laos and northern
Thailand, considered an older version of the Chinese
lusheng, still found in parts of China, and with the
same basic construction. Gaeng usually have brass
reeds
more... |
| Gafieira |
Brazilian ballroom dance music, popular particularly
in Rio de Janeiro, and influenced by Afro-Brazilian
samba rhythms, French dance forms, Argentine tango,
and North American big-band music, performed by
gafieira bands that include guitar, cavaquinho,
flute and pandeiro, and more recently extended to
include trombone, trumpet, bass, drums and piano |
| Gagaku |
(Japanese, literally 'refined' ga 'music'
gaku) orchestral music of the Japanese imperial
court, perfectly in line with the Heian cultural value
of courtly refinement, miyabi, that was imported
in the third-century from Korea, and later, during the
seventh- and eighth-centuries, from China and India, but
that, by the nineth=century, had become standardised
more... |
| Gagliard |
(Italian) galliard |
| Gai, Gaiment, Gaîté |
(French) gay, gaily, gaity |
| Gaida |
Greek bagpipe; Bulgarian version of
mountain/shepherd pipes, with a single drone and an
eight-hole chanter |
| Gaillard |
a simple triple time dance usually coupled with the
slower pavan; from the Italian word gagliardo
meaning vigorous; popular in the 16th and 17th centuries |
| Gaio or Gaia, Gaiamente |
(Italian) gay, gaily, cheerfully |
| Gaita |
Spanish traditional bagpipe, usually with a single
drone, and a plain leather bag. Several variations of
the instrument can be found in Galicia, Asturias, Aragon
and other parts of the country; a double-reed instrument
that is widespread throughout the Basque Country, and in
the neighboring region of Navarre (Spain); Colombian
vertical long flute made out of wood. It is used in
cumbia music; the name given to the dulzaina
in Aragon (Spain); a three hole flute found in various
parts of Spain |
| Gaita charra |
three-holed Spanish flute |
| Gaita de boto |
Aragonese bagpipe, also known as gaita aragonesa
and gaita de fuelle |
| Gaita de foles |
Zamoran bagpipe (Spain); Portuguese bagpipe from the
Tras Os Montes region |
| Gajda |
Macedonian goat-skin bagpipe |
| Gajde |
Croatian bagpipe |
| Gajdy |
Slovakian bagpipe |
| Galan |
(German) gallant, gallantly |
| Galant, Galamment |
(French) gallant, bold, gallantly, boldly |
| Galant |
(Fr. and Ger.) a term, originating in Germany, to
describe a mid-eighteenth-century homophonic, formal
style (for example, the music of C.P.E. Bach
(1714-1788)) that contrasts with the older contrapuntal
style (for example, the music of J.S. Bach (1685-1750)) |
| Galante, Galantemente |
(Italian) gallant, bold, gallantly, boldly |
| Galante stil |
(German) see 'galant' |
| Galantieren |
(German) optional dances (for example, polonaises or
minuets) added to eighteenth-century suites, generally
placed between the sarabande and gigue |
| Galant style |
also called style galant, or Galanter Stil, a
clear, elegant, uncomplicated style that contrasted with
the earlier, more complex baroque counterpoint, a style
that replaced the old figured bass (q.v.) with the
Alberti bass (q.v.), and employed dance movements such
as the minuet, gavotte, bourrée, passepied, loure,
polonaise and air |
| Galliard (Eng.), Galliarde (Fr.) |
lively dance originating from the fifteenth-century,
generally in triple time, which was often coupled with
and followed the stately pavan |
| Galop, Galopade |
a lively nineteenth-century round dance in simple
duple time |
| Gamba |
see viol |
| Gambang |
(Javanese) wooden bars laid over a wooden frame
struck with two sticks of supple buffalo horn ending
with a small, round, padded disc |
| Gamelan |
(Javanese) an orchestra originating from the East
Indies formed mainly of percussion (gongs, drums,
rattles, marimbas), bow and woodwind instrument
formed of up to fifty musicians
more...
