GLOSSARY A11
slack key. Style of Hawaiian music that uses a standard
acoustic guitar in nonstandard tunings.
slide guitar. See bottleneck guitar.
sock rhythm. In countr y music, gentle chords on beats
1 and 3 of each bar, alternating with short, accented
chords on beats 2 and 4.
solfège. See solmization.
solmization. The practice in singing of assigning a
particular syllable to each scale degree.
sonata. A classical instrumental genre in three or four
movements, typically with no descriptive program.
song catcher. A folk song collector of the early twenti-
eth century.
song plugger. A pianist, employed by a Tin Pan Alley
publisher, who demonstrates new songs for poten-
tial performers.
songster. 1. A printed collection of song texts, usually
without music. 2. The leader in a ring shout.
soul jazz. An offshoot of hard bop emphasizing ties to
gospel music.
soul music. Post-1960 rhythm and blues.
soundtrack. The musical score for a sound fi lm.
source music. See diegetic music.
space. In jazz improvisation, the expressive use of
silence.
spiritual. An African American sacred song rooted in
the experience of slavery.
Sprechstimme. A vocal technique halfway between
singing and speaking.
square root form. A compositional strateg y, devel-
oped by John Cage, in which a single durational
proportion shapes both small-scale and large-scale
divisions of time.
standard. A classic American popular song that
remains in the repertories of singers and
instrumentalists.
stanza. Any one of several recurring units in a song’s
lyrics, all with a similar metrical structure so that
the same music may be used for each stanza; cf. verse.
steel guitar. A guitar modifi ed so the strings are well
above the fi ngerboard, held in the lap and played
with a slide; also called a Hawaiian guitar.
step. The interval between two adjacent notes in a
scale; may be a whole step or half step (semitone).
sticker. In the ring shout, a musician who keeps time
with a broom handle or other stick.
stop-time. A musical device, used in ragtime, jazz, and
other popular styles, in which in-tempo silences
interrupt the steady marking of the beat in the bass
and drums.straight-ahead jazz. Mainstream jazz rooted in bebop
and its related styles.
strain. A section in a multisectional form such as a
march, rag, or country dance tune.
stride. A ragtime-based solo jazz piano style, devel-
oped in the 1910s and fl ourishing in the 1920s and
1930s, based on virtuosic inventiveness in the right
hand and a rhythmically driving left hand.
string band. An ensemble of two or more players of
string instruments, who may sing as well.
strophe. See verse.
strophic form. A song form in which multiple stanzas
are sung to the same music.
subdominant. The fourth degree of a diatonic scale or
the chord built on that degree.
subgenre. Any of the myriad fi ne stylistic distinc-
tions characteristic of more recent popular music
culture.
subscription. In publishing, a commercial practice in
which a publisher raises capital by offering copies
of a book at a pre-publication discount.
subscription concert. A concert or concert series in
which tickets are sold in advance.
surf music. A southern Californian rock style of the
1960s that emphasizes loud electric guitars, heavy
reverb, rapid tremolo picking, and the use of Mid-
dle Eastern scales and borrowings from Mexican
mariachi.
swing. 1. Jazz in the style popularized ca. 1935–45.- The rhythmic lilt characteristic of swing music.
syncopation. The accenting of a beat or part of a beat
that is usually unaccented.
synthesizer. A musical instrument that generates
sound electronically.
tag. In popular music, a brief musical gesture added
at the end of a piece whose material already sounds
complete; cf. coda.
tailgate. A style of trombone playing associated with
New Orleans jazz, with frequent smears and a mix-
ture of countermelody in the tenor range and dou-
bling of the bass line.
tejano. Any of a range of Mexican-American styles
resembling mainstream pop.
tempo. Musical term for pace, especially of the music’s
rhythmic pulse.
tent-repertory show (tent-rep). A traveling troupe of
vaudeville entertainers performing in a tent for
rural audiences.
ternary form. Three-part form, ABA.
Te x-Me x. See norteño.
172028_99a_A1-A13_GLO_r1_ka.indd A11 23/01/13 11:22 AM