| CH | abbreviation of 'Companion of Honour' |
| Ch. | abbreviation of 'choir organ', 'choir', Chor (German: choir), choeur (French: choir) |
| Chaabi | popular Arabic music, also known as shaabi, sha-bii or sha'bii. Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting. In Morocco, for example, chaabi songs typically end with a leseb, a swift rhythmic section accompanied by syncopated clapping |
| Chabara | (Korean) see bara |
| Chabreta | (France) bagpipe from Lemosin |
| Chacal | (French m.) jackal |
| Chácaras | (Spain) large castanets from the Canary Islands |
| Chacarera | a folk dance and music originated in the northwest of Argentina in the nineteenth century. Chacarera is still played and danced in many provinces of Argentina, specially in Catamarca, Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, and Jujuy, and it can be also found in the south of Bolivia. Each Province has it own flavour of chacarera with subtle differences, mainly in the steps (Chacarera doble, Chacarera larga, etc) |
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| Chacarrá | fandango dance from Tarifa, in southern Spain, performed by two women and one man |
| Chác-chás | also called chullus (chew-use), a shaker, made from dozens of sheep or goat hooves, tied to a strip of cloth and either worn on the wrists or hand-held |
| Chace | (French) a fourteenth-century French term for 'canon', particularly two- and three-voice canons that imitated bird calls or the sounds of instruments, etc. |
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| Chachá | the smaller of the two heads of the batá drums |
| Cha-cha bell | the small bell mounted on the timbales and used for the chachachá, guajira and similar styles |
| Cha-cha-cha | (English, Cha-Cha-Cha (German m.)) see chachachá |
| Chachachá | (Spanish) or 'cha-cha-cha', a dance and musical style evolving from the Nuevo Ritmo of the danzón style. Enganadora, by Cuban bandleader and violinist Enrique Jorrin, is generally considered to be the first chachachá, in 1953. As a dance, cha cha became popular in the 1950s and 1960s and is descended from mambo through triple mambo. It is in 4/4 time and follows a rhythmic pattern two crotchets (quarter-notes), three quavers (eighth-notes) and a quaver rest (eighth-rest) |
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| Chacona | (Spanish f.) chaconne |
| Chaconne | (French f.) a slow stately dance with variations, popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, generally in triple time, played over a ground bass, similar to the passacaglia (Italian) or passecaille (French), that originated in Latin America in the late sixteenth century |
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| Chacony | (old English) chaconne |
| chacun (m.), chacune (f.) | (French) each (one), every one, everyone |
| chacun à son goût | (French) every man to his taste |
| the more usual form, in French, is à chacun son goût |
| chacun à son métier | (French) every man to his trade, let the cobbler stick to his last (figurative) |
| Chadracha | modern, popular Cuban music |
| Chafing-dish | (from the Old French chauffer, "to make warm") a kind of portable grate ("a dish of Coles") raised on a tripod, originally heated with charcoal in a brazier, and used for foods that required gentle cooking, away from the fierce heat of direct flames. The chafing dish could be used at table or for keeping food warm on a buffet. Double dishes that provide a protective water jacket are known as bain-marie and help keep delicate foods such as fish warm while preventing overcooking. A chafing-dish heated by a small spirit-lamp is known in French as a veilleuse |
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| Chaghana | also called 'Turkish crescent', chapeau chinois or 'jingling johnnie', a ceremonial staff of ancient Central Asian origin which was adopted by the Turks and gained importance following their capture of Constantinople, when the crescent became the emblem of Turkish power. This symbolic and highly ornate staff is surmounted by a crescent and a metal ornament shaped like a Chinese hat. Attached are two horsehair tassels, and hanging at different points are a considerable number of bells and crotals which jingle as the staff is carried in procession. The chaghana was highly valued by Europeans as a war trophy during periods of conflict with Turkey and was incorporated in miltary bands following the Turkish custom. It still exists today |
| Chagrin | (French m.) sorrow, acute vexation, mortification, something that troubles the mind |
| Chagrin d'amour | (French m.) the distrewss that results from an unhappy love-affair |
| chagriné | (French) accorato (Italian) sorrowful, grieving, worried, bothered, distressed, betrübt (German) |
| chagriner | (French) to distress, to grieve, to upset, to worry, to bother |
| Chahut | (French m.) row, din |
| a noisy dance resembling the cancan |
| chahuter | (French) make a row, be rowdy with |
| Chahuteur (m.), Chahuteuse (f.) | (French) rowdy |
| Chail | (Hebrew, literally 'bored through') pipe or flute (1 Samuel 10:5) |
| Chain | (in tuning theory) a chain is a type of linear tuning which is theoretically infinite on both ends, for example 'Pythagorean' |
| see 'chains' |
| Chaîné | (French f.) chain, channel (television, satellite, etc.) |
| Chaîne de fabrication | (French f.) production line |
| Chaîne de montage | (French f.) assembly line |
| Chaîne de montagnes | (French f.) mountain range |
| Chaîne hi-fi | (French f.) hi-fi system |
| Chaînés | (French f. pl., literally 'chains', 'links') or deboulés (French), rolar (Portuguese), in dance, an abbreviation of the term tours chaînés déboulés, a series of rapid turns on demi-pointes in a straight line or in a circle |
| see 'chains' |
| Chaînette | (French f.) small chain |
