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On Line Music Dictionary - Letter S
 
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H -

Our heartfelt  thanks to Dr. Brian Blood at Dolmetsch Online
for allowing us to reproduce his musical dictionary.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

 
S after Wolfgang Schmieder, the cataloguer of music by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750); see also 'BWV'; after Siebel the cataloguer of music by Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729); after Humphrey Searle the cataloguer of music by Franz Liszt (1811-1886); after Smith the cataloguer of music by Leopold Sylvius Weiss (1686-1750); after Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) whose music was catalogued by Bittinger (sometimes designated 'SWV'); after Padre Samuel Rubio the cataloguer of music by Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783) (sometimes designated by 'SR')
Saarangi see sarangi
Sabar a Wolof orchestra of five to seven drums carved from solid mahogany. Each drummer plays one drum with one hand and a stick. It is composed of solo drums called n'der and gorong yeguel, three accompanying drums known as gorong talmbat, m'bung m'bung bal and m'bung m'bung tungoné. The bass drum is the lambe (Senegal)
Sabaro a large Mandinka drum carved from mango or mahogany wood. It is played with one hand a short stick. The head is covered with shaved goat skin (West Africa)
Sacbut, Sackbut, Sagbut early form of trombone
more...
Saccadé (French) sharply accented
Sac de gemecs Catalan bagpipe (Spain)
Sackpfeife (German) bagpipe
Sack pipa Swedish bagpipe with a single reed chanter and a single drone
Sacred music music designed to be played in church inspired by or as part of services including religious texts
Sacre rappresentazioni (Italian) an precursor of the opera form, in particular, a sacred drama with music
Saeta an unaccompanied Spanish folk song
Saenap see taepyongso
Saf after Milos Safrenek the cataloguer of music by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)
Saibara (Japanese) folk songs sung in Chinese, part of gagaku
Sainete (Sp.), Saynète (Fr.) Spanish musical farce
Saite (German, literally 'string') the string of a musical instrument
Sakara a Yoruba (Nigeria) musical style played at namings, weddings and funerals; a Yoruba round ceramic drum from Nigeria covered with goatskin, played with a stick
Salegy dance of the Sakalave people of Madagascar
Sälgflöjt (Swedish, literally 'willow flute') pipe made from the willow tree
Saliamiya three-holed flute from Egypt
S'a llarga, S'a curta the two most typical dances from the island of Ibiza, Spain. One stands for long and the other for short, depending on the beat. The woman dances slowly, barely moving while the man dances vigorously trying to prove his manhood and strength. A drummer, flute player and castanets accompany the dancers
Salmo (Italian) psalm
Salphinx, Salpinx (Greek) ancient Greek trumpet made of bronze and probably used for martial events
Salsa (Spanish, literally 'sauce') derived from Cuban son, the music is not always fast-paced and vibrant; it can be slow and romantic. The salsa has been influenced also by the Puerto Rican plenas, the Dominican merengue and the Colombian cumbia
more...
Salsa dura (Spanish, literally 'hard salsa') a term that defines salsa as it developed in New York, with genres and rhythms drawn from Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean melding with the tempo, drive and improvisational techniques picked up by the immigrants in New York City
Saltando, Saltato (Italian) playing with a bouncing bow, spiccato
Saltarella, Saltarello, Salterello a quick Italian dance not unlike the galliard or tarantella with simple triple and compound duple rhythms, whose name comes from jump, although only expert dancers hop
Saltones traditional Asturian dance tunes (Spain)
Salve regina (Latin, literally 'hail Queen') one of the four Marian Antiphons sung between Trinity Sunday and Advent
more...
Samba a dance and type of music from Brazil of African slave origin. The dance, in double time and highly syncopated, is very difficult as performed by Brazilians in comparison to formal ballroom-dancing which is highly stylized. Men and women dance samba differently and together yet without touching
more...
Samba de coco a fusion between the Fulnio Indian culture of Brazil and African musical roots
Samba reggae this style grew out of the blocos afros (Black carnival associations) in Bahia
Samba school a social, cultural, and club group that meets regularly and frequently with the purpose of learning and performing Brazilian samba dance, music, and costumes
Sambista a person that performs samba, more commonly a female dancer
Sambuca angular harp used by the Greeks and Romans
Samisen a Japanese 3-stringed instrument played with a plectrum
Sammlung (German) collection
Sampeh, Sampet see sape
Sampho small Cambodian barrel drum
Sampler a device used in electronic music enables the production of sounds digitally
Samsien see shamisen
Sämtlich (German) complete, collected
San (Japanese) florid and very complicated Buddhist chant style performed in Sanskrit, Chinese, or Japanese
Sanctus (Latin, literally 'holy') the oldest item of the Ordinary of the Mass, the eighth item, following the Offertory and preceding the Agnus Dei
Sandpaper blocks wooden blocks with sandpaper attached, two blocks being rubbed together to create a coarse, brushing sound
Sanduri (Greek) zither
Sanfona Portuguese hurdy-gurdy
Sanft, Sanftmütig (German) soft, gentle, gently
Sangleik Scandinavian song games
Sanghwang (Korean) a combination of baktong (a type of gourd) and bamboo pipes, this woodwind instrument sounds when the player inhales and when he or she exhales, like a mouth-organ, and is capable of producing more than one note at a time
more...
