Glossary of music terminology

A variety of musical terms are encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Most of the other terms are taken from French and German, indicated by Fr. and Ger., respectively.

Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. The list can never be complete: some terms are common, and others are used only occasionally, and new ones are coined from time to time. Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here.

0–9

1′

"sifflet" or one foot organ stop

I

usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the highest-pitched, thinnest string

1+3⁄5′

Tierce organ stop

2′

two feet – pipe organ indication; see Organ stop § Pitch and length

2+2⁄3′

pipe organ stop for the twelfth interval

II

usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the second highest string; also used with the Cymbal stop on a pipe organ with the II indicating two ranks of pipes combined to make this stop's sound

III

usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the third-highest string; also used with the Scharf or Mixtur stop on a pipe organ with the III indicating three ranks of pipes

4′

four feet – pipe organ rank that speaks one octave higher than 8′

IV

usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the lowest-pitched, thickest string, i.e. the fourth-highest string

IV–VI

mixture stop on pipe organ; the Roman numeral indicates how many ranks of pipes the stop includes

8′

eight-foot pipe – pipe organ indication for a stop sounding at concert pitch and where the lowest note's pipe is about 8 feet long

808s′

Originally a classic Roland drum machine, the term now almost exclusively refers to the deep, synthetic sub-bass kick drum

16′

sixteen-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for one octave below 8′ where the lowest note's pipe is about 16 feet long

32′

thirty-two-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for two octaves below 8′ where the lowest note's pipe is about 32 feet long; also called sub-bass

64′

sixty-four-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for three octaves below 8′ where the lowest note's pipe is about 64 feet long (only a few organs in the world have this low of a pitch)

A

a or à (Fr.)

at, to, by, for, in

à la (Fr.)

in the style of...