Talk:Glossary of musical terminology

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[edit] Scope

I like this page, but I have a question about its scope; are we going to duplicate the entire list of musical topics? -- Merphant 08:48, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I see it as a list of pre-stub definitions of musical subjects. When they become enough for a stub they can be moved to the redirects.Hyacinth 08:50, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I'm not happy with articles which could easily be more than stubs being redirected here (even if they are stubs at the moment). You make the reader pick through a lot of irrelevent info to get to what they want, and it also discourages expansion. I am going to restore a couple of things which have been redirected here - I don't see a problem with them being kept on this page as well, for reference (in fact, I think this page would work best a collection of brief definitions with links out to more comprehensive articles). --Camembert

I share this unhappiness. In addition, a lot of the articles being, or potentially being, messed with talk to a lot more than music (Assonance, Dissonance, Cadence) and will sometimes need major rewriting if the music stuff is just excised. Please stop doing it for now. Bmills 15:49, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Okay, stopped. In my defense, see Texture (music). Cadence has already been messed with, but not involving this article, see Cadence (music).Hyacinth 16:01, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

all betterHyacinth 19:32, 23 Dec 2003 (UTC)

[edit] clef.org

I can't get the clef.org glossary extlink on the page to work; all it shows is the main page. Is it just my browser (Mozilla/OSX) or is the site broken? -- Merphant 02:53, 24 Dec 2003 (UTC)

The lack of a www in the address seems to have an effect - try it again now. --Camembert
Aha, that solved it. Thanks! -- Merphant 03:05, 24 Dec 2003 (UTC)

[edit] missing terms

Here are few french terms that could use translating: con sentimento and misterioso

I'm guessing it's something sentimental and the second one is mysteriously.. anyone know better? --A

R.H. = Right Hand L.H = Left Hand

m.s. = Don't know what it is cannot add it.

wikipedias should gather together and merge this with the italian. some time soon, so 'forte' articles can point or have a catogery to point --Nkour 14:22, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

MS and MD, and their expansions, now added. Portamento details added. It is hard to know how much detail should be included. --Noetica 10:00, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

"Turn"--generally represented with a symbol that should probably be added to the page, but I don't know how to add such a symbol.

What about Main Gauche and Main Droite? I come across them more often than the other left/right hand terms. Also, I'm too timid to add it myself, but should ostinato possibly have some reference to "riff"? (the Jazz / rock term) 202.124.104.192 06:57, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wiktionary material?

Many of the entries on this page look like excellent candidates for Wiktionary, but they'll need parts of speech and formatting. If you're interested in helping enter them in Wiktionary, please see wikt:arpeggio for a good formatting example. Thanks! --Dvortygirl 9 July 2005 06:24 (UTC) (primarily a Wiktionarian)

[edit] Missing Terms

In the labeling of a piece, sometimes the minor and major key signatures are denoted by -dur and -moll, respectively. I'm not quite sure of their meaning or origin, although they could come from the italian "duro" (hard) and "mollo" (soft), although this denotation is more often than not present in German versions of a piece as well. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable than myself on the issue could insert these into the article. Eccomi 17:19, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

AFAIK these are simply the German translations of "minor" and "major". --bdesham ★ 18:16, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
Yes: dur means "major", moll means "minor". I will add to the list. BTW, I think "Gr." as an abbreviation is suspect - my immediate impression was that it was an abbrev. of "Greek" (its normal use) rather than "German". I'm therefore amending the relevant entries. 195.217.52.130 16:58, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

With regard to missing terms, I have a query about a SYMBOL: a pair of short parallel lines placed on the diagonal placed above and over the top 2 lines of a stave. Local term for it is "break" or "tramlines", with the meaning being a sudden stop, with the music continuing after a short pause (although a fermata is not written). Is this already defined elsewhere in music terminology?203.214.103.58 (talk) 22:19, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi -- yes, it's a caesura (or cesura). In rehearsal people commonly call it "railroad tracks" here in the U.S.; "tramlines" makes sense too. Cheers, Antandrus (talk) 22:35, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] littered with quote marks

