| T |
after Ernst Tanzberger the cataloguer of music by
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957); indicating the Georg Phillip
Telemann (1681-1767) catalogues prepared by Kassel, W.
Menke or M. Ruhnke |
| Tabala |
large Mauritanian camel-skin drum |
| Tabla |
a pair of Indian drums, the smaller, higher-pitched
one is called the tabla while the other, the
larger bass drum, is called bayan. Both have a
head made from two layers of goat skin; hourglass-shaped
Egyptian and Middle Eastern drum, also called darbuka |
| Tabla tarang |
it consists of a number of tabla dayans tuned
to different notes of the scale. Complete melodies are
played by striking the appropriate dayans |
| Tablature |
a notational system that uses letters, figures and
other symbols to indicate how a piece might be
performed, for instance by showing the position of a
player's fingers on a representation of the strings of a
guitar or lute |
| Table |
the belly of a stringed instrument |
| Table-book |
music printed in such a way that the performers
could sit around a table and read their own various
parts, popular in the Renaissance |
| Tabor |
a small rope-tensioned drum played in conjunction
with a three-holed pipe of the recorder family by one
player
more... |
| Tacere, Tace, Tacciono |
(Italian) to be silent, is silent, are silent |
| Tacet, Tacent (plural form) |
(Latin) silent |
| Taconeo |
(Spanish) a stomping dance often performed to
flamenco accompaniment |
| Tactus |
a metrical unit comprising both a downbeat and an
upbeat; a Renaissance term for a beat, a division of a
measure, generally at the speed of 60 to 70 tacti per
minute; a Renaissance term for a fret on the lute or
clavichord; an improvisational organ composition |
| Taegum |
(Korean) large transverse bamboo flute |
| Taepyongso |
(Korean) also called saenap, hojok,
nallari and hoga; a conical-shaped,
high=pitched loud wind instrument usually made of citron
or yellow mulberry wood
more... |
| Tafelklavier |
(German) virginals, spinet |
| Tafelmusik |
(German) table-music, the performance of which might
accompany a meal |
| Tag |
jazz term for a coda, or a short concluding section |
| Taganing |
a set of fine tuned drums from Toba (Sumatra,
Indonesia) |
| Tagou m’bar |
a traditional Wolof warm-up rhythm (Senegal) |
| Tahitahi |
tiny Malagasy flutes made of wood, gourd or bamboo |
| Taiko |
(Japanese) general term for drums |
| Tail piece |
a piece of metal or wood at the lower end of a
stringed instrument to which the strings are attached |
| Tak |
Javanese high-pitched drum (Indonesia) |
| Takare |
one string fiddle (Mozambique) |
| Takebue |
Japanese bamboo transverse flute |
| Takt |
(German) bar (measure). time, beat |
| Taktart |
(German) time-species (i.e. duple, triple, etc.) |
| Taktfest |
(German) in steady time |
| Taktieren |
(German) to beat time |
| Taktmässig |
(German) tempo commodo |
| Taktnote |
(German) semibreve |
| Taktpause |
(German) a bar's rest |
| Taktschlag |
(German) beat |
| Taktstock |
(German) conductor's baton |
| Taktstrich |
(German) bar-line |
| Taktwechsel |
(German) time-change |
| Taktzeichen |
(German) time signature |
| Takt halten |
(German) to hold or beat time |
| Ta-ku |
large Chinese barrel drum played with one or two
sticks |
| Tala |
(Indian) fixed time cycle or metre in Indian music,
built from uneven groupings of beats; Indian bells |
| Talea |
a rhythmic pattern, longer than a motive, that is
unvaryingly repeated in an isorhythmic tenor, although
so long as the rhythmic proportions remain unaltered,
the talea may be augmented (the notes replaced by
notes of longer time value) or diminished (the notes
replaced by notes of shorter time value) |
| Talking drum |
part of a family of hourglass shaped pressure drums;
in the Yoruba language of west Africa, these include
gan gan (the smallest member of this drum family) or
dun dun (the largest of the talking drums.) The
drum heads at either end of the drum's wooden body are
made from hide, fish-skin or other membranes which are
wrapped around a wooden hoop. Leather cords or thongs
run the length of the drum's body and are wrapped around
both hoops; when these cords are squeezed under the
player's arm, the drum heads tighten, changing the
instrument's pitch
more... |
| Tall chords |
see 'extended tertian sonorities' |
| Ta-lo |
large Chinese brass gong |
| Talon |
(French) the nut end of a violin bow |
| Tam |
(Vietnam) a guitar-like instrument with 3 silk
strings |
| Tama |
West African talking drum |
| Tamale |
frame drum from Ghana |
| Tamani |
West African talking drum |
| Tambin |
three-hole, side blown flute of the Fulani people of
the Futa Djalon region of Guinea, West Africa |
| Tambor |
(Spanish) drum |
| Tambora |
Dominican drum; large Colombian two-headed bass drum |
| Tambores con charchillos |
Peruvian drums with vibrating cactus spines
underneath |
| Tamboril |
Spanish double-headed rope tension drum |
| Tamboro |
a drum from Mozambique |
| Tambour |
(French) drum
more... |
| Tambour de Basque |
(French) tambourine |
| Tamboura |
see tambura |
| Tambourin |
(French) a tabor; a two-headed drum with a long
body, with one of the heads having a snare; a dance
piece played over a pedal note (to mimic a hurdy-gurdy
or bagpipe), a Provençal dance |
| Tambourine |
a percussion instrument consisting of a wooden hoop
(sometime fitted with small cymbals) with or without a
parchment covering which is struck with the heel of the
hand, the whole hand or the finger tips or maybe struck
