To: sca-crosston From: Rich Templeman Date: 10 Oct 97 14:16:23 Subject: Glossary of Musical Terms: for those musical amongst you: ACCIDENTALS: Wrong notes AUGMENTED FIFTH: A 36-ounce bottle BROKEN CONSORT: When somebody in the ensemble has to leave and go to the restroom. CADENCE: When everybody hopes you're going to stop - but you don't CADENZA: The heroine in Monteverdi's opera "Frottola" CANTUS FIRMUS: The part you get when you can only play four notes CHANSONS DE GESTE: Dirty songs CLAUSULA: Mrs. Santa CROTCHET: A tritone with a bent prong - or CROTCHET: It's like knitting but it's faster CUT TIME: When you're going twice as fast as everybody else in the ensemble. DUCTIA: A lot of mallards EMBOUCHRE: The way you look when you've been playing the Krummhorn ESTAMPIE: What they put on letters in Quebec GARGLEFINKLEIN: A tiny recorder played by neums HOCKET: The thing that fits into a crochet to produce a rackett INTERVAL: How long it takes you to find the right note. There are three kinds: Major Interval: A long time Minor Interval: A few bars Inverted Interval: When you have to back one bar and try again INTONATION: Singing through one's nose. Considered highly desirable in the Middle Ages ISORHYTHMIC MOTET: When half of the ensemble got a different xerox than the other half MINNESINGER: A boy soprano MUSICA FICTA: When you lose your place and have to bluff till you find it again. Also known as faking NEUMS: Renaissance midgets NEUMATIC MELISMA: A bronchial disorder caused by hockets ORDO: The hero in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" PERFORMANCE PRACTISE: Sex education ROTA: An early Italian method of teaching music without score or parts TROTTO: An early Italian form of Montezuma's Revenge LAUDA: The difference between shawms and krummhorns SANCTA: Clausula's husband LASSO: The 6th and 5th steps of a descending scale DI LASSO: Popular with Italian cowboys LAI: What monks give up when they take their vows VIRELAI: A local woman known for her expertise in the Lai CONDUCTUS: The process of getting Vire into the cloister MOTET: Where you meet Vire if the cloister is guraded ORGANUM: You may not participate in the Lai without one PARALELL ORGANUM: Everybody standing in a double line, waiting for Vire DUCTIA: Vire's organum MINIM: The time you spend with Vire when there is a long line BREVE: The time you spend when the line is short TEMPUS PERFECTUM: A good time was had by all TEMPUS IMPERFECTUM: Vire had to leave early LONGA: The time between visits with Vire PROLATION: Precautions taken before the Lai CROTCHET: An unpleasant illness that occurs after the Lai, if prolation is not used DRONE: The sound of a single monk during an attack of Crotchet RHYTHMIC DRONE: The sound of many monks suffering with Crotchet SOLESME: The state of mind after a rough case of Crotchet ISORHYTHM: The individual process of releif when Vire is out of town ORGANISTRUM: A job-related hazard for careless medieval percussionists, cause by getting one's tapper caught in the clapper HURDY-GURDY: A truss for medieval percussionists who get Organistrum QUAVER: Beginning viol class RACKETT: Capped reeds class RITORNELLO: An opera by Verdi SINE PROPRIETATE: Cussing in church SUPERTONIC: Schweppes TRANSPOSITION: An advanced recorder technique where you change from alto to soprano fingering (or vice-versa) in the middle of a piece TROPE: A malevolent Neum TUTTI: A lot of sackbuts STOPS: Something Bach did not have on his organ AGNUS DEI: A famous female church composer METRONOME: A dwarf who lives in the city ALLEGRO: Leg fertilizer RECITATIVE: A disease that Monteverdi had ORCHESTRAL SUITES: Naughty women who follow touring orchestras