GLOSSARY A9
expression, such as theater, dance, music, and vis-
ual art.
persona. The character who seems to be singing or
narrating a song to the audience; the song’s “I.”
phase music. A minimalist style in which two or
more identical parts are played in slightly different
tempos.
Philadelphia soul. A 1970s style linked to the Philadel-
phia International record label, reminiscent of the
Motown sound and a predecessor of disco.
phrase. A grouping of two or more bars into a larger
musical unit.
piano. A soft dynamic.
pickup note. A note preceding the fi rst downbeat of a
phrase.
pitch. The highness or lowness of a tone, the result of
a tone’s frequency.
pizzicato. Performance direction to pluck the strings
of a bowed instrument such as the violin; cf. arco.
plagal cadence. A cadence in which the subdominant
triad precedes the tonic (IV–I); sometimes called an
“A me n” c ade nce.
plunger-and-growl. Brass technique using plunger
and pixie mutes and humming or gargling while
playing.
plunger mute. The rubber end of a plumber’s helper,
used to partially open and close the bell of a trum-
pet or trombone.
polyphony. A musical texture with two or more inde-
pendent melodic lines.
polyrhythm. A texture in which each instrument
maintains a distinctive rhythmic pattern, which
interlocks with the other instruments’ rhythms to
create a complex texture.
popular sphere. The realm of musical activity associ-
ated with performers’ music: music that, sketched
in outline form by the composer, invites perform-
ers to use the original composition as a starting
point, singing and playing it as they choose, with
accessibility to particular audiences as their pri-
mary goal; cf. classical sphere, traditional sphere.
postminimalism. A style that combines minimalism’s
rhythmic energ y, diatonic tonality, and use of rep-
etition with a sound palette drawn from romantic
orchestral music, big band jazz, rock, and modern-
ist music.
postmodernism. In music, the mixing of modernist
and premodernist styles in a way that emphasizes
their contrasts.
precentor. See deacon.prepared piano. A grand piano into whose strings are
wedged objects made of metal, wood, rubber, and
other materials.
program. Extramusical content (a story, picture, or
person) described in music.
progressive rock. A British music of the 1970s typifi ed
by concept albums featuring large-scale composi-
tions often based on New Age versions of Eastern
spirituality.
protest song. See topical song.
psalm. A sacred song in the Hebrew Scripture (Old
Te s t a m e nt).
psalmody. 1. The practice of singing psalms in worship.- In colonial and early Federal America, the general
practice of sacred singing in singing schools, as well
as worship.
psalter. A book of metrical psalms.
pump-up. A sudden upward key change in the sec-
ond half of a popular song, intended to produce the
effect of heightened energ y.
punk. An aesthetic movement of the 1970s that emu-
lated the nihilistic, anarchistic energ y of early rock
and roll.
push. In pow wow music, one iteration of a song.
Pythagorean tuning. A musical system based on
fourths and fi fths that are tuned perfectly (accord-
ing to the overtone series); the resulting thirds and
sixths are impure.
quartertone. A microtonal interval one-half the size
of a semitone.
R&B. See rhythm and blues.
race record. A phonograph record marketed primar-
ily to African American buyers.
radio barn dance. A regularly scheduled live perfor-
mance of country music for radio broadcast.
ragtime. African American popular style emerging in
the 1890s that emphasizes irregular syncopations
played over a steady, marchlike accompaniment.
ragtime song. In the ragtime era, any song with the
words “rag” or “ragtime” in its title.
range. See compass.
rap. The vocal component of hip-hop music.
rap metal. A popular style of the 1990s that combined
the assaultive instrumental textures of heav y metal
with rapped vocals.
rapper. A performer and writer of rap; cf. MC.
recapitulation. The return of opening material after
intervening material in a musical form.
record producer. An executive who oversees the record-
ing process, often with a measure of artistic control.
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