against the player's side
more... |
| Tambour militaire |
(French) side-drum |
| Tambura |
accompanying drone instrument from India, it is a
large lute with 4-6 strings; five-string Egyptian lyre,
also known as tamburah; long-necked fretted lute
from Bulgaria, Croatia and other European countries
more... |
| Tamburah |
see tambura |
| Tamburello |
tambourine with jingles from southern Italy |
| Tamburitza |
Croatian lute |
| Tamburo basco |
(Italian) tambourine |
| Tamburo grande (or Tamburo grosse, Gran tamburo),
Tamburo militaire, Tamburone, Tamburo piccolo, Tamburo
rullante |
(Italian) bass drum, snare drum (or side drum), bass
drum, side drum, tenor drum |
| Tambutica |
plucked lute from Yugoslavia |
| Tammorra |
large Italian tambourine with the drum head made of
dried sheep or goat skin |
| Tammorriata |
southern Italian traditional songs and dances
accompanied by the tammorra tambourine |
| Tammurriate |
see tammorriata |
| Tampon |
(French) drumstick |
| Tam-tam |
gong |
| Tamunangue, El |
an Afro-Venezuelan rural music and dance style from
the state of Lara in honour of San Antonio de Padua
(also called 'black Anthony'), played on drums,
cuatros and quintos |
| Tamure |
new dance form from Micronesia |
| Tanbur |
general term for various long-necked fretted lutes
of the Middle East and Central Asia |
| Tändelei, Täendelnd |
(German) badinage or playfulness, playfully |
| Tangent |
a part of a clavichord key that touches the string
when the key is pressed down |
| Tango |
the Argentinean samba, a passionate musical
style, originating in the streets and brothels of Buenos
Aires, Argentina, that can be vocal or instrumental with
the bandoneón and violin playing a leading role,
marked by strong syncopation and dotted rhythmic
figures, in simple duple (2/4) time and, when danced,
performed by a couple |
| Tango flamenco |
the only non-dramatic variety of the older
flamenco genres, festive in style, with a faster
rhythm, unrelated to the Argentinean tango |
| Tanguillos |
festive and joyful flamenco style derived
from tangos, found in Cádiz |
| Tanko bushi |
Japanese coal miner's dance. The song tells of a
miner, working in the mines and thinking of home in the
mountains. The movements mimic those of the miner
digging coal, carrying the sacks of coal, holding the
head light, and pushing the coal carts |
| Tanpura |
a drone instrument, it resembles a sitar
except it has no frets. It has four strings tuned to the
tonic. The word tanpura (tanpoora) is
common in the north, but in southern India it is called
tambura, thamboora, thambura or
tamboora. The tanpura is known for its very
rich sound. There are three main styles; the miraj
style, the tanjore style and the small
instrumental version sometimes called tamburi |
| Tant |
(French) as much, much |
| Tantino |
(Italian) a very little |
| Tanto |
(Italian) so much, as much, too much, for example,
allegro non tanto meaning 'not so fast' |
| Tantum ergo |
a hymn of the Roman Catholic Church sung at the
Benediction |
| Tanz, Tänze |
(German) dance, dances |
| Tap dance |
a dance form in which the performer taps out rhythms
and patterns with his or her heels and toes while
wearing special shoes with small metal plates called
'taps' affixed to the underside of the heel and toe |
| Tapan |
Bulgarian and Macedonian double-headed barrel drum,
50 to 60 cm in diameter, rope strung and found in
Bulgaria |
| Tar |
a lute-type chordophone that is widespread in the
Turkish/Azeri/Persian world and the Caucasus; large
Egyptian frame drum |
| Tarabuka |
a different name for the darbuka |
| Taragot |
Romanian folk shawm |
| Taralila |
Malagasy hexagonal concertina |
| Tarambuka |
Bulgarian & Kosovar Albanian clay drum, similar to
the darbuka |
| Tarantas |
flamenco style from Almería, derived from the
Andalusian fandango |
| Tarantella (It.), Tarantelle (Fr.) |
a dance in 6/8 time from Taranto, Southern Italy,
which gets faster and faster and is supposed to cure the
result of a poisonous bite from the tarantula
spider |
| Tarantos |
an eastern Andalusian flamenco style, related
to the tarantas |
| Tarbouka |
a pot-like drum from North Africa |
| Tardo, Tarda |
(Italian) slow |
| Tardamente, Tartando or Tardantemente, Tardato |
(Italian) slowly, gradually slowing, gradually
slowed |
| Tarkas |
Andean wooden flute with mouthpiece |
| Tarn thap luc |
(Vietnamese, literally '36') Vietnamese version of
the hammered dulcimer, now found throughout Asia. The
hammered dulcimer was introduced to southern China
during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and made its way
from there to Vietnam |
| Tarogato |
Hungarian reed instrument, 30-40cm long |
| Tarrañolas |
Galician castanets that can be made out of wood,
slate, stone or pork ribs |
| Taskiouine |
see taskiwin |
| Taskiwin |
Moroccan warrior's dance. The body is shaken
rhythmically and stopped suddenly with perfectly-timed
stamping of the feet |
| Tasis |
(ancient Greek) pitch |
| Taste, Tasten (pl.) |
(German) key, keys as on a keyboard |
| Tastiera, Tasti (pl.), Tasto |
(Italian) key, keys as on a keyboard |
| Tasto solo |
(Italian) a performer's marking, especially used in
compositions that use continuo, indicating that a note
should be performed without harmony |
| Tattoo |
music played by bugles and drums |
| Tavil |
Indian bass drum |
| Taware |
Mozambican term for drums |
| Tbal |
large North African side drum |
| Tbel |
see tbal |
| Tchardache |
czardas |
| Tchikhulu |
see madawewe |
| Tchindzomana |
small drum from Mozambique |
| Te |
