music dictionary : Sj - So
 



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SJabbreviation of Societas Jesu (Society of Jesus)
Sjambok(Afrikaans) a heavy whip made of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide
sjätte(Swedish) sixth [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Sjefredaktor(Norwegian) chief editor
sjette(Danish, Norwegian) sixth
Sjøfløyte(Norwegian: "sea flute", also kjøpefløyte, byfløyte) a Norwegian variant of the recorder. This instrument first came to Norway by sea, thus its name, from Continental Europe in the 1700s and 1800s, and was extensively copied largely from German-made instruments. The name "sea flute" is most common in Numedal, Telemark and Agder. On the west coast they are called "German flute", for its nation of origin. In Gudbrandsdalen, where it is found many 1700 numbers flutes, it is often called the "wooden flute." As a result of the pietistic movement in Norway during the latter half of the 1800s, the popular Hardanger fiddle was declared sinful, and many musicians switched to playing dance tunes on the flute. The sjøfløyte tradition began to die out in the 1900s, but was revived in the 1970s
sju(Norwegian, Swedish) seven
sjunde(Swedish) seventh
sjuttio(Swedish) seventy
sjutton(Swedish) seventeen
Ska(English, German m.) a form of Jamaican music which began in the early 1960s. Combining elements of traditional mento and calypso with an American jazz and rhythm and blues sound, it was a precursor in Jamaica to rocksteady and later reggae
  • Ska from which this extract has been taken
Skacoreor 'ska punk', a musical genre derived as a fusion of Jamaican ska and British and American punk rock. It is a sub-genre of third-wave ska
  • Skacore from which this extract has been taken
Skådespel(Swedish) play [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Skaft(Swedish) stem (of a note)
Skål(Norwegian, Swedish - literally 'bowl') 'your health', a toast used in Norway and Sweden [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Skala(German f., Swedish, Danish) scale
(Danish, Swedish) mode
Skalatrin(Danish) scale degree [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Skalatrinn(Norwegian) scale degree [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Skalda member of a group of courtly poets or bards, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry
  • Skald from which this extract has been taken
Skalde(German) a scald
Skalierung(German f.) scaling
Skalmeja(Swedish) shawm [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Skalsteg(Sweden) scale degree
Sk-a'naa North-American duct whistle. The same term can be applied to single, double, triple and quadruple dict whistles as well as to reed pipes from North-America
skandieren(German) scansion
Skankto dance to reggae music
Ska punksee 'skacore'
Skarkia Kosovar six-stringed instrument from the saz family
Skate punkalso called 'skatepunk', 'skate-punk', 'sk8 punk', 'skate-thrash', or 'skate-core', originally a derivative of hardcore punk, so named because of its popularity among skateboarders
  • Skate punk from which this extract has been taken
Skaz (s.), Skazka (pl.)(from Russian skazat, 'to tell') a Russian yarn or tall tale in which the author dons the voice or persona of a fictitious narrator (typically an uneducated peasant). The genre thus allows the author to characterize the speaker through speech peculiarities (dialect pronunciation, malapropisms, non-standard grammar, slang, and regional neologisms)
Skean dhu(Gaelic, literally 'black knife') or sgian dubh, a small dagger worn thrust into the stocking by Scottish highlanders
Skedschedule (colloquial)
Skeina TV series (colloquial)
Skene(Greek, 'tent') in classical Greek theatres, the skene was a building in the front of the orchestra that contained front and side doors from which actors could quickly enter and exit. The skene probably also served as an area for storing costumes and props
Sketcha preparatory record made by a composer of 'work in progress'. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) composed most of his operas in four stages: a musically annotated libretto, sketchbook or books, piano-vocal score and, finally, an orchestral score. Strauss kept a sketchbook with him at all times, working and reworking motives into new forms
Sketchbooka book in which sketches are set down
Skiffle (music)(English, German m.) a type of folk music with a jazz and blues influence, usually using homemade or improvised instruments such as the washboard, tea-chest bass, kazoo, cigar-box fiddle, or a comb and paper, and so forth. Skiffle and jug band music are closely related. It was particularly popular in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s
Skillingtryck(Swedish) Broadside music [entry provided by Lars Hellvig]
Skillingstrykk(Norwegian) Broadside music [entry provided by Lars Hellvig]
Skillingsvise(Danish) Broadside music [entry provided by Lars Hellvig]
Skillya thin porridge or soup, usually oatmeal and water flavoured with meat
Skimmington(in French, charivari) rough music that accompanies eighteenth-century street processions that often followed a petticoat hoisted as a standard or flag. A skimmington appears in Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras. These events were often accompanied by the burlesque instruments the saltbox and the bladder-and-string
Skinfold calipersa pair of calipers used to form and measure the thickness of skinfolds in order to estimate the amount of body fat
Skin packaginga method of packaging by which thin, clear plastic is shrunk onto an object backed by printed card
Skin sensitisationan allergic reaction to a particular irritant that results in the development of skin inflammation and itchiness
Skin tagor acrochordon, a small soft pendulous growth on the skin especially around the eyes or on the neck, armpits, or groin
Skin testany test for detecting the presence of a disease or allergy from the reaction of the skin to a test substance
Skin writingdermatographic urticaria (also known as dermographism, dermographia, dermatographism or "skin writing") is a skin disorder seen in 4-5% of the population and is one of the most common types of urticaria, in which the skin becomes raised and inflamed when stroked or rubbed with a dull object
Skipsalto (Italian), Sprung (German), saut (French), any interval larger than a whole tone, a disjunct progression
Skip jivea British dance, descended from the 'jive' and ultimately from the 'Lindy Hop', danced to traditional jazz music, which was popular in England in the 1950s and 1960s and is still danced to a limited extent today
Skirreta species of water parsnip not available in this country and no longer cultivated on a large scale in Europe
Ski-slope hearing losshearing loss characterised by little or no hearing loss in the low frequencies but considerable loss in the higher frequencies. The mid frequency range is often severe to profound
Skizze (s.), Skizzen (pl.)(German f.) sketch, outline, short piece
skizzenhaft(German) sketchy
skizzieren(German) to sketch
Skocnaa folk dance, a fast Bohemian reel
Skolia(Greek) songs sung at banquets or wine-parties
Skolie(German) skolion
Skolion(Greek) an ancient Greek song-tune form, with a four-line verse and syllable-counting, a characteristic of the lyrics of songs from Lesbos
(Greek) a Greek drinking song that is often heard in the Kafenions where men drink their ouzo and try to forget the problems of everyday life
Skomorokh (s.), Skomorokhi (pl.)from Russia, about 1000 CE, the word skomorokh (singular) usually means Russian Mediterranean clown, rather than jester. Skomorokhi were jongleurs, puppeteers etc, who played in the market-square. Russian Czars did not have jesters - they had urodiviy (singular) or blazenniy. Urodiviy means insane, fool, sick man. These men were viewed as kinds of saint, and approved by the Orthodox Church, they were free to say anything, behave madly and noisily. The classic Russian translation of jester is shut
Skordatur(German f.) scordatura (Italian f., French f., English), see 'altered tuning'
Skor thommlarge Cambodian barrel drums
Skottis(Icelandic) schottische
SkratjiSurinamese big drum with a cymbal on top
skrifttryck(Swedish) pamphlet
skuespil(Danish) play (dramatic work)
skuespill(Norwegian) play (dramatic work)
Skye boat songsee 'boat song'
S.L.abbreviation of sociedad limitada (Spanish f.: corporation, limited company)
Slab-cutslab-cut timber
wood cut in a tangential direction across the trunk of a tree
Slack key guitaror, in Hawaiian, Ki ho'alu, a style of music originating in Hawaii using an acoustic guitar fingerpicking style. The strings of the guitar are mostly tuned to notes lower (i.e., "slackened off") than that for a standard guitar tuning. Sometimes the tuning is a major chord, although it could also be a seventh, a sixth or (rarely) a minor chord
Slack tuningin guitar playing, an altered or slack tuning is one in which the intervals between the strings are unchanged, but all the strings are lowered in pitch by a given interval. In most cases, pieces played in slack tunings are actually notated as if they were in standard tuning. This is possible because the guitar in a slack tuning is like a transposing instrument and simply sounds a different note to the one actually written
common tuningsdescription (tunings from low to high)
open tuningthe guitar strings are tuned to a particular chord
open G tuning, (D G D G B D), probably the most widely used open tuning and also known as 'Spanish Tuning', has been used by delta blues players, Hawaiian slack-key players, and contemporary folk and country artists
Mauna Loa tuningtunings with the top two notes tuned a wide fifth interval apart
Ni'ihau tuning
Old Mauna Loa tuning
tunings with 2 successive strings tuned a fourth interval apart, the lower pitch string being the sixth note of the scale and the higher pitch the second
Wahine tuningtunings containing a major 7th note
Taro Patch tuningtuning to a major chord
tunings may bear the characteristics of more than one slack tuning; for example, F Bb C F A E is both a Wahine and Moana Loa tuning
Slag(Dutch) beat
Slagtøj(Danish) percussion (instruments)
Slagverk(Swedish) percussion (instruments)
Slagwerk(Dutch) percussion (instruments)
Slagwerker(Dutch) percussionist
Sláinte!(Irish) a toast used in Ireland and Gaelic Scotland
Slalom(Norwegian) a ski-race down a course marked out by artifical obstacles
SlamanGhanaian drums
Slam dancingalso called moshing, a style of dancing, usually performed to punk rock, in which participants intentionally collide with one another
slanciante(Italian, literally 'thrown off') impetuous
Slancio(Italian m.) impetuous, impulsive
Slanginformal diction or the use of vocabulary considered inconsistent with the preferred formal wording common among the educated or elite in a culture
Slängpolska(Swedish, literally 'swing polka') the original form of polska from southern Sweden which dates back to about 1600. As in its single-couple equivalent, it is danced on the spot rather than by progressing around the room
Slanted fretsalthough most frets are perpendicular to the neck of the string instrument on which they are fitted, some believe slanted frets to be more ergonomic. The appearance of angled frets on some modern guitars belies the antiquity of this technique. Fanned frets first appeared on the 16th-century orpharion
Slant rhymealso called inexact rhyme, approximate rhyme, inexact rhyme, near rhyme, half rhyme, off rhyme, analyzed rhyme, or suspended rhyme, rhymes created out of words with similar but not identical sounds. In most of these instances, either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa
Slap and popa method, used on the electric bass guitar, in which notes and percussive sounds are created by slapping the string with the thumb and releasing strings with a snap
Slap basscontrabbasso a pizzicato (Italian), Schlagbass (German), contrebasse jouée sans archet (French)
a bass played 'slap style'
see 'slap style'
Slap-Bass-Technik(German f.) slap technique
Slapjacka broad flat pancake
Slappingin music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different though related playing techniques on the double bass and on the (electric) bass guitar
see 'slap style'
  • Slapping from which the first entry has been taken
Slapstickfouet (French), Peitsche or Holzklapper (German), frusta (Italian), fusta (Spanish)
a percussion instrument formed of two flat pieces of wood, hinged at one end, which, when snapped together produce a slapping sound, like a whip
Slapstick comedylow comedy in which humour depends almost entirely on physical actions and sight gags
Slap styleused in various popular music genres including traditional jazz and swing, a pizzicato effect on any amplified string-bass instrument, using the sides of the fingers rather than the tips, so that the strings are "slapped" against the fingerboard between the main notes of the bass line. The main notes can be either played normally or by pulling the string away from the fingerboard and releasing it so that it bounces off the fingerboard, producing a distinctive percussive attack (or 'snap') in addition to the expected pitch. The technique is usually used on gut-strung instruments which are thought to produce a better sound
Slap tonguinga technique for playing a single-reed instrument that involves making the reed slap against the reed holder, thus giving a punch to the notes being played, particularly effective on the bass clarinet
on a saxophone there are a range of slap tongue styles:
explosive slapunpitched. Maximum tempo: quaver (quarter note) = 70
woodblock slapunpitched, dry sound. Maximum tempo: quaver (quarter note) = 200
pizzicatoclearly pitched melodic slap, soft or loud, used over the entire range of the instrument. Maximum tempo: quaver (quarter note) = 240
slap toneslap attack followed by normal tone. Maximum tempo: quaver (quarter note) = 200
slap tongue is fatiguing if used for more than about 30 seconds but is especially effective on the lower saxophones
slargando(Italian) extending, enlarging, widening, broadening, slowing down, rallentando, en élargissant
slargandosi(Italian) extending, enlarging, widening, broadening, slowing down, rallentando
Slash
angled lines that may be found on a musical score:
caesuratwo angled lines passing through the top line of a staff
tremoloone or more angled lines passing through the stem of a note, which indicates the regular and rapid repetition of a single note, or through the stem of a chord, which indicates a rapid alternation between two groups of notes that make up the chord
slash chordinverted chords can be shown using the notation chord type, (named or numbered), then a slash /, then the name (or number) of the bass note, i.e. the note at the bottom of the played chord
slash notationsee 'slash notation'
Slash chords
slash chords are:
a triad played over a note in the bass that is not the root (i.e. triad inversions)
a 7th chord played over a note in the bass that is not the root (i.e. 7th chord inversions)
a triad played on top of another triad (i.e. a polychord)
Slash notationcommonly used for rhythm guitar, or to show bars (measures) of improvisation (comping), the bar (measure) is filled with the appropriate number of slash marks for the given meter (time signature). Chord symbols are then written above the slash marks, and change when the chord progression requires a new chord. Sometimes the slash marks are connected to note stems, beams, or ties to show a specific rhythm pattern or ensemble figure
Slave musicsee 'spiritual'
Slave narrativea narrative, often autobiographical in origin, about a slave's life, perhaps including his original capture, his punishments and daily labor, and his eventual escape to freedom
Slavican eastern European sub-branch of Indo-European
Slavic neumesa neumatic notation found in Slavic chant
sla vlug om(Dutch) turn quickly, volti subito
Slavonske gadje(Croatia) Slavonian bagpipe
Sleamhnáin(Gaelic) slides, a dance-form
Sleepera film or TV show that lacks pre-release buzz or critical praise, but turns into a success after it is released, usually due to positive word-of-mouth
Sleevea transparent plastic covering that slips over a sheet of paper, etc. for protection. Sleeves can be hard or soft, and their archival qualities may differ depending on the type of plastic used
slegato(Italian) or non-legato (Italian), not slurred, ungebunden (German), non lié (French)
Sleigh bellsgrelots (French), Schellen or Schellengeläute (German), sonagli or sonagliera (Italian), cascabeles (Spanish)
a row or many rows of pellet bells mounted on a piece of wood or on a harness, the first notable use being by Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791)
Sléndroor Slendro (German n.), see laras
slent.abbreviation of slentando (Italian: getting slower, loosening the tempo)
slentando(Italian) relaxing the tempo, rallentando, getting slower, loosening the tempo, en relâchant
Slentem(Javanese) or gendèr panembung, with an octave-range set of thin bronze bars suspended over bamboo resonating chambers, struck with a padded disc on the end of a stick, the slentem carried the melody (balungan) in a Javanese gamelan orchestra
Sleutel(Dutch) clef
Slidea device on a brass instrument that allows the tube length, and thereby the pitch, to be altered, for example on a trombone, pompa mobile a coulisse (Italian f.), pompa a tiro (Italian f.), Zug (German m.), coulisse (French f.), vara (Spanish f.)
any device (other than frets), usually made of glass or metal, used to fret notes on a stringed instrument while playing
on a violin bow, that part of the nut (or frog) that slides along the stick
on the guitar, a slur between two notes, where the fretting finger slides from the position for the first note to that for the second
on the violin, to move between two notes by sliding the stopping finger up or down the fingerboard all under a single bow, i.e. a glissando or portamento
in the organ, a slider
alternative name for a coulé or 'conjunct double appoggiatura'
or 'single jig, the 'slide' is most closely associated with Sliabh Luachra, a region in Ireland located around the River Blackwater, on the Cork/Kerry borderland. This region has a unique musical style which makes heavy use of the 'polka' and the 'slide', and most of the polkas and slides in Irish traditional music derive from this region
Slide bassa bass guitar played using slides or bottlenecks
Slide guitar(English, German f.) see 'bottleneck guitar'
Slide horna horn playing using a slide rather than valves
Slideron an organ a slider (or slide) is a long wooden slat which has holes in it that correspond to a rows of holes in the top of the wind chest. It is used in a slider wind chest
Slider cheston an organ, this type of wind chest uses a slider (or slide) to block the holes in the wind chest and prevent the pipes from speaking
Slide saxophonebuilt in the 1920s and similar to the 'slide whistle' except that instead of a fipple the instrument was fitted with a reed
Slide trombonetrombone a tiro (Italian m.) slide trombone, Zugposaune (German f.), trombone à coulisse (French m.), trombón de varas (Spanish m.)