Why? Can't we remove them for easier reading and a better appearance on the page? Tony 03:06, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

O, Hi Tony. I agree about the quote marks. I edit here from time to time, but have never made a systematic change of the type you're thinking about. I'd certainly support it. The business with the quotes seems simply to have evolved. What's the best arrangement? Just removing all the quotes? But some do have significance, I think. – Noetica 03:25, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, Noetica. You're right, some of the quote marks are functional, but I think there's a way of formatting the list without using quote marks as the default, as it were. I'll think it through and put an example below for your consideration. BTW, I found this article through a link on the BBC website for the Reith Lectures, which were presented this year by Daniel Barenboim. Tony 06:45, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
That'll be great, Tony. We'll work together on this anyway, yes? (I waited for comment on that consecutives business, but there was not much response, really. I might propose something more concrete, simple, and manageable there, shortly.) As for Barenboim (um, what's the article, and where is it?), I have heard the first of the lectures, abd just a fragment of the second. I'll catch up with them all, I've decided. Delighted with what I've heard so far. Let's talk elsewhere about those matters, sometime. – Noetica 08:12, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Here's the start of "A" as is, and below it my suggested new formatting, which is mostly possible using global search and replace on Word.

  • My reasoning for changing the italic to bold is that italic is slightly harder read, and there's tension between italic used for foreign and for English words.
  • I've removed all quotes, except where they're necessary to avoid amiguity.
  • I suggest that words listed here be bolded when they appear in the definitions of other words.
  • I've removed "or to be consistent.
  • I've removed the stop after "Ger" and "Fr" because I'm a punctuation minimalist, but if people don't like it, I'm fine if it's reinstated.
  • The definition of "arpeggio" is too long, IMV.

What do people think?

A

  • a, à (Fr.) – "at", "to", "by", "for", "in", "in the style of"
  • aber (Ger.) – "but"
  • a cappella – in the manner of chapel music, without instrumental accompaniment
  • accelerando – gradually increasing the tempo; "accelerating"
  • accentato – "with emphasis"
  • acciaccatura – "crushing": a very fast grace note that is "crushed" against the note that follows and takes up no value in the measure
  • accompagnato – "accompanied": the accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will
  • adagietto – "rather slow"
  • adagio – "slow"
  • adagissimo – "very slow"
  • ad libitum (commonly ad lib) – the speed and manner are left to the performer
  • affettuoso – "tenderly"
  • affrettando – "hurrying", pressing onwards
  • agile – "swiftly"
  • agitato – "agitated"
  • al, alla – "to the", "in the manner of" (al before masculine nouns, alla before feminine)
  • alla breve – two minim (half-note) beats to a bar, rather than four crotchet (quarter-note) beats
  • alla marcia – "in the style of a march"
  • allargando – "broadening", "getting a little slower"
  • allegretto – "a little lively", or "moderately fast"
  • allegro – "lively", or "fast"
  • als (Ger.) – "than"
  • altissimo – "very high"
  • amabile – "amiable", "pleasant"
  • amoroso – "loving"
  • andante – "moderate tempo" just this side of slow, at a walking pace
  • andantino – slightly faster than andante (but earlier it sometimes used to mean slightly slower than andante)
  • animato – "animated", "lively"
  • antiphon – a liturgical or other composition consisting of choral responses, sometimes between two choirs; a passage of this nature forming part of another composition
  • apaisé (Fr.) – "calmed"
  • a piacere – "at pleasure"; Used to indicate that the performer does not have to follow the rhythm strictly
  • appassionato – "passionately"
  • appoggiatura – "leaning": a grace note that "leans" on the following note, taking up some of its value in the measure
  • a prima vista – playing something at first sight of the sheet music
  • arietta – a short aria
  • arioso – literally "airy"; in the manner of an aria; melodious
  • arpeggio – literally, like a harp. Used to indicate that the notes of a certain chord are to be played quickly one after another (usually from lowest to highest) instead of at the same moment. In piano music this is sometimes a solution in playing a wide-ranging chord whose notes cannot be played otherwise. Music generated by the limited hardware of video game computers uses a similar technique to create a chord from one tone generator. Arpeggios (or arpeggi) are also accompaniment patterns. See also broken chord in this list.


