A2 GLOSSARY
harmony lines, and a bass voice provides harmonic
underpinning and occasional countermelodies.
barrelhouse piano. See boogie woogie.
baser. Any of the singers in a ring shout who respond
to the songster’s lead.
beat. 1. A steady pulse, dividing musical time into
equal units. 2. In hip-hop, the instrumental accom-
paniment for an MC or rapper.
beat juggling. In hip-hop, combining the various
techniques of turntablism essentially to create new
music from snippets of prerecorded music.
beatmatching. In hip-hop, adjusting the speed of one
turntable so that the record played on it matches
exactly the tempo of a record on another turntable.
bebop. A jazz style, developed in the 1940s, that
extended the music’s melodic and harmonic vocab-
ulary without losing its swinging rhythm and blues
infl ections.
benefi t concert. In the 1700s and early 1800s, a con-
cert intended to reap a profi t for an individual
performer.
big band. A large jazz ensemble, typically of thir-
teen or more players, divided into reed, brass, and
rhythm sections.
binary form. A musical structure of two sections, or
strains, usually repeated: aabb.
blaxploitation. A 1970s fi lm genre featuring funk
soundtracks, urban ghetto settings, stories focused
on crime and punishment, and predominantly
black casts.
block chords. A texture in which all voices or instru-
ments move in identical rhythm.
blue note. A lowered or “bent” version of the third,
seventh, and sometimes fi fth scale degrees in the
major scale.
blue yodel. Song genre associated with Jimmie Rodg-
ers that combines elements of blues with yodeling.
bluegrass. Mid-twentieth-century country style derived
from earlier string band music.
blues. African American traditional music featuring
blue notes, blues progressions, and often the 12-bar
blues chorus structure.
blues chorus. In blues, music corresponding to one
stanza of lyrics, often twelve bars in length.
blues progression. A standard chord progression for
the 12-bar blues; in its simplest form, tonic (I) for four
bars, subdominant (IV) for two bars, tonic for two
bars, dominant (V) for two bars, and tonic for the fi nal
two bars.
blues shouter. A big-voiced singer who can project
over an amplifi ed rhythm and blues band.bones. A rhythm instrument made of segments of
bone that are clicked together in one hand like cas-
tanets; traditional in Irish music, American min-
strel bands, and other styles.
boogie woogie. A style of blues piano emphasizing a
heavily rhythmic left hand.
book. The script for a musical comedy, equivalent to
an opera’s libretto.
bop. See bebop.
border blaster. A radio station with a powerful signal,
owned by a U.S. citizen but located just across the
Rio Grande from Texas and thus exempt from U.S.
broadcasting regulations.
bottleneck guitar. A technique of playing the guitar
with a glass or metal slide on the fretboard.
brass band. The typical nineteenth-century American
wind ensemble, consisting of brass and Janissary
instruments, with optional woodwinds.
break. 1. In popular music, a brief solo moment during
which the accompaniment is silent. 2. In hip-hop, a
brief instrumental passage, typically extended by a
DJ by cutting.
break dancing. See b-boying.
break strain. A section in a march or related form
characterized by alternations of high and low
instruments and unsettled harmony.
breakdown. In country music, a fast instrumental
performance of a traditional fi ddle tune or a new
composition in the style of a fi ddle tune.
bridge. 1. The b section of an aaba song chorus. 2. After
1960, a contrasting section occurring in the second
half of a popular song.
Brill Building. An offi ce building at 1619 Broadway
in New York City, in the 1960s a center for popu-
lar song writing and publishing; by extension, the
style of music favored by Brill Building writers and
publishers.
British Invasion. The American fascination with the
Beatles and other British bands in the 1960s.
broadside ballads. Dating from colonial times, verses
commenting on current events matched with a
familiar tune, printed on sheets called broadsides,
and sold in the marketplace.
brushes. Wire brushes used in place of drumsticks to
produce a softer sound.
burlesque. 1. In the 1800s, an onstage parody of a
familiar stage work such as an opera. 2. In the twen-
tieth century, a stage entertainment emphasizing
low comedy and female display.
cadence. The closing gesture that ends a phrase.
cadenza. An unaccompanied solo in free rhythm.172028_99a_A1-A13_GLO_r1_ka.indd A2 23/01/13 11:22 AM