Slide trumpettromba a tirasi (Italian f.), tromba a tiro (Italian f.), Zugtrompete (German f.), trompette à coulisse (French f.), trompeta de varas (Spanish f.), trompeta slide (Spanish f.), trompeta bastarda (Spanish f.)
a trumpet without valves, used in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, that has a slide similar to that of a trombone, so facilitating changes in the length of tubing of the instrument, allowing the fundamental and harmonic series to be adjusted
Slide vibratoon the trombone, a vibrato effect produced by rapid oscillations of the slide rather than by using changes in breath pressure. Players who rely on the slide rather than the diaphragm to produce vibrato are rare
Slide whistlesifflet à coulisse (French), Lotosflöte (German), flauto a culise (Italian), pito de vara or flauta de vara (Spanish)
a duct flute without finger holes which has an extended length of tubing containing a plunger that allows the performer to shorten or lengthen the the resonating length of the tube, so changing the pitch. The common slide whistle today has a two and one-third octave range in each of two registers. The low register sounds from a low 'E flat' to a high 'G' and the high register sounds from a low 'A flat' to a high 'G'. It is also known as a song whistle, swanee whistle, piston flute, jazz flute, lotus flute, piston pipe and bike pump whistle
Slidingglissando (Italian), gleitend (German), glissant (French)
Slip jigone the four most common Irish Step dances - the others being the reel, the jig and the hornpipe. It is in 9/8 time and usually danced in soft shoes by women only
Slit drumor log drum, tambour de bois (French: log drum), Schlitztrommel (German: slit drum), tamburo di legno (Italian: log drum), tamburo di legno a fessura (Italian: slit drum), tambor de madera (Spanish: log drum)
a percussion instrument, beaten with large sticks, generally made of a hollowed log into which a longitudinal slit has been cut
Slit-gonga log drum used throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. A whole log is hollowed out through a narrow slit running the length of the log. Usually one side has thick walls, one side has thin ones. When the gong is beaten with padded sticks, a range of penetrating musical notes can be produced, depending on where and how the gong is struck. The gong may be carved into various pleasing or significant shapes
Sloane Gardens Housebuilt in 1889, a block of self-contained small flats for 106 women with public restuarant, studios and music rooms, built by the Ladies Dwelling company
Slogan (s.), Slogans (pl.)originally a Scottish 'battle cry', the term is applied now to any distinctive or memorable phrase used to advertise a product, or to identify a company or organisation, as, for example, produced by franking machines, etc. to imprint on an envelope an advertisement of a firm's product or name, the commemoration of an event, or some other 'catch-phrase', as often printed on the front of t-shirts, etc.
Sloggersomebody who puts in an extended period of hard work
Slöjd(Swedish) (instruction in) arts and crafts, handicrafts [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Slop-hosesailor's breeches
Slot(Dutch) finale
Slot-C(Dutch) middle C
Slot-cadens(Dutch) final cadence
Sloth canonaugmentation canon
Slotted dancein a slotted dance, the slot is an imaginary narrow rectangle along which the follower moves back and forth with respect to the leader, who is more or less stationary. The most typical slotted dance is 'West Coast Swing' although other dances may be performed in slotted style
Slovak hip hop
Slovenian hip hop
Slovenian-style polkaan American polka style in the Slovenian tradition. It is fast and features piano and accordion. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is also known as 'Cleveland-style' or, less frequently, 'Croatian-style'
Slowadagio (Italian), grave (Italian), largo (Italian), lento (Italian), langsam (German), lent (French)
slow.abbreviation of slowakisch (German: Slovakian - slovaque (French))
Slowcorean alternate term for 'sadcore'
Slow Dragan American social dance usually performed to blues music
  • Slow drag from which this extract has been taken
Slowermeno mosso (Italian), più lento (Italian), langsamer (German), plus lent (French), moins lent (French)
Slower by degreesrallentando (Italian), ritardando (Italian), zurückhaltend (German), en retenant (French)
Slow waltzsee 'International Standard Waltz'
Sloydsloid
s.l.p.abbreviation for sine legitima prole (Latin: without legitimate issue)
Sluitteken(Dutch) pause
Slurlegatura (Italian), Legatobogen (German), coulé (French)
a mark used to show where two or more notes are played either under a single bow stroke, or on a wind instrument without retonguing or when singing, in one breath, one word or one syllable, so that the notes move smoothly (i.e. legato) one to the other with no perceptible break
on the piano, a slur over a pair of notes means that the first should be given extra emphasis while the second is made slighter and shorter then would have otherwise been the case
the 'tie' mark came into use during the early part of the sixteenth century. The mark used as a 'slur' came later, during the first half of the seventtenth century, and initially only as a legato mark
slur
the English name for what the French clavecinistes called coulé sur une tierce
Slurredlegato (Italian), gebunden (German), lié (French)
Slurred melodyone in which two or more notes are sung to one syllable. Those where each syllable has only one note are called 'syllabic'
Slurred pizzicatoJohannes Brahms calls for slurred pizzicati in his Cello Sonata No. 2. This is achieved by playing one note, and then stopping a new note on the same string without plucking the string again. This technique (known as "hammering-on" to guitarists) is rarely used on bowed instruments
  • Pizzicato from which this extract has been taken
Slurred spiccatoalso called staccato volante or 'flying staccato', similar to slurred staccato except that the bow bounces on the string to create the separation of the pitches. Instead of reversing direction for each note as in ordinary spiccato, the bow picks up a series of short notes, usually on an up-bow
Slurred vibratosee vibrato
SluskinjaCroatian double flute with six holes
smafortaelling(Danish) short story
Smallpiccolo (Italian), klein (German), petit (French m.), petite (French f.)
Small bellcampanella (Italian, Spanish), Glöckchen (German), clochette (French)
Small alla brevea term used by some musical theorists to describe a time signature of 2/2
Small octavethe name applied to an octave extending from 'C' below middle C to 'B' below middle C, notes that are generally indicated by lowercase letters (c, d, e, f, g, a and b)
Small orchestrathe standard orchestra without trombones, with fewer horns and sometimes neither clarinets nor kettledrums
Smalto (s.), Smalti (pl.)(Italian) (a fragment of) coloured glass or enamel used in mosaic work
Smania(Italian f.) craze, frenzy
smaniante(Italian) furious, vehement, frantic, impetuous, passionate, restless
smaniato(Italian) furious, vehement, frantic, impetuous, passionate, restless
smanicare(Italian) to shift, or change the position of the hand, when playing the violin, guitar, etc.
smanioso(Italian) furious, vehement, frantic, impetuous, passionate, restless
Småskrift(Norwegian) pamphlet [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Småtryck(Swedish) pamphlet [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Småtryk(Danish) pamphlet [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Småtrykk(Norwegian) pamphlet [corrected by Lars Hellvig]
Smearin jazz, a type of glissando or portamento in which the pitch of a note is shifted about a semitone (half step), often with a rather harsh tone, performed most commonly on the trombone and other brass instruments
Smetanaa low fat product, a cross between soured cream and yoghurt
SMICabbreviation of salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance (French: minimum wage)
sminuendo(Italian) diminishing, decreasing, gradually softer, dying away, diminishing in loudness, diminuendo (Italian), decrescendo (Italian), vermindernd (German), en diminuant (French)
sminuito(Italian) diminishing, decreasing, gradually softer, dying away
Smithsonian Institutionan educational and research institution and associated museum complex, with most of its facilities in Washington, D.C. It consists of 19 museums and seven research centers, and has 142 million items in its collections. It is administered and funded by the government of the United States
Smith's patent boxa device fitted over the strings of an English guitar so that they are struck by hammers rather than pluck with the fingers of the hand
Smockinga tightly gathered section of material, usually elasticated for comfort and decoratively stitched, mainly used in the bust area of a dress though also a popular detail to the waist and cuffs
Smoking(German m.) dinner jacket, tuxedo
Smooth, Smoothlylegato (Italian), gebunden (German), très égal (French)
Smoothingin linguistics, the monophthongization of several Old English diphthongs
Smooth jazzan outgrowth of jazz-pop fusion, one that emphasizes a polished side. Generally, smooth jazz relies on rhythms and grooves instead of improvisation. There are layers of synthesizers, lite-'blues & soul' rhythms, lite-'blues & soul' bass, elastic guitars, and either trumpets, alto or soprano saxophones. The music is unobtrusive, slick, and highly polished, where the overall sound matters more than the individual parts
Smooth voice leadinga traditional type of voice-leading where there is no leap greater than a perfect-fourth in the soprano, alto, or tenor voices, and no leap greater than a perfect-fifth in the bass (with the octave excepted). Certain other intervals are also avoided melodically, namely the tritone and augmented-second
smorendo(Italian) diminishing, decreasing, gradually softer, dying away
smorfioso(Italian) mincing, affected, coquettish, prim, full of grimaces
Smörgåsbord(Swedish) a traditional Swedish dish consisting of a copious selection of various (usually cold) savouries served on bread
smorz.abbreviated form of smorzando (Italian: gradually dying away to a whisper)
smorzando(Italian) extinguished, put out, gradually dying away to a whisper, calming down, subduing
(Itsalian ) in music, similar terms include al niente (Italian), morendo (Italian), dämpfend (German), abschwächend (German), bis zum Nichts (German), en amortissant (French), hasta la nada (Spanish)
smorzato(Italian) extinguished, put out, gradually dying away to a whisper, calming down
subdued, gedämpft (German), amorti (French)
Smorzo(Italian m.) damper
Smritisthe Codes, based on recollection of the Shastras
SMuFLa specification that provides a standard way of mapping the thousands of musical symbols required by conventional music notation into the Private Use Area in Unicode’s Basic Multilingual Plane for a single (format-independent) font. The goal of SMuFL is to establish a new standard glyph mapping for musical symbols that is optimised for modern font formats and that can be adopted by a variety of software vendors and font designers, for the benefit of all users of music notation software.
Smusso(Italian m.) chanfrein (French f.), Randel (German n.) Abkantung (German f.), Phase (German f.), chamfer, a bevelled surface at an edge or corner
SmWVreferring to the catalogue prepared by Erich Duda of music by Franz Xaver Süssmayr (1766-1803)
Smyrnëikaa mixture of Greek, Armenian, Jewish, Turkish and Western traditions that is associated with the port city of Smyrna (Izmir), and was often performed in a cabaret setting known as the café-aman
s/nabbreviation of sin número (Spanish: no street number, unnumbered)
Snaar(Dutch) string, Saite (German), corde (French), corda (Italian)
Snaarinstrument(Dutch) unbowed string instrument
Snake dance(Hopi, Native Americans) a dance which lasts for four days. Snakes are caught and held while the people sing and dance. At the end of the festival, the snakes are let go, to take the prayers of the people out into the world and to their spirit friends
Snapsee 'Scotch snap'
Snap pizzicatosnap or 'Bartok' pizzicato involves pulling the string upwards and allowing it to 'snap' sharply against the fingerboard
Snare drum(English, German f.) see 'side drum'
the terminology when discussing snare drums is not standardised either as to drum size or to naming. For example, in Britain, the tenor drum is without snares - however, other countries expect the tenor drum to be snared:
EnglishFrenchGermanItalianSpanish
snare drumcaisse clairekleine Trommel
Rührtrommel
Marschtrommel
Schnarrtrommel
cassa chiaracaja clara
piccolo snare drumtambour petit tamburo piccolo
tarole
 
military snare drum
field drum (US)
tambour militaireMilitärtrommeltamburo militaretambor militar
tenor drumcaisse roulante
tambourin
Rührtrommel
Tenortrommel
tamburo rullantecaja rodante
Snarenkoor(Dutch) or koor, course (of strings), Chor (German), choeur (French), order (French), rang (French), muta (Italian), serie di corde
Snareswire-bound gut strings stretched across the lower head of a side drum, which, when the upper head is struck, 'jar' against the lower head thus reinforcing the tone
Snare techniquethe technique used to play a snare drum. There are two categories of grips used in snare technique: matched grip, in which both hands hold the sticks in an overhand grip, and traditional grip, in which one hand uses an overhand grip and the other an underhand grip. Traditional grip is almost exclusively used on snare drum, drum kit, and concert bass drum, while matched grip is used on all percussion instruments
Sn. Dr.abbreviation of 'snare drum'
snellamente(Italian) nimbly
snello (m.), snella (f.)(Italian) nimble
Snipea wading bird which lives in marshy places and is characterised by a long, flexible bill
Snobisme(French) intellectual snobbery, an urge to adopt the latest fashion in matters of intellect or culture
Snooda tie or ribbon formerly worn around the hair, especially by young unmarried women
a netlike bag worn at the back of a woman's head to hold the hair
Snufkinor 'snoskyn', a muff made of cloth or fur, the smaller models of which hung suspended from a woman's girdle
SO abbreviation of 'Symphony Orchestra'
s.o.(German) siehe oben, see above
Sosee sol
Korean wind-instrument played like the danso and consisting of sixteen bamboo tubes set in a frame which the player holds with both hands
so(German) as, so
Soap operaradio (now TV) serial originally sponsored by soap companies
soave(Italian) suave, gentle, sweetly, agreeably, lightly, gently, softly, delicately
soavemente(Italian) suave, gentle, sweetly, agreeably, lightly, gently, softly, delicately
Soavità(Italian f.) gentleness
Soban ornament used in lute playing, where the left hand pressure on the string follows the plucking of the string, to create a sob-like effect on the sound of the note
Sobado(Spanish, from sobar, literally, 'to 'rub') the name given to the sound played by the hand on the hembra, or low drum
sobald(German) so soon as, should
Sobre abierto, un(Spanish m.) an unsealed envelope
sobre ascuas(Spanish) on tenterhooks
Sobrecubierta(Spanish f.), dust jacket, dust-cover (paper cover on a hardback book), sopraccoperta (Italian f.), Schutzumschlag (German m.), jaquette (French f.)
