Musical Termstalking drum: Ancient drum of western
Africa, beaten with a curved stick. A
waisted drum, the pitch controlled by
squeezing at the waist which tightens
the skin membrane thereby raising the
pitch.
tardo, tardando: Become slower.
tanto (It): Much.
temperament: A system of tuning, esp.
of pianos, in which pure intervals are
altered slightly to enable playing in
different keys.
tempestoso (It): Tempestuous, stormy.
tempo: Means “time.” The speed of
music.
tenor: A high male voice, the range
between alto and baritone.
tenor clef: A C clef falling on the fourth
line of the staff.
tenor saxophone: Of the saxophone
family, in the key of Bb.
tenor trombone: The regular trombone.
tenth: An interval of an octave and a
third.
tertian harmony: Usual harmony, based
on thirds.
tessitura (It) 1 : The average highness
and lowness of a piece. 2 : The usable
range of a voice or instrument.
tetrachord: The first four notes of a
scale.
texture: The number of voices in a
piece: monophonic, homophonic, and
polyphonic.
theme: The musical subject of a piece,
the main idea.
thesis (Gk): The strong beat, usu. the
downbeat.
third: An interval of three diatonic scale
degrees.
thirty-second note, thirty-second rest: A
note/rest one thirty-second as long as a
whole note, and half as long as a
sixteenth note.
ti: The seventh degree of a diatonic
scale. The leading tone.
tie: A curved line which connects notes
of the same pitch indicating they are to
be played as one continuous note.
timbre: Sound quality or color.
time: A synonym for meter.
time signature: The meter. Numbers at
the beginning of a piece of music, after
the clef. Top number is beats per
measure, bottom number is which note
receives one beat.
tonal: Relating to key.
tone: A sound of particular quality. The
basis of music.
tone row: Used in serial and twelve-tone
music. The order of twelve notes
chosen by a composer which appear in
the composition in that specific order.
tonguing: A technique on wind
instruments of articulating notes with
the tongue.
tonic: The first degree of a scale (I), or
the root of a chord.
tonic accent: A type of accent in which
the accented note is significantly
higher than those around it.
tr (abbr.): Trill.
trading 4s/8s: Jazz term. Players take
turns playing solos, usu. improvised,
of 4 or 8 bars.
train wreck: Slang for when an
ensemble’s playing contains so many
mistakes that it breaks down to the
point of stopping.
tranquillo (It): Calm, tranquil.
transcription: The writing down of a
piece from a recording.
transpose, transposing: Changing a
piece from one key to another.
transposing instruments: Instruments
whose notes sound at a different pitch
than written.
treble clef: The G clef which centers on
the second line of the staff, naming it
G.
tremolo (It): 1 : A bow technique in
which short up and down bow strokes
are used on a single note. 2 : The rapid
alteration between two or more notes,
usu. more than a step apart.
triad: A chord of three notes: a root,
third, and fifth.
trill: An ornament. The rapid alteration
of one note with another note usu. a
step or half step higher than the written
note. Indicated by the
symbols.
trio 1 : A composition for three
performers. 2 : Three performers.
3 : The middle section of a march.
triple meter: Meters with three beats per
measure, or meters with beats divisible
by three.
triple-tonguing: Technique of rapid
articulation which uses the front and
back of the tongue (t-k-t, or t-t-k, or
t-k-t, k-t-k).
tritone: The interval of an augmented
fourth or diminished fifth. Considered
the most dissonant interval.
tromba (It): Trumpet.trombone: Member of the brass family.
Uses a slide to change pitch. Also
called ‘bone. Types of ‘bones: soprano
(also called slide trumpet), tenor, bass.
troppo (It): Too much. (e.g. Allegro non
tropo).
troubadour: A wandering minstrel in the
Middle Ages of Western Europe.
trumpet: A member of the brass family
with cylindrical bore and high pitch
and brilliant sound. Types of trumpets:
Bb, C, Eb, Bb piccolo.
TTB (abbr.): Used in choral music to
indicate tenor, tenor, bass.
TTBB (abbr.): Used in choral music to
indicate two tenors, two basses.
tuba: Lowest member of the brass
family, conical bore, very large. May
be in BB-flat, Eb, or F bass.
tune 1 : A song or melody. 2 : To put an
instrument at the correct pitch (in
tune).
tuner 1 : A mechanical device which
reads pitches and tells the player where
it falls in relation to standard
intonation. 2 : A small screw near the
bridge which allows fine tuning of
string instruments.
tuning fork: A device with two tines
that, when struck, vibrates to produce a
pure single note.
turn: An ornament which “turns” around
the principal note, going above it and
below it. Indicated by the
symbol.
tutti (It): Means “all.” Used as an
indication for all players to play, usu.
comes after a solo or soli section.
twelve-bar blues: A musical form using
three chords (I, IV, V) in a specific
pattern which is twelve bars long.
Characterized by many blue notes and
improvisation.
twelve-tone scale: A scale using all 12
half steps in an octave organized in a
certain order called a tone row.
U
ukulele (HI): A Hawaiian instrument in
the string family, small with four
strings.
unequal temperament: A system of
tuning, esp. of piano which allows an
instrument to play in several keys.
unison: Two or more voices sounding
the same pitch.
un poco (It): A little.
upbeat 1 : The “and” of the beat, the
second half of the beat. 2 : A pick-up
note or anacrusis. 3 : Denotes a fast or
happy tune.