Cathy's Music Dictionary for Singers - Post 2 - D Through L
Here's Post #2. Hope you're enjoying it. Please send me more suggestions or corrections, and check out my website, www.SingitForward.net
Post #3 coming right up!
da capo
Literally meaning, from the head or
the beginning. It is common to see this,
rather than a Repeat Sign, for arrangement purposes. It allows a bit of “shorthand” so that the
composer doesn’t have to re-write out large portions of the music but can
instead create a “map” for performers to follow.
Dal Segno
(D.S.)
This means, literally, from the sign
(
)
but is not, normally, seen by itself. It
is more of a “qualifier” as has been seen in examples above.
)
but is not, normally, seen by itself. It
is more of a “qualifier” as has been seen in examples above.
Dal Segno al Coda (D.S. al Coda)
Building on the term or qualifier
above, this phrase means to play and/or sing from the Sign to the Coda and
out.
Dal Segno al Fine (D.S. al Fine)
Another phrase built from the
original term, Dal Segno, Dal Segno al Fine means to play and/or sing from the
Sign (
),
all the way through to the end.
),
all the way through to the end.
Decelerando
This is the opposite of accelerando. It means to slow down or decelerate. It might also be designated with either ritardando or rallentando.
Decrescendo (decresc.)
This means to get quieter or
diminish in volume. It is synonymous
with Diminuendo.
Diminuendo,
dim.
This is essentially, exactly the
same thing as Decrescendo above. It
means to gradually get softer or to a lower volume.
dolce
Sweetly. You might not think of this as a musical term
but believe me, it is very possible to have a song that may “appear” to be a
different kind of style or even that the lyrics would imply something totally
different. This term helps you understand
exactly how to interpret the song…sweetly and tenderly.
Dolente
This is another term, which will
definitively indicate how a piece of music is to be interpreted. In this case, Dolente means to sing or play
the piece sadly or mournfully, which is to say to imbue your performance with a
sense of sadness, pain, longing, and sorrow.
Dotted Note
A note that has a dot placed to the
right of the notehead, indicating that the duration of the note should be
increased by half again its original duration.
A Dotted Half Note lasts 3 beats; a Dotted Quarter Note lasts 1 ½ beats.
Double Bar Line
A set of two vertical lines drawn
perpendicularly through the staff to indicate the end of one section and the
beginning of another in a larger composition.
A double bar with a thin bar followed by a heavy line is known as a
final barline and indicates the end of the composition.
duet
A
composition performed, played, and/or sung by two musicians.
This is not a specific term you will
SEE in music; it speaks to the level of loudness or softness within a piece of
music.
An electronic device, which can be
used to alter sound quality or temper qualities in the electronic signal from a
microphone, a musical instrument or instruments, or for a recording. These are separate units but they can be used
in conjunction with software programs; other rack-mounted devices; other pedals
and effects; other instruments and/or their effects, as well as amplifiers,
mixers, or instruments.
Eighth Note
A note having the time duration of
one eighth of the time duration of a Whole Note; two Eighth Notes equal the
duration of a Quarter Note.
Encore
This word means “again”, so when a
performer hears, “Encore!” or is asked to do an encore, he or she has,
obviously, pleased the audience enough that they want more, which, of course,
is GREAT!
Energico
The term used to instruct that a
piece of music be played and/or sung in a strong, energetic, even forceful
manner.
engineer
This should be a person with
additional, even professional knowledge in audio engineering, who manages,
supervises, and maintains the soundboard and/or heads the audio technical crew,
especially for live performances. In a
recording studio environment, the engineer is again a professional or other
very knowledgeable individual who sets up, runs, and oversees every technical
aspect of a recording session from setting microphones and baffles, to setting
levels on instruments and vocals, as well as the actual recording and, at
least, rough mixing of all the tracks.
Espressivo
This term indicates to a performer
that he or she should play and/or sing the piece of music in an expressive,
emotional, dramatic way. Hopefully, this
is obvious even without the express direction but this term indicates the
composer’s specific intention, and therefore, its ultimate importance.
This is a man or boy’s “head”
voice. Honestly, a boy’s voice is
usually so high, he doesn’t really have a “head” voice. However, as a man, this voice sounds very
different from the chest voice tones, at least until a voice teacher has taught
him how to smooth out his “break”.
Throughout the 1970s, “The BeeGees’” sound was typified by the use of
their falsetto voices. This sound is,
obviously, much higher than the “normal” male voice.
feedback
The scream, squeal, screech sound
created when a microphone is held in front of an active speaker or when a
guitar pickup gets too close to its amplifier.
This most unpleasant noise is almost always strenuously avoided,
although with some heavy metal or shred guitar playing, feedback may be incorporated
on purpose. Feedback is actually created
by a continuous, resonance loop that develops The resonance loop is created
when a microphone or guitar pickup is placed close to a highly amplified
speaker, often creating a howling or screeching sound. The microphone picks up
a signal, which is amplified and fed back into the system, which is then picked
up by the microphone again, and further amplified, and on and on. We’ve all been in the audience when feedback starts
and it can very quickly escalate out of control, if not stop right away. In most cases, musicians and sound engineers
seek to avoid feedback with microphones and acoustic instruments; with electric
guitar, especially in heavy metal and shred guitar playing it may be done on
purpose.
This is a very common articulation
marking that means there will be a pause beyond the normal duration of the
printed music. This is totally at the
performer discretion. This is often
referred to as a bird's eye because of the visual similarity it has with
a bird’s eye (
).