sobre dos cuerdas(Spanish) on two strings (usually the same note played on both strings to strengthen the note), à deux cordes (French)
sobre el terreno(Spanish) as one goes along
Sobregaya companhiaa society formed in November 1323 in Toulouse by seven troubadours, for the purpose of preserving and encouraging lyric poetry (lo gay saber). They invited poets from near and far to join them the following May and a golden violet was to be awarded as a prize for the best poem. which was won by Arnaud Vidal de Catelnaudray for a poem glorifying the Madonna
Sobresaliente(Spanish m./f.) understudy
Sobrina(Spanish f.) niece
Sobrino(Spanish m.) nephew
Sobriquet(English, French m.) nickname, pseudonym
Socaa musical style from Trinidad and Tobago, a mix of Trinidad's calypso and Indian music and rhythms, whose name derives from so, from soul, and ca, from calypso. Although originally including several Indian instruments, today soca bands usually feature a drummer, bass player, guitar and horns
Socagefeudal tenure of land by a tenant in return for agricultural or other nonmilitary services or for payment of rent in money
SOCANabbreviation of 'Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada'
sócarron(Spanish) sarcastic
Socarronería(Spanish f.) sarcasm
s'occuper de(French) to be busy with
Soccusa soft shoe worn by actors in Latin comedies, in contrast with the buskins or kothorni worn in tragedies. Our modern English word sock comes from this term. Often, the word sock is used a metonym for comedy in contrast with buskin as a metonym for tragedy
Sociabilité(French f.) the art of living in society
Social actorin the theatre, people who portray themselves in a performance, usually people previously known to the audience
Social anthropologythe branch of anthropology that deals with human culture and society
Social dancealso known as participation dance, a category of dances where there is no audience (as such) but participants perform and watch at the same time
Social dialectin linguistics, a dialect used by a special social group rather than through an entire ethnicity or region
Socialist Realismin 1932 the Soviet government issued a decree On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations which, as the theory of socialist realism, was adopted by the Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934. Approved by Joseph Stalin, Nickolai Bukharin, Maxim Gorky and Andrey Zhdanov, socialist realism demanded that all art must depict some aspect of man's struggle toward socialist progress for a better life. The creative artist to morally obligated to the proletariat by being realistic, optimistic and patriotic. The doctrine considered all forms of experimentalism as degenerate and pessimistic. Although the origins of socialist realism lie in art and literature, the doctrine was applied to the aesthetics of music; composers were to produce 'vivid realistic music reflecting the life and struggles of the Soviet people.' While it is fashionable to see the theory purely in terms of Russian socialism, in many ways the aesthetic that it promoted can be found also in the Germany of the Third Reich (and its anti-Kulturbolschewismus) and later in anti-communist Hollywood
Socialist Realism from which part of this extract has been taken
Social satiresatire aimed specifically at the general foibles of society rather than an attack on an individual
Sociedad anónima(Spanish) public limited company (PLC), US corporation
Società(Italian f.) a society, for example società corale, chorale society
Società Cherubini(Italian f.) a musical society started in Florence by Madame Jessie Laussot née Taylor (1829-1905), an English lady, who later married the writer Dr. Karl Hillebrand (1829-1884). Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Jessie had a brief but passionate affair in 1850, but plans to elope to Greece were prevented by the intervention of her husband. Madame Laussot was a musician herself and an intimate friend of many other German composers including Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Hans von Bulow (1830-1894) and promoted the work of many other musicians including Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914) and Giuseppi Buonamici (1846-1914). The society, which she conducted, introduced to Florence much of the best music of Germany
Società corale(Italian f.) chorale society
Società di canto(Italian f.) choral society
Sociétaire(French) an actor of the Comédie Francaise who has a share in the profits made
Société(French f.) society, company (firm)
Société Anonymefounded in 1920 by Katherine Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray as an organisation to support and sponsor modern art, especially abstract art. Besides holding many lectures and concerts, and sponsoring publications, the Society held 80 art exhibitions in the 20 years following its inception. The Society was formally closed in 1950, thirty years after its first exhibition
Société chorale(French f.) choral society
Société de Musique Indépendente(French f.) established in 1910 by Ravel and others following their resignation from the Société Nationale de Musique, its first president was Gabriel Faure
Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques(French f.) or SACD, organisation that represents authors and their work
Société Nationale de Musique(French f.) founded on 25 Feb. 25 1871, to promote French music the work of of young French composers, by Romain Bussine and Camille Saint-Saëns, who shared the presidency, its early members included César Franck, Ernest Guiraud, Jules Massenet, Jules Garcin, Gabriel Fauré, Alexis de Castillon, Henri Duparc, Théodore Dubois, and Paul Taffanel. It was a reaction to the tendency in French music to set vocal and operatic music above that for orchestra and to advance the cause of French music against that of the Germanic tradition. The society agreed to open itself up to the works of non-French composers in the 1880s but following a split within the Société between the younger composers and the more conservative supporters of Vincent D'Indy's Schola Cantorum (a body set up in 1894 to promote early music and counterpoint), Ravel left the society and founded a new society called the Société de Musique Indépendente with Gabriel Faure as its president
Sociétés des pensée(French f.pl.) a term given by Augustin Cochin (1876-1916) for the intellectual institutions of the Age of Reason (the academies, the chambres de lecture, etc.), where, although the membership was, to some degree, privileged, each man's ideas and opinions were treated equally
Sociologie(French f.) sociology
sociologique(French) sociological
Sociologistan individual who engages in the study of society and social problems
Sociologue(French m./f.) sociologist
Sociologythe study of society and social problems
Sociology of musican area of study that examines the effects, now and in the past, that music has has upon society and similarly the effect that society has upon music
Socius(Latin) member, fellow
Sockalso 'socko', very good (usually refers to box office performance)
Sock cymbalsee 'hi-hat'
Sockel(German m.) bottom board
[entry by Michael Zapf]
Socle(French m.) a plain pedestal or plinth supporting a statue, column or wall
(French m.) base (of a lamp)
(French m.) pedestal, base or plinth of a column on a harp, zoccolo (Italian m.), Fuß (German m.), cuvette (French f.)
Socquette(French f.) ankle sock
Socratic dialoguean attempt to explore a philosophical problem by presenting a series of speakers who argue about an issue and ask each other questions
Socratic ironyadapting a form of ironic false modesty in which a speaker claims ignorance regarding a question or philosophical problem. The speaker then turns to another "authority" and raises the question humbly, asking for the expert's answer. When the "authority," presents an answer, the "modest" original speaker continues to ask pointed questions, eventually revealing the limitations or inadequacies of the supposed expert - all the while protesting his or her own inferior knowledge. The irony comes from the speaker's continuing presentation of himself as stupid even as he demolishes inferior ideas others present to him. This is the method Socrates supposedly took regarding philosophical inquiry, and it is named Socratic irony in his honour
Soda(French m.) (fizzy) drink
SodinaMalagasy end-blown bamboo flute
Soesee kkwaenggwari
soeben(German) just, barely, a moment ago
Soeur(French f.) sister
Sofa/Kassafrom the Guinean regions of Macenta and Balandougou, sofa/kassa music is performed at life cycle celebrations (baptism, circumcisions, and weddings). Sofa is the Malinke term for hunter and the dance is a tribute to them. Some of the dance movements are symbolic gestures to these important members of Mande culture
Soffio(Italian m.) puff
soffocato(Italian) muffled, damped
(Italian) choked
sofort(German) immediately
sofort angreifen(German) go on at once, go on immediately, attacca
sofort fortsetzen(German) go on at once, go on immediately, attacca
Soft cornerthe corner of a card that no longer retains the rigid qualities of the original stock medium it was printed on and often displays cracking of the inked surface. The primary cause of soft corners is excessive handling
Softeningmaking quieter
a term found in Prelleur's Musik-Master meaning flattement
Softermeno forte (Italian), più piano (Italian), schwächer (German), plus doux (French)
Softer by degreesmeno forte, poco a poco (Italian), allmählich schwächer (German), graduellement plus doux (French)
Soft hexachordsee 'hexachord'
Soft keysee 'hard key'
Softlypiano (Italian), leise (German), zart (German), doux (French). doucement (French)
Softly, verypianissimo (Italian), sehr zart (German), très doux (French)
Soft palatecreating a larger space inside your mouth by raising the soft palate, or fleshy part of the back of our throat, helps achieve a deeper more well rounded singing tone
Soft pedaluna corda (Italian), mit Verschiebung (German), céleste (French), petite pédale (French), pédale douce (French)
a pedal on a piano that alters the setting of the hammers relative to the strings (normally three for each note) so that only one or two are struck when a key is depressed, so lessening the volume of the sounding note or notes
Soft-pedallingon the piano, using the 'soft' pedal
Soft pedal, release oftre corde (Italian), tutte le corde (Italian), ohne Vershiebung (German)
Soft rockalso referred to as lite rock, easy rock, and mellow rock, a style of music which uses the techniques of rock and roll to compose a softer, supposedly more ear-pleasing sound for listening, often at work. Soft rock is usually sung with higher-pitched vocals, and the lyrics tend to be non-confrontational, focusing in very general language on themes like love and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of pianos, synthesizers and sometimes saxophones
  • Soft rock from which this extract has been taken
Software synthesizeralso known as a 'softsynth' or 'virtual instrument', a computer program or plug-in for digital audio generation. Computer software which can create sounds or music is not new, but advances in processing speed are allowing softsynths to accomplish the same tasks that previously required dedicated hardware. Softsynths are usually cheaper and more portable than dedicated hardware, and easier to interface with other music software such as music sequencers
Sog-akKorean music includes shaman music, Buddhist music, folk songs, farmers' music called nong-ak, a form of dramatic song called p'ansori, and an instrumental solo music called sanjo. In shaman music, the role of an inspired female shaman priest called a mudang is very important. The mudang plays the part of a medium between the visible world and the supernatural. Singing, dancing, and instrument playing are always involved. One of the most important types of Buddhist music is called pomp'ae, a song of praise to Buddha, and today preserved by only a few priests. To promote this music, the government has designated pomp'ae as an intangible cultural asset and is taking steps to encourage new devotees of the art
Sogeumsmall seven-fingerhole Korean bamboo flute, that sounds an octave higher than the daegum
Soggetto(Italian m.) a motive, a theme, a subject, for example, of a fugue
Soggetto cavato (dalle parole)(Italian m., literally 'subject carved (out of words)') the term was coined by the Italian musical theorist Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590) in 1558 to denote the special class of thematic subjects for polyphonic compositions that were derived from a phrase associated with them by matching the vowels of the words to the corresponding vowels of the traditional Guidonian solmization syllables (ut re mi fa sol la)
Soggetto ostinato(Italian m.) repeating theme, for example, the miserere mei Deus from Josquin Desprez's setting of the psalm text
sogleich(German) immediately
sognando(Italian) dreaming, dreamily
Sogo(Ghana) one of a pair of closed bottom barrel drums from Ghana. The sogo is the larger one and is lower in pitch. The other drum is called kidi
Sogo(Korean) small double-headed frame-drum
Sogonghua thirteen string Korean harp similar to the wagonghu. It is the smallest instrument among the konghu/gonghu family
Sogoninkun(Mali) a spectacular percussion/elaborate masked dance style associated with harvest festivals and which when combined with hunter's songs forms the basis of the modern form of wassoulou music
Sohsee sol
soi(French) oneself
soi-disant(French) self-styled, so-called, would-be, pretended, supposedly
Soie(French f.) silk
Soif(French f.) thirst
soigné (m.), soignée (f.)(French) careful, well cared for, dressed or decorated with great care
soigneusement(French) carefully, accurato (Italian), accuratamente (Italian), sorgfältig (German)
SoinariGeorgian name for the panpipes
sointu(Finnish) chord
Soir descend(French) evening is closing in
Soirée(French f.) an evening party, an evening assembly
Soirée dansante(French f.) a dance (an event held in the evening at which dancing takes place)
Soirée musicále(French f.) a musical evening, an assembly in the evening for purpose of making or hearing music
Soir tombe(French) evening is closing in
soit(French) so be it, that is
soit... soit...(French) either... or...
Soitinala(Finnish) ambit, ambitus
soixante(French) sixty
soixante-dix(French) seventy
Sokein early English law, the right of local jurisdiction, generally one of the feudal rights of lordship
Sokko(West Africa) a one-stringed Fulani instrument made from a gourd covered with a waral (large lizard) skin
Sokoa Manlinke initiation music and dance from the Faranah region in Guinea performed during the months preceding the male rite of circumcision. Boys, who will be circumcised, traditionally will have their heads shaved during the performance
Sokyoku(Japanese) music played on the koto which, later might be accompanied by the shamisen and the shakuhachi
Sol
note G
(Portuguese, French m., Italian m., Spanish m., Catalan m.) the fifth degree (dominant) in a major scale
in fixed-do solfeggio, sol, so or soh is always the note 'G'
sola, solo(Italian) solo, alone
Solarium(Latin) a sunny terrace or balcony often designed to be exposed to the sun while being protected from the wind
Solar mythAlvin Boyd Kuhn and Max Müller were philologists who attempted to explain the origin of a number of myths and religious practices by linking them to the animistic worship of various celestial phenomena including meteorological events (weather gods), sky gods (e.g. Ouranos), and astronomical bodies (stars, planets, moon, and most especially the sun)
Sola scriptura(Latin, 'by scripture alone') the assertion that the Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter ('Scripture interprets Scripture'), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine
Solatium(Latin) a compensation, a sum of money given to compensate for a loss or an inconvenience
so laut wie möglich(German) as loud as possible, più forte possibile (Italian), le plus fort possible (French)
Sola voz(Spanish f.) solo voice, single voice
Solawechsel(German m.) promissory note
Sol bemol
note G flat
(Spanish m.) the note 'G flat', the flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called se
Sol bémol
note G flat
(French m.) the note 'G flat', the flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called se
Sol bemoll
note G flat
(Catalan m.) the note 'G flat', the flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called se
Sol bemolle
note G flat
(Italian m.) the note 'G flat', the flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called se
Sol bemolle maggiore
key of G flat major(Italian m.) the key of 'G flat major'
scale of G flat major
the scale of 'G flat major'
Sol bemoll major
key of G flat major(Catalan m.) the key of 'G flat major'
scale of G flat major
the scale of 'G flat major'
Sol bémol majeur
key of G flat major(French m.) the key of 'G flat major'
scale of G flat major
the scale of 'G flat major'
Sol bemol mayor
key of G flat major(Spanish m.) the key of 'G flat major'
scale of G flat major
the scale of 'G flat major'
Sol bémol mineur(French) the key of 'G flat minor'
Soldatenlied(German n.) soldier's song
Soldatenmarsch(German m.) soldier's march
Soldatenzug(German m.) soldier's procession
Sol dièse
note G sharp
(French m.) the note 'G sharp', the sharpened fifth degree of the scale of G sharp major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called si
Sol dièse mineur(French m.) the key of 'G sharp minor'
Sol diesis
note G sharp
(Italian m.) the note 'G sharp', the sharpened fifth degree of the scale of G sharp major, which in 'fixed do' solfeggio is called si
Sol diesis minore(Italian m.) the key of 'G sharp minor'
Sol doppio bemolle
note G double flat
(Italian m.) the note 'G double flat', the doubly flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major
Sol doppio diesis
note G double sharp
(Italian m.) the note 'G double sharp', the doubly sharpened fifth degree of the scale of C major
Sol double bémol
note G double flat
(French m.) the note 'G double flat', the doubly flattened fifth degree of the scale of C major
Sol double dièse
G double sharp the note 'G double sharp', the doubly sharpened fifth degree of the scale of C major
Solearesa flamenco singing style in triple time, without rational continuity in its words, or solearilla de cierre, which has a more agile and simpler, although the ending can be demanding, culminating in extremes of emotion
Soleariyaa flamenco soleá with three verses
Solecismerrors, usually in grammar (for example, a grammatical mistake, blunder in declension, error in diction, etc.)
