Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about musical terms. Questions about symbols should use the "notation" tag.
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What scale is this (A, Bb, C#, D, E#, F#, G# )
To what scale would this group of notes correspond?
A, Bb, C#, D, E#, F#, G#
I tried searching online but did not have much luck.
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Please help me clarify this sentence about 'microtones' on Grove Music
The following sentence is from an article titled Microtone from Grove Music.
The harmonic question is differently settled, of course, when microtones are conceived not as additions to the equal-...
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What are "apparent octaves and unisons"?
In the workbook for "Harmony and Voice Leading" (5th edition), there is an exercise on page 14 for which I need to write an accompaniment.
As you can see in the instructions, octaves and ...
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Is there a word for when you scoop to the same note?
I'm a vocalist who's done different kinds of ensembles over the years, and I often have this instinct to scoop to (rearticulate? emphasize?) a repeated note if the other voices change to make a ...
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How do song credits work on Spotify?
I haven't been able to figure out whether this question is on-topic, hopefully it is.
I have recently been wondering about how credits are given to the people who contributed to a song. To be more ...
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What are popular songs with a philharmonic orchestra arrangement/accompaniment called?
I am trying to understand whether there is a name for this genre,
For example, Somewhere over the rainbow and many songs of Ray Charles like this Eleanor Rigby one. and like in this Barbra Streisand ...
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Should I use British or American note value terminology?
When writing in English for an international audience.
I'm not a native speaker of English myself, and I was wondering whether, say, crotchet and quaver are more generally recognized than quarter and ...
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What is the chord progression Gbm - E - Dbm - D called?
The roman numeral form doesn't seem to yeild any results when I search it up. Is this representation correct: i - VII - v - VI
Are there any popular songs that use this chord progression?
I got this ...
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Does this mode of voice have a name and a use?
I found when I was a child that if I attempt to sing a note in a particular part of my vocal range, I can produce a chord rather than the usual single note. I can even speak in this mode. It is ...
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Term for flute-like sound made by increasing volume after picking? [duplicate]
What's the term for the electric guitar technique that results in a smooth sound (like that of a wind instrument) by:
Decreasing the volume (usually to mute; typically with the pinky finger)
Striking ...
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How are pentatonic scale degrees listed? [duplicate]
I'm aware that the origin of the pentatonic scales probably preceded the diatonic scales, so does that mean that the designation of scale degrees for a pentatonic scale would be 1,2,3,4, and 5, or is ...
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What is the name for a chord played by notes introduced in sequence?
Is there a name for a chord that is introduced one note at a time?
You can hear an example in the first couple of seconds of "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here!" on Schoolhouse Rock:...
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What is it called when the chords contain the same notes but have a different root note of a chord and different chord name?
I know there are certain types of chords which are the Minor 7th, Major 6th, Minor 7th Flat 5 AKA Half Diminished 7th and Minor 6th chords. The Major 6th chord contains the exact same notes as the ...
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How might this chord, D-F-G-C in D dorian, be named?
I've been playing around with a progression alternating between
(roughly) D dorian and D mixolydian, roughly, with the left
hand chords starting with D-F-G-C and resolving to D-F♯-A-C:
It struck me ...
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Term for a musical section
I'm looking for the term for a a long, unique intro in a tune.
It was prevalent in the mid-20th century in musicals and the like.
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Is there any difference between a Toccata and an Etude for speed besides time period and instrumentation?
From what I can gather, Etudes written specifically for speed and Toccatas have a lot of similarities. They are both fast with lightly fingered passages and they both emphasize dexterity. The main ...
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Bass Guitar Nomenclature for Intermediate Players
My call for advice involves music nomenclature of intermediate-level bass players who can’t read sheet music. I am such a bass player, self-taught and want to take my playing to the next level. My ...
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Help understanding frequency ratios and string length
This music book I'm reading taught me about frequency ratios as the basis for scales, but it doesn't explain it well enough for me, so I'm trying to learn more about it on my own. I want to know how ...
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What comes after Locrian?
I've been playing around with octatonic and enneatonic (sp?) scales of 8 and 9 discrete notes (not including the octave, of course). For the modes, this leaves one or two missing terms for the 8th and ...
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Completing s 3/8 time signature [closed]
I am trying to figure out the incomplete rests. I think for the first bar line there will be the eighth rest. I am not too sure about the next one but I think it will be 2 * eighth rest. Any hints or ...
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Is there a name for the incomplete measure completing the anacrusis?
In a piece that starts with an anacrusis/pickup measure and ends, or ends a repeating section, with a compensating incomplete measure, is there a term for that final measure?
incomplete measure can ...
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Understanding terminology relating to the formula for the relationship between length of a string and its pitch
I am teaching mathematics, and I don't have any background in music. There is a cool example in the textbook that is related to the violin. There are a couple of technical words in that problem that I ...
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Is it accurate to say synths have timbre?
Of the more intuitive examples of timbre: the human voice, which to a large extent varies by physiology, resulting in a kind of uniqueness. Similarly, an identical note played on piano versus a cello ...
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What style is this rhythm?
I would like to know what to call the rhythmic style of the pattern below. (The notation is my own, so it may not be exactly the way it should be written.)
It has a Latin feel to it, but is also very ...
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What is the difference between the terms "tuning system" and "temperament"?
Are both the terms synonyms, or do they have different meanings?