|
| Gamme |
(French) the musical scale |
| Gammaldans |
(Swedish) old dance |
| Gamut |
a contraction of gamma ut, G one octave and a
fourth below middle C; a range of notes in a piece, that
is, from the lowest to the highest |
| Ganawa |
see gnawa |
| Ganga |
a cylindrical double headed drum (Ghana); a Nigerian
drum, played under the arm |
| Gan gan |
see 'talking drum' |
| Gangar |
a Norwegian walking dance |
| Gangkogui |
double iron bell from Ghana |
| Gansadan |
Burmese whirling gongs |
| Ganz |
(German) quite, whole |
| Ganza |
a large tube shaker (Brazil) filled with small
pellets. Most are made out of metal and some are
multiple tubes attached together |
| Ganze, Ganze Note, Ganzetaknote |
 |
(German) a semibreve (whole note) |
|
| Ganze Pause |
 |
(German) a semibreve rest (whole rest) |
|
| Gaohu |
a Chinese bowed lute. It is a smaller version of the
erhu, developed for Cantonese music in the 1920s |
| Garamut |
massive slit logs from Papua New Guinea |
| Garantung |
xylophone from Sumatra |
| Garbo |
(Italian) manners, bearing, grace |
| Garbatamente or Garbato, Garbatezza,
Garbatissimo, Garbato |
(Italian) elegantly, gracefulness, very graceful |
| Garder |
(French) to keep, to hold |
| Gasbah |
a reed instrument from Algeria and Morocco |
| Gato |
Argentine dance performed by two couples, that
resembles a very fast waltz |
| Gauche |
(French) left |
| Gaudioso |
(Italian) in a merry or joyful manner |
| Gaval |
an Azerbaijani tambourine with the jingles fastened
inside the frame. The head is made from fish skin |
| Gavotte |
a dance in simple quadruple time, each bar starting
on the third beat; Breton dance tune |
| Gayageum |
(Korean) a twelve-string zither fitted with twisted
silk strings on which, while the left-hand presses the
strings to produce shaking and bending of the pitch, the
right hand plucks or strokes the strings
more... |
| Gayda |
Yugoslav bagpipe |
| G'bendi |
earth bow from the Baka forest people of southeast
Cameroon. It's a single stringed instrument that uses
the earth itself as a sound box. A hole is dug and a
thin piece of wood placed over it and pegged down
firmly. A springy sapling is driven into the ground,
bent over and attached to the centre of the wooden board
with a strong cord |
| G clef |
 |
a clef sign that shows the position of G on
the staff, for example, the treble clef |
|
| Gebet |
(German) prayer |
| Gebrauch |
(German) use |
| Gebrauchmusik |
(German) utility music |
| Gebrochen |
(German) broken |
| Gebunden |
(German) tied, slurred, a term (meaning 'fretted')
applied to clavichords where different notes are played
on a single string struck at different points |
| Gedacket |
(German, literally 'covered') high organ registers
with a flute sound and stopped pipes |
| Gedämpft |
(German) damped, muted, muffled |
| Gedehnt |
(German) sustained |
| Gedicht |
(German) poem |
| Geedal |
a Pygmy harp with five to seven strings |
| Geet |
popular Indian song or composition |
| Gefallen |
(German) pleasure |
| Gefällig |
(German) agreeable, pleasant, cheery, effortless |
| Gefühl |
(German) feeling |
| Gegen |
(German) towards, near, about, against, counter |
| Gehalten |
(German) sustained |
| Gehaucht |
(German) whispered |
| Geheimnisvoll |
(German) mysterious |
| Gehend |
(German) andante, walking pace |
| Gehörig |
(German) proper, suitable, fitting |
| Gehu |
a Chinese bowed string instrumentit has four
strings. The gehu comes in two versions,
depending on the size, the da-gehu (large) and
the diyin-gehu (bass) |
| Geige |
(German) violin |
| Geist |
(German) soul, spirit |
| Geistlich |
(German) spiritual |
| Geistvoll |
(German) spiritedly and full sounding |
| Gekneipt |
(German) pizzicato |
