Dictionary of Music

IF you have read my practice section, you will (or ought to) remember that every problem originating in the music has the solution in the music. Every composer has written whatever they needed to in the music, such as dynamics, tempo, etc. These words describe exactly how the composer wanted it played. After all, when you play the music, you should play it as the composer would have and not play it the way you WANT to. These terms will help you figure out the meanings of the words that the composer used to describe what he wanted in the music.

TIP: you can go to edit and then find to search for a specific word.

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B.	Abbreviation for bass
B	B-flat
baby grand	The smallest sized grand piano
back beat	A popular style of drumming where the second and fourth beats of a measure are emphasized.
backup group	Singers that accompany a lead vocalist
badinage, badinerie	A playful dance occasionally found in a suite
ballabile	In the style of a dance
ballad	1. A song that tells a story 2. A slow sentimental song 3. Originally a song accompanying dancing
ballade	German vocal or instrumental pieces based on historical or legendary subjects
ballata	A medieval polyphonic Italian song
ballet	A dance set to music that depicts a story
ballo	Dance
band	1. An ensemble consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments 2. A full symphony orchestra. 3. Slang for a group of performers of popular music, like a rock band
bandola	Instruments in the lute family that are similar to the mandolin
bar	a measure
barbershop quartet	A four-part male vocal quartet that was popular in America at the beginning of the 20th century
barcarolle	Music in the style of songs sung by Venetian gondoliers, usually in 6-8 time.
baritone	The male singing voice which is between the bass and tenor
baritone clef	The F clef at the third line of the staff
bar line	A vertical line that divides measures or bars
baroque	The historical period of music roughly from 1600 to 1750
barre	In guitar or lute playing, the fretting of several strings with one finger. Literally means "bar"
barrel organ	A 19th century potable organ. And with all the 21th century technology we have today, we still can't make one. lol
bass	1. The lowest male singing voice 2. The lowest sounding part of a musical composition 3. The lowest instrument of the musical family 4. The double bass
bassa	Deep or low. The marking 8va bassa (or 8vb) means to play the indicated music one octave lower than it is written
bass clef	The F clef on the fourth line of the staff.
bass drum	The largest and lowest sounding drum of indefinete pitch
basset horn	An alto clarinet pitched in F
bass guitar	A fretted instrument with four, five, or six strings tuned an octave lower than the guitar
basso	Bass
basso buffo	Comical bass voice in an opera
basso ostinato	A pass part of a composition that is repeated
bass profundo	The male bass voice that extends below the common bass range
baton	The stick used by a conductor to lead an ensemble
Be	The flat sign
beam	The horizontal line that connects groups of eigth notes, sixteenth notes, thirtysecond notes, etc. in place of flags
beat	Unit of measurement of rythmic time
beats	The sound caused by two of the smae notes played together that are not in tune.
bebop	A style of jazz that originated in the 1940s, characterized by extended harmonies, improvisation, complex rhythms and fast tempos
bec	The mouth piece of a wind instrument
becarre	the natural sign
beguine	A lively, syncopated Latin-American dance
bel canto	Vocal styles of great Italian singers of the 18th and early 19th centuries, characterized by flawless technique and beautiful tone. Literally means "beautiful singing"
bell	The flared end of many wind and brass instruments
bellicoso	Warlike, martial
bell-lyra	A portable glockenspiel
belly	The upper side of the soundbox of stringed instruments. Also, the soundboard of a piano.
bemol	The flat sign
bend	A smooth change in pitch
besquandro	The nartural sign
berceuse	A lullaby
bergamasca	An italian peasant's dance from the 16th and 17th centuries, based on the harmonic progression of I IV V I
betont	stressed, accented.
bewegt	Animated
big band	A jazz band usually made up of groups of woodwind, brass, percussion, and sometimes stringed instruments that played music for dancing. They were most popular through the 1920's to 1930's
binary form	A musical form where one section is followed by contrasting section: AB
bis	1. Encore! 2. Repeat the notes of the section.
bisbigliando	A soft tremelo affect on the harp. Literally meaans "whispering."
biscroma	Thirty second note
bitonality	When two key centers (or tonalities) are used together
biwa	A Japanese lute
Blasinstrumente	Wind instruments
Blechinstrumente	Brass instruments
bluegrass	A musical style from the American south characterized by quick tempos and elaborate vocals. It usually features fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and brass.
Blue notes	The lowered third, seventh and somtimes fifth degrees of a major scale that create the characteristic sounds of the blues
blues	A kind of American music derived from spirituals and works songs characterized by blue notes and a form that is usually 12 bars long
blues harp	Slang for diatonic harmonica
bocal	1. The part of a bassoon that connects the reed to the instrument 2. The mouth piece of a brass instrument.
bocca	Mouth
bocca chiusa	Closed mouth. Singing or humming with the mouth closed
Boehn system	A keying system for woodwind instruments invented by Theobald Boehm that allows both ease of playing and correct acoustical positions of the holes
Bogen	1. A bow 2. A slur of a tie
bois	Woodwinds
bolero	A spanish dance usually in 3-4 time
bones	Percussion instrument consisting of two bones or sticks which are clicked together.
boogie woogie	A jazz piano style popular in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s characterized by a steady rythmic ostinato bass in the left hand
bore	The diameter of a Woodwind or Brass instrument
bossa nova	A brazilian dance popular in the late 1950s and 1960s
bottleneck	Slang for the glass or metal tube that is placed over a finger of the fretting hand of a guitarist playing slide guitar
bouche	stopped notes on a horn. Literally means "closed."
bourdon	1. A long, low drone 2. Large pipes of an organ 3. A large bell with a deep pitch
bouree	A 17th century French dance in a quick 2-4 or 4-4 time that usually begins on an upbeat.
bow	The implement used in string playing that vibrates the string and allows a note to be sustained. It is made from a wooden stick that is strung with horse hair. The end held by the hand is called the frog and the other end is called the tip.
bowing	The technique of drawing the bowhairs across the strings of a stringed instrument
bridge	A thin piece of wood on a stringed instrument that holds the strings away from the belly of the instrument
bridge passage	Musical material that connects two themes. A transition
brillante	Brilliant
brio	Spirit, vigor
bruscamente	Brusquely, accented
buffo, buffa	Comical
Burlesque	1. A musical farce 2. A comical stage show composed of various unrelated segments.