in solfeggio, te is the syllable indicating
the lowered seventh degree of the major scale; in 'fixed
do' solfeggio, te is always the note 'B
flat' |
| Tebal |
a Saharawi drum of about 60 centimeters in diameter,
made of a dug out wooden bowl and leather from the skin
of a camel or goat. It is played with the hands, almost
exclusively by women, producing a dry and deep sound at
the same time |
| Technique |
the mechanical aspects of performance |
| Tedesca |
(Italian, literally 'German') used in the sense of
German fashion, manner or style, for example, alla
tedesca means 'in the German manner' |
| Te Deum (laudamus) |
(Latin, from 'We praise Thee, O God') a lengthy hymn
in praise of God in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and
other Christian liturgies |
| Tef |
Turkish frame drum |
| Teil, Theil |
(German) part, portion, section |
| Tejoletas |
(Spanish) two wooden sticks that are held by the
fingers and slapped against each other, like castanets |
| Telenn |
Breton harp |
| Televi |
two small gourds filled with seeds and attached to
each end of a string from Ghana |
| Teller |
(German) the plate of a cymbal |
| Tema |
(Italian) theme, for example the subject of a set of
theme and variations |
| Temir komuz |
Kyrgyz metal Jew's harp |
| Tammorriata |
southern Italian traditional songs and dances
accompanied by the tammorra tambourine |
| Temperament |
a relationship between the notes in a scale chosen
by a tuner of usually fixed pitch musical instruments to
suit a performer or listener's particular taste, in
particular tuning systems used in the past or the equal
temperament system used today
see
historical temperaments |
| Tempestoso, Tempestosamente |
(Italian) tempestuous, tempestuously |
| Temple block(s) |
The temple block originates in the east and is
sometimes known as a Korean or Chinese block. It's
design is one of simplicity although some temple blocks
are ornately carved in the shape of impressive animals.
The block itself is a carved chamber made generally from
camphor wood. Sizes can vary dramatically from around an
inch up to several feet in diameter. Modern temple
blocks generally are in sets of five and are tuned
randomly high to low. Many contemporary composers use
temple blocks and they are as popular today as they were
in the 1920s when many early jazz players used them as
an effective addition to their standard kit |
| Tempo, Tempi (plural form) |
(Italian) speed
more... |
| Tempo comodo, Tempo commodo |
(Italian) at a speed to suit the player |
| Tempo di ballo |
(Italian) dance speed |
| Tempo di minuetto |
(Italian) minuet speed |
| Tempo giusto |
(Italian) the speed the style demands, strict tempo |
| Tempo maggiore |
(Italian) alla breve |
| Tempo minore |
(Italian) tempo ordinario |
| Tempo modulation |
see 'metric modulation' |
| Tempo ordinario |
(Italian) standard or moderate time, neither too
fast nor too slow |
| Tempo primo, Tempo I° |
the first tempo, as the original tempo |
| Tempo rubato |
rubato, the freedom to make small changes in tempo
during the progress of the piece to enhance its musical
effect, irregular tempo |
| Tempo wie vorher |
(German) tempo primo |
| Temps |
(French) time, beat |
| Tempus |
see
mensuration |
| Tempus imperfectum |
binary division of breves into semibreves |
| Tempus imperfectum diminutum |
note values half those for tempus imperfectum,
i.e. twice the speed; alla breve |
| Tempus perfectum |
ternary division of breves into semibreves |
| Tendency note, Tendency tone |
a tendency note is a note that is a semitone
(half-step) away from another note. The note is also
dependent, that is, it usually forms a dissonance with
another note, and therefore, needs to resolve to a note
a semitone (half-step) away. The 4th and 7th degrees of
the scale in major keys are tendency notes, since
whenever they appear, they have a 'tendency' to move
respectively to the 3rd and 8th degree of the scale. Any
note can become a tendency note by chromatic alteration,
so, for example, although the 4th degree of the scale
usually moves to 3rd degree, the sharpened 4th degree
tends to move to the 5th degree |
| Tendoku |
(Japanese) chant style involving a shortened reading
of the Buddhist sutras |
| Tendre, Tendrement |
(French) tender, tenderly |
| Tenebroso |
(Italian) gloomy, dark mood |
| Tenendo |
(Italian) sustaining |
| Tenero, Teneroso or Teneramente, Tenerezza |
(Italian) tender, tenderly, tenderness |
| Tenete |
(Italian) hold, sustain |
| Tenor, Tenore (Italian), Ténor (Fr.), Tenor
(Ger.) |
the highest normal male voice; from mediaeval
musical compositions in which the part carrying the main
melody line (originally plainchant) was called the tenor
(from the Latin tenere 'to hold), other voices
typically serving as accompaniments to the tenor; a
prefix to instruments whose size places them between the
bass instruments which are lower and the alto
instruments that are higher, for example, tenor
saxophone, tenor violin |
| Tenor C |
C one octave below middle C |
| Tenor clef |
see
tenor clef |
| Tenor cor |
largely obsolete brass instrument in F and with
valves, similar to the French horn but with a more
conical bore and mouthpiece |
| Tenor drum |
similar to a side drum (q.v.) but larger and usually
without snares |
| Tenore di forza |
tenor voice with both the ability to sing lyrically
as well as push to the climaxes of the composition;
similar to lirico spinto |
| Tenore leggiero, Tenore robusto |
(Italian) light tenor voice, robust tenor voice |
| Tenorgeige |
(German) viola |