| Geläufig |
(German) fluent, nimble |
| Geläufigkeit |
(German) fluency |
| Gemächlich |
(German) leisurely, unhurried |
| Gemässigt |
(German) moderate (tempo) |
| Gemendo, Gemenbondo |
(Italian) moaning |
| Gemessen |
(German) measured, precise, moderate tempo, grave,
sustained tempo |
| Gemshorn |
a Medieval instrument similar to the recorder
originally made of animal horn, with a soft, husky tone
more... |
| Gemshorn |
an organ stop |
| Gemüt, Gemüth |
(German) feeling |
| Gemütlich |
(German) easy-going, comfortable |
| Gennant |
(German) called, known as |
| Genau |
(German) exact |
| Genauigkeit |
(German) exactitude |
| Gendang |
general term for drum in Malaysia |
| Gendang indungna |
lead drum in Karo (Sumatran) ceremonial ensembles |
| Gendang anakna |
ostinato drum in Karo (Sumatran) ceremonial
ensembles |
| Gender |
(Javanese) part of an Indonesian gamelan ensemble,
the gender looks something like a xylophone, possessing
twelve or fourteen thin brass "keys" suspended over tube
shaped resonators (originally of bamboo but now
exclusively made of more durable zinc, often painted to
look like bamboo), which, because they have different
lengths and therefore tunings, produce different
resonance pitches when the keys are stuck with padded
mallets
more... |
| Gendhing |
(Javanese) the most serious genre of abstract music
in Javanese gamelan |
| Generalbass |
(German) figured bass |
| General MIDI |
(GM) a set of requirements for MIDI devices aimed at
ensuring consistent playback performance on all
instruments bearing the GM logo. Some of the
requirements include 24-voice polyphony and a
standardized group (and location) of sounds. For
example, patch #17 will always be a drawbar organ sound
on all General MIDI instruments
[taken from
Electronic Music Dictionary] |
| General pause, G.P. (abbr.) |
complete silence, normally lasting at least one bar |
| Generoso |
(Italian) generous, fullsome |
| Genggong |
a bamboo jaw harp found in Bali, Indonesia, usually
is played in pairs with one instrument slightly larger
than the other
more... |
| Genre |
(French) style, manner |
| Gentil, Gentille |
(French) gentle, pleasant, pretty |
| Gentile |
(Italian) gentle, delicate, elegant |
| Gentilemente |
(Italian) gently, delicately |
| Ger |
after Yves Gerard the cataloguer of the music of
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) |
| German sixth chord |
an augmented sixth chord, which contains a flat
third from the tonic; see
sixth chords |
| Gerudeng |
the Jew's harp of the Iban people of Sarawak,
Malaysia, most made from palm stalk
more... |
| Gerührt |
(German) moved (emotionally) |
| Ges |
(German) the note 'G flat' |
| Gesamtkunstwerk |
(German, literally 'total art work') Richard
Wagner's concept of an alliance of music, poetry, the
visual arts and dance |
| Gesangvoll |
(German) song-like |
| Geschlagen |
(German) struck |
| Geschleift |
(German) legato |
| Geschlossen |
(German) closed |
| Geschmack |
(German) taste |
| Geschmackvoll |
(German) tastefully |
| Geschwind |
(German) quick |
| Geses |
(German) the note 'G double flat' |
| Gesprochen |
(German) spoken |
| Gesteigert |
(German) crescendo, sforzando |
| Gestopft |
(German) 'stopped' as with the hand in the bell of a
horn |
| Gestossen |
(German) staccato |
| Gesture |
musical content that indicates intention |
| Getchu vadyam |
also known as gettuvadyam or gethu vadyam,
it is a hammered lute only 2-3 feet long. It is placed
in front of the performer and struck with two small
bamboo mallets. It is found only in the deep south of
India where it is played together with the mridangam
|
| Geteilt, Getheilt |
(German) divided, divisi |
| Getragen |