Sanko a Japanese hourglass shaped drum
Sanpi Chinese word for flute
Sans (French) without
Sansa, Sanza see 'thumb piano'
Sanshin see shamisen
Santoor, Santour, Santouri, Santur a hammered dulcimer struck with light wooden mallets, indigenous to Kashmir, but nowadays played throughout Northern India. The number of strings may vary between 24 and more than a 100, although typical instrument have about 80. The Indian santur should not be confused with the Persian santur, the latter being much wider
Sanxian Chinese long-necked lute with 3 strings and a small snake-covered head, known as shamisen in Japan
Sanza see mbira
Sáo ba nguoi a flute that allows two players to perform it at once; a novelty instrument invented by Khac Chi that combines three flutes into one instrument that allows three players to perform on it at once
Sáo tre Vietnamese transverse bamboo flute
Sáo trúc Vietnamese bamboo flute
Sape, Sapeh also called sampet or sampeh; a traditional lute of the Orang Ulu or "up-river people", who live in the longhouses that line the rivers of Central Borneo. with a body carved from a single bole of wood originally strung with two strings and fitted with three frets
more...
Sarabande, Saraband a dignified, steady dance usually in triple time
Sarangi a common representative of vitat, it has three to four main playing strings and a number of sympathetic strings. The instrument has no frets or fingerboard; the strings float in the air. Pitch is determined by sliding the fingernail against the string rather than pressing it against a fingerboard and for this reason the instrument is extremely difficult to play. As a consequence, its popularity is on the decline. The sarangi has traditionally been associated with the kathak dance and the vocal styles of thumri, dadra and kheyal
Saraswathi veena, Saraswati vina associated with Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts, this instrument is common in south India and is an important instrument in carnatic sangeet. It is variously called simply vina, or veena, the 'Saraswati' part being implied. The instrument has a body made of wood, generally jackwood, the instruments of highest quality having the entire body carved from a single block of wood while the ordinary vinas have a body which is carved in three sections (resonator, neck and head). There are 24 frets made of brass bars set into wax. There is a second resonator at the top of the neck that is no longer a functioning resonator, but is used mainly as a stand to facilitate the positioning of the instrument when it is played. Because it is no longer functioning, it is not unusual to find that this upper resonator may be made of acoustically neutral materials such as paper mache, cane or other similar materials. The saraswati vina has no sympathetic strings, only four playing strings and three drone strings (thalam). The main bridge is a flat, lightly curved bar made of brass. It is the light curve which gives the vina its characteristic sound
Sardana the Catalonian national dance similar to a farandole
Saringda a folk version of the sarangi (q.v.)
Sarod an instrument which is derived from the rabab. It is not particularly ancient, probably no more than 150 to 200 years old. Essentially it is a bass rabab with a fretless metal fingerboard, a bridge that rests on a taut membrane covering the resonator and numerous strings, some of which are drones, some are played, and some are sympathetic. It is played with a pick made of coconut shell
Saron (Javanese) a glockenspiel with bronze bars struck with a wooden mallet. There are three kinds: saron barung, saron peking and saron demung
Sarrusophone a family of double-reed instruments, similar to a bassoon or oboe but made of brass, invented in 1856, named after its French inventor, the Parisian bandmaster Pierre Auguste Sarrus (1813-1876)
more...
Sartenes frying pans in Spanish. Used as a percussion instrument in Spain and Spanish America. In parts of Spain, a single pan, sartén, is played with a cuchara (spoon) and a dedal (thimble)
Sarune shawm from Sumatra (Indonesia)
Sarune bolon shawm with detachable bell from Sumatra (Indonesia)
Sarune etek small shawm from Sumatra (Indonesia)
Sassofone (Italian) saxophone
Satara South Asian double flutes, one drone, one melodic
S.A.T.B. short for 'soprano, alto, tenor, bass'
Sattar a long-necked bowed instrument, with one metal playing string and 10 sympathetic strings, used by the Uigurs, a Turkman people from Western China
Satz (German) movement, theme or subject, phrase, composition or piece, texture, style
Saudades (Portuguese) sadness associated with a longing for times past
Saung Burmese harp
Saung gauk (Burmese) wooden harp with silk strings, elaborately gilded with the sound-body covered with deer skin
Sausage bassoon racket
Sautillé (French) spiccato, the bouncing of the bow on a stringed instrument
Savart a logarithmic measurement system of musical intervals invented by Felix Savart (1791-1841) in which an octave comprises 301.03 savarts
Saxhorn a family of brass instruments invented by Antoine Joseph (Adolph) Sax (1814-1894) similar to the flügelhorn family and to the Italian flicorni
more...