| Tenor horn |
a brass instrument with valves in E flat, also
called the E flat horn; the modern form of the E flat
alto saxhorn |
| Tenorlied |
German polyphonic song form popular in the
fifteenth- and sixteenth-centuries that consisted of a
tenor line, which had the melody, and one or more
additional lines as contrapuntal accompaniment |
| Tenorposaune |
(German) tenor trombone |
| Tenorstimme |
(German) tenor voice |
| Tenor trombone |
tenor member of the trombone family and the most
commonly used |
| Tenor tuba |
see 'Wagner tuba' |
| Tenor violin |
tenor member of the violin family, today largely
unknown |
| Tenso |
a stylized, poetic debate between troubadours
or trouvères in which the participants argue
opposing views on a given topic |
| Tenu (Fr. masculine), Tenue (Fr. feminine),
Tenuto (It.) |
held, held on |
| Tenuta |
(Italian) held, held on, fermata (the pause sign) |
| Tepido |
(Italian) unimpassioned, lukewarm |
| Tepidità, Tepidamente |
(Italian) lukewarmness, in a tepid manner |
| Teponaztli |
The teponaztli has deep cultural and spiritual
meaning for many Mexican communities. Its name means
'wooden drum' in Nahuatl. In other dialects, it is known
as tunkul, quiringua or teponagua . Made from a section
of a hollowed hardwood tree trunk (or occasionally from
small gourds which also serve as resonators), these
instruments characteristically have an elongated
H-shaped incision along the top. This cut in the wood
forms two vibrating tongues or "keys" ; these have
distinct pitches either because they are different
lengths or they have been chiseled on the underside to
different thicknesses. Sometimes, a rectangular opening
is carved in the bottom of the drum to increase its
volume. Many of these instruments are decorated with
lotus or other symbolic designs, and some are carved in
the shapes of alligators
more... |
| Terana |
a six beat to the bar (measure) dance |
| Terapia criolla |
an Afro-Colombian music style and dance from
Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, it is a combination
of indigenous rhythms, Caribbean beats and African
influences, with satirical lyrics, also known as
champeta criolla |
| Terminal vibrato |
a technique invented on the jazz cornet by Louis
Armstrong, where a note is held initially with no or
only very little vibrato before being given steadily
increasing amounts of audible oscillation |
| Tessitura |
(Italian) the range and position of a voice or
instrument, as in a 'high tessitura' to describe a part
which is set high on an instrument |
| Terce |
(Latin) the fourth service of the Divine Office,
usually performed at 9:00 a.m, consisting of several
responsories and psalms which are sung |
| Ternary form |
a three section form in which the first section A
is repeated, often with some changes, after a middle
section B, thus the form is called A B A |
| Terraced dynamics |
expressive style typical of some early music in
which volume levels shift abruptly from soft to loud and
back without gradual crescendos and decrescendos often
by changing the number of instruments playing each part |
| Terry |
after Charles Stanford Terry the cataloguer of music
by Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) |
| Tertian harmony, Tertiary harmony |
harmony based upon the interval of the third,
particularly predominant in Western music from the
Baroque era through to the ninteenth-century |
| Terzet, Terzetto |
(Italian) three-voice compositional form of the
eighteenth-century, usually short, which may or may not
be accompanied |
| Testa |
(Italian) head, as related to the voice |
| Testo |
(Italian) text, libretto; part for the narrator in
an Italian oratorio or Passion |
| Tetsu-zutsu |
Japanese bells |
| Teukjong |
(Korean) a gong that is suspended from a wooden
frame
more... |
| Texoletas |
Galician castanets |
| Tetrachords |
the two groups of four notes that make up the two
halves of a major or minor scale |
| Text setting |
see 'syllabic' and 'melismatic' |
| Texture |
the way in which individual musical lines interact
within a musical work - one can talk about the texture
being dense, when a lot is 'going on', or use the terms
monophonic, homophonic or polyphonic, for example, when
discussing medieval works |
| TFV |
after Franz Trenner the cataloguer of music by
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) |
| Thavil |
two-headed Indian drum |
| Theater (Ger.) |
theatre |
| Thematic catalogue |
the classification of music under headings which
include the opening notes of the composition and/or the
notes of the main theme of the composition |
| Thematic development, Thematic transformation |
the compositional process by which a theme is
transformed by modifying its melodic outline, its
harmony, or its rhythm |
| Theme |
a group of notes, also called a melody, that will
form the basis for a work that includes the theme's
repetition and/or development; in musical analysis, a
theme is termed the 'subject' |
| Theme and variations |
an extended work, sometimes in separated movements
or sections, where the opening musical statement (theme)
is subjected to development (variations) |
| Theme group |
a number of themes all in the same key that function
as a unit within a section of a form, for example, in
'sonata-allegro' form |
| Theorbo |
a large member of the lute family, in use from the
sixteenth- to eighteenth-centuries, with an extended
neck and two sets of strings, one set being fretted and
fingered like those of the standard lute, the second,