(Le) soleil donne en plein.(French) The sun is beating down.
(Le) soleil montre le bout de son nez.(French) The sun is (barely) out.
so leise wie möglich(German) as soft as possible, più piano possibile (Italian), le plus doucement possible (French)
Solemnsolenne (Italian), feierlich (German), solennel (French m.), solennelle (French f.)
Solemnis(Latin) solemn
solenne(Italian) solemn
solennel (m.), solennelle (f.)(French) solemn
solennellement(French) solemnly
solennemente(Italian) solemnly
solennis(Latin) solemn
Solennità(Italian f.) solemnity, pomp
Solera(Spanish f.) a blend of different vintages of sherry, a large wine cask
soleren(Dutch) give a solo performance
Solfa(English, Spanish f.) tonic sol-fa
(Spanish f.) musical notation
Sol-fasee 'scale syllables'
Solfaingthe practice of Solfeggi, singing the notes of the scale to the syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do
Solfaterra(Italian) or solfatara, a volcanic area in which sulphurous vapours are emitted from vents in the ground
solfear(Spanish) to sing notes while reading them from a score, solfier (French)
(Spanish) to thrash (familiar), to beat (familiar), to give a dressing down to (familiar)
Solfège(German n., Dutch) ear-training using sol-fa (scale) syllables
in 'fixed do' solfeggio, the notes of the chromatic scale are named using the solfeggio or Latin names which in French, English, Italian and German are:
rising or ascending scale
CC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#Bc
do
ut (French)
dire
(French)
rimifafisol
so (English)
silaliti
si (Continent)
do
ut (French)
falling or descending scale
cBBbAAbGGbFEEbDDbC
do
ut (French)
ti
si (Continent)
telalesol
so (English)
sefamimere
(French)
rado
ut (French)
in Italy, the chromatics are named from the appropriate diatonic note, for example, B flat is called sib, literally Bb
more advanced exercises employ vowels in place of the sol-fa note names, i.e. vocalizzo (Italian) or vocalise (French)
(French m.) pitch naming using Roman names do (or ut), re, mi, fa, so (or sol), la, si (or ti). The term is often used more generally in French to mean 'elementary music theory' including 'ear training'
see iroha
Solfège handsignssee 'Curwen handsigns'
Solfége mit absoluten Tonbezeichnungen(German n.) fixed-do solfége
Solfége mit absoluten Tonhöhenbezeichnungen(German n.) fixed-do solfége
Solfeggi(Italian pl.) plural of solfeggio
Solfeggiamentisolfeggi
solfeggiare(Italian) to practice solfeggi
Solfeggietto(Italian m., literally' little study') a title given to a short keyboard piece
Solfeggio(Italian m., German n.) solfège (French m.), solfeo (Spanish m.), pitch naming using Roman names do (or ut), re, mi, fa, so (or sol), la, si (or ti). The term is often used more generally to mean 'music theory'
Solfeggio mit absoluten Tonbezeichnunen(German n.) fixed-do solfége
Solfeggio mit absoluten Tonhöhenbezeichnungen(German n.) fixed-do solfége
Solfeo(Spanish m.) solfeggio (Italian m.), Solfeggio (German n.), Solfège (German n.), solfège (French m.)
solfier(French) to sing notes while reading them from a score, solfear (Spanish)
soli(Italian) alone
(Italian) plural form of 'solo'
Solid bodya reference to electric guitars with a solid (non-hollow) body
Solid chorda chord where every note is played simultaneously
Soli Deo Gloria(Latin, literally 'to God alone be the Glory') Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) often wrote this (or its abbreviation 'S.D.G.') at the conclusion of his scores, secular as well as sacred
Solid statein the organ, combination action controlled by a small computer, containing several memories so that the entire organ can be prepared with several pre-programmed set ups
Solidus(Latin) in typography, an oblique stroke /, originally one that separated shillings from pence in pre-decimal currency notation, for example, 12/6 (meaning 12 shillings and 6 pence)
Solidus (s.), Solidi (pl.)(Latin) a Roman gold coin, a shilling
Soliloquio(Spanish m.) soliloquy
Soliloquya monologue spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals a character's innermost thoughts, including his feelings, state of mind, motives or intentions. The soliloquy often provides necessary but otherwise inaccessible information to the audience. The dramatic convention is that whatever a character says in a soliloquy to the audience must be true, or at least true in the eyes of the character speaking (i.e., the character may tell lies to mislead other characters in the play, but whatever he states in a soliloquy is a true reflection of what the speaker believes or feels)
Solist(Dutch, German m.) soloist
Solista(Portuguese, Italian m./f.) soloist
Soliste(French m./f.) soloist, a solo dancer
Solisten(German pl.) soloists
Solistin(German f.) soloist
Solitaire(French) a precious stone set by itself, a game which can be played by a single person and that involves the moving of pegs or marbles on a special board
solito(Italian) accustomed, usual, in the usual manner (for example, al solito meaning 'as usual')
Solkathe name given by Garfield Blackman to his musical discovery, a mix of Trinidad's calypso and Indian music and rhythms, meaning the true 'soul of calypso', which was changed to soca by a musical journalist
Solkattualso called konnakol, the vocalizing of rhythmic and drum syllables in Indian music
Sollabweichung(German f.) deviation from the norm
sollecitando(Italian) hastening forward
sollecito(Italian) careful, attentive, solicitous, eager, prompt
Sollemnis(Latin) solemn
Sollennis(Latin) solemn
sollozar(Spanish) to sob
Sollozo(Spanish m.) sob
Sol maior
key of G major(Portuguese m.) the key of G major
scale of G major
the scale of 'G major'
Sol majeur
key of G major(French m.) the key of G major
scale of G major
the scale of 'G major'
Sol major
key of G major(Catalan m.) the key of G major
scale of G major
the scale of 'G major'
Sol mayor
key of G major(Spanish m.) the key of G major
scale of G major
the scale of 'G major'
Sol mineur(French m.) the key of 'G minor'
Sol minore(Italian m.) the key of 'G minor'
solmisare(Italian) to practice the scale, pronouncing the solfeggio name of each note
Solmisatio belgica(Latin) in solmization, the syllables bo, ce, di, ga, lo, ma, ni also called 'bobesation', 'Belgic syllables' or voces belgicae
Solmisation(French f., German f.) solmization, solmisazione (Spanish f., Italian f.)
Solmisazione(Italian f., Spanish f.) solmization, solmisation (French f., German f.)
solmiseren(Dutch) to practice the scale, pronouncing the solfeggio name of each note
solmisieren(German) to practice the scale, pronouncing the solfeggio name of each note
solmisiren(German, older spelling) to practice the scale, pronouncing the solfeggio name of each note
solmizare(Italian) to practice the scale, pronouncing the solfeggio name of each note
Solmizatie(Dutch) solmization, solmisazione (Spanish f., Italian f.), solmisation (French f., German f.)
Solmizationa system of designating musical notes by syllable names, believed to have been invented by Guido d'Arezzo (c.995-1050) when training his cathedral singers. The syllables, ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, were derived from the first syllables of the lines of the hymn Ut Queant Laxis Resonare Fibris, each phrase of which began one note higher than the previous phrase. This six-note series, or hexachord, facilitated the sight-reading of music by allowing the singer always to associate a given musical interval with any two syllables. The syllables are still in use, though ut is usually replaced by the more singable do, and ti or si has been added for the seventh scale degree
see 'functional solmization'
Solmization massor soggetto cavato, a mass in which the tune is drawn from the syllables of a name or phrase: for example "la sol fa re mi" — A, G, F, D, E — based on the syllables of Lascia fare mi (Italian: leave me alone)
Solo(French m., German n.) solo, alone
solo(Spanish) single, alone
Solo (s.), Soli (pl.)(Italian) a piece of music for one instrumentalist or singer without accompanying instruments, for example, an unaccompanied violin partita
solo (s.), soli (pl.)(Italian) alone
Solo, Soloingin jazz, improvising on the tune (a solo is an improvised section of a tune)
Solo divisiona grouping of organ pipes similar to the Swell division, although normally containing only solo stops in place of chorus stops and played from the topmost manual of the console. Generally found only in very large instruments
Soloinstrument(German n.) solo instrument
Soloist(player)soloista (Italian, Spanish), Solospieler (German), soliste (French)
(singer) cantante soloista (Italian, Spanish), Solosänger (German), chanteur soloiste (French)
the player or singer who performs a solo part
Soloiste(French) the player who performs the solo part
Solokonzert(German n.) solo concerto
Sololiteratur(German f.) solo repertoire
Solonan authority, someone in the know (a reference to the Greek philosopher, Solon)
Solo organthe name of the fourth manual on an organ containing only solo stops
Solo parta piece of music consisting of a part for one individual player whether with or without accompaniment, for example, the solo pianist's part in a piano concerto
Solo pitchscordatura
solo por aparentar(Spanish) just for show
Solo quarteta group consisting of four singers
a piece written to be sung by a group of four singers
a work for four players in which one has a strongly leading part
Solosänger(German m.) a solo singer
Solo singercantate solista (Italian), Solosänger (German), chanteur soloiste (French)
Solospieler(German m.) a solo player
Solostimme(German f.) a solo voice or part
sólo vive para la música(Spanish) music is her whole life, she only lives for music
Solo-zanger(Dutch) solo singer
Solpo(Spanish m.) puff
Solresolan alphabet based on the seven notes of the musical scale invented, in about 1827, by Francois Soudre (1787-1864). Soudre suggested it would be comprehensible to all the peoples of the world because the notes would be written in the same way in all languages, and could be sung, recorded on staves, represented with special stenographic signs, figured in Arabic numberals, shown in the seven colours of the spectrum, and even indicated by the touch of the fingers of right and left hands
[described in The Search for the Perfect Language by Umberto Eco]
sol-sleutel(Dutch) G clef
soltanto(Italian) solely
Soltera(Spanish f.) single woman
Soltero(Spanish m.) batchelor
soltero(Spanish) single
Solus(Latin) (an agreement) whereby a retailer undertakes to purchase his (or her) supplies from one wholesaler only
Solus tenora solus tenor is a line that can be substituted for both the tenor and contratenor parts in late medieval and Renaissance polyphonic music and, as demonstrated in Royllart's isorhythmic motet Rex Karole, Johannes genite/Leticie, pacis, concordie can assume a strongly harmonic character. An interesting aspect of works with such parts is illustrated by the motet Inter densas deserti/Imbribus irriguis/Admirabile est nomen tuum, whose tenor scholars recently determined was actually added by a later scribe. So, the piece was actually based on a different borrowed tenor than the one that currently accompanies it
Solutis curis(Latin) with all cares resolved, free from all anxiety
Sol y sombra(Spanish, literally 'sun and shade') the name given to the medium-priced seats at a bullfight which are exposed to the sun during only a part of the afternoon
Som(Portuguese) sound, tone
Somafter Laszlo Somfai, the cataloguer of the music of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736-1809)
Soma(Sanskrit) an intoxicating drink used in Vedic religious ceremonies
Sombra(Spanish f.) shadow, shade
sombre(French) dark, veiled, melancholy
Sombrero(Spanish m.) a broad-drimmed felt hat of a type worn in Spain and in Spanish America
someter ... a examen(Spanish) to examine ... (something)
someter a votación(Spanish) to put to the vote
someter ... a votación(Spanish) to put ... to the vote (something)
Somewhatpoco (Italian), ziemlich (German), un peu (French), a little (bit) (for example, quicker, softer, louder, slower, smoother, etc.)