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What is the term for assonance-like sounds, but with matching vowels on separate lines [closed]
I was watching a program talking about a Japanese rapper (don't know if this is common to many rappers, or features in English rap, though) who often uses one rhyming technique of matching vowel ...
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Where do Zeitler's scale names come from?
On Ian Ring's music theory website, a massive number of scales (1490) have "Zeitler" names.
Some names are common (like Mixolydian) but others (like Dydyllic) I cannot find any reference to.
...
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What's the technique called where a singer forcefully breaks their voice?
I'm sorry that I'm approaching this as a novice so I can't describe it in correct terminology. However; every time I hear this song, from the point heard in the below video ...
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Is there a word for being able to sing a song in a different key/pitch without practice?
Example: Say you randomly want to sing Toxic by Britney Spears out loud, but you sing it in a lower key or pitch(idk the terminology) you've never practiced the song this way, heck you're not even a ...
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What do I call this type of transition?
I'm a complete novice to composing and music theory, but part of what I'd like to do is acquire the vocabulary to describe subtle changes in sound, especially ones that evoke a distinct emotion.
For ...
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terminology for intervals within scales
Is a minor second half a semitone from the first note, or is it the actual second note played on the scale? For example, in a C minor scale, the starting note is C, and D is the second note one plays; ...
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My muscle memory is tied to my auditory sense: is there a name for the phenomemon?
When I play a simple melody on my guitar while I strum (to create the sound) I can quite easily determine where to put my frethand finger for the next note.
But if I do not create the sound, ...
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Is the length of a G.P. that has no fermata discretionary?
In mm. 342 and 382 of the last movement of his Piano Quartet n. 3, Op.26, Brahms writes G.P. over one measure's rest (with no fermata). Is the intention that this General Pause should last exactly one ...
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Theme vs. Motif: How are they differentiated, or are the terms interchangeable? [duplicate]
In an answer regarding musical themes, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is used to illustrate how themes can comprise material beyond the melodic. However, I typically hear "theme" used to refer ...
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What is the generalized terminology for continuous changes?
In some musical dimensions, termini and notation for continuous changes are common:
Melodic (pitch):
glissando, portamento, doit, fall
Dynamic (volume):
crescendo, diminuendo (alias decrescendo)
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Is it spelled "violincello" or "violoncello"?
I’m trying to understand the proper spelling of the full name of the cello. I’ve seen it both of these ways, violincello and violoncello.
I thought since the cello is part of the violin family it ...
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What word the combines both tabs and sheet music?
Wondering what word combines both Tabs and sheet music? I usually say Music Score. Is it correct?
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What is the term in music recording for a mistake that is intentionally left in?
The original fuzz bass effect, in "Don't Worry" by Robbins, for example, is one of these. Another example would be a click track being audible within the song; this I have also heard. "...
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In counterpoint, is there a name for when a single voice can be understood as multiple different voices?
In French Suite II, Air (mm. 3) it sounds like the upper voice can be separated into two parts: the upper part being Eb up to G, down to F; and the lower part being C down to Bb, down to Ab.
In ...
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What is meant by syllable "ES" in solfege? Possibly only in Turkish?
Sorry, half language, half music question
In this Bağlama video the author seems to refer to a note by name "ES". Here is the transcript taken from a comment by author:
<!-- language-all: ...
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Simile Mark on sheet music [closed]
On the sheet music I am playing, I have faced 3 simile Mark each on different bar continuously. Does it mean I should repeat 3 measures back ?
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What is the name of this rhythm? (embedded 4:3 polyrhythm)
What's the name of this rhythm? There's an embedded 4:3 polyrhythm, where the two voices will arrive together on beats 1 and 4 of each bar. It reminds me of a clave (2:3), but it's not.
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What kind of non-chord tone dissonance is this?
What is the correct term for this type of non-chord tone? I really like the sound of it and since I see it a lot I was wondering if an "official" name exists for it. It is not a suspension ...
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Is there a musical term for melodic density?
Is there a musical term for melodic density? By density i simply mean the amount of melodic (as opposed to harmonic) notes within a given time measure.
Example: 40 notes within a bar has higher ...
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What are these overlapping notes with different rhythms called in Music Theory?
On piano, when playing a long note followed by an overlapping shorter note or vice versa, what is this called? I know this is an extremely common thing in piano music, but I don't know what it's ...
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If I am going to dabble in the world of music, what aspect should I train more to build a solid base, and thus obtain better results(?) [closed]
Good morning, I think I summarized it pretty well in the question, however, I mean exactly that "push" that a beginner must have, something that avoids excessive stumbles in their learning, ...
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Is there a term or phrase to describe a tune that always stays in the same key but shifts modes throughout?
Teaching myself modes, I'm writing a short piece for string quartet that always holds to the same key, but starts out in locrian and ends in lydian, going through all the modes, brightening up and ...
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What's it called when you play the same exact melody with a different rhythm?
As an example, here is the original iconic melodic phrase that's used throughout the Trails Sky games:
https://youtube.com/embed/3GB-xej4GFc?start=66&end=85
But here in this next piece, the exact ...
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What is the difference between "primi toni" and "octavi toni"
In XVI century, there was a composer called Girolamo Cavazzoni. He wrote (amongst other pieces) a couple of Magnificats - in primi toni, quarti toni, sexti toni and octavi toni. You can find the sheet ...
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Electronic music and layering of rhythms
A very common (indeed ubiquitous) technique in electronic music involves the layering of loops of different lengths on top of each other.
Consider the following DnB track:
https://www.beatport.com/...
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