(German) sustained, sostenuto |
| Gewichtig |
(German) with dignity, weighty |
| Gewidmet |
(German) dedicated |
| Gewöhnlich |
(German) usual, normal (used after a passage played
in some technically unusual way to signify a return to
normal playing) |
| Gezogen |
(German) drawn out, portamento |
| Ghaita |
Moroccan shawm |
| Ghatam |
South Indian clay pot drum |
| Ghab |
Egyptian flute |
| Ghaval |
an Azerbaijani frame drum with jingles |
| Ghawazee |
female Egyptian gypsy dancer |
| Ghichak |
Afghan bowed string instrument |
| Ghiribizzo |
(Italian) caprice |
| Ghiribizzoso |
(Italian) capricious |
| Ghironda |
(Italian) hurdy gurdy |
| Ghost note |
a note is implied in a musical phrase although
either not played or otherwise played only faintly for
effect |
| Gia |
after Remo Giazotto the cataloguer of music by
Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750) and Giovanni Battista Viotti
(1755-1824) |
| Giacoso |
(Italian) play in a merry, lighthearted manner |
| Gie |
after Franz Giegling the cataloguer of music by
Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) |
| Gig, Giga, Gigg, Gigge |
jig, a quick dance with the beats grouped in 3's in
the ratio 2:1 (e.g. in 3/4, crotchet, quaver, crotchet,
quaver); often the concluding dance in an 18th century
suite of dances |
| Gigaku |
(Japanese) also called kure-gaku; the
dominant style of ancient Japanese music for the popular
dances and pantomimes of southern China and northern
Indochina that were imported into Japan
more... |
| Gigue |
(French) jig; a Medieval instrument similar to the
violin, related to the German geige |
| Gijak |
Chinese fiddle made from walnut wood |
| Gilo stones |
an instrument created by striking certain stones
with bamboo sticks of varying lengths, producing sounds
like running water (Solomon Islands, Pacific) |
| Gioco, Giuoco |
(Italian) game, play |
| Giocondo, Giocondoso |
(Italian) jocose, jokingly, humourously, cheerful,
merry |
| Giocoso |
(Italian) merry, playful |
| Gioia, Gioja |
(Italian) joy |
| Giong |
giong are Vietnamese stamping tubes that are
usually played in pairs. They are made of large bamboo
pipes open on one end, which are struck on the ground or
on a stone to produce a low percussive sound. The pitch
is determined by the length and size of the pipe. They
are native to the highland regions of Vietnam where, it
is said, they were derived from sticks used for digging.
Stamping tubes are found throughout South East Asia,
Oceania, and in parts of Africa |
| Gioviale, Giovialità |
(Italian) jovial, joviality |
| Giri |
Ghanaian xylophone |
| Gis |
(German) the note 'G sharp' |
| Gisis |
(German) the note 'G double sharp' |
| Gitano, Gitana |
(Italian) gipsy |
| Gittern |
an early form of guitar with four pairs of gut
strings |
| Giú |
(Italian) down (as in down-bow) |
| Giubilo, Giubilio, Giubilazione |
(Italian) joy, jubilant |
| Giucante, Giuchevole |
(Italian) playful |
| Giulivo |
(Italian) joyous |
| Giustamente, Giusto |
(Italian) steady speed and rhythm |
| Giustezza, Giusto or Giusta |
(Italian) exact, strict, suitable, precision |
| Giwong |
the jaw harp of the Kalinga people of northern Luzon
in the Philippines
more... |
| Glänzend |
(German) brilliant |
| Glasharfe |
(German) glass armonica |
| Glasharmonika |
(German) glass armonica |
| Glass armonica |
also called 'glass harp', 'musical glasses' and
'glass harmonica'; an instrument invented by Benjamin
Franklin (1706-1790) on the principal of vibrating wine
glasses (idiophone). Franklin's instrument consisted of
a number of glass bowls without stems which rotated in a
tray of water. The performer gently touched the rims of
the revolving glass bowls thus setting them to vibrate.