Somewhat fastera little quicker, a little faster, poco più mosso (Italian), etwas schneller (German), un peu animé (French)
sommasee sommo
somma espressione(Italian) with a very considerable degree of expression
Sommeil(French) a slumber scene found in many French baroque stage works. Characteristic suite movements entitled Sommeil evoke such scenes through a slow tempo, duple meter, the alternations of strings and winds, and slurred pairs of conjunct crotchets (quarter notes)
Sommelier(French m.) a butler, a wine-waiter
sommesso (m.), sommessa (f.)(Italian) subdued
Sommet(French m.) climax
Sommier(French m.) wind-chest
Sommier de chevilles(French m.) on a piano, pin block
sommo (m.), somma (f.)(Italian) utmost, highest, greatest, most extreme
somos íntimos amigos(Spanish) we're very close friends
somos muy amigos(Spanish) we are very good friends
Sompotonalso called sumpoton - the free-reed mouth organ of Sabah in northeastern Borneo, with a gourd wind chamber from which extend 8 pipes arranged in two rows
Son(Spanish) born towards the end of the 19th-century in the eastern portion of Cuba known as Oriente, among the Spanish farmers, the campesinos, who played tres (a guitar with six strings tuned in three pairs) and sang, accompanied by bongos or some other type of drum pounding out Afro-Caribbean rhythms, son had, by the 1920s, become music usually played by a sextet of guitar, tres, bass, bongos and singers who also played claves (sticks) and maracas (shakers) which with the addition of a trumpet player to jazz up the sound, finally brought it out of the hills and into Havana, to serve as a basis for the mambo, which in turn became the triple mambo, now known as cha cha
Son (s.), Sons (pl.)(French m.) sound, tone, sounds
Sonaor suona, a Chinese double-reed shawm
Sonaatti(Finnish) sonata
Sonaattimuoto(Finnish) sonata form
sonabile(Italian) resonant, sonorous, full toned, sounding
sonacchiare(Italian) or sonicchiare, to strum
Sonagli(Italian m. pl.) sleigh bells
sonagliare(Italian) to jingle, to ring a little bell, to tinkle
Sonagliera(Italian f.) sleigh bells, a collar with bells
Sonaglio(Italian m.) rattle, clapper, small tinkling bell, harness bell, fool (figurative)
SonajaSpanish and Spanish American shakers
sonamento(Italian) sounding, sonorous, ringing, playing
sonante(Italian) sounding, ringing, resounding, sonorous
SONARthe term SONAR refers to Sound Navigation and Ranging, i.e. the measuring of distance under water using sound waves
sonare(Italian) to sound, to play, to resonate, to have a sound, to ring, to strike (bell, etc.), to play upon
sonare alla mente(Italian) to improvise, to play extempore
sonare il violino(Italian) to play upon the violin
Sonat(Swedish) sonata
Sonata(Italian f.) ring, ringing (bell)
(Spanish f., English, Italian f.) or Sonate (German), in the 17th-century, an extended piece in several movements for a number of instrumental soloists, most commonly one, with instrumental accompaniment, usually a keyboard, with or without a cello or viola da gamba, as opposed to a cantata which would include the voice or voices
in its modern form, dating from the early 18th-century, a musical form, called 'sonata-allegro' form, in three sections, exposition (usually with two contrasting themes), development (in which the opening material is extended) and recapitulation (in which the opening material is reheard)
Sonata-allegro formsee 'sonata form'
Sonata appassionataor Appassionata, the name customarily given to Ludgwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 57 in F minor, which was originally entitled Grande Sonate pour Piano (1806)
Sonata a tre(Italian f.) trio sonata
Sonata cyclethe multi-movement structure found in sonatas, string quartets, symphonies, concertos and large-scale works of the 18th- and 19th-centuries
Sonata da camera(Italian f.) or Kammer Sonate (German), see 'chamber sonata'
Sonata da chiesa(Italian f., literally 'church sonata') or Kirchen Sonate (German), usually a trio-sonata with four movements, slow-quick-slow-quick
Sonata form(English) Sonatenform (German f.), or, in English, 'first-movement form', a movement consisting of three sections, the exposition (principal subject, second subject in new key), development (development of the themes, or episodical material, or both combined), and recapitulation (principal subject, second subject, usually transposed into the tonic key), often followed by a coda
Sonata quasi una Fantasia(Italian f.) a sonata somewhat like a fantasia
Sonata rondo forma musical work that combines sonata and rondo forms; the rondo theme is the exposition of the sonata form A which recurs after each of the remaining two sections of the sonata, i.e. the development B and the recapitulation C, so the five sections are ABACA
Sonatas para teclado(Spanish f. pl.) keyboard sonatas
Sonate(French f., German f., Dutch, Danish) sonata
Sonateform(Danish) sonata form
Sonatenform(German f.) sonata form
Sonatenhauptsatzform(German f.) sonata or first-movement form
Sonatensatz(German m.) sonata form
Sonatensatzform(German m.) sonata form
Sonatevorm(Dutch) sonata form
Sonatform(Swedish) sonata form
Sonatilla(Italian f.) a short or light sonata
Sonatina(Italian f., Spanish f.) diminutive of sonata
Sonatine(French f., German f.) diminutive of sonata
Sonatojo(Italian m.) a sounding-board
Sonatore (m.), Sonatrice (f.)(Italian) a player, an instrumental performer
Sonatore di violino(Italian m.) fiddler, violin player
Son-batáor 'batá-rock', batá in a big band setting
Son bouché(French m.) stopped note (on the horn)
Sonda(Italian f.) a sounding line, a sounding rod
(Les) sondages le donnent en tête.(French) The polls put him in the lead.
Sondaggio(Italian m.) a sounding
sondare(Italian) to sound, to gauge, to probe
Sonde(German f.) a sound
Son demi-filé(French m.) a crescendo (the first half of a son filé)
Sonderabdruck(German m.) offprint
Sonderheft(German n.) supplement (periodical)
Sonderstab Musik(German f.) a sophisticated organization, a command force of Alfred Rosenberg's Einsatzstab, which was responsible for the systematic confiscation of music (compositions, manuscripts, instruments, libraries, records, etc.) from Jewish musicians and composers, followed in 1942 by the robbery of all music paraphernalia from the households of deported Jews. During the war, Sonderstäbe were established for visual arts, music, theatre, folklore, prehistory, churches, archives, science, genealogy, etc. The specialist for music matters in Rosenberg's Einsatzstab was Dr. Herbert Gerigk, a musicologist, who joined the Reichsüberwachungsamt (Reich Supervisory Office) at Rosenberg DBFU in January 1935 where he became Reichshauptstellenleiter for music in the Amt Kunstpflege. Gerigk was editor of the monthly periodicals Die Musik and Musik im Kriege (music in war) and published in 1940 the notorious Lexikon der Juden in der Musik (encyclopedia of jews in music). At the outbreak of WW II, Gerigk's organization consisted of internal and external specialists in all fields of music, including musicologists of high reputation such as Dr. Wolfgang Boetticher and Professor Gustav Fellerer. After WW II, their careers were not hampered by their active participation in confiscating musicalia from Jewish owners during the war.
sondieren(German) to sound
Son différentiel(French m.) difference tone
Sonea unit of perceived loudness after a proposal of S. Smith Stevens in 1936. In acoustics, loudness is a subjective measure of the sound pressure. One sone is equivalent to 40 phons, which is defined as the loudness of a 1 kHz tone at 40 dB SPL
  • Sone from which this extract has been taken
Sône(Breton) love song, satirical song, children's song, drinking song
Soneothe difficult art every good singer of Afro-Cuban-Latin dance music must have, which includes a sense of rhythm, a gift for improvisation, a perfect pitch and individual style so as to lead and interact with choruses and instruments
Soneosimprovised lyrics and melody sung during a Cuban montuno
Soner(French m.) also bombarder or talabarder, a player of the bombarde
(French) also sonneur or biniaouer, a player of the biniou
Soneria(Italian f.) a striking-mchanism (in a clock), an alarm
Sonerothe interpreter of the son, but now generally applied to a person whom has the ability to simultaneously sing, improvise over any melodic line, dance, play a musical instrument and has the gift of soneo
Sones abajeños(Mexico) a variant of Mexican son from the indigenous Purépecha community from Michoacán
Sones de arpa grande(Mexico) developed in an arid, hot area of western Mexico, it is dominated by a harp, accompanied by violins and guitars. Originally confined to poor rural areas and urban brothels, sones de arpa grande is now popular among suburban and urban middle- and upper-class audiences
Sones istmeños(Mexico) a variant of Mexican son from the indigenous Zapotec community of Oaxaca that is sung in both Zapotec and Spanish
Son et lumière(French) an audiovisual entertainment often based on an historical theme (and often produced in a historically relevant location). A voice narration is often used and lighting / special effects set the mood and portray certain events in time with the narration. Often used to refer to a performance with no performer where the meaning is communicated solely with technical effects. The concept was devised by the French architect Paul Robert-Houdin at Chambord in 1952
Soneto(Spanish m.) sonnet
Son étouffé(French m.) stopped note (on the horn)
Sonettista(Italian m./f.) a sonneteer, a writer of sonnets
Sonetto(Italian m.) a sonnet, a medieval verse form of fourteen lines, made up of two four-line pedes and two three-line voltae
sonevole(Italian) sonorous, resonant, sounding
Son filé(French m.) messa di voce (crescendo and decrescendo)
Son fondamental(French m.) fundamental (note)
Songcanzona (Italian), Lied (German), chanson (French), chant (French)
a lyric poem with a number of repeating stanzas (called refrains), written to be set to music in either vocal performance or with accompaniment of musical instruments.:
folk songfolk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. Folk music arose, and best survives, in societies not yet affected by mass communication and the commercialization of culture. It normally was shared and performed by the entire community (not by a special class of expert performers), and was transmitted by word of mouth
popular songpopular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and mostly distributed commercially. It stands in contrast to classical music, which historically was the music of elites or the upper strata of society, and traditional folk music which was shared non-commercially. It is sometimes abbreviated to pop music, although pop music is more often used for a narrower branch of popular music
art songa song of serious artistic purpose designed for the concert hall as opposed to traditional songs or folk songs. An art song is usually sung by a solo voice with accompaniment. In German it is called Lieder, in French, chanson. An art song is a complete composition in itself and is not part of a larger work such as an opera or and oratorio
strophic art songeach strophe is sung to the same melody although the last verse may be different
progressively or through composed art songeach strophe is sung to different music
songs have words, tunes do not
Sòngthe Chinese hymn or eulogy, sung at scrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house, one of the forms of poetry found in the Shi Jing
Song cyclea group of songs performed in an order establishing a musical continuity related to some underlying (conceptual) theme
songer à(French) to dream of, to think of
Song fluteFitchhorn song flute, flutophone or tonette, a plastic wind-instrument not unlike the recorder. However, while the recorder is fully chromatic, the flutophone is more limited, being designed to play principally in the key of C
Song forma term used to describe a simple ABA or ternary structure as employed in many slow movements, although it is best avoided as many songs do not have this structure; in popular music, most song forms are in the binary or ternary forms AABB and ABA respectively or, the standard jazz formula, AABA
Song loanVietnamese small clacker played with the foot
Songlinea term popularised by the writer Bruce Chatwin to describe a set of songs that recount the actions of ancestral beings as they journeyed across the landscape in the ancestral past, similar to what anthropologists in the past called 'song cycles'
Songooriginated by Los Van Van, and in many ways the predecessor to timba, songo is a popular musical style created in Cuba combining rumba, son and other folkloric styles and featuring American jazz and funk as well as modern American rhythm section instruments including the drum set
Songo-salsaa style of music that blends Spanish rapping and hip hop beats with salsa music and songo
Song structure (popular music)songs in popular music are almost never through-composed. That is, they almost always use the sectional forms such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and twelve bar blues
Song whistlesee 'slide whistle'
Song without wordsa term invented by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), a piece for solo piano
Songwritersomeone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. That is to say, a songwriter is a lyricist, a composer, or both. The word 'songwriter' is however more commonly used to describe one who writes popular songs than to describe a writer of art songs
Son harmonique(French m.) overtone
Son huastecoor huapango, a son style from southeastern Mexico in which two guitarists sing falsetto to the accompaniment of a violin, although a flute may also be added to the standard ensemble
Soni alterati(Italian) chromatically altered notes
Sonic artifactin sound and music production, the term 'sonic artifact' or simply 'artifact' refers to sonic material that is usually accidental or unwanted, resulting from the editing or manipulation of a sound
sónico(Spanish) sonic
Sonido(Spanish m.) tone, note
Sonido determinado(Spanish) pitched (with a definite pitch)
Sonido indeterminado(Spanish) unpitched (without a definite pitch)
Sonificationthe presentation of scientific and other data using (non-speech) sound
Sonioulight Breton songs of love and adventure
Son jalisciensea son style originating from the Jalisco region of Mexico
Son jarochoor son veracruzano, a style found in the Veracruz Gulf Coast region of Mexico, that blends instrumental music traditions including Spanish and Afro-Caribbean influences, oral poetry and dance. The ensemble that plays this style of music usually consists of a harp, jarana (five string guitar), and requinto (small four string guitar). Southern Veracruz is home to a distinct style of jarochos that is characteristically lacking a harp, is played exclusively by requinto or jarana guitars
son los amos del pueblo(Spanish) they own the whole village
son meilleur ami(French) one's best friend
Son montunothe modern Afro-Cuban sound emanating from the son tradition but with richer rhythm due to the incorporation of elements of guaracha, bolero and mambo
sonnachioso(Italian) drowsy, sleepy
sonnailles(French f. pl.) sleigh bells
Sonnambulismo(Italian m.) somnambulism, sleep-walking
sonnecchiare(Italian) to doze, to slumber
Sonnellino(Italian m.) a short sleep, a nap
sonner(French) to ring, to sound, to strike (the hour), to ring for (service)
sonner à toute volée(French) to peal out
sonner aux champs(French) to sound the general salute (military)
sonner bien(French) to sound good
sonner chez ...(French) to ring ...'s doorbell
sonner clair(French) to ring clearly
sonner creux(French) to sound hollow, to ring hollow
sonner de(French) to sound, to blow (i.e. give sound to)
sonner faux(French) to sound out of tune, to ring false
sonner juste(French) to sound in tune, to ring true
sonner l'alarme(French) to sound the alarm
sonner les cloches à ...(French) to tell ... off
sonner l'heure(French) to strike the hour
sonner mal(French) to sound bad
sonner trois coups(French) to ring three times
sonner un coup(French) to ring (doorbell, bell)
Sonnerie(French f.) sounding, ringing, sound (of a bell)
a form especially popular during the Classical period
(French f.) trumpet call, trumpet signal, signal sounded by bells
Sonnet
(English, French m.) the term "sonnet" derives from the Provençal word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning 'little song'. By the thirteenth century, it had come to signify a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and logical structure. The conventions associated with the sonnet have evolved over its history. The writers of sonnets are sometimes referred to as "sonneteers," although the term is sometimes used derisively. Many modern writers of sonnets choose simply to be called "sonnet writers." Traditionally, when writing sonnets, English poets usually employ iambic pentameter. In the Romance languages, the hendecasyllable and Alexandrine are the most widely used metres
Italian or Petrarchanhas an eight line stanza (called an octave) followed by a six line stanza (called a sestet). The octave has two quatrains rhyming ABBA, ABBA, the first of which presents the theme, the second further develops it. In the sestet, the first three lines reflect on or exemplify the theme, while the last three bring the poem to a unified end. The sestet may be arranged CDECDE, CDCDCD, or CDEDCE
English or Shakespeareanuses three quatrains; each rhymed differently, with a final, independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying climax to the whole. Its rhyme scheme is ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. Typically, the final two lines follow a "turn" or a "volta," (sometimes spelled volte, like volte-face) because they reverse, undercut, or turn from the original line of thought to take the idea in a new direction
Miltonicsimilar to the Petrarchan sonnet, but it does not divide its thought between the octave and the sestet - the sense or line of thinking runs straight from the eighth to ninth line. Also, Milton expands the sonnet's repertoire to deal not only with love as the earlier sonnets did, but also to include politics, religion, and personal matters
Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) is credited with introducing the sonnet into English poetry. As well as translating several sonnets by the Italian poet Petrarch, he wrote others of his own. In addition to imitations of works by the classical writers Seneca and Horace, he experimented with other poetic forms such as the rondeau, and wrote epigrams, songs and satires
Sonneta short poem of fourteen lines
Sonnet cycleanother term for a sonnet sequence
Sonnet sequencealso called a sonnet cycle, this term refers to a gathering or arrangement of sonnets by a single author so that the sonnets in that group or arrangement deal with a single theme, situation, a particular lady, or alternatively deal with what appears to be a sequential story
Sonnette(French f.) bell
Sonner (m.), Sonneuse (f.)(French) a player of a musical instrument, for example, of the gaita, bagpipes, bombarde, etc.
