misical dictionary
 A-C
Absolute - Absolute music. Music which is inspired
by itself rather than extramusical implications such as the stories
legends of "program" music.
Accelerando, accel - Gradually faster.
Accent - > placed above a note to indicate stress or
emphasis.
Accidental - A sharp, flat, or natural not included in
the given key.
Accompaniment - A vocal or instrument part that supports
or is background for a solo part.
Adagio - Slow; slower than andante, faster than largo.
Addolorato - Sorrowfully.
Ad libitum, ad lib - A term which permits the performer
to vary the tempo and/or to include or omit a vocal or instrumental
part. Synonymous with a piacere.
A due - Return to unison after divisi.
Affrettando - Hurrying.
Agilmente - Lively.
Agitato - Agitated; with excitement.
Al, all', alla, alle - To; used with
other words, e.g. al Fine (to the end).
Album - A full length recording. In pop music, it contains
a number of songs.
Al coda - "To the coda."
Aleatory, or aleatoric music - Chance music in which
the performers are free to perform their own material and/or their
own manner of presentation.
Al fine - To the end.
Alla breve -  Cut time; meter in
which there are two beats in each measure and a half note receives
one beat.
Allargando, allarg - Slowing of tempo, usually with increasing
volume; most frequently occurs toward the end of a piece.
Allegretto - Slower than allegro.
Allegro - Quick tempo; cheerful.
Al segno - Return to the sign, Dal segno.
Alteration - The raising or lowering of a note by means
of an accidental.
Alto clef - The C clef falling on the third line of the
staff. Most of the time is used by the viola. 
Ancora - Repeat.
Andante - Moderate tempo.
Andantino - Slightly faster than andante.
A niente - To nothing, e.g. to ppp.
Animato - Animated; lively.
A piacere - Freedom in performance. Synonymous with ad
libitum.
Appassionato - Impassioned.
Appoggiatura - A nonharmonic tone, usually a half or whole
step above the harmonic tone, which is performed on the beat and
then resolved.
Arabesque - A fanciful piano piece. Ornate passage varying
or accompanying a theme.
Arpeggio - A term used to describe the pitches of a chord
as they are sung or played one after the other, rather than simultaneously.
Arrache - Strong pizzicato.
Arrangement - An adaption of a composition.
Articulation - The degree to which notes are separated
or connected, such as staccato or legato.
A tempo- Return to the previous tempo.
Atonality - Lacking a tonal center.
Augmentation - Compositional technique in which a melodic
line is repeated in longer note values. The opposite of diminution.
Augmented - The term for a major or perfect interval which
has been enlarged by one half-step, e.g. c-g ,
(an augmented fifth,) or c-d , (an augmented
second). Also used for a triad with an augmented fifth, e.g. the
augmented tonic triad in C major, C+, c-e-g .
Baby grand - A small grand piano.
Balance - The harmonious adjustment of volume and timbre
between instruments or voices; it can be between players or vocalists
or electronically while recording or mixing.
Ballade - In the medieval period a form of trouvere music
and poetry. In later time, German poetry set as a through-composed
song.
Band - An instrumental ensemble, usually made up of wind
and percussion instruments and no string instruments.
Bar line - The vertical line placed on the staff to divide
the music into measures.
Baroque - The period 1600-1750.
Bass clef - The other name for the F clef.
Basso continuo, Continuo, Thorough-bass -
The Baroque practice in which the bass part if played by a viola
da gamba(cello) or bassoon while a keyboard instrument performed
the bass line and the indicated chords.
Baton - Conductor's stick.
Battuto - Beat, bar, or measure. A due or a tre battuta,
the musical rhythm in groups of two or three respectively.
Ben - Well. Used with other words, e.g. ben marcato, well
accented, emphasized.
Binary form - The term for describing a composition of
two sections. AB, each of which may be repeated.
Bis - Repeated twice. Encore!
Bitonality - The occurrence of two different tonalities
at the same time.
Bourree - A French dance from the 17th century in brisk
duple time starting with a pickup.