The pitch varied according to the size of the bowl.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others, wrote several
compositions for the Glass Armonica |
| Glass harp |
glass armonica |
| Glatt |
(German) smooth |
| Glätte |
(German) smoothness |
| Glee |
short part-song, for male voices, popular in Britain
between the mid-seventeenth- and
mid-nineteenth-centuries |
| Gleich |
(German) like, equal |
| Gleichstark |
(German) of equal strength |
| Gleitend |
(German) glissando |
| Gli, Glie |
(Italian) the |
| Glide |
see portamento |
| Glissando (It.), Glisser (Fr.), Glissant (Fr.) |
to bow while moving the finger along the string
between successive positions; fluid and flowing; to run
the back of the thumb along the keyboard over many
notes; to move the slide of a trombone smoothly between
notes; the upward slide of the clarinet in the opening
of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue |
| Gitarr |
(Swedish) guitar |
| Glockenspiel |
a percussion instrument with tuned metal bars,
struck with small hammers held in the hand |
| Gloria (in excelsis Deo) |
second item of the ordinary of the Mass |
| Glühend |
(German) glowing |
| Gnaoua, Gnawa |
Moroccan music performed by people descended from
the slaves brought from West Africa, played on the
sintir bass lute, thekarkabas (metal
castanets), with unison singing and hand clapping, most
often at healing ceremonies |
| Goblet drum |
a single headed drum in the shape of a goblet. It
has a narrow waisted body and can be made out of wood,
metal or pottery. It is also known as hourglass-shaped
drum |
| Golden section |
a mathematical proportion, related to the Fibonnaci
series (q.v.), where the ratio between a small section
and a larger section is equal to the ratio between the
larger section and both sections put together, used by
many twentieth-century composers, especially Béla Bartók
(1881-1945),, to determine the point of climax for a
given work |
| Gogo |
a late twentieth-century African American urban
style developed in Washington D.C, that combines live
funk, soul and blues; Gnawan lute, better known as
sintir that derives from the West African word for
fiddle |
| Goje |
Nigerian spike fiddle; a one string fiddle from
northern Ghana in which a snakeskin covers a gourd bowl,
horsehair is suspended on the bridge and it is played
with a bow string |
| Goliard song |
Medieval Latin-texted secular song, often with
corrupt or lewd lyrics, associated with wandering
scholars |
| Golpe |
tap on the guitar soundboard in flamenco
music |
| Golpeador |
flamenco guitar tap plate |
| Gome |
rectangular frame drum played by the hands and feet
(Ghana). While the drummer is sitting on the gome
and playing the drum with his hands, he is changing the
pitch by varying the position of his heels |
| Gong |
a percussion instrument, sometimes of indefinite
pitch, in the form of a metal disc, made to be struck
with a hammer |
| Gong |
(Javanese) in gamelan the two tunings, slendro
and pelog, had their own set of three gongs, two
big gongs called gong ageng and one gong
suwukan about 90 cm. in diameter, made from bronze
and suspended on a wooden frame |
| Gongguluur |
Tuvan term for 'gonging' or clashing hand bells
together for percussive effect |
| Gongo |
bells (Ghana) |
| Gongon |
Ghanaian cowbell |
| Gonje |
bowed lute (Ghana) |
| Gonkogu |
bells (Ghana) |
| Gopak |
a lively 2-in-a-bar Russian dance |
| Gopichand |
also known as gopiyantra or khamak,
this popular folk instrument in Bengal. It is an
instrument that is much used by the wandering minstrels
known as the Baul. There are several variations
in construction. The length may be as small as one foot
or as long as three feet, however 2-3 feet is the norm.
It consists of a length of bamboo that is split through
most of the length. The two ends are pried apart and
attached to a resonator. This resonator may be a
coconut, gourd, metal container or a hollowed out
cylindrical section of wood. The open end of the
resonator is covered with taught skin and a string
penetrates the centre. This string is attached to a
reinforced section in the centre. This string then
passes through the hollow of the resonator and attaches
to a tuning peg located in the bamboo. The sound of the
gopichand is most distinctive. There is a
peculiar bending of the pitch as the two legs of the
bamboo are squeezed together by the left hand while the
right hand plucks the string. This is a rhythmic
instrument rather than a melodic instrument and it is
used to accompany instruments such as kartal,
dotar or khol |
| Gordon |
Romanian term for acoustic bass |
| Gorgheggio |
(Italian) a vocal passage in which many notes cover
a single vowel sound |
| Gorodo |
accordion (Madagascar) |
| Gorong talmbat |
small tenor accompanying drum in a sabar drum
set, Wolof (Senegal) |
| Gorong yeguel |
small tight drum used in a sabar drum set,
Wolof (Senegal) |
| Gospel |
an African-American sacred music style that
developed in twentieth-century evangelical (Protestant)
churches |
| Gothic period |
the late middle ages (1100-1450) |
| Gottron |
after the catalogue of music by Roman Hoffstetter
(1742-1815) prepared by Adam Gottron, Alan Tyson and
Hubert Unvericht |
| Gottuvadhyam |
also known as the chitravina, the
gottuvadhyam is an instrument played in Southern
India, usually as a solo instrument in Carnatic
sangeet. It resembles the saraswati vina in
its general form, having six main playing strings which
pass over the very top of the instrument, three
thallam (drone) strings at the side, and a series of
sympathetic strings which pass under the main strings.
