Musical Terms absolute pitch: completely dark adagio frommagio: to play in a slow and cheesy manner adagio molto: thick milkshake Aeolian mode: ice cream with your pie agnus dei: a woman composer famous for her church music aleatoric music: music composed by the random selection of pitches and rhythms - frequently found within choir anthems al fine: all's well allegro: leg fertilizer andante: a musical composition that is infernally slow angus Dei: a divine, beefy tone antiphonal: referring to the prohibition of cell phones in the concert hall a patella: unaccompanied knee-slapping apologgiatura: an ornament you regret after playing it approximatura: a series of notes played by a performer and not intended by the composer, especially when disguised with an air of "I meant to do that" approximento: a music entrance that is somewhere near the correct pitch arpeggio: Pinnochio's father Bach chorale: The place behind the barn where you keep the horses bagatelle: the Italian lady speaks bar line: what musicians form after a concert basso continuo: when the director can't get them to stop canon: like a round only louder concerto grosso: a really bad performance conductor: someone who espresses his illusions of grandeur by standing on a box and waving a little stick at people while they try to make music in spite of him contra-bassoon: like a bassoon, only more so contralto: an alto who has been convicted conundrum: a percussion instrument used by the conuns Coral Symphony: (see: Beethoven: Caribbean period) cornetti trombosis: disastrous entanglement of brass instruments that can occur when musicians are not careful exiting the stage cut time: playing hooky D.C. al capone: You betta go back to the beginning, capiche? dill piccolo: a wind instrument that plays only sours notes diminished fifth: an empty bottle of whiskey diminuendo: the process of quieting a rumor in the orchestra pit fermantra: a note that is held over and over and over and... fermoota: a rest of indefinite length and dubious value fiddler crabs: grumpy string players first inversion: Grandpa's battle group at Normandy fog horn: a brass instrument that plays when the conductor's intentions are not clear flute flies: gnat-like bugs that bother musicians playing out-of-doors frugalhorn: a sensible, inexpensive brass instrument fugue: a longstanding dispute, as between the Hatfields and the McCoys Gaul blatter: a French horn player glissando: what directly precedes the highest note of a descant grand pause: when the conductor loses his place Gregorian champ: Monk who can hold a note the longest harp: a naked piano Herbert von Carryon: a conductor who never rides in the cargo hold leitmotif: like a regular motif, but less fattening major scale: climbing Mt. Everest mallade: a romantic song that's pretty awful molto bolto: head straight for the ending, but don't make it seem rushed oboe: an English bum opera buffa: musical stage production at a nudist camp passing tones: what to call your wrong notes perfect fifth: a full bottle of whiskey panissimo: a small toy piano pp: plenty powerful plague: a collective noun, as in "a plague of conductors" polonaise: a condiment frequently put on a parrot sandwich; also the multiple cries of a horse polychoral motet: six parrots singing "Exultate Justi" ponticello: a cello played by the pope poochini: when singing, to be accompanied by your dog portamento: the little red thing inside a green olive Pre-Classical Conservatism: school of thought which fostered the idea, "if it ain't baroque, don't fix it." prelude: a cue found in some of the earlier oratorios, instructing those singing the roles of the wicked to seek divine intervention, but to do it in an offensive or profane manner recapitulation: what usually happens after you eat a parrot sandwich refrain: means don't do it; a refrain in music is the part you'd better not try to sing relative major: an uncle in the Marine Corps repeat: let's try it again riff: what happens when someone takes your choir robe ritard: let's slow down so the others can catch up sonata: what you get in your hankie from a bad cold or hay fever tempo tantrum: what a young orchestra is having when it's not keeping time with the conductor time signature: tells you how many times to tap your foot in each measure timpani alley: a row of kettledrums transpositions: men who wear dresses treble: what you'll be in if you don't play all the notes vesuvioso: a gradual buildup to a fiery conclusion virtuoso: a musician with very high morals [author and source unknown] Home / Words About Music