longer set of strings being tuned to the diatonic scale
and designed to be played unstopped (i.e. 'open') |
| Thérémin |
a type of electronic musical instrument invented in
the 1920s by Leo Thérémin (born 1896)
more... |
| Thesis |
as in arsis and thesis, respectively 'unstressed
upbeats' and 'stressed downbeats' |
| Third |
an interval spanning two diatonic scale steps, for
example, the interval 'C' to 'E' |
| Third stream |
a style of music that synthesizes characteristics
and techniques of classical music and jazz, the term
'third stream' was coined by Gunther Schuller to
describe this confluence
more... |
| Thirty-second note |
 |
a demisemiquaver, a note one thirty-second
the time value of a whole note or semibreve
|
|
| Thirty-second rest |
 |
a demisemiquaver rest, a rest one
thirty-second the time value of a whole rest or
semibreve rest |
|
| Thorough bass |
figured bass or continuo; see
figured bass |
| Three-part form |
see 'ternary form' |
| Threnody |
a dirge |
| Through-composed |
a form with no pre-established musical structure,
for example, a song composed from beginning to end
without repetitions of any major sections, each verse
having its own, unique melody |
| Thumb hole |
a finger hole in an wind instrument that uses the
player's thumb |
| Thumb piano |
see kalimba, mbira, marimba,
marimbula, sansa and sanza |
| Thunder machine |
any instrument used to create or imitate the sound
of thunder, for example, a large drum or a large sheet
of metal that is shaken |
| Ti |
the seventh tone in a major scale, it is also called
the 'leading tone' of the major scale; in 'fixed do'
solfeggio, ti is always the note 'B'; a Chinese
bamboo or wooden horizontal flute |
| Tibia |
ancient Roman wind instrument, consisting of two
pipes, that was used in religious ceremonies, rituals
and the theatre |
| Tidinit |
a Saharawi instrument of dug out wood and a leather
cover, similar to a four-stringed lute |
| Tie |
 |
also called a 'bind', a sign that shows that
the note being played or sung is sustained,
unbroken, throughout the total time value of the
notes under the sign |
|
| Tief |
(German) deep, low |
| Tiefgespannt |
(German) a drum slackened off to produce a lower
pitched sound |
| Tiepido |
a variant of tepido |
| Tiento |
a Spanish Renaissance composition similar to the
ricercare or fantasia |
| Tientos |
flamenco style derived from tangos, although
with a slower beat |
| Tierce |
(French) third |
| Tierce de picardie |
see 'picardy third' |
| Tilpo |
Tibetan hand bell |
| Timbal (Sp.), Timbale (Fr.), Timballo (It.) |
kettledrum, timpani |
| Timbalada |
a rhythmic percussion style from the northern part
of Brazil |
| Timbales |
kettledrums, timpani; a Cuban percussion instrument
consisting of a pair of single head, shallow drums tuned
to different pitches and performed with two sticks that
are essential to Latin American popular music |
| Timbalitos |
a smaller version of the timbales, tuned at
higher pitches, and often added to the timbales
to make up a set of four |
| Timbila |
xylophone with resonator from Mozambique |
| Timbre |
see
timbre/tone colour |
| Timbrel |
Latvian tambourine with jingles |
| Timbral nuances |
sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express
delicate shadings of the tone quality distinctive of a
particular singing voice or musical instrument |
| Timbrer |
(French) accented |
| Time |
a word used to mean 'in the rhythm of', for example,
march time meaning 'in the rhythm of a march' |
| Timed segments |
unmetered music which in measured in minutes and
seconds, not beats |
| Time signature |
time signature/meter signature |
| Timido, Timidezza |
(Italian) timid, timidity |
| Timore, Timoroso, Timorosamente |
(Italian) fear, fearful, fearfully |
| Timpani (Eng.), Timpano (It.) |
kettle-drums, a set of tuned drums |
| Timple |
a small guitar with 12 metal strings used in Spain,
Colombia, Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking
countries, also known as guitarrillo |
| Tindé |
Algerian drum played by a group of women |
| Tinter (Fr.) Tintinnare (It.) |
to tinkle |
| Tintement |
(French) tinking |
| Tinto |
(Italian) colour, expression |
| Tin whistle |
also called 'penny whistle', a wind instrument with
six holes, originally made from tin but now more usually
made of steel
more... |
| Tinya |
pre-Hispanic Mexican resonating box with 5 strings |
| Tiompán |
Irish hammered dulcimer |
| Tip |
the very end of the bow away from the frog where the
player placed his or her hand |
| Tiple |
a small stringed instrument of Spanish origin,
derived from the guitar family, and used in Cuba's
música campesina as well as other types of Latin
American music with Spanish roots |
| Tirana |
A Spanish song-dance from Andalusia |
| Tirare, Tirando, Tirato |
(Italian) to draw, drawing, drawn - refering to the
down-bow on the violin |
| Tirer, Tiré |
(French) to drawn, drawn - refering to the down-bow
on the violin |
| Tischharfe |
German table zither that can be both plucked and
bowed |
| Tishou |
Chinese clappers |
| Ti-tze |
Chinese transverse bamboo flute |
| Tlapitzalli |
pre-Hispanic small Mexican flute |
| To |
calabash rattle (Ghana) |
| Tobend |
(German) blustering |
| Tobshuur |
Mongolian lute |
| Tocaor |
the Iberian term for a flamenco guitarist |
| Toccata, Toccatina or Toccatino (diminutive
forms) |
(from the Italian toccare meaning 'to touch')
a rapid piece of music for keyboard intended as a
display for virtuosity; a toccata is often the prelude
to a fugue |
| Tocsin |
an alarm bell; the striking of a bell as an alarm |
