A
Accidental: a sign -- a sharp, flat, or natural -- indicating
the raising or lowering of a note.
Analogue sound: method of sound reproduction that
imitates the original on electromagnetic tape or disc.
B
BeBop: jazz form of the 1940's and 50's, characterized
by fast tempo and complex chord patterns, played by
small ensembles with often dizzying instrumental virtuosity.
Blues: melancholic, usually guitar-based, modern folk
music, originating in the work songs of the black
American plantation workers. Typically constructed
around a simple twelve-bar, three chord pattern on
which a vast amount of popular music has been
based ever since.
Bossa nova: Brazilian dance of the 1950's, closely
related to the samba.
C
Cadence: a sequence of two chords that brings a
phrase to an end, with an air of wither finality or
partial completion.
Cadenza: originally an improvised decoration of
a cadence by a soloist; later a more or less
elaborate and written-out passage in a aria or
concerto to display performance skills by a
singer or an instrumentalist.
Calypso: folk music of Trinidad
Can-can: a fast, boisterous dance of scandalous
repute, characterized by high kicking, which
originated in 19th century Paris and was
immortalized in Offenbach's opera Orpheus in
the Underworld (1858).
Canon: a musical form in which a tune in imitated
by individual parts at regular intervals; known as
a round when each part is continuously repeated.
In simple examples, such as "London Bridge is
Falling Down," the successive voices enter at a
same pitch and at the same speed. In more
elaborate examples, such as the canons in
J.S. Bach's keyboard work known as the Goldberg
Variation, the voices may enter at different...