Saxofonia (It.), Saxofono (It.), Saxofon (Ger.), Saxophone a family of wind-instruments with a single reed like a clarinet but with a body made of metal, invented in about 1840 by Antoine Joseph (Adolph) Sax (1814-1894)
more...
Saz family of long thin-necked metallic-sounding fretted lutes played throughout Turkey that includes baglama (middle sized saz with six strings grouped in pairs), cura (small three stringed saz) and divan & meydan both having 9 strings; Armenian lute, with three strings, a small oval sounding box and an unusually long neck
Sbalzo, Sbaltzato (Italian) play with a sense of impetuosity
Scacciapensieri (Italian) Jew's harp
Scale a sequence of notes monotonically rising or falling between two notes an octave apart where neighbouring degrees of the scale have prescribed intervals between them, for example, the interval-sequence 'tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone' describes a rising major scale
Scale degree scale degree refers to the location of a pitch within the ordering of pitches that produce a scale. For example, the first pitch of a scale is scale degree 1. Scale degree also has a functional meaning in the syntax of tonal music. Scale degrees can influence the harmonic unfolding of sections of music, and the progression of scale degrees through unify a complete work
Scaling the relationship between the length and thickness of a vibrating string and the tone it produces, for example, with a constant tension and thickness, half the length of a given string will sound an octave higher than the entire length of the string
Scampanata (Italian) unsophisticated extemporised music, charivari
Scandicus see 'neume notation'
Scandicus flexus see 'neume notation'
Scat song scat singing can be highly artistic, with nonsense words generally used only in the improvised chorus as part of a song that otherwise has ordinary words, which although much in vogue in the 1930's remains popular today as part of the jazz style
[entry courtesy of Ben Crowell, 2004]
Scemando (Italian) diminishing the volume of tone
Scena an episode in an opera composed of elements such as arias, recitative, even dialogue
Scenario the outline of a work often prepared before either music and libretto has been written
Schale, Schalen or Schallbecken (German) cymbal, cymbals
Schalkhaft (German) roguish
Schalmei (German) the medieval shawm
more...
Scharf (German) emphatically, definitely, precisely, sharply
Schärfe (German) sharpness, definiteness, precision
Schaurig, Schauerig, Schauerlich (German) ghastly, gruesome
Schelle, Schellen (German) bell, bells
Schellengeläute (German) sleigh-bells
Schellentrommel (German) tambourine
Schelmisch (German) roguish
Scherz (German) fun, joke
Scherzando, Scherzante, Scherzevole, Scherzevolmente (Italian) jokingly, playfully
Scherzare (Italian) to joke
Scherzetto, Scherzino (Italian) a little scherzo
Scherzo (Italian) a joke; a vocal work by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643); a piece played between two performances of a minuet - i.e. 'minuet - scherzo - minuet', a movement of a symphony, a work for solo piano
more...
