music terminology
The Muse Of Music welcomes you to The Muse's pages about the field of
music terminology.
Look up a term in the
Glossary of musical terms now
Click Here |
about music terminology
In these pages, The Muse Of Music addresses the subject of musical
terminology. The subject of musical terminology comprises the terms used in music, the systems of
terms used in music, and the science and practice of constructing and using
systems of musical terms.
About music Terms & Terminology
A musical term is the name
of a work or composer, a word or phrase that tells a musician
how to play music, a musical structure, the name of a prominent
personalities in the world of music, and the like. You don't have to be directly involved in
music to bump into these kinds of words; you might encounter them in literature, printed music,
concert programs, movie background music, and
elsewhere.
As used here, the words term and terminology have the
following definitions:
- Term—a word or group of words, signs, and symbols designating something spoken or
written about in music; musical nomenclature.
- Terminology—a system of terms belonging to or peculiar to
music; the science of musical terms.
Please keep in mind the difference between musical terminology and musical
nomenclature. In general parlance, the word terminology is often used
synonymously with the the word term. In these pages, The Muse uses the word terminology to mean terms only if this usage is
clear from the context.
the problems posed by musical terminology
When it comes to musical terms and terminology, music presents special
problems. Often, understanding music requires the ability to read obscure or
archaic words or to translate one or more foreign languages into English. In
many situations, simply to follow an orchestra, keep track of an opera, or
decide what pieces are on the program, a person must be able to read a
score, follow a libretto, or translate the pieces named on the program.
Sometimes, even after you've translated a word or looked it up a dictionary
you still can't understand it.
Unfortunately, these kinds of documents are usually written in
difficult-to-understand terms because obscure and archaic words and foreign
languages comprise the language of music.
Why is this so? What can we do about it?
More
the glossary of
musical terms
The Muse Of Music is pleased to offer you an extensive automated glossary
of musical terms designed to assist anyone interested in looking up the
meaning of a musical term, whether a professional, amateur, or non-professional. It
takes the form of a searchable and sortable table containing hundreds of
musical words, signs, symbols, and their definitions.
The Glossary is divided into two sections:
Section 1—A
page called About the Glossary Of Musical Terms.
This section explains the
Glossary and how to use it. If you are accessing the Glossary for the
first time, The Muse recommends that you visit this section before you
start looking up musical terms:
click here.
Section 2—The
Glossary Of Musical Terms.
This section contains the Glossary itself. The Glossary takes the form of an automated table. If you
are familiar with the Glossary and have used it before, you are ready to
look up musical terms now:
click here.
ETAF Recommends
...Coming.