It is played with a slide in a manner somewhat like a
Hawaiian guitar. The gottuvadyam does not appear
to be very old, probably not much more than 100 years
old. |
| Gourd |
the dried hollowed-out shell of the fruit of a vine
from the cucurbita family, which includes the squash,
melon, pumpkin, cucumber |
| Gousli |
see gusli |
| G.P. |
abbreviation for general pause (q.v.) |
| GP |
after Graham Parlett the cataloguer of the music of
Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) |
| Grace note |
see
grace notes |
| Gracieux, Gracieuse |
(French) graceful |
| Graciozo |
(Italian) play gracefully |
| Gradatamente |
(Italian) gradually |
| Gradevole |
(Italian) pleasing, gracefully |
| Gradual |
the fourth item of the ordinary of the Mass, sung
between the Epistle and the Gospel. The texts of the
gradual come primarily from the Psalms, and the melodies
are generally melismatic and usually responsorial |
| Gradualmente |
(Italian) gradually, by degrees |
| Graduellement |
(French) gradually |
| Gralla |
traditional reed instrument made from wood, about 70
cm long. The cone shaped gralla is usually found
in the Catalan region. In many other parts of Spain it
is known as dulzaina |
| Gran |
(Italian) large, big |
| Granadina |
a type of fandango from southern Spain |
| Gran cassa |
(Italian) bass drum |
| Gran coro |
(Italian) full organ |
| Grand, Grande |
(French) great, big |
| Grand choeur |
(French) full organ |
| Grandezza, Grandioso |
(Italian) grandeur, with grandeloquence |
| Grandisonante |
(Italian) sonorous |
| Grand jeu |
(French) full organ, harmonium |
| Grand opera |
a large-scale opera in which all the dialogue is
sung, none is spoken |
| Grand orchestre |
(French) full orchestra |
| Grand orgue |
(French) full organ |
| Grand pause |
a rest for the entire ensemble |
| Grand piano |
a large traditionally harp-shaped piano where the
strings run horiziontally. This is the preferred concert
instrument and is available in several sizes from the
baby grand (around 5 feet long) to the concert grand
(around 9 feet long). The concert grand is also known as
a '9-foot grand' even when it is not actually 9 feet in
length |
| Grand staff |
the combination of a staff line notated in treble
clef with one notated in bass clef, used primarily in
scoring for piano, and other keyboard instruments, but
also sometimes used to score vocal works, such as hymns |
| Gran gusto |
(Italian) great taste |
| Gran tamburo |
(Italian) bass drum |
| Graphical scores |
a score characterized by non-traditional musical
symbols arranged in a visual design rather than in
conventional musical syntax |
| Grave |
(Italian, French) very slow, solemn, low (pitch) |
| Gravement (Fr.), Gravemente (It.) |
gravely |
| Gravicembalo |
(Italian) harpsichord |
| Gravis |
 |
Greek) earliest form of musical notation
from the two signs of Greek prosody indicating
stress, pitch and length of syllables in the
text to be performed; the gravis
indicates a falling inflection
|
|
| Gravità |
(Italian) gravity, seriousness |
| Grazia, Grazioso, Graziosamente |
(Italian) grace, graceful, gracefully |
| Graziös |
(German) gracious, graceful |
| Great staff |
a theoretical combination of eleven lines that
encompass the bass clef and treble clef staves with the
common line between them designating middle C which
identifies the position of the third clef (C clef) |
| Gregorian chant |
monophonic melodies systematised by Pope Gregory
(590-604), a type of plainsong
see
Gregorian chant and Solesmes |
| Gregorian modes |
see
modes |
| Grelots |
(French) small bells (e.g. sleigh bells) |
| Griezyne |
Lithuanian fiddle |
| Griff |
(German) the knob on the handle of a drumstick |
| Griffbrett |
(German) fingerboard |
| Grimmig |
(German) grim, furious |
| Griot music |
see jeli |
| Grob |
(German) coarse, rough |
| Gros, Grosse |
(French) great, big |
| Gross, Grosse |
(German) great, large |
| Grosse caisse |
(French) bass drum |