Scherzo and trio a replacement for the 'minuet and trio' in the sonata cycle
Scherzoso, Scherzosamente (Italian) playful, playfully
Schietto (Italian) sincere, plain - in the sense 'unadorned'
Schisma the difference between five octaves and eight justly tuned fifths plus one justly tuned major third. It is expressed by the ratio 32805:32768, and is equal to 1.95 cents. It is also the difference between the Pythagorean and syntonic commas
Schlacht (German) battle
Schlag (German) stroke, blow
Schlägel (German) drumstick
Schlagen (German) to strike
Schlaginstrumente, Schlagzeug (German) percussion instrument
Schlangenrohr (German) serpent
Schleifer an ornament used to fill in the interval between two notes
Schleppen, Schleppend (German) drag, dragging
Schlummerlied (German) slumber song
Schluss (German) end, conclusion
Schlussel (German) clef
Schmachtend (German) languishing
Schmeichelnd (German) coaxingly
Schmelzend (German) dying away
Schmerz (German) pain, sorrow
Schmerzlich, Schmerzhaft, Schmerzvoll (German) painful, sorrowful
Schmetternd (German, literally 'blaring') a strongly blown stopped horn
Schmid after Hans Schmid the cataloguer of music by Frantisek Rossler-Rosetti (1746-1792)
Schnabelflöte (German) recorder
Schnarre (German) snare drum
Schneidend (German) defining
Schnell, Schneller (German) quick, quicker
Schnelligkeit (German) speed
Schofar, Shofar, Shophar synagogue horn
Schoor thom large Cambodian bass drums
Schottische, Schottisch (German) Scottish
Schreierpfeife see rauschpfeife
Schrittmässig, Schrittweise (German, literally 'stepwise') andante
Schüchtern (German) shy
Schütteln (German) to shake
Schwach, Schwächen, Schwächer (German) 'weak' or 'soft', 'to weaken' or 'to soften', 'weaken' or 'soften'
Schwankend (German) swaying
Schwebung (German) the beating between two notes slightly out of tune with one another, difference tone
Schweigen, Schweigt, Schweigezeichen (German) silence, tacet, rest
Schwellen, Schweller, Schwellkasten, Schwellwerk (German) crescendo, swell of an organ, the swell box, the swell organ
Schwer (German) heavy, difficult
Schwermütig, Schwermutsvoll (German) heavy-hearted
Schwinden (German) diminuendo
Schwung (German) swing
Schwungvoll (German) full of vigour
Scientific pitch notation see scientific pitch notation
Scintillante (Italian) sparkling
Sciolto, Scioltamente (Italian) freely, loosely
Scivolando (Italian) glissando
Scoop to slide up to pitch from slightly below it, a term normally applied to singers
Scordato, Scordatura (Italian) to tune a stringed instrument in a non-standard manner
Score a representation on the page of a whole musical work; if the orchestral part is reduced to a piano version, the score is said to be a short score
Scoring orchestration
Scorrendo, Scorrevole (Italian) glissando, in a flowing manner
Scorriu an instrument that was developed by Sardinian bandits to scare the horses of their victims or the police. It is made out of a cork cylinder with a dog skin membrane. When rubbed, the instrument produces a loud screeching sound that scares horses
Scotch snap a rhythmic figure consisting of a short note on the beat followed by a long note which is then held until the next beat
Scottish smallpipes a bellows blown bagpipe from the Scottish lowlands, related to the Northumbrian smallpipes
Scozzese (Italian) Scottish
Scraper a percussion instrument consisting of a rough serrated surface in any various shapes that is scraped by a hard object
Scroll ornmental carving normally found on the violin and related stringed instruments, at the end of the neck just above the pegbox
Scucito (Italian) disconnected
Sdegno, Sdegnante, Sdegnoso, Sdegnosamente (Italian) disdain, disdaining, disdainful, disdainfully
Sdrucciolando (Italian) glissando
Se (Italian) if, in case, as; in solfeggio, se is the lowered fifth degree of a diatonic scale; in 'fixed do' solfeggio, se is always the note 'G flat'; (Chinese) a Chinese zither
Sebi Egyptian end-blown reed flute
Sec, Sèche (French) dry, crisp; similar to staccato; to play in a plain unornamented way
Sécheresse (French) dryness
Secco (Italian) staccato
Secco recitative synonymous with recitativo semplice, recitatives, mainly during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, accompanied by continuo instrument(s) rather than by an entire orchestra
Sechs (German) six
Sechzehntel, Sechzehntelnote
(German) a semiquaver (sixteenth note) a note one sixteenth the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Sechzehntelpause
(German) a semiquaver rest (sixteenth rest), a rest one sixteenth the time value of a whole note rest or semibreve rest
Second the smallest non-unison interval
Secondando (Italian) colla voce
Seconda prattica an Italian seventeenth-century term used to distinguish Renaissance polyphonic style, prima prattica, from that of the Baroque, seconda prattica
Secondary dominant the dominant of the dominant
Seconda volta (Italian) second ending
Second ending see 'first ending'
Secondo, Seconda, Secondi, Seconde (Italian) second
Second Viennese school name given to the composer Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils Alban Berg and Anton Webern, that represents the first efforts in twelve-tone composition
Secular music compositions that have no connection with religion
Secundal chords chords built of seconds
Selák Furiant
Seele (German) feeling
Seele, Seelenvoll (German) sound-post (of a stringed instrument)
Segno
(Italian) sign; for example, [D.C.] dal segno as in [repeat] from the sign
Segue (Italian, literally 'it follows') now follows, go on with what follows
Seguente, Seguendo (Italian) following
Seguidilla old Spanish dance in simple triple time which features vocal passages from the performers, similar to the bolero
Segundo the middle (or second) drum in the set of three tumbadoras used in Cuban drumming
Sehnsucht (German) longing
Sehr (German) very, much
Sei (Italian) six
Seistron a metallic rattle. the most simple version consisting of little metal bars tied on to two wooden arms. Probably originating from Egypt where it was used for religious ceremonies for the goddess Isis. It was held in the right hand and shaken, from which it derived its name
Seite (German) side
Seizième de soupir
(French) a hemidemisemiquaver rest (sixty-fourth rest), a rest one sixty-fourth the time value of a whole note rest or semibreve rest
Sekere see shekere
Seke-seke metal rattle or ears that are used on a jembe (West Africa). Also known as ksink-ksink
Selingup, Selingut also called keringuta five-holed nose flute of the Kayan people of the interior of Sarawak
more...