| Todt, Todtenmesse, Todtenmarsch |
(German) dead, Mass for the dead (requiem), dead
march |
| Todtgesang, Todtenlied |
(German) a dirge |
| To’ere |
Tahitian slit log drum, played with one stick |
| Tof |
Hebrew frame drum |
| Togaku |
(Japanese) togaku and to-sangaku were
musical styles derived from T'ang China, where court
musical life was multicultural and followed a formal
rules, called the 'Ten Styles of Music'. These rules
governed the hierarchy and use of Chinese and foreign
musical styles in court. Performances that followed
these rules and musical types was known as togaku,
or T'ang music, while those that drew their form and
content from popular music from T'ang China, were
classified as to-sangaku, or 'unofficial T'ang
music'
more... |
| Togli |
(Italian) take off, take away, in the sense to turn
off some aspect of organ or harpsichord registration |
| Toile |
(Italian) theatre curtain |
| Toke |
canoe shaped iron bell held in palm and struck with
an iron beater from Ghana |
| Tolling |
the measured striking of a bell, usually that in a
church tower or a tower of a public building |
| Tololoche |
Mexican double bass guitar |
| Tombak |
see tonbak |
| Tombeau |
(French) a piece written in someone's memory |
| Tome |
(French) volume of a set of collected volumes |
| Tom-tom |
a drum without snares having a wooden shell and two
heads |
| Ton, Töne (plural form) |
(German) pitch, key |
| Ton |
(French) pitch, key, note; a Medieval and
Renaissance verse structure and song tune which was
commonly associated with more than one poetic text |
| Ton aigre |
(French) shrill sound |
| Tonabstand |
(German) interval |
| Tonada, Tonadilla (diminutive form) |
(Spanish) a tune set for a dance or to verse |
| Tonal |
music that is based on major and minor tonalities
rather than on modal, twelve-tone, or other musical
systems; in a fugue, if the answer has exactly the same
intervals as the subject, the only difference being that
it is transposed, the answer is said to be real, but if
the answer varies from the subject it is said to be
tonal |
| Tonal answer |
in a fugue, after the first entry or statement,
there will be an answer, a second statement at a diffent
pitch
an answer can be of two types:
real answer: where the answer is not modified so that it
is in a different key to that of the subject
tonal answer: where the answer is modified to keep it in
the same key as that of the subject |
| Tonality |
the sense of a particular key; see 'atonality' and
'polytonality' |
| Tonante |
(Italian) thunderous |
| Tonart |
(German) character of different types of scale, i.e.
major, minor, modal, etc. |
| Tonás |
one of the oldest flamenco styles, with songs
that include long moans and sudden halts, relating the
tragedies suffered by the incarceration of the Gypsies,
chain gangs, hard labour and violent quarrels. There are
twenty variants, including martinetes and
deblas |
| Tonbild or Tondictung, Tonbühne, Tondichter |
(German) tone-poem, orchestral platform, composer |
| Ton bouché |
(French) stopped note on a horn |
| Ton de chasse |
(French) hunting call |
| Ton de cor |
(French) horn crook |
| Ton d'eglise |
(French) church mode or key |
| Ton de rechange |
(French) spare crook |
| Ton de trompette |
(French) trumpet crook |
| Ton dhar |
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
drumhead. Also known as Damaru |
| Tondo |
(Italian) full-toned |
| Ton doux |
(French) a sweet tone-quality |
| Tone |
a sound of definite pitch; the interval equivalent
to two semitones; the quality of a sound; the American
word for 'note'; a recitational melody in a Gregorian
chant |
| Tone cluster |
see 'note cluster' |
| Tone colour |
see 'timbre' |
| Tone poem |
symphonic poem |
| Tone row |
see 'note-row' |
| Tonette |
small black plastic whistle-type instrument which
was once popular with elementary school children, now
largely superceeded by the more accurately tuned and
better sounding recorder |
| Tonfarbe |
(German) tone-colour, timbre |
| Tonfolge |
(German) melody |
| Tonfülle |
(German) volume of tone |
| Tongali |
a four-holed nose flute (one hole in the back) from
northern Philippines and played by the Kalinga and other
peoples of Luzon
more... |
| Tongeschlecht |
(German) major or minor |
| Tongling |
Chinese hand bell |
| Tongue |
the long, bent, metal bar inside the frame of a
Jew's harp, music box, thumb piano, or other plucked
idiophone, plucked with the finger or in some other way,
the vibration of which produces notes; where the device
uses a ratchet, the tongue is wooden and makes a
clicking sound; a technique used on wind instruments to
articulate a note |
| Tonguing |
to tongue |
| Tonhöhe |
(German) pitch |
| Toni (plural form), Tono |
(Italian) tone, key, mode |
| Tonic |
first degree of the scale; the key center |
| Tonic accent |
emphasis that may be given to notes where their
pitch is high |
| Tonic chord |
the chord based on the tonic of a key or scale; the
I chord |
| Tonic sol-fa |
a technique of teaching music based upon the
'movable do' system
more... |
| Tonic triad |
triad built on the first degree of the scale |
| Tonicization |
tonicization is a process that temporarily allows a
chord other than the tonic to function as a goal of
motion or point of stability, and therefore, function as
a temporary tonic. A chord is said to be "tonicized,"
when it is preceded by its own dominant, dominant
seventh, seven chord, or diminished seventh. That is,
the dominant determined by the key of the chord.
