MusicVocabulary

aerophone
noun a wind instrument.

anthem
noun a solemn patriotic song adopted as an expression of national identity.

antiphonal
nounperformance style in which an ensemble is divided into two or more groups.

articulation
nounclarity in the production of successive notes.

bagpipe
noun a musical instrument with reed pipes that are sounded by the pressure of wind emitted
from a bag squeezed by the player's arm.

balalaika
noun a Russian musical instrument like a guitar with a triangular body and typically three
strings.

baritone
nounan adult male singing voice between tenor and bass.

castanets
plural noun small concave pieces of wood, ivory, or plastic, joined in pairs by a cord and
clicked together by the fingers as a rhythmic accompaniment to Spanish dancing.

consonant
nounmaking a harmonious interval or chord.

chordophone
nounworld music classification for instruments that produce sound from a vibrating string
stretched between two points which are bowed, struck or plucked.

clavichord
noun a small, rectangular keyboard instrument with a soft tone.

cakewalk
nouna strutting dance popular in the 19th century, developed from an American black
contest in graceful walking which had a cake as a prize.

countermelody
nounan accompanying melody sounded against the principal melody.

courante
noun a rapid gliding dance in quick triple time.

crumhorn
noun a medieval wind instrument with an enclosed double reed and an upward-curving end.

dissonant
adjectivelackingharmony.

embellishment
noun melody decoration either improvised or indicated through ornamentation signs in the
music.
embouchure
nounthe way in which a player applies the mouth and tongue in playing a brass or wind
instrument.

ensemble
nouna group of musicians, actors, or dancers who perform together.

ethnomusicology
noun the study of the music of different cultures.

fluegelhorn
nounit is a valved brass instrument resembling a bugle with a wide bell, used in jazz and
commercial music.

glockenspiel
noun a musical percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal pieces mounted in a
frame and struck with small hammers.

harmonium
noun a keyboard instrument in which the notes are produced by air driven through metal
reeds by foot-operated bellows.

harpsichord
noun a keyboard instrument similar in shape to a grand piano, with horizontal strings
plucked by points operated by depressing the keys.

idiophone
nounworld music classification for instruments that produce sound from substance of the
instrument itself by being struck.

membranophone
nounworld music classification for instruments that produce sound from a tightly stretched
membrane that can be struck, rubbed or sung into.

monophonic
adjectivehaving a single melodic line without harmonies or melody in counterpoint.

music
nounthe art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce
beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.

musicology
noun the study of music as an academic subject.

orchestra
nouna group of instrumentalists, especially one combining string, woodwind, brass, and
percussion sections.

pantomime
nouna dramatic entertainment in which performers express meaning through gestures
accompanied by music.

performance art
noun an art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance.

quadruplum
nounit is the fourth voice of a polyphonic work.

retrograde
nounit refers to the backward statement of melody.
serenade
nouna piece of music sung or played in the open air, especially by a man at night under the
window of the woman he loves.

saxophone
noun a member of a family of metal wind instruments with a reed like a clarinet, used
especially in jazz and dance music.

subdominant
noun the fourth note of the diatonic scale of any key.

synthesizer
noun an electronic musical instrument, typically operated by a keyboard, producing sounds
by generating and combining signals of different frequencies.

tambourine
noun a percussion instrument resembling a shallow drum with metal discs around the edge,
played by being shaken or hit with the hand.

trombone
noun a large brass wind instrument having an extendable slide with which different notes are
made.

vibraphone
noun a musical percussion instrument with a double row of tuned metal bars, each above a
tubular resonator containing a motor-driven rotating vane, giving a vibrato effect.

violoncello
nouna bass instrument of the violin family, held upright on the floor between the legs of the
seated player.

woodwind
nounwind instruments other than brass instruments forming a section of an orchestra,
including flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.

xylophone
noun a musical instrument played by striking a row of wooden bars of graduated length with
small beaters.