Seljefløyte Swedish and Norwegian willow flute. Originally, it was called birch flute. It exists in two forms: an end-blown flute, often called a whistling flute, and a side-blown flute
Selnien vertical cymbals used by Tibetan monks in Buddhist rites
Selnyen see selnien
Sema the Whirling Dervish rite
Semai dance of the Alevis, also know as screaming dervishes
Semibiscroma
(Italian) a hemidemisemiquaver rest (sixty-fourth rest), a rest one sixty-fourth the time value of a whole note rest or semibreve rest
Semibreve
a whole note
Semibreve rest
a whole rest
Semibrevis
(Latin, literally 'half-short') semibreve; in early mensural music a note that is half or third the value of a breve
Semicroma
(Italian) a semiquaver (sixteenth note), a note one sixteenth the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Semidemisemiquaver
a hemidemisemiquaver (sixty-fourth note), a note one sixty-fourth the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Semifusa
(Latin) in mensural notation, semiquaver or sixteenth note
Semihemidemisemiquaver a one hundred and twenty-eighth note or a note having the time duration of one hundred twenty-eighth of the time duration of a semibreve (whole note)
Semiminima
(Italian) a crotchet (quarter note), a note one quarter the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Semiquaver
a sixteenth note, a note one sixteenth the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Semiquaver rest
a sixteenth rest, a rest one sixteenth the time value of a whole note rest or semibreve rest
Semitone half the interval of a tone
Semplice, Semplicità (Italian) simple, simplicity
Semplicemente, Semplicissimo (Italian) simply, extremely simple
Sempre (Italian) always
Senh tien a small hand held percussion instrument made from two pieces of flat wood. The upper piece is grooved to produce a rasping sound when rubbed by a small stick, and the lower piece is struck against the upper as in a clapper. Small bells and jingles are attached. The playing technique is complex, alternating rapidly between rasping, clasping, and jingling sounds
Seni rabab very popular during the moghal period, the main characteristic that distingished this from other rababs was the large hook on the back of the head of the instrument used to sling it over the shoulder, thus allowing it to played while marching in processions. The seni rabab is virtually extinct today and should not be confused with the kabuli rabab which is still common. The name seni rabab is a reference to Tansen, a great musician in the court of Akbar. This instrument was held in great esteem in the past. The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, is said to have had a tremendous love for the instrument. It is said that he was accompanied by his friend and musical accompanist Mirdana while he sang the Gurbani
Senj Iranian metal castanets
Sensibile, Sensibilità (Italian) sensitive, sensitiveness, for example, nota sensibile, (Italian) leading note
Sentence a complete, independent musical idea, usually consisting of two or four phrases, ending with a cadence
Sentimento (Italian) with feeling
Sentir a Moroccan three-stringed long-necked lute with a body made from a single piece of wood, and covered with camel skin. Also known as sintir, hejhuj, gogo, gnbri and guimbri
Sentito (Italian) felt
Senufo a large buzzing Malian xylophone
Senza (Italian) without
Senza sordino, Senza sordina, Senza sordini (Italian) unmuted, on the piano using the sustaining pedal
Separé (French) uncoupled
Sepik flutes the longest flutes in the world, from Kanengara (Papua New Guinea)
Sepolcro Italian performance similar to the oratorio, except that the sepolcro makes use of scenery, costumes, and acting, a sacred, dramatic work performed during Holy Week which was popular in the late seventeenth-century
Sept (French) seven
Septet (Eng.), Septette or Septuor (Fr.), Settimino or Septetto (It.), Septett (Ger.) a group of seven instrumentalists, a work written for a group such as this to perform
Septième (French) seventh
Septulet a group of seven notes played in the time of four or in the time of six
Sequence a syllabic genre which follows the alleluia in the mass; most sequences were banned by the Council of Trent (1543-1563) and only five survive in modern-day use; a sequence can also be a melodic pattern that is repeated at successively higher, or lower, pitches; there are two types of sequence:
real sequence: where the repeated phrase is unaltered as it's pitch is changed
tonal sequence: where the notes in the repeated phrase are modified to keep it in it's original key