Tonicization is a local event, unlike modulation, which
implies establishing a new key center and continuing in
the new key. Any chord, except VII, in a major key can
be preceded by its own dominant. Any chord in the
natural minor, except II, can be preceded by its own
dominant |
| Tonitruone |
(Italian) a sheet of metal used to simulate the
sound of thunder |
| Tonkunst, Tonkünsterler |
(German) musical knowledge, someone possessing such
knowledge |
| Tonlage |
(German) range, compass, register |
| Tonlehre |
(German) acoustics |
| Tonleiter |
(German) scale |
| Tonlos |
(German) toneless |
| Ton majeur |
(French) major key |
| Tonmalerei |
(German) programme music |
| Tonmass |
(German) time |
| Tonnerre |
(French) thunder |
| Tonos |
a term with various meanings in the tradition of
ancient Greek music theory. It could refer to a pitch,
tasis, a note, phthongos, the size of an
interval, diastema, or a 'scalar mode' tropos
sustematikos. The last two definitions came to be
synonymous as a reference to the pitch of the musical
system |
| Ton patala |
Burmese iron xylophone |
| Tonreihe |
(German) note-row, tone-row (serial music) |
| Tonschlüssel |
(German) key-note |
| Tonsetzer |
(German) composer |
| Tonus |
(Latin) mode, Gregorian tone |
| Tonus peregrinus |
(Latin, literally 'wandering note') a Medieval term
for an 'irregular' psalm note, i.e. a psalm in which the
tenor changes in pitch |
| Topan |
Kosovar Albanian percussion instrument, a short
wooden cylinder covered at each open end with
leather-stretched with rope that is played with two
wooden drumsticks |
| Torch song |
a song describing an unrequited love, derived from
the expression 'to carry a torch' for someone |
| Torculus |
see 'neume notation' |
| Torculus respinus |
see 'neume notation' |
| Tordion, Tourdion |
a lively basse-dance of the sixteenth-century
that resembles the galliard |
| Toré |
a religious rhythm of the Fulni-o Indians in Brazil,
where messages for protection are sent to the ancestors |
| Tornada, Tornadas |
a refrain from a Catalonian folk song; see vers;
see envoi or envoy; (Spanish) melody,
tune; a term widely used in Spanish speaking
Latin-America and Brazil to refer to a song with guitar
accompaniment, in a major key and at a slow tempo |
| Tornare, Tornando |
(Italian) to return, returning |
| Torrás |
lively dance from the province Ciudad Real, Spain.
Dancers line up in rows |
| Torvo |
(Italian) grim |
| To-sangaku |
(Japanese) see togaku |
| Tostissimo, Tostissimamente, Tosto |
(Italian) very rapid, rapidly, rapid |
| Total serialism |
complex, totally controlled music where the
twelve-tone principle is extended to elements of music
other than pitch, for example, rhythm |
| Totodzi |
small open-bottom barrel drum from Ghana |
| Touch |
the art of depressing, striking, releasing, etc. the
keys of a keyboard instrument to produce the required
sound quality; the amount of force needed to be applied
to a key and the distance the key travels on a keyboard
instrument |
| Touche |
(French) fingerboard |
| Toujours |
(French) always |
| Tourney |
a musical piece created for a tournament, especially
popular in seventeenth-century Italy and France, as part
of weddings and other festive occasions |
| Tout, Toute, Tous, Toutes |
(French) all |
| Tout à coup |
(French) suddenly |
| Tout à fait |
(French) completely |
| Tout ensemble |
(French) the whole, the general effect, all together |
| Twos |
a set of two-bar phrases; in jazz, when different
players alternate playing two-bar phrases, this is
called 'trading twos' |
| Toye, Toy |
a light piece for virginals from the sixteenth- and
early seventeenth-centuries |
| Tract |
a soloistic chant from the Poper of the Mass that
replaces the alleluia in penitential seasons |
| Tractulus |
see 'neumatic notation' |
| Tractus |
(from the Latin trahere, to draw out) tail;
small line; pause sign |
| Tradotto (It.), Traduit (Fr.) |
translated, arranged, transposed |
| Tradzione (It.), Traduction (Fr.) |
translation, arrangement, transposition |
| Tragédie lyrique |
French serious opera of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, with spectacular dance scenes and
brilliant choruses on tales of courtly love or heroic
adventures, particularly with J.B. Lully |
| Trainé |
(French) dragged |
| Train whistle |
a wooden whistle that produces three different notes
typical of the sound of a steam locomotive whistle |
| Tramporgel |
Swedish harmonium |
| Tranh |
(Vietnam) a zither with 10 brass strings, invented
by Emperor Phuc Hy of China (2852 B.C.). Its base is
made of ngo dong wood. The instrument is placed
in front of the musician who uses his right hand to
regulate the pitch and vibrato, while using his left
hand to pluck the strings |
| Tranquillo, Tranquillamente, Tranquillità or
Tranquillezza |
(Italian) tranquil, tranquilly, tranquillity |
| Transcribe, Transcription |
to rearrange music for instruments other than those
for which the work was originally written; such an
arrangement is called a transcription |
| Transformation |
the treatment of thematic material which drastically