Brass family - Wind instruments made out of metal with
either a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece, such as trumpet, cornet,
bugle, Flugelhorn, trombone, tuba, baritone horn, euphonium, saxhorn,
and French horn.
Broken chord - Notes of a chord played in succession rather
than simultaneously. Arpeggio.
Cadence - A chordal or melodic progression which occurs
at the close of a phrase, section, or composition, giving a feeling
of repose; a temporary or permanent ending. The most frequently
used cadences are perfect, plagal, and deceptive.
Cadenza - a solo passage, often virtuosic, usually near
the end of a piece, either written by the composer or improvised
by the performer.
Caesura - A sudden silencing of the sound; a pause or break,
indicated by the following symbol: //
Calmo, calmato - Calm.
Cambia - A direction found in scores to change tuning or
instruments.
Camminando - Following easily and gently.
Canon - The strictest form of imitation, in which two or
more parts have the same melody but start at different points.
Canonic - A term used to describe a polyphonic style of
music in which all the parts have the same melody but which start
at different times.
Cantabile - In singing style.
Cantata - Baroque sacred or secular choral composition
containing solos, duets, and choruses, with orchestral or keyboard
accompaniment.
Carol - The term was derived from a medieval French word,
carole, a circle dance. In England it was first associated
with pagan songs celegrating the winter solstice. It then developed
into a song of praise and celebration, usually for Christmas.
C clef - A clef  usually centered
on the first line (soprano clef), third line (alto clef), fourth
line (tenor clef), or third space (vocal tenor clef) of the staff.
Wherever it is centered, that line or space becomes middle C.
Chance music - Aleatoric music.
Chorale - Hymn-like song, characterized by blocked chords.
Chord - A combination of three or more tones sounded simultaneously.
Chromatic - Ascending or descending by half steps.
Chromatic scale - A scale composed of 12 half steps.
Circle of fifths - The succession of keys or chords proceeding
by fifths.
Classical - Music conforming to certain form and structure.
Usually music composed during the period 1770-1825.
Clef - A symbol placed at the beginning of the staff to
indicate the pitch of the notes on the staff. The most
commonly used clefs in choral music are the G, or treble, clef
 and the F or bass clef  .
On the keyboard, all the notes above middle C are said to be in
the G clef; all the notes below middle C in the F clef.
Coda - Closing section of a composition. An added ending.
Col, coll', colla - With or "with the."
Common time - 4/4 meter.
Complete cadence - I-IV-V-I progression.
Composer - A person who creates (composes) music.
Con - With.
Con brio - With spirit; vigorously.
Con calore - With warmth.
Concert - A public performance of music.
Concert grand piano - The largest of the grand pianos,
usually about nine feet long.
Concertino - A short concerto. The group of soloists in
a concerto grosso.
Concert master - First chair violinist in an orchestra.
Concerto - A piece for a soloist and orchestra.
Concert pitch - The international tuning pitch -- currently
A 440 or 442. The pitch for non-transposing (C) instruments.
Conducting - The directing of a group of musicians.
Conductor - The person who directs a group of musicians.
Con intensita - With intensity.
Conjunct - Pitches on successive degrees of the scale;
opposite of disjunct.
Con moto - With motion.
Consonance - Intervallic relationships which produce sounds
of repose. Frequently associated with octave, third and sixth
intervals; however, fourths and fifths may be sounds of consonance,
as in both early and 20th-century music.
Consort - A 17th-century term for instrumental chamber
ensembles and for the compositions written for these ensembles.
Con spirito - With spirit.
Contra - The octave below normal.
Corda, corde - String.
Countermelody - A vocal part which contrasts with the principal
melody.
Counterpoint - The technique of combining single melodic
lines or parts of equal importance.
Crescendo -  Gradually louder.
Cue - Indication by the conductor or a spoke word or gesture
for a performer to make an entry. Small notes that indicate another
performer's part. Music occurrence in a film.
Cut time - 2/2 meter.
References
Leonard, Hal, Pocket Music Dictionary, Hal Leonard Publishing
Corporation, 1993.
Something to Sing About, G. Schirmer and Co., 1984.
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