Sequencer a device or program that records and plays back user-determined sets of music performance commands, usually in the form of MIDI data. Most sequencers also allow the data to be edited in various ways, and stored on disk
[from the Electronic Music Dictionary]
Sequentia a Medieval term referring to a melody without text, such as the melismatic alleluia, used in opposition to the term prosa, signifying a melody with a text
Serenade music properly played or sung in the evening under a lady's window; a light and/or intimate piece of no specific form to be played in an open-air evening setting; in German the equivalent word is Nachtmusik
Serenata a dramatic cantata, a work for wind-band
Serenatella (Italian) diminutive of serenata
Sereno, Serenità (Italian) serene, serenity
Serialism A compositional method where various musical elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics and tone colour may be put in a fixed order
Serialized rhythm a musical passage or work in which the rhythmic aspects are controlled by some predetermined series of durations
Serial music see twelve tone method - dodecaphony
Seriamente (Italian) seriously
Series a succession of musical elements to be used as fundamental material in a composition
Sérieux, Sérieuse (French) serious
Serio, Seria, Serioso, Seriosa (Italian) serious
Seriosamente (Italian) seriously
Serpent a large member of the cornetto family, S-shaped, usually made of wood and sometimes fitted with keys; it was superceded by the ophicleide
more...
Serraggia an ancient one-string bowed instrument from Sardinia (Italy), used during carnival. It is made of a cane with one brass string. The instrument is played with a bow made from horse hair
Serranas a flamenco style with the same beat structure as the siguiriyas, although less intense, its themes revolving around the concerns of mountain bandits
Serrando or Serrato (It.), Serrant or Serré (Fr.) getting faster
Serunai used throughout Islamic-influenced countries in eastern Europe, northern Africa and much of central Asia, an ancient double reed instrument with a long, conical wooden body and a flared bell
more...
Service a Christian liturgical gathering, containing fixed prayers, songs, and responses; an Anglican Church term that denotes music for the unchanging morning and evening prayers and for communion
S'escandalari a colorful peasant dance from Ibiza, Spain that celebrates planting and harvesting
Sesquialtra the ratio 3:2, which was often used in Medieval music theory
Set in music, a collection of twelve notes that cover each of the tones of the twelve-tone scale; a collection of pieces played sequentially during a performance
Sette (Italian) seven
Seufzend (German) sighing
Seul, Seule, Seuls, Seules (French) alone
Seventh a major seventh is a semitone smaller than an octave; a minor seventh is a whole tone smaller than an octave
Seventh chord a chord consisting of a root note, the third above the root, the fifth above the root and the seventh above the root
Severita (Italian) severity, strictness
Severo, Severamente (Italian) severe, severely
Sevillanas a very popular colorful and festive Spanish folk dance from Seville, derived from the seguidilla and the fandango, consisting of six or seven couplets (coplas). Each copla is a little dance in itself divided into three parts and consisting of twelve bars (measures) of music. Couples dance it at fairs and pilgrimages. In recent years, sevillanas have become popular across Spain. Women usually wear a colorful Gypsy dress while men wear short black jackets or vests
Sext the fifth service of the Divine Office, usually performed at noon, and consisting of several responsories and psalms which are sung
Sextet (Eng.), Sextette or Sextuor (Fr.), Sestetto (It.), Sextett (Ger.) a group of six instrumentalists, a piece of music written for such a group to play
Sextolet see 'sextuplet'
Sextuple meter, Sextuple time a compound meter with six beats to every bar
Sextuplet a group of six notes of equal value that have the equivalent time value normally of five or seven
Sextus the sixth part in Renaissance vocal polyphony
sf. abbreviation for sforzando
Sfogato (Italian, literally 'evaporated') light and easy style
Sfoggiando (Italian) flauntingly, ostentatiously
Sforzando, Sforzato, Sf. (abbrev.) (Italian) strongly accented
Sgambato (Italian) in a weary style
Sha'bi indigenous Egyptian music
Shahnai north Indian shawm
Shake a word meaning 'trill'; the rapid back-and-forth movement of a percussion instrument to produce a rattling sound
Shaker a percussion instrument consisting of a receptacle filled with a rattling substance such as seeds, beans or pebbles