A

  • a, à (Fr) – at, to, by, for, in, in the style of
  • aber (Ger) – but
  • a cappella – in the manner of chapel music, without instrumental accompaniment
  • accelerando – gradually increasing the tempo; accelerating
  • accentato – with emphasis
  • acciaccatura – crushing: a very fast grace note that is "crushed" against the note that follows and takes up no value in the measure
  • accompagnato – accompanied, i.e., the accompaniment must follow the soloist, who may speed up or slow down at will
  • adagietto – rather slow
  • adagio – slow
  • adagissimo – very slow
  • ad libitum (commonly ad lib) – the speed and manner are left to the performer
  • affettuoso – tenderly
  • affrettando – hurrying, pressing onwards
  • agile – swiftly
  • agitato – agitated
  • al, alla – to the, in the manner of (al before masculine nouns, alla before feminine)
  • alla breve – two minim (half-note) beats to a bar, rather than four crotchet (quarter-note) beats
  • alla marcia – in the style of a march
  • allargando – broadening, becoming a little slower
  • allegretto – a little lively, moderately fast
  • allegro – lively, fast
  • als (Ger) – than
  • altissimo – very high
  • amabile – amiable, pleasant
  • amoroso – loving
  • andante – moderate tempo just this side of slow, at a walking pace
  • andantino – slightly faster than andante (but earlier it sometimes used to mean slightly slower than andante)
  • animato – animated, lively
  • antiphon – a liturgical or other composition consisting of choral responses, sometimes between two choirs; a passage of this nature forming part of another composition
  • apaisé (Fr) – calmed
  • a piacere – at pleasure; i.e., the performer need not follow the rhythm strictly
  • appassionato – passionately
  • appoggiatura – a grace note that leans on the following note, taking up some of its value in the measure
  • a prima vista – playing something at first sight of the sheet music
  • arietta – a short aria
  • arioso – literally airy; in the manner of an aria; melodious
  • arpeggio – literally "like a harp"; indicates that the notes of a certain chord are to be played quickly one after another (usually ascending) instead of simultaneously. In music for piano, this is sometimes a solution in playing a wide-ranging chord whose notes cannot be played otherwise. Music generated by the limited hardware of video game computers uses a similar technique to create a chord from one tone generator. Arpeggios (or arpeggi) are also accompaniment patterns. See also broken chord in this list.

[edit] Comment on Tony's proposal

Tony, I do like the sample that you have provided of the proposed "new look" for the list. I suggest you just go ahead, with a Word global search-and-replace on the whole thing. I'll then step in, if you like, and sift through the entire list, finding special cases that need quotes restored, or other systematic interventions. All fairly uncontroversial, I think. (Thanks for the link for the Reid lectures. Useful.) – Noetica 12:24, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Done. I'm wondering about "literally" and "lit.".
    • Consistent usage would be better; sometimes abbreviated, sometimes spelt out, usually absent where only a direct translation is provided (which is ncomfortably inconsistent—sometimes it's the default, sometimes not).
    • My dictionary casts doubt on whether this is the right term.
    • Can it be removed, so that where a direct translation of a foreign word is provided, this appears first (unmarked), followed by a semicolon followed by additional informaiton. Would this work (possibly with a note to this effect at the top?) Tony 13:02, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
Fine work, Tony! I've been moved to modify the introductory paragraph, given that the article now looks so much better. See what you think of that. I'll go through the whole thing (probably this coming weekend), tweaking bits and pieces as promised. I like "literally", myself. No need to burden the reader with abbreviation of fairly infrequent words; and by a stretch of the pedantic imagination "lit." may be thought ambiguous. I'll think about your alternative suggestion, but I'm inclined simply to use the full form "literally" where I find a need for it. This can always be changed globally later. By the way, which dictionary casts doubt on whether it's the right term? It seems near enough to me. SOED has this:
In a literal manner, in the literal sense; so as to represent the very words of the original; so as to depict or describe the thing realistically; (emphasizing the use of a word or phrase) without metaphor, exaggeration, distortion, or allusion, colloq. with some exaggeration etc., emphatically.
– Noetica 01:24, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
I'm glad you like it, Noetica. You're right about "literally"; I was lazy and just looked up the adverb on my desktop encarta dictionary (= in a literal manner or sense; exactly). But they're much more forthcoming on the adjective:

