A4 GLOSSARY
couple dance. A courtly dance of French origin such as
the gavotte, the bourrée, or the minuet.
cover. Since the 1950s, a new recording of a previously
recorded popular song.
crescendo. A gradual increase in volume.
crooner. A performer who sings softly into the micro-
phone with an effect of intimacy.
crossover. A record that performs well on more than
one Billboard chart.
cutting. In hip-hop, alternating between two copies of
the same record to repeat one section of a song over
and over; also called “looping.”
cutting contest. A semi-private occasion on which two
or more performing musicians pit their skills as
improvisers against each other.
dance mix. A version of a popular song that extends
its length, for instance by adding long instrumental
introductions and interludes.
dance musical. A fi lm musical in which nearly all the
musical numbers also involve dance.
deacon. In psalmody, a leader who reads the psalm,
line by line, to the congregation, which then sings
each line back in alternation.
deceptive cadence. A phrase ending that sounds as if
it will be fi nal but at the last moment substitutes a
“wrong” chord for the expected one.
decrescendo. A gradual decrease in volume.
Delta blues. A type of country blues associated with
musicians from the Mississippi River Delta.
descant. A countermelody above the main melody.
diatonic scale. Any scale that consists of seven pitches
separated by a mixture of whole steps and half
steps, e.g., major and minor scales.
diegetic music. In fi lm, music that is part of the action
onscreen and thus audible to the characters; also
called “source music.”
diminished triad. A chord consisting of a root and the
pitches a minor third and diminished fi fth above
the root, such as occurs in a minor key using the
second, fourth, and sixth scale tones.
diminuendo. See decrescendo.
dirty dozens. A traditional African American game of
exchanging humorous insults.
disco. A 1970s funk-derived dance music associated
with discotheques.
discotheque. A night spot featuring recorded dance
music.
disjunct. Moving mostly by leap (said of a melody).
dissonance. A chord or interval that sounds harsh and
unsettled.dissonant counterpoint. A modernist musical texture
comprising two or more independent lines of mel-
ody that clash consistently with each other.
DI Y. See do-it-yourself.
DJ. A “disc jockey,” someone who plays records for a
listening public, such as on the radio or at dances.
do-it-yourself (DIY) A punk and post-punk aesthetic
that encourages active, not passive, consumption of
cultural products and often prizes raw, amateurish
energ y over technical command.
dominant. The fi fth degree of a diatonic scale or the
chord built on that degree.
doo-wop. In rhythm and blues, a style of vocal har-
mony featuring ensemble scat singing.
Dorian mode. A mode resembling the minor scale but
with a raised sixth degree, with steps in the pattern
whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half-whole.
dotted rhythm. The regular alternation of long and
short notes.
double stop. The technique of bowing two strings of a
violin or other bowed instrument simultaneously.
downbeat. The fi rst beat in a bar, usually carrying the
most emphasis.
dozens. See dirty dozens.
drum machine. A digital device, introduced in the
1980s, that imitates percussive sounds and sound
effects.
duple meter. A meter of two or four beats per bar.
dynamics. Volume, meaning degrees of loudness or
softness as a musical element.
editing. A recording studio practice of rerecording
unsatisfactory passages and splicing the corrected
versions into the master tape.
electronic music. Music created by manipulat-
ing recorded acoustic or electronically gener-
ated sounds, for example, altering their pitch or
timbre.
EP. A seven-inch “extended play” 33^1 / 3 -r pm record,
typically containing four songs.
equal temperament. The division of the octave into
twelve equidistant half steps, standard for key-
board instruments since the late 1700s.
ethnomusicolog y. A scholarly discipline that uses
fi eldwork as its basis and emphasizes ethnography,
recording, transcription, and cultural and musical
analysis.
event song. A narrative ballad of the 1800s or 1900s
based on a recent event.
fadeout. A terminal diminuendo effected in the
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