Shakuhachi (Japanese, a reference to the instrument's length in ancient Japanese units) traditional Japanese end-blown flute, about 55 cm. long, made from bamboo, or more recently from wood
Shamisen a long necked Japanese 3-string fretless lute, plucked with a heavy ivory plectrum, that first became popular in the pleasure districts during the Edo Period (1600-1868) when it appeared as part of the musical accompaniment in kabuki and bunraku performances. Shamisen are made from one of a variety of woods such as red sandalwood and the head covered with cat or dog skin. The pegs are traditionally made of ivory while the strings are of twisted silk
Shamisenongaku music played on the shamisen particularly kabuki and bunraku
Shan osi Burmese long drum
Shanty (or Chanty) a sea-song which has a chorus, which is sung by all, and verses that are usually sung by only one voice
Shanz Mongolian three stringed banjo played with a plectrum
Shape the direction of a melody; the abstract quality of the motion and figure of a composition, achieved through dynamics, pitch direction and tempo
Shape notes see shape note notation
Sharp
a sign to show that a note should be raised one semitone in pitch
Sharp a term applied to a note slightly above its expected pitch
Shawm a family of double-reed instruments from the Renaissance
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Shekere calabash shaker embroidered with beads that produce the shaker's sound (Nigeria). Known as chékere in Cuba
Shenai South Asian Indian shawm
Sheng ancient Chinese mouth organ, consisting of a bundle of between 17 to 36 pipes seated on a small wind chamber. A free brass reed is placed in the root of the instrument. It is the predecessor of other free reed instruments such as the accordion
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Shevi Armenian flute
Shift the movement of the left hand from one position to another on the fingerboard when playing a stringed instrument
Shiko see ashiko
Shime-daiko small rope tuned Japanese drum
Shinobue Japanese bamboo transverse flute
Shi qin a stone zither or xylophone of Southern China
Shishi mai traditional Lion dance from Japan with Chinese roots, in which cape hides the dancer
Shishi odori Japanese deer dance, in which the dancer wears a deer mask and usually plays a drum hung from the waist while dancing
Sho a Japanese instrument rather like a harmonica, similar to the Chinese sheng
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Shofar an ancient, Biblical wind instrument made of a ram's horn
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Short octave on a keyboard instrument of limited range, the bottom three to five keys can be tuned only to notes in the bottom register likely to be used rather than in their usual chromatic sequence, so nonessential notes are omitted
Shomyo (Japanese) Buddhist music brought to Japan when the first Chinese teachers of Buddhist music arrived in 719 and 735
Shuang guan a small Chinese double-reed wind instrument
Shudraga Mongolian three stringed banjo played with a plectrum
Shuffle a slow-tempo jazz rhythm
Shurle Istrian reed instrument with two chanters (Croatia)
Shuye Chinese leaf reed
Shvi an end-blown flute-like instrument, played solo or in ensembles by shepherds in Armenia
Sibilant a term from linguistics, the producing a hissing sound like that of (s) or (sh), the sibilant consonants or a sibilant bird call. In English the sibilant speech sounds are s, sh, z or zh
Sich (German) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves
Siciliana (It.), Siciliano (It.), Sicilienne (Fr.) a dance of Sicilian origin in compound duple or quadruple time with a swaying rhythm
Side drum a small drum, also known as a snare drum, with a membrane or skin on either end, the lower surface in contact with a set of strings called snares which produce a rattling effect when engaged
Sieben (German) seven
Sieg (German) victory
Siesenki Polish bagpipe
Sifflöte (German) a high-pitched (2 ft., 1 ft.) organ stop
Sigaoma a more modern Malagasy salegy dance with South African pop influence
Sigh see 'springer'
Sight reading (instrumental), Sight singing (vocal) to perform a piece of music never seen before
Signature signs placed on the clef to mark the number and position of the sharps or flats in the key in which the piece is being written, i.e. key signature, and to indicate the number of beats in a bar, i.e. time signature
Signs symbols placed on or near a staff indicating performance specifications for pitch, dynamics, time duration, accidentals, phrasing, manner of attack, timing, tempo, repeats, fingering, ornamentation, use of pedals or mutes, etc.
