Sackbut: The early form of the
Trombone -it may date back to 1000 AD. The 15th century
English preferred to call it sackbut. It actually looks quite similar to the
Trombone of today with the exception of the flared bell. The flare on today's
Trombone
was not adapted until 1740. By the
Romantic period, the newly refined
Trombone gave it a louder, more expressive character and found itself in many
orchestral compositions.
Samba: Afro-Brazilian
dance music.
Sampler: an electronic device that
digitises and records
music. Once electronically
stored, it can be mixed, changed or woven to a new piece.
Sanctus:
"Holy." In the Mass, the fourth part of the
ordinary.
Sanft: Soft, gentle.
Sans: Without.
Santur: The santur is a member of the
Dulcimer family having 12 to 14 courses of metal
strings on two rows of movable bridges. It is played with wooden hammers.
Saxophone: Adolfe
Sax patented this metal
woodwind instruments in 1846. There are seven
members of the saxophone family. The smallest have a straight form and the
larger have their bell flared and bent upwards.
Saz: It
is now considered the Turkish national
instrument
and used to accompany folk
song and dance. It is another form of lute: pear shaped with a long
fretted neck and three courses of metal strings.
Scale: A series of
notes which define a
diatonic
tonality,
often consisting of eight degrees, and containing a
tonic
and sometimes also a leading tone.
Scherzo: "Joke." A piece in a lively
tempo. A
movement of a
symphony,
sonata,
or quartet in quick triple time, replacing the minuet.
Schnell: (Gr) Fast.
Score: The written
depiction of all the parts of a musical
ensemble with the parts stacked
vertically and rhythmically aligned.
Secco: (Ita) "Dry."
Unornamented.
Second: The second
degree
of the diatonic
scale. Also,
the interval formed by a given
tone
and the next
tone
above or below it, e.g. C up to
D, or
C down to
B.
Intervals
of the second may be major,
diminished, or
augmented.
Section: A division of a
musical
composition.
Segno: "Sign."
Sehr: (Gr) Very.
Sehr leise beginnend: (Gr) Very
soft in the beginning.
Semitone: A
half
step. The smallest interval on the
keyboard.
Sempre: (Ita) Always. Used with other terms,
e.g. sempre staccato.
Semplice: (Ita) Simple.
Senza: (Ita) Without. Used with other terms,
e.g. senza crescendo.
Septet: A piece for seven
instruments or
voices. Seven performers.
Sequence: 1.
Repetition of the same basic melodic
theme at a different
pitch. 2. A type of
Gregorian
chant with non-biblical texts, lines grouped in rhymed pairs, and one
note per syllable.
Serenade: A love
song, or piece traditionally performed below a loved one's window in the
evening.
Sereno: (Ita) Serene,
peaceful.
Serialism: A form
of music
writing based on Twelve-Tone technique, in which
pitch classes,
rhythms,
and often dynamics are determined systematically.
Serpent:
The serpent can be called a
woodwind instruments
but it
is made of brass and wood and played like
brass
instruments. It has keyed finger holes and sounds like a
Tuba.
Seventh: The
seventh degree of the
diatonic
scale.
Also, the interval formed by a given
tone and the seventh
tone above or below it, e.g.
C up to B, or
C down to D.
Intervals
of the seventh may be major,
minor,
diminished, or
augmented.
Seventh chord: When
a seventh (above the
root) is added to a
triad (root,
third, fifth),
the result is a seventh
chord, e.g. the
dominant triad in
the key
of C
major,
G-B-D, with the added
seventh becomes
G-B-D-F
and is labelled V7.
Sforzando, Sfz, Sf: Sudden strong
accent
on a note or
chord.
Shakuhachi: An ancient
Japanese bamboo
flute with four finger holes and one thumbhole.
You can get more information at
http://www.komuso.com/.
Shamisen:
Used in Japan since the 16th century, it resembles a
lute
with a long unfretted
neck. Three silk strings are plucked with a large plectrum.
Sharps: An
accidental that raises a given
pitch by one
half-step. See also
key
signature.
Shawm: There were shawms of many sizes at the height of popularity. It was constructed
of a long piece of wood and curved metal bell. It is considered to be an early
form of
oboe.
Sheet music: An individually printed
song, most often for voice, Piano,
Guitar,
or a combination of the three. Any
printed music.
Sheng: A
Chinese free reed Mouth Organ. It has several bamboo pipes that protrude from
its bowl shape. Each pipe creates its sound through a brass reed at its lower
end. A hole needs to be covered to create sound.
Sh›: Very
similar to sheng, this Japanese bowl shaped
Mouth Organ is typically used in gagaku.
Shifting meter: The changing of
meter
within a composition. Synonymous with changing
meter.
Shofar: An ancient,
Natural Trumpet made from a rams horn. It was played during Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Simile: An indication to continue in the
same manner.
Sin': Until.
Singer: A
performer who uses
their voice or vocal
chords to produce musical
tones.
Sinistra: Left hand.
Sino: Until.
Sitar: A
string instruments that is played by plucking and is held in a nearly upright
position. It has different sets of strings including seven principal strings and
12-20 sympathetic strings. It has a very long
fretted neck with a bowl shaped
body.
Six-four chord: The
second
inversion of a
triad, made by placing the
fifth of
the
chord in the lowest voice, e.g.