Sonnerie(French) a signal given by church bells, as imitated in the Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont de Paris (1723) by Marin Marais
Sonneur(French m.) also soner or biniaouer, a player of the biniou
Sonniloquio(Italian m.) talking in one's sleep
Sonno(Italian m.) sleep, slumber
sonnolento(Italian) drowsy, sleepy, somnolent
Sonnolenza(Italian f.) drowsiness, sleepiness, somnolence
Sonnou de violon(Breton) alternatively, violoneux or violonser, a violinist
Sono(Italian) sound
Sonochemistyin chemistry, the study of sonochemistry is concerned with understanding the effect of sonic waves and wave properties on chemical systems. The chemical effects of ultrasound do not come from a direct interaction with molecular species. Studies have shown that no direct coupling of the acoustic field with chemical species on a molecular level can account for sonochemistry or sonoluminescence. Instead, sonochemistry arises from acoustic cavitation: the formation, growth, and implosive collapse of bubbles in a liquid. This is demonstrated in phenomena such as ultrasound, sonication, sonoluminescence, and sonic cavitation
Sonoluminescencein the early 1930s Frenzel and Schultes discovered that photographic plates became "fogged" when submerged in water exposed to high frequency sound. More recent experiments have succeeded in suspending a single luminous pulsating bubble in a standing wave acoustic field, visible in an undarkened room. Generally sonoluminescence is light emission from small cavitating bubbles of air or other gas in water or other fluids, produced when the fluid is acted upon by intense high frequency sound waves. The mechanism is not completely understood, but very high pressures and temperatures are thought to be produced at the centre of the collapsing bubbles
Sonometeran instrument for measuring intervals or the vibration of sounds
sonorasee sonoro
sonoramente(Italian) sonorously, harmoniously
sonore(French, Italian) sonorous, harmonious, full-toned, resonant, vibrating
Sonorisateur (m.), Sonorisatrice (f.)(French) sound engineer, ingénieur du son
Sonorisateur de plateau(French m.) the technician who places the microphones for a recording
Sonorisation(French f.) (equipment) sound equipment
sonoriser(French) to wire a room for sound
Sonorità(Italian f.) sonority, resonant, tone (of an instrument)
Sonorité(French f.) sonority, resonacne, tone (of an instrument)
Sonoritya sound defined by combination of other sounds, registers, stops, etc.
the character or quality of the sound produced by an instrumentalist
sonoro(Spanish) sonorous, harmonious, full-toned, resonant, vibrating
sonoro (m.), sonora (f.)(Italian) sonorous, harmonious, full-toned, resonant, vibrating, high-sounding, sonant (phonetics)
Sonorousharmonious, full-toned, resonant, sonore (Italian), kligend (German), sonore (French)
Son ouvert(French m.) an open note (on a wind instrument)
Sonsainahurdy-gurdy
Sons bouchés(French m. pl.) stopped notes from the horn
Sons d'écho(French m. pl.) see 'echo horn'
Sons de flageolet(French m. pl.) harmonics, flageolet notes
Sons étouffés(French m. pl.) damped, muffled or veiled sound, for example, using a cloth, or the palm of the hand, to damp the sound of a harp string immediately after it has sounded
Sons harmoniques(French m. pl.) harmonics, flageolet notes
Son sinussoidale(French m.) sine tone
Sons multiples(French m. pl.) multiphonics
Sons naturels(French m. pl.) (on the French horn) open notes (that is, not stopped)
Sons ondulés(French m. pl.) vibrato
Sons pleins(French m. pl.) in flute music, notes that must be blown with a very full, round tone
Sonus(Latin) sound, tone
Son veracruzano(Spanish m.) see son jarocho
Sookyoku(Japanese) emerging in 15th-century Japan, a solo repertoire for the koto. In the early Edo period (around the 17th-century), sookyoku was a popular source of entertainment for the wealthy merchant classes
Soort jazz(Dutch) jazz style, for example, 'bebop'
Sopa conciliatory gift or bribe
sop.abbrevation of 'soprano'
Sopel'(Russian) or sopel, a simple peasant duct pipe
Sopelesee sopile
Sophistes(Ancient Greek) a master of his craft, a clever or wise man
Sophistryarguments that are undoubtedly clever, but also specious, fallacious, or designed to deceive
Sopilasee sopile
Sopilealso sopele or sopila, wooden shawm originating from Istria and some of the northern islands along the Adriatic Coast of Croatia. Sopilas are always played in pairs; one larger than the other. Both have six finger holes, being equally spaced on the smaller one, and set in groups of three on the larger one
SopilkaUkrainian recorder
s'opposer à(French) to oppose
sopra(Italian) before, on, upon, above, over, higher, for example in piano music where the marking sopra indicates that the hand playing such a part is to be held over the other hand
Sopraan(Dutch) soprano
Sopraano(Finnish) soprano
Sopraccoperta(Italian f.) dust jacket, dust-cover (paper cover on a hardback book), Schutzumschlag (German m.), jaquette (French f.), sobrecubierta (Spanish f.)
Sopradominante(Italian) see 'sub-mediant'
Sopran(German m., Danish, Swedish) soprano, boy treble, descant (instrument)
Soprana(Italian f.) soprano
Soprani(Italian pl.) treble voices, plural form of soprano
Sopraninoan instrument pitched above the soprano range, for example, the sopranino recorder or the sopranino saxophone
Sopraninoblockflöte(German f.) sopranino recorder
Sopranino clarinetsee piccolo clarinet
Sopraninosaxofon(German n.) sopranino saxophone
Sopraninosaxophon(German n.) sopranino saxophone
Sopranissimo saxophonenicknamed the 'soprillo', this piccolo-sized saxophone is an octave above the soprano
Sopranist(German m.) a soprano, more particularly, a male soprano
the word "soprano" generally refers to a female singer of this highest vocal range and to her voice. Male singers whose voices have not yet changed are known either as boy sopranos or, in the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions, as trebles. Some adult male singers use a special technique without using falsetto in order to sing in this high range, and they are known as sopranists
Sopranistin(German f.) a soprano
Soprano(English, Italian m., French m., Spanish f., from the Latin, superius) Sopran (German), dessus (French), the highest singing voice, usually extending from middle C to the C two octaves higher
the soprano voice may be subdivided according to the tessitura and timbre and its suitability for various operatic roles:
Germanydramatischer Sopran, lyrischer Sopran, hoher Sopran or Koloratur Sopran, Soubrette
Italysoprano drammatico, soprano lirico, soprano lirico spinto, soprano leggiero, soprano sfogato, soprano giusto
Francesoprano dramatique, soprano lyrique, soubrette, soprano demicaractère, various types of Dugazon, Falcon
Sopranoor boy-soprano, the term may be applied also to the highest boy treble voice
Soprano acuto sfogato(Italian) a very high and acrobatic soprano with a range extending to the high F, such as the "Queen of the Night" in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
Soprano bassoona small member of the bassoon family
Sopranoblockflöte(German f.) descant or soprano recorder
Soprano clefsoprano clef, chiave di soprano (Italian f.), Sopranschlüssel (German m.), Diskantschlüssel (German m.), clé d'ut 1re (French f.), clef d'ut 1re (French f.), clave de do en primera (Spanish f.), clave de soprano (Spanish f.)
soprano C clef
a 'so-called' C clef
Soprano concertato(French m.) the soprano solo part, the part for a solo treble voice in a choir, or the part for a solo soprano voice in a chorus
Soprano corda(Italian) the E string of the violin
Soprano dramatique(French m.) dramatic soprano
Soprano dramatique lyrique d'agilité(French m.) young dramatic soprano
Soprano drammatico(Italian m.) dramatic soprano
Soprano, firstprimo soprano (Italian), erster Sopran (German), première soprano (French)
Soprano flutea transverse flute in E flat (in Italian flauto soprano, a minor third above the standard orchestral flute)
Soprano léger(French m.) coloratura soprano
Soprano leggiero(Italian m.) coloratura soprano, a very flexible light soprano, often used in soubrette roles, such as 'Zerlina' in Don Giovanni (Mozart). In recent times, the Italian soprano Alda Noni (1916-2011) was described as being a soprano leggiero
Soprano lirico(Italian m.) lyric soprano
Soprano lirico spinto(Italian m.) young dramatic soprano
Soprano lyrique(French m.) lyric soprano
Soprano naturale(Italian m.) a falsetto, a male soprano who produces the notes with the head-voice
Soprano recorderthe descant recorder in C
Soprano saxophonesaxofón soprano (Spanish m.), sassofono soprano (Italian m.), Sopransaxophon (German n.), saxophone soprano (French m.)
a member of the saxophone family pitched above the alto saxophone
Soprano, secondsecundo soprano (Italian), zweiter Sopran (German), deuxième soprano (French)
Soprano sfogato(Italian m.) a light soprano voice
Soprano stringthe top 'e' string on the violin
Soprano trombonea member of the trombone family, pitched in Bb, an octave above the tenor trombone
Sopransängerin(German f.) treble voice
Sopransaxofon(German n.) soprano saxophone, saxofón soprano (Spanish m.), sassofono soprano (Italian m.), Sopransaxophon (German n.), saxophone soprano (French m.)
Sopransaxophon(German n.) soprano saxophone, saxofón soprano (Spanish m.), sassofono soprano (Italian m.), saxophone soprano (French m.)
Sopranschlüssel(German m.) soprano clef, chiave di soprano (Italian f.), Diskantschlüssel (German m.), clé d'ut 1re (French f.), clef d'ut 1re (French f.), clave de do en primera (Spanish f.), clave de soprano (Spanish f.)
Sopran singen(German) to sing soprano, to sing a descant
Sopranstimme(German f.) the soprano voice
Soprar(Portuguese) blow
Sopratonica(Italian) supertonic
sopra una corda(Italian) (play) on one string
Soprillothe brand name of a piccolo or sopranissimo saxophone, the smallest saxophone in the family. It is pitched in Bb, one octave above the soprano saxophone, although the keywork only extends to a written high Eb rather than F. Due to its small size, the upper octave key has to be placed in the mouthpiece. It is difficult to build an instrument so small, and only recently has a true sopranissimo saxophone been produced. The Soprillo is 12" in length (13" with the mouthpiece)
  • Soprillo from which this extract has been taken
sopro(Portuguese) blow
Sopusointi(Finnish) consonance
Soqaqan Inuit circular frame drum used for accompanying songs
  • Soqaq from which this extract has been taken
Sor(Spanish f.) sister
Soramimia word used in the Japanese subculture language to describe lyrics of a song that sound like the original in one language, but produce a different meaning when interpreted in another language
  • Soramimi from which this material has been taken
So-ran Bushi(Japanese) a Japanese traditional dance associated with the fishermen of Hokkaido, Japan, which has been fused with a modern rock beat
so rasch wie möglich(German) as fast as possible
Sorbetflavoured water ice, usually flavoured with something sharp as the dish is served as a palate refresher between courses
Sordasee sordo
Sord. ababbreviated form of sordinen ab
sordamente(Italian) softly, gently, with a muffled or damped tone
Sordasin flamenco, soft or muffled hand claps
Sordellina(Italian f.) a bagpipe or musette played in Italy in the mid-seventeenth century. The sordellina was distinguished by its four pipes, including a contrabass drone, and by its small bellows that attached to one's wrist, so that the player did not have to blow to fill the instrument's bag. Sordellinas could feature elaborate key systems, allowing more than one note to be sounded simultaneously
Sordinasee sordino
(Spanish f.) mute, sourdine (French)
Sordina a cappello(Italian f.) hat mute
Sordina a doppio cono(Italian f.) double mute
Sordina di cartone(Italian f.) cardboard mute
Sordina di metallo(Italian f.) metal mute
Sordina diritta(Italian f.) straight mute
Sordina hush-hush(Italian f.) hush mute
Sordina wawa(Italian f.) wah-wah mute
Sordinen ab(German) mutes off
Sordino (s.), Sordini (pl.)(Italian m.) a spinet in which the strings rather than being plucked with quill were struck by unquilled jacks (ref: Patrizio Barbieri: Galpin Society Journal vol. LXIII, May 2010)
damper on a piano, thus Sordino-Fortepiano, the name used in Germany (1839) for any keyboard instrument with dampers
a small violin that is used for dancing, known also as kit or pochette (from Gabinetto armonico (Rome, 1722)
in 17th century Tuscany and Umbria, pipes of the regal, or regal-type pipes on the organ
from 1722, tangent piano
sordino (m.), sordina (f.), sordini (pl.)(Italian, from the Latin surdus, literally 'deaf' or 'noiseless') mute (applied to a stringed, woodwind or brass instrument), damper (on a piano)
con sordino means muted
senza sordino means unmuted
sordo(Italian) damped, muffled, veiled (tone)
(Italian) deaf
Sordone(Italian m.) sordun (English, French m.), Sordun (German m.), a instrument from the 16th- and 17th-centuries related to the crumhorn, with a double reed, a cylindrical bore, twelve finger holes and a body that doubled back upon itself, that existed in four sizes, ranging from Gross Bass to Cantus
Sordun(English, German m., French m.) sordone (Italian m.)