Siguiriyas a flamenco song style derived from tonás, full of drama and with a large number of variations. They consist in a powerful wordless introduction followed by a four verse stanza
Sihu four-stringed type of Mongolian khuuchir
Sikadraha a Malagasy scraper. A long piece of bamboo with transverse ridges cut into it that is played by scraping with a stick
Siku Andean double-row panpipes typically made of cane or clay
Sil a large Tibetan cymbal
Silenzio (Italian) silence
Silverbasharpa ancestor to Swedish nyckelharpa
Similar motion when parts move in the same direction but not necessarily by the same interval
Simile, Simili (Italian) similar
Simple interval an interval of an octave or less; an interval greater than an octave is called a compound interval
Simple meter, Simple time see simple and compound time
Simplement (French) simply, in a simple manner
Simplex a term from Medieval theory which covers a variety of specific meanings, but always implying something simple as opposed to something more complex; simplices conductus implies a monophonic composition; simplex organum implies simple as opposed to composite organum; simplex breve implies that the breve should be of a regular, unlengthened duration, and so on
Sin' al fine a prefix to another instruction, implying that whatever is required should be carried out to the end of the work
Sinding a West African harp with five strings made out of hemp. The resonating body is a calabash stretched with goat skin. A tin rattle may be attached to the instrument. Plucking the string sets the rattle in motion, adding a percussive element to the hollow sound
Sine wave a signal put out by an oscillator in which the voltage or equivalent rises and fall smoothly and symmetrically, following the trigonometric formula for the sine function (i.e. shown mathematically by the equation y = sin x). Sub-audio sine waves are used to modulate other waveforms to produce vibrato and tremolo. Audio-range sine waves contain only the fundamental frequency, with no overtones, and thus can form the building blocks for more complex sounds
[from the Electronic Music Dictionary]
Sinfonia term applied in a variety of contexts in different periods; e.g., as a near synonym for 'instrumental canzona', 'prelude', 'overture', and 'symphony'
Sinfonia concertante a concerto with several soloists, for example, a double or triple concerto
Sinfonie the name given by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) to his three-part contrapuntal works for keyboard but which, today, are called three-part inventions
Sinfonico, Sinfonica (Italian) symphonic
Sinfonietta (Italian) a small-scale symphony
Singbar (German) singable, in a singing style
Singend (German) singing
Singende Säge (German) musical saw
Singhiozzando (Italian) sobbingly
Single reed a piece of cane bound to a mouthpiece by a ligature, that when the player's breath is blown between the reed and the mouthpiece, vibrates thus sounding the instrument; single reed instruments include clarinets and saxophones
Singsing pop music from the Solomon Islands
Singspiel (German) a comic opera including spoken dialogue, often in the local dialect, as an alternative to recitative, for example, Die Zauberflote by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
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Sinistra (Italian) left hand
Sino, Sin' (Italian) until
Sintir see sentir
Sirillas Chilean dance from the Quellón region that combines Spanish music and dance forms with aboriginal Chilean music and dance
Sistro an instrument invented in seventeenth-century Italy consisting of a series of small bells attached to a frame
Sistrum an ancient Egyptian rattle type instrument used in religious events and which survives today as an Ethiopian instrument
Sita harana a dance from the Indian state of Manipur that depicts stories from the Ramayana
Sitar perhaps the most well known of Indian instruments, the sitar is a long necked instrument with a varying number of strings (17 is the most usual), three to four playing strings, three to four drone strings, with the remainder, sympathetic strings, lying under the frets. The playing and drone strings are plucked with a wire finger plectrum called the mizrab. The frets are metal rods which have been bent into crescents while the main resonator is usually made of a gourd and there is sometimes an additional resonator attached to the neck. The sitar developed during the collapse of the Moghul empire (circa 1700). It reflected the culture of the times in that it showed both Indian and Persian characteristics.
Siter a floor-standing plucked zither, smaller than the cemplung, each tuning, slendro and pelog, needing its own siter
Sitolotolo South African Jew's harp
Sitz-probe (German, literally 'sitting try') an opera rehearsal in which the singers work seated, to an orchestral accompaniment
Sivigliano, Sivigliana (Italian) in the style of Seville
Six, Sixième (French) six, sixth
Six-four chord the chord which is, reading up from the bottom note, C E G (i.e. in root position), becomes G C E (i.e. second inversion) or its equivalent in any other key
Sixian moon-shaped Chinese mandolin with a short-necked and three or four strings
Sixteenth century dance also called 'late Renaissance dance'; the sources for this period are English texts, formerly known as the ‘Inns of Court manuscripts’, and manuals of a number of Italian dancing masters. The Italian dances are still described verbally but in considerably greater detail than was usual in the early Renaissance. The step-vocabulary has become more elaborate, placing the interest strongly on the footwork, while many floor-patterns are based on symmetrical figures
[taken from The Early Dance Circle]
Sixteenth note
a semiquaver, a note one sixteenth the time value of a whole note or semibreve
Sixteenth rest
a semiquaver rest, a rest one sixteenth the time value of a whole note rest or semibreve rest
Sixth for example, the interval from C to A
Six, The a group of French composers whose members were Louis Durey (1888-1979), Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983), Georges Auric (1899-1983) and Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Six-three chord the chord which is, reading up from the bottom note, C E G (i.e. in root position), becomes E G C (i.e. first inversion) or its equivalent in any other key
Six-to-octave cadence in the middle ages and the renaissance, cadences were thought of contrapuntally rather than harmonically,