| Grosses Orchester |
(German) full orchestra |
| Grosse trommel |
(German) bass drum |
| Grosso |
(Italian) full, great |
| Gros tambour |
(French) bass drum |
| Grotesk |
(German) grotesque |
| Grottesco |
(Italian) grotesque |
| Ground bass |
see basso ostinato |
| Growl |
in jazz, the word has two meanings, (i) a raspy
voice, for example to emphasize pain or sensuality, or
(2) to make a harsh sound on a wind instrument |
| Gruppetto |
(Italian) the 'turn' |
| G-Schlussel |
(German) G or treble clef |
| Gu |
common Chinese name for drum |
| Guacharaca |
Colombian cane scraper of indigenous origin. The
instrument was originally rubbed with an animal bone |
| Guaché |
Colombian wooden shaker |
| Gua-gua |
a musical instrument from Cuba. It is a hollow
bamboo stick with a slit, mounted on a stand. It is
struck with a stick called palito |
| Guaguanco |
a subcategory of rumba, it is a quick-paced
provocative dance for couples |
| Guajira |
an Andalusian dance; Cuban country music; a
flamenco style with Cuban influences normally played
in 3/4/ or 6/8/time |
| Guan |
a cylindrical wind instrument formed of a wood or
bamboo and fitted with a reed mouthpiece (China) |
| Guanzi |
a short pipe of bamboo or hardwood with a large
double reed mounted on the blowing end (China)
more... |
| Guaracha |
an old Spanish dance; a popular song and dance
genre, with Spanish roots, that originated in Cuba and
became popular in Puerto Rico and New York |
| Guarará |
Brazilian metal tube shaker |
| Guases |
Colombian tubular maraca |
| Guayo |
a serrated gourd from the Dominican Republic, which
is scraped with a stick. It can also be made out of
metal, which is scraped with a metal fork |
| Gubgubi |
see khomok |
| Guda |
name given to the double chanter polyphonic bagpipe
by the Laz people of Turkey |
| Gudok |
Russian fiddle |
| Gudu |
small support drum, mostly played with sticks
(Ghana) |
| Gudugudu |
a small wood kettle drum played with two long thin
rawhide sticks (Nigeria) |
| Guerriero, Guerriera |
(Italian) warlike |
| Guhmoongo |
(Korean) a six string zither with thick silk
strings, played with a pencil length plectrum called a
suldae
more... |
| Güícharo |
a Puerto Rican scraper, another word for the
guiro. This Puerto Rican variety is distinguished by
thinner grooves than those of a Cuban güiro |
| Guidoin system |
five line staff system of musical notation |
| Guidonian hand |
a mnemonic device for remembering the pitches, named
after Guido d'Arezzo (c.991-c.1033), where notes are
assigned to different parts of the hand, thus, by
pointing to a part of the hand, a group of singers would
know which note was indicated and sing the corresponding
note |
| Guilds |
groups of professionals, the masters of their trade,
who as well as promoting their businesses also regulated
the training of apprentices; musicians formed guilds
from the early thirteenth-century also to promote their
interests and protect their rights |
| Guimbarbe |
(French) Jew's harp |
| Guimbarda |
(Spanish) Jew's harp; also known as trompa,
arpa de boca, birimbao |
| Guimbri |
a Gnawa three-stringed bass instrument. It is
plucked and of West African origin. Also known as
sentir and sintir |
| Güira |
Dominican percussion instrument made with perforated
tin that is rubbed rhythmically with a fork |
| Güiro |
a Latin percussion instrument made from a gourd,
held by large holes cut in the base, as a stick is
scraped rhythmically across the grooves cut around its
circumference |
| Guitar |
a string instrument from Spain. It has a large,
flat-backed sound box, a violin-like curved shape, a
fretted neck, and six strings; flamenca negra, a
hybrid of the flamenco and classical guitar. Its
name derives from the dark rosewood used for the back
and sides; flamenco guitar, a lighter weight
version of the classical Spanish guitar. The neck is
made of cedar and it features wooden tuning pegs. The
strings have a low action to aid percussion and speed.