changes it while retaining specific characteristics that
allow the listener to identity the result with the
original, prevalent in dance music of the
seventeenth-century, but most used in the
nineteenth-century during the Romantic era |
| Transient |
any of the non-sustaining, non-periodic frequency
components of a sound, usually of brief duration and
higher amplitude than the sustaining components, and
occurring near the onset of the sound (attack
transients) |
| Transient shake |
an alternative name for the upper mordent |
| Transition |
a short passing change of key, an abrupt key change |
| Transpose |
to move; to play a piece in a different key or one
or more octaves higher or lower than it was originally
written, the better to suit the singer or instrument |
| Transposing instruments |
instruments that do not play the notes they read,
i.e. bass flute, cor anglais, oboe d'amore, oboe in E
flat, heckelphone, sarrusophone, clarinets in B flat and
A, bass clarinet, high clarinets in E flat and D, alto
clarinet in E flat and F, basset horn, pedal clarinet,
saxophones, cornets, french horns, trumpets, saxhorns;
instruments that play any number of octaves above or
below the written part are not defined as transposing
instrument |
| Transposition |
the changing of the pitch of a piece without
changing anything else |
| Transverse Flute |
the cross-blown flute, as distinct from an end-blown
or duct flute such as the recorder
more... |
| Traquenard |
(French) a late seventeenth=century dance found in
some ballets which is closely related to the gavotte |
| Trascinando |
(Italian) dragging, rallentando |
| Trascrizione |
(Italian) arrangement, transcription |
| Tras trasera |
Chilean dance from the Quellón region that combines
Spanish music and dance forms with aboriginal Chilean
music and dance |
| Trattenuto, Tratt. (abbrev.) |
(Italian) held back, sustained |
| Tratto |
(Italian) dragged |
| Tratto, Non |
(Italian) do not drag |
| Trauer, Trauermarsch |
(German) sorrow, funeral march |
| Traum |
(German) dream |
| Traurig |
(German) sad |
| Trautonium |
an instrument invented by Friedrich Trautwein in
1930, that generates electronic pitches by pressing a
wire on a metal bar, the position along the bar
determined the pitch generated |
| Tre |
(Italian) three |
| Treble |
the highest part in choral singing; a recorder in F
also called the 'alto'; the unbroken boy's voice |
| Treble clef |
see
treble clef |
| Treble shift |
a mechanical device found on an accordion that
directs air from the bellows through additional reeds,
typically one set tuned in unison, a second set tuned
one octave higher, a third tuned one octave lower and a
fourth set, the tremulant, tuned slightly higher than
unison, to create a different tone quality of the melody
notes |
| Tre corde |
(Italian, literally 'three strings') a mark in piano
music indicating the release of the soft pedal |
| Treibend |
(German) hurrying, rushing |
| Tremando, Tremante, Tremolando, Tremolante |
(Italian) with tremolo |
| Trekspill |
(Norwegian) accordian (q.v.) |
| Tremblement |
(French) trill |
| Tremolo |
vibrato; the rapid reiteration of a single note |
| Trenodia |
(Italian) threnody |
| Trente et deuxième de soupir |
(French) a one hundred and twenty-eight rest, a
semihemidemisemiquaver rest |
| Trepak |
a simple duple time popular Cossack dance |
| Très |
(French) very |
| Tres |
a Cuban guitar-like instrument with three pairs of
strings hence its name
more... |
| Trescone |
a Florentine dance similar to the cushion dance but
employing a handkerchief |
| Treshchokti |
Russian clapper |
| Triad |
triads |
| Triangel (Ger.), Triangle (Eng.), Triangolo (It.) |
a piece of metal rod bent to form the outline of a
triangle but with one corner open, suspended from a
chord, which is struck with a metal beater to produce a
ringing tone of fixed pitch |
| Tribrach |
a musical or poetic foot consisting of three short
notes or syllables
more... |
| Trideksnis |
Latvian bell tree, which has a wooden handle and
three layers of bells made of copper or brass |
| Trigger |
a lever used on certain brass instruments, trombone,
horns, tubas, and trumpets, that provide special
functionality |
| Trigonon |
the Greco-Roman harp |
| Trihory |
a bransle-like dance from Brittany |
| Trikitixa |
Basque diatonic accordion |
| Trill, Trillo (It.) |
see
trill |
| Trilogy (Eng.), Trilogie (Fr., Ger.), Trilogia
(It.) |
three works on a common theme |
| Trinklied |
(German) drinking song |
| Trio |
a piece played by three players; a piece of music to
be play such a group; a contrasted section between two
performances of a minuet (i.e. minuet - trio - minuet) |
| Triolet |
(French) a form of poetry; a triplet; a short trio |
| Trionfale, Trionfante |
(Italian) triumphant |
| Trio sonata |
a chamber music form for two featured instruments
and continuo accompaniment; especially popular in the
seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries |
| Tripelkonzert, Tripelconcert |
(German) a concerto for three soloists |
| Triple-croche |
| |
(French) demi | |