).
flat
This is the term given to a note,
which is 1 half-step to the left or below another note, its flat (♭). Unfortunately, this term can also be
appropriate to describe a singer or a musician who is performing a note where
the intonation is an eighth to a quarter of a step too low. Actually, there have even been cases where
the intonation was worse than that. Ear
training is extremely important so that a musician or singer can hear
accurately where his or her pitch center lies, and be able to correct it if it
falls flat or goes sharp at any point.
Forte (f)
In Italian, this term means “Strong”
and that is accurate but to be more specific, in music, Forte means to play or
sing Loudly.
Fortissimo (ff)
Very loud! One of my life mottos is, “When in doubt,
sing louder!” That means
Fortissimo! Yes, there is even louder
than that…Fortississimo (fff), which is as loud as possible.
Fry Register
This is the term for the lowest
human vocal register. Essentially, it is
the sound we make when we “sigh” or grunt.
Technically, the vocal folds are closed but slack, so that when air
passes through them, they produce a rattling or crackling vibration. It is possible to produce incredibly low
sounds and even to scream using this register.
Furioso
You can probably figure this one
out. It means to play or sing furiously,
as if you are angry, very passionate.
You gotta love the Italians!
gig
This is another one of those slang
terms that you won’t find in a “formal” music dictionary but every musician
knows. This is what you call a paying
musical job or engagement at a specific venue.
This could be the reception for a wedding at some fancy ballroom for a
night, or a 5-6 night-a-week job at a club with your band for several
months. Both are gigs and hopefully,
both will help pay your bills.
Gioioso
This is
pronounced Joy-yoh-so, and it means to play or sing with joy and happiness.
My kids always loved this one! This term is a continuous slide from one end
of an instrument, whether a piano or a saxophone or a voice, moving one note at
a time all the way up to the top of that instrument’s range. A true
glissando involves that entire range.
An effective glissando
involves limited portions.
Grandioso
This term means to play or sing in a
grand, broad, magnificent style – full, lush instrumentation or rounded, full
vocal tones.
Grave
This term is Italian but if you look
at the word as if it were English, grave, you will have a pretty good idea how
to play or sing a piece of music marked with this notation. It means to play or sing very slowly
(Metronome 25-45).
Half Step
This term is the smallest distance
in music; it is the smallest pitch distance between two notes. Another name for a half step is a
semi-tone. An example of this would be C
to C# or B down to Bb.
This is exactly what it says it
is. What catches the fish? Okay, specifically, I guess it’s the
fisherman and the bait but the “hook” is quite literally what “hooks” the fish. So it is with a piece of music. In commercial, popular music, the “hook” is
that line or short group of lines that are especially memorable and “catchy”
for the listener, drawing them to be “caught” by the song, and return again and
again. In Michael Jackson’s song “Beat
it!”, guess what the hook was? BEAT
IT! It is almost impossible to get that
song out of your mind once it gets in; you continue to hear it over and
over. The hook really gets you hooked!
intro
This is the introduction. Just as in every other application of an
introduction, this “intro” comes before all the other parts of the piece of
music; it gives us a preview of melodies and chord structure in the song
itself; and it leads us to the beginning of the vocals.
largo
This is a very slow tempo, even
slower than Adagio. MOST of the time in popular music, you
will get a Metronome count and as performers, we all need to learn to adhere to
specific tempo markings.
Lay Out
This is another one of our slang
friends and it means to stop playing for a “marked” or indicated period of
time. This could be because another
instrument is taking a solo or because the group leader is changing the
atmosphere to one, which is more intimate and quiet. A singer might “lay out” during instrumental
breaks or as the instrumentalists are introduced.
lead (pronounced "leed") bass
This is a style of playing bass that
focuses on bass soloing and an emphasis on playing melodies on the bass, rather
than simply using the instrument in its traditionally foundational tonal
role. This form is featured in the band
“Iron Maiden”.
Lead Guitar or Lead Line
The “lead” guitar, as opposed to the
Rhythm guitarist, plays, primarily, fills, runs, solos, flourishes, and
improvisations. This guitarist tends to
be much “showier” than the Rhythm guitarist.
The “lead line” is, generally, a “step-out” solo that may or may not be
duplicated each time the piece is performed.
The line will specifically focus on the virtuosity of the player and
intensify interest and energy for the song.
Most big rock bands have great lead guitarists who blow amazing guitar
solos! Also, evidently in Britain, the
term “lead” refers to a patch cable used to connect an electric guitar to its
amplifier.
leading tone
The last or seventh note of a scale,
which has a powerful “pull" upwards towards the eighth note or tonic or
“home” note of the scale. This “pull” creates a need to “resolve”. If you were to play the first seven notes of
a Major scale and stop, you would understand exactly what I’m talking about;
you would feel unsettled about stopping.
Something would not feel right; you would feel the need to “resolve” the
situation. This resolution is
accomplished by simply finishing the scale, adding that one final note and
landing back “home”. In this case, the
seventh tone has “led” you to “resolve” the conundrum and you have satisfied
this need by completing the scale.
This means smooth, flowing, and
connected. I explain this to my students
like a popcorn string you might have made as a child. Just as you are singing or playing multiple
notes, there are multiple kernels of popcorn.
However, in the case of the popcorn, it is “connected” when a needle
draws string through it, making it into one long chain. Breath connects a legato phrase in
music. To play a piece in the legato
style, they must connect them almost physically. To sing a piece in this way, however, the
singer must time his or her inhale for just before the beginning of a
particular phrase, and then he or she must control their exhale throughout the
phrase, connecting each word, as if on a string.
Leggiero
This term means to play or sing
lightly, with a light touch. You NEVER
want an audience to “see you sweat” but for this particular mood marking, you
want to be especially at ease or relaxed in your attack and approach.
Lentando
This is a
combination term. Not only do you play
or sing softer; you play or sing gradually, more slowly
lento
Slowly
Post #3 coming right up!
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