Flamenco guitar style includes rhythmic tapping
and requires an attacking sound with little sustain;
Hawaiian guitar, a guitar with steel strings that are
plucked while being pressed with a movable steel bar;
Portuguese guitar, usually having 12 strings in 6
courses, a curved fingerboard and fan-type peg tuners
more... |
| Guitarra de golpe |
a Mexican variation of the Spanish guitar. It is
about 3/4 the size of a standard guitar and is used as a
rhythmic instrument in mariachi music. The tuning
can vary from region to region |
| Guitarra de son |
see requinto jarocho |
| Guitarra mariachera |
see guitarra de golpe |
| Guitarrico |
very small Spanish guitar related to the timple
(Canary Islands) and cavaquinho (Portugal) |
| Guitarrillo |
a small guitar with 12 metal strings used in Spain
and other Spanish-speaking countries. Also known as
timple and guitarrico |
| Guitarro |
a small Spanish five string guitar. Guitarro
manchego, aragonés and levantino are
different regional variations of the same instrument |
| Guitarrón |
large bass guitar of Chile and Mexico. The
guitarrón is a very large guitar-like instrument
with a short neck, six strings, no frets on the
fingerboard and a belly in the back |
| Gulu |
cylindrical drums (Ghana) |
| Gulusago |
laced drum (Ghana) |
| Guluzoro |
laced drum (Ghana) |
| Gumbé |
popular Guinean rhythm |
| Gungon |
a large Ghanaian bass drum, with a single snare made
from a leather string along the upper part of the face
of the drum |
| Gungonga |
hourglass drum (Ghana) |
| Gunguru |
bells, usually tied to the dancer's feet (India) |
| Guoqin |
See guqin |
| Guqin |
what is today usually called the guqin (old
qin), a silk stringed zither, was generally in
the past called simply the qin. It is the most
revered of all Chinese music instruments, one of the few
played today known to have originated amongst the Han
Chinese. It is said to have been invented by one of the
earliest legendary emperors, and its appearance is
hardly different from the complete (except for lacquer)
description given in the 3rd century poem Qin Fu by Xi
Kang (see R. H. van Gulik, Hsi K'ang and his Poetical
Essay on the Lute). In more recent times, as other
string instruments have been introduced into China they
have come also to be referred to as types of qin:
the huqin fiddle from the Hu people of Central
Asia; the yueqin or moon qin, named for its
shape; the small-arm qin for the Western violin.
It was perhaps to distinguish it from these that the
qin came to be called the old qin. It is also
sometimes called the seven-string qin (at one
time it was said to have had five strings) |
| Gurkel |
a Malian one-string instrument |
| Gusla |
a one-stringed Balkan fiddle |
| Guslar |
Serbian and Montenegrin wandering minstrels |
| Gusle |
a one-stringed, bowed instrument, whose single
string is made of thirty horsehairs. The string is only
touched, not depressed, so that harmonics only are
sounded. It is held between the legs with the long neck
supported on one thigh |
| Guslee, Gusli |
traditional Russian zither with 16 metal strings |
| Gustn |
the Oriental or chromatic modes that form the basis
of Klezmer music |
| Gusto, Gustoso |
(Italian) taste, expression, tastefully,
expressively |
| Gut |
(German) good, well; (English) a cord of great
toughness made from the intestines of animals, esp. of
sheep, lambs or goats, used for strings of musical
instruments, etc - sometimes called 'catgut' |
| Guzheng |
also called zeng; the ancestor of the Asian
long zither family probably dating back over 4000 years.
The instrument is a plucked half-tube wood zither with
movable bridges, over which a number of strings are
stretched
more... |
| Gwata gourds |
a Ugandan instrument used in popular dances. It is
slapped with a handheld fan of metal spokes |
| Gwerz |
Breton long ballads or laments recalling true
stories or legends |
| Gyaling |
Tibetan oboes played as a pair by Tibetan monks in
Buddhist rites. The players use cyclic breathing to
provide a continuous sound |
| Gyil |
a long xylophone, about 1.5 metres long (5 feet),
with seventeen keys, each with a corresponding gourd
resonator (Ghana). Also known as dagaa gyil |
| Gymel, Gimel |
(Latin, from gemellus meaning 'twin') a
singing style from the tenth- and eleventh-centuries, a
vocal work in which the tone is held on the third line
with two decorative lines set above it; to mean
divisi (divided part) |
| Gypsy scale |
resembling the harmonic minor scale, but with an
augmented fourth (C, D, E flat,
F sharp, G, A flat, B, C'),
it is called the Gypsy scale because of its exotic sound
and its use in Hungarian music |
| Gyu ke |
chordal singing style of Tibetan monks |
| Gyterne |
a short-necked lute |
| Gyu ke |
a chordal singing style of the Tibetan monks |