C is G-C-G.
Sixteenth note/rest: A
note/rest half the
length of an eighth note and a sixteenth the length of a whole
note.
Sixth: The sixth
degree of the
diatonic
scale. Also,
the interval
formed by a given tone
and the sixth
tone above or below it, e.g.
C up to a, or
C down to E.
intervals
of the sixth may be major,
minor,
diminished, or
augmented.
Sixth chord: The
first inversion of a
triad, made
by placing the third of the
chord
in the lowest voice, e.g.
C6 is E-G-C.
Skip:
Melodic movement of more than one
whole step.
Slide Trumpet: This
instruments mouthpiece is fixed onto a long tube and can slide in and out
of a long tube. By moving it in or out of the long tube the player may change
the sounds by three semitones.
Superseded by the Trombone.
Slur: A curved line placed above or below
two or more notes of different
pitch to indicate that they
are to be performed in legato style.
Smorzando: An
Italian dynamic indication: "fading away"
Snare Drum: Initially a gut string created the "snare" sound of the 15th century
tabor.
Now, metal wires create the rattling sound heard when this small
drum is struck.
Soave: Sweet, mild.
Sognando: Dreamily.
Sol: In
solmization, the
fifth
degree of the
major scale.
Solmization: The term for the use of
syllables for the degrees of the
major scale:
Do,
Re, Mi,
Fa,
Sol, La,
Ti,
Do. The
minor
scale (natural) is
La,
Ti,
Do,
Re,
Mi, Fa,
Sol,
La.
Solo: To perform alone or as the
predominant part.
Sonata: A piece for a
solo, or accompanied,
instrument, usually in 3 or 4
movements.
Sonatina: A short
sonata.
Song Forms: The
arrangement of
sections in a song to contrast similar and different
sections.
Often, letters are used to represent different parts of a given selection: ABA,
AABA, ABACA, etc.
Soprano: The highest
female vocal range, above
alto.
Sostenuto: Sustaining of
tone or slackening of
tempo.
Sostenente Piano: Sustained
pitch:
a sostenente Piano is a
keyboard operated
instrument that
can sustain a pitch indefinitely, unlike a
Piano or a
Harpsichord.
Sostenuto Pedal: The middle pedal on a
Grand
piano
patented in 1874 by the Steinway Corporation of America. When it is depressed it
will catch and hold any dampers
that are already fully raised from the strings. It can be used in conjunction
with either (or both!) of the other pedals.
Sousaphone: A spiral brass
Tuba
with a large bell turned forward and typically used in
marching
bands.
Spiccato: On
string instruments, a
bowing
technique wherein the bow is bounced on the string at moderate speed.
Spinet: The modern spinet is a small upright
Piano.
Square Piano: From the 18th ö 19th century, this
Piano was a horizontal rectangle and could
be quite large and elaborately decorated.
Staccato: Detached
sounds, indicated by a dot over or under a
note. The opposite of
legato.
Staff: The five
horizontal lines upon which music is written. Usually including a
clef,
and having a time
signature and
key
signature.
Stanza: A selection
of a song, two or more lines long, characterized by a common
meter, rhyme, and
number of lines.
Steel Drum: Made from oil
drums cut and hammered to various sizes for different
tones and
pitches. Struck with a rubber headed stick.
Steel Guitar: A
Guitar with metal strings and played by sliding a metal bar over the
fretted
neck rather than fingertips pressing the strings.
Stesso: (Ita) Same
Strings: Metal or
artificial fibre that is appropriately tensioned between two points in
stringed instrumentsand set into vibration when
plucked,
bowed, or struck.
String Drum: On this
drum a string passes through a membrane and is rubbed to produce
sound.
String
instrument or Chordophone:
Instruments
with strings that produce sound when plucked,
bowed, or struck.
Strophic: A term
used to describe a song in which all the
stanzas of the
text are sung to the same music. The opposite of
through-composed.
Strum: Brushing the
fingers over the strings of
a
stringed instruments.
Subdominant: The
fourth
degree of the
major
or minor
scale.
Also, the name of the triad
built on the fourth
degree
of
the scale, indicated by IV in a
major
key
and by iv in a minor
key.
Subject: A
theme or
motif that is the basis for a
musical form, such as a
fugue
or sonata.
Subito: (Ita)
Suddenly.
Submediant: The
sixth
degree of a
major or
minor
scale. Also, the
name of the triad
built on the
sixth
degree of the
scale,
indicated by VI in a major
key and by vi
in a minor
key.
Sul: On the.
Sul Pont: The
action of "dampening"
the note or
chord
on stringed
instruments by using your hand or
bow or the
damper pedal on
pianos.
Supertonic: The
second
degree of the
major
or minor
scale. Also, the name of the
triad
built on the second degree of the
scale, indicated by
II in a major scale and iio in a
minor
scale.
Sur: On, over.
Suspension: The use of a
Nonharmonic tone to delay the
resolution of a
chord, frequently as it occurs in a
cadence.
Svelto: (Ita) Quick, light.
Symphony: A
piece for large orchestra, usually in four
movements, in which the first
movement often is in
sonata
form. Also
the name for a large orchestra.
Syncopation:
Accent
on an unexpected beat.
Synthesizer: Small, self-contained unit of electronics. This device makes it possible to
create sound by electronic synthesis.
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