1 taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory: dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread. • free from exaggeration or distortion : you shouldn't take this as a literal record of events. • informal absolute (used to emphasize that a strong expression is deliberately chosen to convey one's feelings): fifteen years of literal hell. 2 (of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text. • (of a visual representation) exactly copied; realistic as opposed to abstract or impressionistic. 3 (also literal-minded) (of a person or performance) lacking imagination; prosaic. 4 of, in, or expressed by a letter or the letters of the alphabet: literal mnemo.

It's Meaning 2 here, of course.

But I wonder whether we need it at all. To use "literally" consistently, it would have to appear a lot more. Looking up here, I see:

a piacere – at pleasure; i.e., the performer need not follow the rhythm strictly

where "at pleasure" is the literal translation, and the rest is an explicit description of the way in which the term might influence a performance.

This works, at least for me, without the addition of "literally".

Perhaps there are three types of text that may appear in the definitions, although not all may appear in each entry: (1) a literal translation, (2) an elaboration of this, and (3) a description of the effect of the word on a performance. May I suggest that they appear in that order, separated by semicolons and, for the boundary between (2) and (3), and "i.e.," as well? Tony 01:59, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, I've worked through the whole article, copyediting and regularising according to the points made above. Tony, I adopted a version of your suggestion and got rid of all instances of "lit." and "literally", using semicolons and "i.e.," instead. Where it would have been awkward if I had conformed rigorously to the pattern, I improvised a little. I think it's all better now, but no doubt a little tweaking is still in order. – Noetica 13:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
Looks excellent at a glance. We should all be grateful to you! Will have a good look later. Tony 13:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] medley?

Anyone wanna write an article on Medley (music)? Tks --Ling.Nut 22:23, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External link

Would you all be offended, if I put an external link here to a website that has a multilingual music glossary? A website with a music glossary with 1.200 Italian musical terms explained in English, German, French and Dutch? The glossary is built on a database. Not all terms are visible in the alphabetic list (to protect it from being copied), but if people search for a term it is compared with all the exact terms and the possible typos. Take a look yourself: http://www.rowy.net/ Rowy 10.27, 18 September 2006 (GMT+01:00)

[edit] Rit. and Smorzando

Noetica write in edit comments:

Restored "rit." as an abbreviation for "ritenuto", which is well attested (e.g. at www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory5.htm) ... and smorzando, despite its sound in English, does not mean "smothered" (a reference would be needed for that claim).

"Rit.", according to the reference you gave, is short for both ritardando and ritenuto. The Oxford American also gives it as an abbreviation for both (with "ritardando" listed first). However, many other sources give it as an abbreviation for ritardando only: VT music dictionary, Merriam-Webster, The American Heritage 4th. (Anyone have a Grove's handy?) I'll edit the page to reflect the confusion over meaning, but ritardando is the primary meaning.

Smorzando literally means "extinguishing" (Oxford Am), "dampening" (Systran and here), or "absorbing or cushioning" (Freedict). "Smothering" was basically within this range of meanings. The explanation "decreasing in both speed and volume" is far too specific; the marking is a subjective affectation, and not just shorthand for "rit. e dimin." I'll edit to use "dampening / extinguishing."

