a character from Brazilian Indian mythology who
charmed the local women by turning the wind into sound
with the holes in his body. The local men became
jealous, killed Uakti, and buried him in the forest.
Legend has it that four palm trees grew from his grave,
and the Indians made instruments from the trees'
branches
Ubah
an Igede (Nigeria) wooden drum, covered with skin at
one end
Über
(German) over, above, too
Uboh
Nigerian thumb piano made with a decorated gourd
Übung
(German) exercise
Ud
(Arabic, literally 'bent twig') a short necked,
fretless Middle Eastern and North African lute, one of
the most important instrument in Arabic classical music,
the direct ancestor of the European lute
more...
Udu
clay pot drums from Nigeria, that have two holes
that are variously struck and covered with the hands,
the sound being produced by the compression and release
of the air inside it
more...
Uguale, uguali
(Italian) equal
Ugualmente
(Italian) equally
Ugualità, Uguaglianza
(Italian) equality
Uh
(Korean) a percussion instrument that makes sounds
by scraping a bamboo stick over a set of wooden 'teeth'
set onto the back of a wooden tiger
more...
Ui
`Are`are (Malaita, Solomon Islands) struck
instruments made from bamboo
Uilleann pipe
(Gaelic, literally 'elbow pipe') an Irish bagpipe
that is different from the Scottish bagpipe because it
is filled with air by means of a bellows activated by
the player squeezing the bellows against his side with
his elbow and has a softer, more melodic sound
Ukelele, Ukulele
a guitar-like instrument originating from Portugal
but often associated with Hawaii with four strings and a
long fingerboard
more...
'Uli 'Uli
an Hawaiian percussion instrument made of a small
hollow gourd filled with seeds, sea shells or pebbles,
to which a handle is attached, the tip of which is
fringed with cock feathers. The dancer holds the 'uli
'uli in the right hand, shaking and striking it
against the left hand, hip, knee, shoulder, or other
parts of the body
Uli' Uli'
Sumatran kite bow
Ullogaun
Irish lament
Ultimo, Ultima
(Italian) last
Ultrasonic, Ultrasound
of or relating to acoustic frequencies above the
range audible to the human ear, or above approximately
20,000 hertz
Umano, Umana
(Italian) human
Umkehrung
(German) turning round, reversal, inversion
Umore
(Italian) humour
Umstimmen, Unstimmung (noun form)
(German) to tune in a non-standard manner, that is
to use scordatura tuning
Un', una, uno
(Italian) a, an, one
Un, Une
(French) a, an, one
Una corda
(Italian) one string; in piano music indicating the
use of the soft pedal
Und
(German) and
Under-third cadence
see 'Landini cadence'
Ungebunden
(German) free unconstrained
Ungeduld, Ungeduldig
(German) impatience, impatient
Ungefähr
(German) about, approximately
Ungestüm
(German) impetuous
Ungezwungen
(German) easy-going, natural, unforced
Ungherese
(Italian) Hungarian
Unheimlich
(German) uncanny
Uni, Unie, Unis, Unies
(French) united, smooth
Union pipe
see 'Uilleann pipe'
Unison
the interval between two identical notes, also
called 'perfect unision' or 'perfect prime'
Uniti
(Italian) united, reunited
Umakweyana
a one string gourd instrument played by the women of
Swaziland
Unmeasured music
music where the performer is free to determine the
rhythm, for example, plainchant, troubadour-trouvère
material, organum purum and early organum
styles; also called 'free rhythm'
Unmerklich
(German) imperceptible
Umrubhe
a bowed mouth bow traditional to the Xhosa and Pondo
peoples from South Africa, where the string is bowed
with a thin dry stick, while the tune is produced in the
mouth
Umtshingo
a traditional South-African end-blown, bamboo flute,
with one finger hole at the bottom end
Un peu
(French) a little, rather
Un poco, Un po'
(Italian) a little, rather
Unravelling
an arpeggiation or spinning out of structures, for
example, chord arpeggiation
Unruhe, Unruhig (noun form)
(German) disquiet, without peace, restless
Unschuldig
(German) innocent
Unten, Unter
(German) under, below
Up-beat
a weak beat; a strong beat is called a 'down-beat'
Up-bow
see 'down-bow'
Upper partials
see 'overtones'
Upright piano
a piano in which the strings are vertical, as
opposed to the 'grand' piano where the strings are
horizontal
Up-tempo
music that is played with a fast, lively beat
Ursprünglich
(German) original, originally
Urtext
(German) 'original text', an edition giving the
composer's intention free of later editorial additions
U.S.F., U.S.W.
German abbreviations; und so fort, und so
weiter meaning respectively 'and so forth', 'and so
on'
Ut
the original name for the key-note of a diatonic
scale, which today is usually called do
(sometimes doh); in the 'fixed do' solfeggio,
ut or do is always the note 'C'
Utility music
(in German, gebrauchmusik) music to be played
by anyone utilising idioms in everyday use, a term
coined by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Utogardon
a string instrument from Moldova
Uubi
`Are`are (Malaita, Solomon Islands) blown
instruments made from bamboo
Uvula
the fleshy area of the soft palate at the back of
the mouth