Sorellastra(Italian f.) stepsister
sorgen für(German) to look after
[entry provided by Micahel Zapf]
Sorgfalt(German f.) care
sorgfältig(German) carefully, accurato (Italian), soigneusement (French), soigné (French)
sorgfältig gebunden(German) very smoothly
Sori-buk(Korean, literally 'a drum for accompanying vocal music'), also called kojang-buk, is usually used in the accompaniment of pan-sori, a form of Korean opera in which one singer is accompanied by a single drum player. The body of the drum is made of wood which is covered on both sides with white leather, the leather secured with a soe-danchu (metal pin) which enables the player to beat the frame as well as the drumhead. The player is seated on the ground and the sori-buk is held vertically: the left-hand holds the drum and the right-hand beats the drumhead using a namu-chae (wooden stick) which is made of birch
Sorites(Latin, from Greek) a polysyllogism or multi-premise syllogism, a series of syllogisms forming a consecutive argument, in which all the conclusions but the last are omitted
Sormitus(Finnish) fingering
sorpresa molto(Italian) very surprised
sorpreso(Italian) surprised
sorridendo(Italian) smiling
sorridente(Italian) smiling
Sorrowfullysadly, dolente (Italian), doloroso (Italian), mesto (Italian), leidvoll (German), schmerzlich (German), triste (French)
Sortes Biblicae(Latin pl.) divination by the Bible, in which the volume is opened at random and first phrase on which the eye falls is regarded as significant or prophetic
Sortie(French f.) exit, departure
an organ piece played at the end of a Church service
(French f.) output (electronics)
(French f.) a sally, a sudden attack made on the enemy by a besieged garrison
sortir du champ(French) to go out of shot (filming)
sortir par la fenêtre(French) to leave by the window
Sortita(Italian f.) or entrance aria, the first number sung by a leading character in an opera after their entrance
(Italian) a concluding or closing voluntary
sos.abbreviated form of sostenuto (Italian: sustained)
So sam sai(Thailand) a spike fiddle, the body of which is made from a halved, triangular-shaped coconut with three bulges on its back. Skin covers the front of the instrument and strings attach to the pegs internally
so schnell als möglich(German) as fast as possible, fastest
sehr schnell (German: extremely fast) has a similar meaning as a musical direction as have prestissimo (Italian) and très vite (French)
Sospensione(Italian) a suspension
sospensivamente(Italian) irresolutely, waveringly
sospirando(Italian) sighing, plaintive, very subdued, doleful
(Italian) catching the breath
sospirante(Italian) sighing, sobbing, plaintive, very subdued, doleful
sospirevole(Italian) sighing deeply, sobbing, plaintive, very subdued, doleful
Sospiro(Italian m.) sigh
crotchet rest orcrotchet rest(Italian m.) a crotchet rest, a quarter rest, a rest one quarter the time value of a whole rest or semibreve rest
sospiroso(Italian) sighing deeply, sobbing, plaintive, very subdued, doleful
sost.abbreviated form of sostenuto (Italian: sustained)
sosten.abbreviated form of sostenuto (Italian: sustained)
sostenendo(Italian) sustaining, hold the notes for their full duration
sostenente(Italian) sustained, the notes held for their full duration
sostenere(Italian) to support
Sostenido
sharp(Spanish m.) sharp sign, a sign to show that a note should be raised one semitone in pitch
sostenido, doble(Spanish) double sharp
sostenido, sostenida(Spanish) sustained, steady, sharp (in pitch)
sostenido y medio(Spanish) 3/4 tone sharp (a microtonal alteration)
Sostenimiento(Spanish m.) sustain (to continue a note sounding), support, maintenance
sostenuto(Italian) used alone as an tempo indicator, sostenuto means the same as andante cantabile
(Italian) tenuto, holding the notes for their full duration
(Italian) (a note) prolonged beyond its normal duration
(a passage) played in a cantabile style (see comment below)
"sostenuto means soutenu or en soutenant, that is, holding the notes one is singing firmly and equally, especially when they are held over from one bar (measure) to the next, or over several bars (measures)." - Brossard (1703)
Sostenuto pedalindicated by the abbreviation sos., the middle pedal, of three, on more expensive instruments that lets the player sustain selective notes as he or she chooses. The sostenuto pedal should not be confused with the much more commonly used sustain pedal, which undamps all the strings on the piano
Sostituto (m.), Sostituta (f.)(Italian) stand in, understudy
Sostituzione(Italian f.) change of finger
Sotabanco(Spanish m.) attic
Sotabarbo(Spanish m.) double chin
Sotana(Spanish f.) cassock, soutane
Sótano(Spanish m.) basement, cellar
Sotechado(Spanish m.) shed (building)
Soteltythe first part of a feast or banquet, the word 'sotelty' (modern 'subtelty') was used primarily in England. In France this course was called an entrement from the Italian intromitto, to let or introduce. In the late Roman empire, the intermissum was a luxury course, consisting of some fantastic delicacy. In the 14th to 17th centuries, the 'sotelty' was not always a food, but any kind of entertainment to include buffoons, minstrels, troubadours, acrobats, dancers and other performers. It was used to alleviate the boredom of waiting for the next course to appear and to entertain the populace. If possible, the 'sotelty' was supposed to make the populace gasp with delight and to be amazed at the ingenuity of the 'sotelty' maker
soterrado (m.), soterrada (f.)(Spanish) buried, hidden
soterrar(Spanish) to hide, to bury
Soto(Spanish m.) grove (small wood), thicket
Sottiesor follies, French medieval entertainments that were more farcical than farce, and frequently had the licentiousness of pasquinades. The performers were led by a Prince des Sots or Mère Sotte
Sottise(French f.) foolish action, silly remark, stupidity, foolishness
Sottisier(French m.) collection of silly remarks, an anthology of 'howlers'
sotto(Italian) under, below, beneath
sotto boce(Italian) softly, in a low voice, in an undertone
sotto dominante(Italian) subdominant
Sotto in su(Italian) in art, the foreshortening of a figure painted on a cornice or ceiling so that it appears vertical to the viewer below
sotto la direzione di ...(Italian) under the direction of
sotto le armi(Italian) in the army
sotto mano(Italian) on the sly (in secret)
sottotonica(Italian f.) subtonic, the flattened seventh of a major scale, sous-tonique (French f.), Subtonika (German f.), subtónica (Spanish f.)
sotto voce(Italian, Latin) or sottovoce (Italian), under the breath, in lowered tones, softly, as an aside, in an undertone, unter der Stimme (German), mit leiser Stimme (German), à voix basse (French)
sotto voce a ...(Italian) as an aside to ..., quietly to ...
Sou(French) a small French coin, a five-centime piece
a name used, more generally, for any coin of very little value
Soubasse(French) an organ stop of 32 ft. pitch, a Sub-bass
Soubisea purée of onion
Soubresaut(French) in ballet, a leap in the air with both feet fully pointed one behind the other
Soubrette(Italian f, English, German f., French f., from archaic French soubret, literally 'cunning') originally a maidservant of independent and saucy temperament in the Italian commedia dell'arte, later a female role, usually coquettish, typically a maid, in comic opera or operetta sung by a light soprano voice
Soubriquetan erroneous spelling of sobriquet
Sou-chantre(French) a sub-chanter
soudainement(French) suddenly
Souffaraa small Egyptian flute
Souffle(French m.) breath
(French) in medicine, a murmuring or whispering sound heard on auscultation (listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope)
Soufflé(French) a light, fluffy, baked dish made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert
  • Soufflé from which this extract has been taken
souffler l'orgue(French) to blow the bellows of an organ
souffler(French) to blow
Soufflerie(French) the place where the organ bellows are, the bellows machinery itself
Soufflet (s.), Soufflets (pl.)(French m.) the bellows of an organ, the bellows of an accordion
(French m.) in string playing, a term used for a large increase in speed or volume that is produced over a small number of notes
Souffleur (m.), Souffleuse (f.)(German, French) a prompter (in a dramatic performance), a bellows-blower
Souffleur d'orgue (s.), Souffleur d'orgues (pl.)(French m.) an organ blower
Souk(Arabic) an Oriental market-place
Soukousee suku
Soukouscalled 'congo music' in English-speaking West Africa and lingala in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, a Congolese musical style that grew out of 1950s Cuban rumba combined with the kwassa kwassa dance rhythm
Soukous ndomboloa fast-paced form of the soukous from central and eastern Africa with exaggerated hip movements
Soul(English, German m.) or 'soul music', a style of composition characterised by an emotional and highly dramatic delivery of the vocal line, commonly including wails, sighs, cries, falsetto, whispers, etc., that developed in 1960s America
Soulagement(French m.) relief (from), alleviation (of) (particularly, mental distress)
soulager(French) to relieve
Soul bellsee 'passing bell'
Soul bluesa style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music
soûler(French) to make drunk
Soulèvement(French m.) an uprising
soulever(French) to lift, to raise, to stir (excite)
Soulier(French m.) shoe
souligner(French) to underline, to emphasize (the eyes, etc.)
Soul jazza development of hard bop which incorporated strong blues and gospel influences in music for small groups featuring keyboards, especially the Hammond organ
  • Soul Jazz from which this extract has been taken
soumettre(French) to subject, to submit
soumettre à(French) to subject to, to submit to
soumis (m.), soumisse (f.)(French) submissive
Soumission(French f.) submission
Sounaa Chinese double-reed eight-holed instrument, the two ends of which are made of copper while the body is made of wood
Sound(English) suono (Italian m.), Schall (German m.), son (French m.), sonido (Spanish m.)
sound is the quickly varying pressure wave within a medium. We usually mean audible sound, which is the sensation (as detected by the ear) of very small rapid changes in the air pressure above and below a static value. This "static" value is atmospheric pressure (about 100,000 Pascals) which does nevertheless vary slowly, as shown on a barometer. Associated with the sound pressure wave is a flow of energy. Sound is often represented diagrammatically as a sine wave, but physically sound (in air) is a longitudinal wave where the wave motion is in the direction of the movement of energy. The wave crests can be considered as the pressure maxima whilst the troughs represent the pressure minima
how small and rapid are the changes of air pressure which cause sound? When the rapid variations in pressure occur between about 20 and 20,000 times per second (ie at a frequency between 20Hz and 20kHz) sound is potentially audible even though the pressure variation can sometimes be as low as only a few millionths of a Pascal. Movements of the ear drum as small as the diameter of a hydrogen atom can be audible! Louder sounds are caused by greater variation in pressure - 1 Pascal, for example, will sound quite loud, provided that most of the acoustic energy is in the mid-frequencies (1kHz - 4kHz) where the ear is most sensitive
sound is produced when the air is disturbed in some way, for example by a vibrating object. A speaker cone from a hi-fi system serves as a good illustration. It may be possible to see the movement of a bass speaker cone, providing it is producing very low frequency sound. As the cone moves forward the air immediately in front is compressed causing a slight increase in air pressure, it then moves back past its rest position and causes a reduction in the air pressure (rarefaction). The process continues so that a wave of alternating high and low pressure is radiated away from the speaker cone at the speed of sound
Sound absorption coefficientthe absorption coefficient of a material is ideally the fraction of the randomly incident sound power which is absorbed, or otherwise not reflected. It can be determined in two main ways, and there are often variations in the results depending upon the method of measurement chosen. It is standard practice to measure the coefficient at the preferred octave frequencies over the range of at least 125Hz - 4kHz
for the purposes of architectural design, the Sabine coefficient (calculated from reverberation chamber measurements) is preferred. Interestingly some absorbent materials are found to have a Sabine coefficient in excess of unity at higher frequencies. This is due to edge effects and when this occurs the value can be taken as 1.0
Sound Art'Sound Art' as nomenclature for the work of a growing body of artists is in common usage. Major presenters and world-wide opinion leaders in the contemporary art world such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, MassMoca, the Hayward Gallery in London and the ICC in Tokyo routinely present 'Sound Art'. Smaller venues regularly featuring (or in some cases entirely dedicated to) sound installations have appeared in most major cities. Festivals in many different countries focus on the work of 'Sound Artists' who now receive major funding from public and private granting institutions around the world. Sound Art has arrived
see sound sculpture'
Sound barriermuro del suono (Italian m.), Schallmauer (German f.), mur du son (French m.), barrera del sonido (Spanish f.)
in aerodynamics, the sound barrier usually refers to the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed, although the 'crack' of a bullwhip is caused by the free end of the whip moving at similar speeds through the same barrier
Soundboardtavola armonica (Italian), Resonanzboden (German), table d'harmonie (French), a thin wooden board often placed under the strings of a stringed or keyboard instrument that serves to reinforce and prolong their vibrations
in the organ, the cover of the windchest
Sound bodysee 'sound box'
Sound bowthe thickened area of a bell wall just above the lip against which the clapper strikes
Soundboxalso 'sound box' or 'sound body', hollow box shaped resonator, one face of which is the soundboard, that enhances its volume and tone of a stringed instrument
Sound checka thorough test of the sound system before a performance. This will include checking each speaker cabinet individually, and each playback device. In the case of a live concert, this is the session when each instrument is played in turn for the sound engineer to check and fine-tune the sound
Sound collagethe production of songs, musical compositions, or recordings using portions, or samples, of previously made recordings. Like its visual cousin, the collage work may have a completely different effect than that of the component parts, even if the original parts are completely recognizable
Sound control(electronics) a device designed to control of some particular feature of a recording or play-back, for example, the volume level
Sound effector 'audio effect', artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of movies, video games, music, or other media
  • Pluk - professional sound designers
  • Sound effect from which this extract has been taken
Sound engineersee 'recording engineer'
Sound holeor 'F-hole', Schallloch (German n.) or F-Loch (German n.), ouie (French f.) or trou d'F (French m.), foro armonico (Italian m.), "f" (Italian f.), a hole (of holes) in the soundboard or belly of a stringed instrument from which the vibrational energy in the sound box is radiated
Soundiesone-song films made in the 1940s for the 'Panoram' visual jukebox. These were short films of musical selections, usually just a band on a movie-set bandstand, made for playing. Thousands of 'Soundies' were made, mostly of jazz musicians, but also torch singers, comedians, and dancers
Sounding boardsound board
Sounding rootthe note in Italian and German sixth chords that sound as though they are the root notes of the chord
Sounding stopsee 'stop'
Sound installationsee 'sound sculpture'
Soundkarte(German f.) sound card (as in a computer)
Sound localisationa listener's ability to identify the location or origin of a detected sound or the methods in acoustical engineering to simulate the placement of an auditory cue in a virtual 3D space
Sound massin contrast to more traditional musical textures, sound mass composition minimizes the importance of individual pitches in preference for texture, timbre, and dynamics as primary shapers of gesture and impact." Developed from the modernist tone clusters and spread to orchestral writing by the late 1950s and 1960s, sound-mass "obscures the boundary between sound and noise. Techniques which may create or be used with sound mass include extended techniques such as muted brass or strings, flutter tonguing, wide vibrato, extreme ranges, and glissandos
Sound modulean electronic musical instrument without a human-playable interface such as a keyboard, for example. Sound modules have to be "played" using an externally connected device. The external device may be a controller, which is a device that provides the human-playable interface and may or may not produce sounds of its own, or a sequencer, which is computer hardware or software designed to play electronic musical instruments. Connections between sound modules, controllers, and sequencers are generally made with MIDI, which is a standardized protocol designed for this purpose
Sound objectin music a sound object (termed objet sonore by Pierre Schaeffer), a generalization of the concept of a musical note, is any sound from any source which in duration is on the time s cale of 100 ms to several seconds
Soundpaintinga live composing sign language created by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, dancers, actors, poets, and visual artists working in the medium of structured improvisation. At present the language comprises over 750 gestures that are signed by the composer/conductor indicating the type of improvisation desired of the performers. Direction of the composition is gained through the parameters of each set of signed gestures
Sound-postor 'sound post', anima (Italian f.), Stimme (German f.), Stimmstock (German m.), âme (French f.), small, movable rod or pillar of wood that is fitted inside the sound box between the back of certain stringed instruments (particular those of the violin and viol families) and the belly, connecting the two, thus easing the string pressure on the bridge and distributing vibrations throughout the instrument
Sound pressure levelor SPL, see 'sound'
Sound recordingsound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanical re-creation and/or amplification of sound, often as music. This involves the use of audio equipment such as microphones, recording devices and loudspeakers. From early beginnings with the invention of the phonograph using purely mechanical techniques, the field has advanced with the invention of electrical recording, the mass production of the 78 record, the magnetic wire recorder followed by the tape recorder, the vinyl LP record. The invention of the compact cassette in the 1960s, followed by Sony's Walkman, gave a major boost to the mass distribution of music recordings, and the invention of digital recording and the compact disc in 1983 brought massive improvements in ruggedness and quality. The most recent developments have been in digital audio players like the Apple iPod. New technologies such as Super Audio CD and DVD-A continue to set very hi-fi digital standards
Sound reinforcementamplifying a voice or an instrument just enough so that it can be heard, without the audience being aware that it is being amplified (ideally!)