Harvard Dictionary of Music gives rit. as abbr. for ritardando only, but says that ritardando and rallentando are synonyms, whereas "ritenuto properly calls for immediate reduction of speed." —Wahoofive (talk) 19:23, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
While it may be that "rit." abbreviates "ritenuto" more often than "ritardando" (and I agree that it abbreviates both), we have to be descriptive and not prescriptive. I'm glad that the article achieves this. As for "smorzando", it is from the verb "smorzare", which even in standard Italian has a range of secondary meanings; but its primary meaning is given by its etymology, and is "to die away" (ultimately connected with "morto" [dead], through "ammorzare", by a substitution of the prefix). Originally, I believe, "smorzando" did not involve any change in tempo, but only a diminuendo all the way to silence (which makes sense given the primary meaning just discussed). If this is so, it may be a good idea to note it as the original meaning in the article, since the difference would certainly be relevant in the interpretation of earlier music. I am away from my many books on these matters for a while; but when I get back to them I'll review the situation. – Noetica 22:18, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
With regard to the abbreviation rit., we now have one website which says it's both and three reputable dictionaries which say it's only ritardando). Wikipedia policies allow us to evaluate the reliability of sources; don't give us this "descriptive not prescriptive" baloney. One website doth not a credible alternative make. —Wahoofive (talk) 20:12, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
Wahoofive, before you wax entirely emotive (with ill-founded talk of "baloney") you write: "we now have one website which says it's both and three reputable dictionaries which say it's only ritardando." In fact, however, so far in the notes to the article we have three sources citing rit. for ritenuto, and two of those are unquestionably "reputable dictionaries" (from Collins and Oxford). As I have said, I am away from my books for a while; but I'm damn sure that when I get to them I can find more testimony for rit. abbreviating ritenuto. Why bother, though? Why would we want to agonise over this matter? Clearly a good number of sources record that rit. is used to stand for both, and that is sufficient. We are trying to serve the needs of users; in this case, a proportion of them would be looking for the intended meaning of rit. in a score. Sometimes the meaning is ritenuto. I don't like that fact, and that uncertainty in usage, any more than you do. But unfortunately it remains a fact. – Noetica 22:16, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
Please keep it civil, friends.

Re "smorz:" again, etymology is not current meaning. "Wisdom" comes from the same Indo-European root as "vision," but the etymological meaning of sight is now lost -- a blind man can be "wise." Similarly, I checked several Italian-English dictionaries, and none gave "dying" translations; all were "extinguish," "dampen," "cushion." It doesn't matter, though; I like the current state of the page.

Re "rit:" I've been taking a poll of fellow musicians on "rit," and all immediately identified it as "ritardando" without prompting. All were surprised that somebody would think it stands for "ritenuto." "Ritardando" is the primary meaning; obviously, however, folk consensus does not supersede sources. I like the page as is: it reflects the confusion, but identifies "ritardando" as the primary option. I would consider editing the page only if a more authoritative source (e.g. Grove's) gives some insight into the question.

Not to change the page, but by way of discussion: Noetica: can you think of an example of a score where a composer intends "ritenuto" when writing "rit."? I always write "riten." !melquiades 17:30, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

