Musical Terms with Definitions for National Scholastic Ovation Performer
Alla Breve - In cut-time; two beats per measure
Alla Marcia - In the style of a march
Allegro Moderato - A moderately fast tempo, slightly slower than allegro (BPM/116-120)
Amore - Love; con amore: with love, tenderly
Andante Moderato - A moderately walking pace tempo, faster than andante (BPM/92-112)
Antiphonal - A style of composition in which two sections of singers or instrumentalists exchange sections or music one after the other; typically, the performers are on different sides of a performance venue.
Appassionato - Intensely, passionately
Arioso - Airy, or like an air; melodious
Assai - Very
Bebop - A style popular in the 1940's and 50's which features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation
Ben - Well; in ben marcato (“well marked”)
Breath Mark - A symbol used in musical notation that directs the performer of the music passage to take a breath (for wind instruments and vocalists) or to make a slight pause
Brio - Vigor; usually in con brio; with spirit and vigor
Brillante - Brilliantly, with sparkle. Play in a showy and spirited style.
Caesura - A mark used to indicate a sudden stop or pause in the music. It is sometimes called “railroad tracks” because of the way it looks.
Canon (Round) - Musical composition originally for voices (adopted in instrumental parts) that sing or play the same music starting at different times. A round is a type of canon, but in a round each voice, when it finishes, can start at the beginning again so that the piece can go “round and round.”
Cantabile - In a singing style
Cantata - A composition in several movements, written for chorus, soloists, and orchestra. Traditionally, these are religious works.
Con - With
Countermelody - A secondary melodic idea that accompanies and opposes a main thematic idea
Counterpoint - A musical composition that employs the use of two or more melodies at the same time
Dal Segno - From the sign
Divisi (div.) - Divided (i.e. in a part in which several musicians normally play exactly the same notes they are instead to split playing of the written simultaneous notes among themselves); the return from divisi is marked unisono or unison
Embouchure - The use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument
Fortepiano - (fp) Dynamic mark denoting loud, then immediately soft
Grand Pause [G.P.] - Indicates to the performers that the entire ensemble has a rest of indeterminate length, often as a dramatic effect during a loud section
Glissando - To slide in pitch from note to note
Homophonic Texture: 1) a main melody supported by chords; 2) a texture in which voices on different pitches sing the same words simultaneously (example - a Hymn)
Improvisation - The “on-the-spot” creation of music while it is being performed. Made popular in the jazz performance style.
Larghetto - A rather slow and broad tempo, slightly faster than largo (BPM/60-66)
Lento - A slow tempo (BPM/45-60)
Liturgical Music - Music (or chants or songs) originated as a part of religious ceremony.
Marcia - A march; alla marcia means in the manner of a march
Melismatic - Several notes to be sung to one syllable of text
Moderato - A moderately paced tempo, faster than andantino (BPM/108-120)
Motet - An unaccompanied choral composition based on a sacred Latin text, it was the first example of contrapuntal composition technique
Musical Texture - How the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition, thus determining the overall quality of the sound in a musical composition
Oratorio - Is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias.
Pedal (or Ped) - In piano scores, this instructs the player to press the damper pedal to sustain the note or chord being played
Pianissimo - (pp) Dynamic mark denoting "very soft"
Polyphonic Texture - When two or more independent melodic lines are sounding at the same time
Prestissimo - A extremely fast tempo, faster than presto (BPM/200 - and above)
Rhapsody - A one-movement piece of music that explores multiple free-flowing sections that do not necessarily relate to one another
Rondo - A musical form (or song structure) consisting of multiple repeating sections
Run - A rapid series of ascending or descending musical notes which are closely spaced in pitch forming a scale, arpeggio, or such pattern
Senza - Without
Senza Misura - Without measures
Smorzando - Extinguishing or damping; usually interpreted as a drop in dynamics, and very often in tempo as well
Tremolo - An effect musicians can put on a sustained note to create a trembling sound. Usually, it takes shape in the form of repeating the same note very quickly.
Vivacissimo - A very fast tempo, faster than vivace (BPM/172-176)