Sound reinforcement systeman electromechanical system for accurately amplifying, reproducing, and sometimes recording audio, so that persons not near the original source may experience the sound as if they were. The configuration of such a system depends on its intended application. A sound system, or public address system or PA system, typically has microphones, an amplifier, loudspeakers, and controls to mix the signals coming from the various microphones or other input sources (such as phonograph turntables or tape recorders)
Sound reproductionthe electrical or mechanical re-creation and/or amplification of sound, often as music
Sound sampler(Italian m., English, German m.) a sampler is an electronic musical instrument that can record and store audio signal samples, generally recordings of existing sounds, and play them back at a range of pitches
Soundsampler(French) sound sampler
Soundscape ecologyor acoustic ecology, the study of the relationship between individuals and communities and their environment. Soundscape ecology is thus the study of the effects of the acoustic environment, or soundscape, on the physical responses or behavioural characteristics of those living within it. Its particular aim is to draw attention to imbalances which may have unhealthy or inimical effects
Soundscape designa new interdiscipline combining the talents of scientists, social scientists and artists (particularly musicians). Soundscape design attempts to discover principles and to develop techniques by which the social, psychological and aesthetic quality of the acoustic environment or soundscape may be improved
Sound sculpturealso known as 'sound art' and 'sound installation', a multimedia artform in which sculpture produces sound or, less often, the reverse. Most often sound sculpture artists were primarily either visual artists or composers, not having started out directly making sound sculpture
Sound shadowor 'acoustic shadow', a phenomenon caused by the absorption or obstruction of a sound wave by an object in its path. The effect produced is perceived as a reduction in loudness depending on the observer's position with respect to the sound source and obstructing object and is greatest when the three are aligned
Soundstagein 'acoustic engineering', a term that refers to the depth and richness of an audio recording (usually referring to the playback process). According to audiophiles, the quality of the playback is very much dependent on how one is able to pick out different instruments, voices, vocal parts, etc. exactly where they are located on an imaginary 2D or 3D field. This can enhance not only the listener's involvement in the recording but also their overall perception of the stage
Sound symbolismoften, several words with similar meaning may coincidentally have a similar phoneme - combination in them. Because this particular sound occurs in this pattern of words, the sound itself may become strongly associated with some quality in the words' connotation
Sound synthesisthe electronic production of sound where no acoustic source is used. An electrical signal is produced which is the analogue (analog) of a sound wave; that is, the voltage fluctuation in the signal represents that of the desired sound pressure variation. When this signal is fed to an amplifier and loudspeaker, the sound becomes an acoustic signal which behaves like any other sound
see 'synthesizer'
Sound systemas in 'sound reinforcement system', a system for amplifying, reproducing, and sometimes recording audio
a group of DJs contributing and working together as one, making one kind of particular music
a Jamaican 'sound system' is a mobile street party
Soundtrack(English, German m.) a strip along the side of a film that contains optical coding for sound, the sound (including the music) that is encoded on the strip, the sound (including the music) that is heard in a performance of a film
Soupape(French f.) valve, pallet (on an organ)
Soupçon(French m.) a suspicion, a very small quantity, a slight trace
soupçoner(French) to suspect
Soupe(French f.) soup
Souper(French m.) supper
souper(French) to have supper
soupeser(French) to judge the weight of, to weigh up (figurative)
Soupière(French f.) (soup) tureen
Soupir
crotchet rest orcrotchet rest(French m.) crotchet rest or quarter rest, a rest one quarter the time value of a semibreve rest or whole rest, Viertelpause (German)
(French m.) a pause for breath, a sigh
Soupirail (s.), Soupriraux (pl.)(French m.) a small basement window
soupirant(French) sighing
Soupir de croche
quaver rest(French m.) or demi-soupir, a quaver rest, an eighth rest, a rest one eighth the time value of a whole rest or semibreve rest
Soupir de double croche
semiquaver rest(French m.) or quart de soupir, a semiquaver rest, a sixteenth rest, a rest one sixteenth the time value of a whole rest or semibreve rest
Soupir de triple croche
demisemiquaver rest(French m.) or demi-quart de soupir, a demisemiquaver rest, a thirty-second rest, a rest one thirty-second of the time value of a whole rest or semibreve rest
soupirer(French) to sigh
souple(French) flexible, supple
Souple silkor supple silk, a silk yarn from which, in the case of Mulberry silk, fat, waxes and about 6-15% silk gum has been removed
Souplesse(French f.) suppleness, flexibility
Source(English, French f.) spring (water), place from which a river or stream issues, place of origination, person or document etc. providing information
see 'source material'
Source material
in general historical studies, source material is divided into primary and secondary sources
primary sourcespieces of evidence whose origins are contemporary with the period, event or individual being researched. In music research, the scores of actual musical works are the most important primary sources, but other primary source material should not be overlooked:
  • first hand accounts (diaries, letters, memoirs, treatises, prefaces to editions of music, newspaper reports, concert reviews, photographs, etc.)
  • official records (government documents, census data, concert hall records, etc.)
  • creative works (poetry, prose, painting, sculpture, film, etc.)
  • material culture (musical instruments, concert halls, monuments, etc.)
secondary sourcesstudies written about a period, event or individual. They are usually based on primary sources as well as other secondary sources, and can take the form of:
  • books, journal articles, theses, documentaries etc.
Source separationsource separation problems in digital signal processing are those in which several signals have been mixed together and the objective is to find out what the original signals were. A classical example is the "cocktail party problem", where a number of people are talking simultaneously in a room (like at a cocktail party), and one is trying to follow one of the discussions. The human brain can handle this sort of auditory source separation problem, but it is a very tricky problem in digital signal processing
source sûe, de(French) a reliable source, from
Source thermale(French f.) hot springs
Sourcil(French m.) an eyebrow
Sourd (m.), Sourde (f.)(French) deaf, deaf person
sourd (m.), sourde (f.)(French) muffled, deaf, dull (with respect to sound), silent, hidden
"Also said about something that does not reverberate sufficiently, that does not make enough noise: "This church, this room, are sourd. This lute is sourd, it does not make enough noise." ... In jewellers' terminology, is said about stones that do not have all the shine and brilliance they should in order to be considered perfect, but that have flaws ... or something dull, dark, cloudy that decreases their value." - Furetière (1702)
Sourdeline(French) or musette d'Italie, an early bellows-blown bagpipe described in Mersenne's Harmonie Universelle
sourdement(French) dully, mutedly, in a subdued manner
Sourde-muette (s.), Sourdes-muettes (pl.)see sourd-muet
Sourdine(French f.) mute, Dämpfer (German m.)
(French f.) cup mute
on a harmonium, a stop that reduces the air supply so that chords can be played more quietly
a soft pedal (on a piano)
sourdine(French) subdued, muffled
Sourdine à calotte(French f.) hat or hush mute
Sourdine à double cône(French f.) double cone mute
Sourdine droite(French f.) straight mute
Sourdine en carton(French f.) cardboard mute
Sourdine en métal(French f.) metal mute
sourdines (dempers) wegnemen(Dutch) mute (dampers) off
Sourdine sèche(French f.) straight mute
Sourdine wa-wa(French f.) wah-wah mute
Sourd-muet (m.), Sourds-muets (m. pl.), Sourde-muette (f.), Sourdes-muettes (f. pl.)(French) a deaf-mute
sourd-muet (m.), sourds-muets (m. pl.), sourde-muette (f.), sourdes-muettes (f. pl.)(French) deaf and dumb
Sourekafter Otakar Sourek the cataloguer of music by Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904)
Sour grapesresentful disparagement of something one covets
Souricière(French f.) a mousetrap, a trap (figurative)
Sourire(French m.) a smile
sourire(French) to smile
sourire à(French) to smile at, to smile on (fortune)
Souris(French f.) a mouse
sournois (m.), sournoise (f.)(French) underhand, sly
sournoisement(French) slyly
Sourpusssour-tempered person (colloquial)
sous(French) under, beneath
sous-(French) sub-, under-
Sousafon(German n.) sousaphone (English, French m.), sousafono (Italian m.), Sousaphon (German n.), sousafón (Spanish m.), sousáfono (Spanish m.)
Sousafón(Spanish m.) sousaphone (English, French m.), sousafono (Italian m.), Sousafon (German n.), Sousaphon (German n.), sousáfono (Spanish m.)
Sousafono(Italian m.) sousaphone (English, French m.), Sousafon (German n.), Sousaphon (German n.), sousáfon (Spanish m.), sousáfono (Spanish m.)
Sousáfono(Spanish m.) sousaphone (English, French m.), sousafono (Italian m.), Sousafon (German n.), Sousaphon (German n.), sousáfon (Spanish m.)
sous-alimenté(French) undernourished
Sousaphon(German n.) sousaphone (English, French m.), sousafono (Italian m.), Sousafon (German n.), sousafón (Spanish m.), sousáfono (Spanish m.)
Sousaphone(English, French m.) sousafono (Italian m.), Sousaphon (German n.), Sousafon (German n.), sousafón (Spanish m.), sousáfono (Spanish m.)
the sousaphone was invented by the American composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) and modeled on the helicon, the first one being made in 1908. The instrument was wrapped around the shoulder for the purposes of marching and was especially well-suited to playing in the open air thanks to its tremendous volume. The tubing ranged in length from 3.6 m to 17 m. The long tubes and oversized bell were really only meant for show
Sous-basseFrench violin maker Léo Sir, like Stelzner, re-thought the ensemble of the bowed string instruments, including in it two double bass instruments. One of these was positioned between the deep bass and the violoncello and was given the name Sous-Basse. With a scale of 85 cm and a total length of 150 cm, this instrument was also tuned in fifths G-D-A-E (two octaves below the violin): Eugène Hyard wrote of its sound (Instrumentation et orchestration, Paris 1922): "The instrument sounds in the register of the double bass, but it is not the deep and cavernous voice of the true double bass. It is an intermediate voice, clear and pure, slightly coppery in the lower range, and full and round in the middle."
sous-bois(French) undergrowth
sous caution(French) on bail
sous condition(French) conditionally
Souscription(French f.) subscription
souscrire à(French) to subscribe to
Sous-directeur (m.), Sous-directrice (f.)(French) assistant manager
Sous-diminué(French) double diminished
sous-dominante(French) subdominant, or fourth of the scale
Souseto plunge or drench in water
Sousedskaa slow Bohemian peasant dance in simple triple time
sous-ententre(French) to imply
Sous-entendu(French m.) an insinuation
sous-estimer(French) to underestimate
sous-jacent (m.), sous-jacente (f.)(French) underlying
sous la direction de ...(French) under the direction of
sous la main(French) handy
sous la pluie(French) in the rain
sous le coup de(French) in the grip of
sous les verrous(French) behind bars
Sous-marine(French m.) submarine
sous-marin (m.), sous-marine (f.)(French) underwater
sous-médiante(French) submediant, or sixth of the scale
Sous-officier(French m.) a non-commissioned officer
sous peu(French) shortly
Sous-préfecture(French f.) a sub-prefecture
sous presse(French) being printed
Sous-produit(French m.) a by-product
Sous-programme(French m.) subroutine
Soussigné (m.), Sousignée (f.)(French) undersigned
soussigné (m.), sousignée (f.)(French) undersigned
Sous-sol(French m.) basement (room)
Sousta(from the Italian susta, literally 'coiled spring') folk dance widespread in various forms in the Dodecanesian islands and in Crete. In Crete, it was traditionally performed mainly in the province of Rethymnon
see hasapiko
soustenu (m.), soustenue (f.)(French) or soutenu, soutenue, held, sustained, sostenuto (Italian), dignified
sous terre(French) underground
Sous-titre(French m.) subtitle
sous-titrer(French) to subtitle
sous-tonique(French f.) subtonic, the flattened seventh of the major scale, sottotonica (Italian f.), Subtonika (German f.), subtónica (Spanish f.)
Soustraction(French f.) subtraction
soustraire(French) to remove, to subtract
Sous-traitant(French m.) a subcontractor
sous-traiter(French) to subcontract
sous un nom d'emprunt(French) under an assumed name
sous un prétexte quelconque(French) on some pretext or other
Sous-verre(French m.) a picture frame, a glass mount
Sous-vêtement(French m.) an undergarment (in its plural form: undergarments, underwear)
Soutane(English, French f., from Italian sotto, 'under') cassock, a long buttoned coat which forms the normal dress of ecclesiastics on the Continent
Soute(French f.) the hold (of a boat)
Soute à charbon(French f.) a coal-bunker
Souteneur(French m.) a man who lives on the immoral earnings of a prostitute
soutenir(French) to support, to sustain, to sustain the tone, to withstand
"To carry, to support, to hold something up. ... In music one says "the bass sustains the upper voice and the other parts." One also says that fabrics "sustain themselves," meaning that they are firm and do not droop. ... In music one also says that a beautiful voice that is not égale [i.e., that fluctuates] does not sustain itself." - Dictionnaire de l'Académie Françoise (1694)
soutenir que(French) to maintain that
soutenu (m.), soutenue (f.)(French) or soustenu, soustenue, held, sustained, sostenuto (Italian), dignified, lofty, oratorical (in speech)
Souterliedekens(Dutch, 'Psalter-songs') the title of a book with Dutch psalms, published 1540 in Antwerp and which remained very popular throughout the century. The metrical rhyming psalms were - probably - arranged by a Utrecht nobleman: Willem van Zuylen van Nijevelt (d. 1543). For the melodies he used folksongs from the Low Countries (though some have German or French origin). This publication has great value, because the publiser (Symon Cock) not only added the phrase 'sung to the tune of...' but he provided also the actual music (melody) with the texts
Souterrain(French m.) an underground passage, a subway, a vault, a storehouse, an underground room
souterrain (m.), souterraine (f.)(French) underground
Southeast Asian dance
Southern gospelsee 'White gospel'
Southern rocka style of rock music that was very popular in the 1970s, and retains a fan base to the present
Southern soula term generally refering to a driving, energetic soul style combining R & B's energy with pulsating Southern gospel music
Southernwooda shrubby fragrant plant with yellowish flowers and bitter-tasting leaves; it was used both as a culinary herb and in medicinal cures
Southwell, St. Robert
(c.1561-1595)
English poet, priest and martyr, Southwell's poetic work was incorporated into a number of carols. Perhaps the poem with the greatest exposure today is an excerpt from New Heaven, New War, appearing as This Little Babe in Benjamin Britten's 1942 choral suite A Ceremony of Carols
Soutien(French m.) a support
Soutien-gorge(French m.) a bra
Souvenir(French) a recollection, a reminiscence, a keepsake, something given or received as a gift in remembrance of an occasion, a visit, etc.
Souvenir albuma type of souvenir for tourists in which a series of views would be bound together in a small booklet. They were popular in the 1870s up until the First World War. The early booklets were illustrated with hand drawn lithographs, some of which were made to resemble old engravings. They were often printed on long strips of paper, and then folded in accordion fashion into a cover. As halftone reproduction came into use in the 1890s, these albums used this new technology almost exclusively to save on cost
Souvenir cardone type of postcard bearing an image or montage of a tourist attraction was usually placed on the front to be shared with a space for writing
souvent(French) often
Souverain (m.), Souveraine (f.)(French) Sovereign
souverain (m.), souveraine (f.)(French) sovereign, supreme (extreme - pejorative)
Souveraineté(French f.) sovereignty
Soviet(Russian) in Russia, a council elected to govern a district by the inhabitants of that district (the word is now used more generally to mean someone who lives in the Soviet Union)
Soviétique(French m./f.) Soviet citizen
soviétique(French) Soviet
Sovkhoz(Russian) a Russian state-owned farm
Sovrintendente(Italian m., literally 'superindendent') the adminstrator of an Italian opera house
Soya beana pulse of Oriental origin
soyeux (m.), soyeuse (f.)(French) silky
Soy saucea dark condiment sauce of Oriental origin
Soza composition (Qawwali) sung in praise of Hasan Hussain

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