!melquiades, I will readily agree that etymology is not always current meaning. Two things to point out, though:
  • In Italian the original core meaning of smorzando, expressed in the -morz- element, is certainly obvious and prominent, so it differs radically from the case of wisdom that you cite. Furthermore, since this -morz- element is so obvious in Italian, it is not entirely surprising that it is often taken for granted (however ill-advised this might be, in a dictionary), and that therefore many dictionaries dwell instead on the applied and figurative senses of the term. In the context of this article, however, giving the core meaning is useful and informative.
  • A decision was made for this article that the primary meaning in the language would be given first, followed by meanings specific to the application as a musical term. In this case, there are many ways of expressing those applied meanings. I don't think that smothered is a good choice, among the many available. I think that choosing it is unduly influenced by a chance similarity of the words in the two languages.
As for your poll concerning rit., that seems like a useful exercise. But I note that you are in Minneapolis, and this may bias things. The sources that have it abbreviating both ritardando and ritenuto are predominantly British. (I can now add to these The Penguin Companion to Music, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary.) By the way, it would be interesting to do a poll this way: ask the single question "What abbreviations are used for ritenuto?".
I note that you are careful and evenhanded on several fronts, !melquiades. We have to meet the needs of users, so we must give proper respect to original meanings, current popular meanings, and even supposedly "mistaken" meanings, if they will be encountered in scores or elsewhere. At present, as I have said earlier, I am away from my resources. I don't know which composers, or which writers on music, have used rit. for ritenuto. But the mere fact that several recognised authorities allow this justifies our recording things as we now do. Two final observations: Grove's makes enough mistakes for us not to take it as giving the last word – on anything! And since scores cross linguistic boundaries, we need to respect the deliverances of reference works in other languages than English.
I am now making a small edit for smorzando, since it now seems to me that it always involves a diminuendo, but not always a rallentando. – Noetica 01:08, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
Agreed on the principle of giving the primary meaning in the language first. I'm just not sure that "dying" is actually within the primary meaning in Italian, simply because none of the dictionaries I checked gave it as a meaning. (NB: I'm not trying to defend "smothered" either, which though not entirely off, I grant is too much influenced by the false cognate.) The true meaning seems to be "extinguishing" or "dampening," and I'm not entirely comfortable with including "dying." Yes, the Latin "mors / mort" root is prominent in "smorzando" -- but it is also prominent in, for example, "mortified," a state one can be in without being even slightly dead.
I do not trust Grove's word absolutely either, but I do think it is more authoritative on musical questions than a general-purpose dictionary.
I suspect that if we did serious research on the rit / ritardando / ritenuto question, we would find that most musicians (1) have never really thought about it, and (2) do not even agree on what the distinction between ritardando and ritenuto is, much less how they're abbreviated! !melquiades 08:24, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
Yes, !melquiades. I agree about a lot of that. Now, I am still away from my beloved books. But the two small Italian-English dictionaries that I do have to hand both give die away as the meaning of smorzare when it is specifically applied to sounds. (These are the Collins Pocket Dictionary and the Oxford Minidictionary.) Neither gives smorzando, exactly, though this would be generally understood as straightforwardly formed from smorzare. Note that a larger Italian dictionary might give smorzando as a separate entry, but treat it as applying specifically to music; and in that case music-specific matters would be prominent in the definition, with anything to do with dying already treated in the entry for smorzare, including the implicit association through the element -morz-. Note also, by the way, that this element is close to the main word for dead in Italian (morto), while the mort- element in English is not cognate with our main word dead, so we should not be surprised if some English speakers fail to hear anything to do with dying in mortified. (I see, incidentally, that the huge and exhaustive French dictionary TLFI gives for smorzando only the sense en diminuant progressivement ["getting progressively softer"], lending support to my claim about the primary intention of the term in music.) Finally, I do accept that what I call secondary meanings (dimming, extinguishing, etc.) are present even in standard Italian smorzare, so I am happy with your recent edit that allows for this.
Turning to rit., I agree with you about most musicians! I note also that German Wikipedia has rit. abbreviating ritenuto, and not ritardando. How about that! – Noetica 12:24, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
If we have some Italian-English dictionaries giving "dying" for smorzare, I am quite satisfied with that. My concern was that the meaning was only etymological, and not current. Etymology is secondary to current usage in establishing definitions.
Say, do you think "deadening" would be preferable to "dying" as a translation? Because we haven't beaten this dead horse enough.... !melquiades 18:45, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

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[edit] Staccato: short and sharp, or only short?

The current article says that staccato is "an indication to play with a sharp attack, and briefly." I believe the "sharp attack" part of this is incorrect: staccato can be very light, with very little attack. A staccato dot accompanied by an accent mark would indicate a sharp attack. Staccato, however, does not inherently mean accented. I am editing the article to reflect this, but I want to throw it out for discussion in case others disagree. !melquiades 18:58, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps it depends on what instrument is playing it. —Wahoofive (talk) 15:28, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eingang/Eingänge

Could someone more knowledgeable define this? I think its German for "entrance" and I think its meant to be short cadenza-like passages for a soloist between sections of a concerto (like a cadenza but much shorter). This is just an educated guess though. Thanks. DavidRF (talk) 04:13, 6 December 2007 (UTC)