| Chain form | binary form extended with more sections, for example ABCD, and particularly when including repeated sections, AABBCCDD |
| Chaînon | (French m.) link (in a chian) |
| Chain perforations | a term applied to the 'breaking up' of otherwise long perforations for when long sustained notes are called for on automatic music players using a paper roll. The long perforation is broken up into a series of small perforations set close together in a line down the roll which makes the roll stronger and less likely to tear or wrinkle. The separations are so small that the air-actuated tracker action does not detect them, seeing the perforations as being continuous. The resultant note is therefore unbroken |
| Chains | chaines (French), Ketten (German), catene (Italian), cadenas (Spanish) |
| a percussion instrument made of lengths of metal chain. Schoenberg used chains in Gurrelieder |
| Chainse | a white long-sleeved undertunic of fine linen worn in the early Middle Ages. In feminine costume it was ground-length. Later it developed into the shirt and the chemise |
| Chair | (French f.) flesh |
| Chair à saucisses | (French f.) sausage meat |
| chair, (couleur) | (French) flesh-coloured |
| Chair de poule | (French m.) goose-flesh |
| Chaire | (French f.) pulpit (in a church), chair (university) |
| Chair organ | an obsolete term for 'choir organ' |
| Chaise | (French f.) chair |
| (French f.) a light four-wheeled carriage |
| Chaise-longue | (French f.) deck-chair, a day-bed, a kind of sofa with a back but one end |
| Chaiti | folk songs of Uttar Pradesh, sung in the month of Chaitra (March-April) |
| Chajchas | (South America) a rattle made from goat or sheep hooves |
| Chakacha | traditional rhythm from Kenya |
| Chal. | abbreviation for chalumeau, an instruction in a clarinet part that the player should transpose the wirrten notes down an octave. The instruction is cancelled with the marking Clar. |
| Chalan | in Indian classical music, the characteristic movement of notes in a raga |
| Chaland | (French m.) barge |
| Châle | (French m.) shawl |
| Chalemie | (French) a pipe |
| Chalet | (French m.) chalet, a small wooden house of a Swiss peasant |
| Chaleur | (French f.) heat, warmth (intensity, colour, etc.), passion |
| chaleureusement | (French) with warmth |
| chaleureux (m.), chaleureuse (f.) | (French) warm |
| Chalga | a form of Bulgarian popular music drawing from Balkan folk traditions and incorporating Turkish, Greek, and Roma (gypsy) influences, as well as motifs from Balkan traditional music, flamenco and klezmer music. Often indistinguishable from Bulgarian pop music, it remains popular with the proletariat - music played in dance clubs and pubs. The word chalga comes from a Turkish word pronounced chalguh, which means 'playing' or 'music' and is itself derived from Arabic |
- Chalga from which this extract has been taken
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| Chalgazhia | a type of musician, normally a Tsigani (gypsy), who could play virtually any type of music usually from memory, but to which he added his own distinctive beat or rhythm |
| Chalghi | a Middle-Eastern instrumental ensemble generally found accompanying maqam singing, which features santur, a type of hammer dulcimer, and the jawzah, a spike-fiddle |
| Challenge | (French m.) contest |
| chalm. | abbreviation of chalumeau |
| Chalmeau | synonymous with chalumeau |
| Chalmey | synonymous with chalumeau |
| Chaloupe | (French f.) launch, boat |
| Chalumeau (s.), Chalumeaux (pl.) | (French m.) blowlamp, blowtorch |
| (French m.) simple rustic reed pipe, ancestor of clarinet, with 6 to 8 finger holes |
| (French m.) shawm |
| (French m.) the double-reed chanter of a bagpipe |
| (French m.) a wind instrument that came into use in 17th- and 18th-centuries |
| the lowest register (the first octave from the fundamental) playable by instruments of the clarinet family |
| the direction 'chalumeau' in music for clarinet or basset horn directs the player to 'play the music an octave lower than written' |
| Chalut | (French m.) trawl-net |
| Chalutier | (French m.) trawler |
| Cham | see 'Cham dance' |
| Chamade | the sounding of a drum to ask for a parley |
| chamade | see en chamade |
| Chamamé | polkas, mazurkas and waltzes came to Argentina with the immigrants, where they became mixed with African and Amerindian music. Chamamé emerged from this mix, a ravishingly beautiful, evocative folk style that emanated from the Corrientes and Misiones provinces of Argentina's far north east |
| chambarder | (French) turn upside down |
| Chamber | a prefix used to describe smaller-scale musical activities |
| in the organ, a room housing the pipes that opens into the main room |
| Chamber jazz | a fusion of impressionistic jazz and European classical music |
| Chamberlain | an officer of the royal household responsible for the Chamber, meaning that he controled access to the person of the king. He was also responsible for administration of the household and the private estates of the king. The Chamberlain was one of the four main officers of the court, the others being the Chancellor, the Justiciar, and the Treasurer |
| Chamber music | música de cámara (Spanish), musica da camera (Italian), Kammermusik (German), musique de chambre (French) |
| music, including part songs, instrumental trios, quartets, etc., generally written to be played or sung one-to-a-part, geenrally in a domestic setting, or possibly in a small hall to an audience |
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| Chamber opera | an opera of intimate character often accompanied by a chamber orchestra |
| Chamber orchestra | a small orchestra generally employing the forces that would have been usually in the second half of the eighteenth century |
| Chamber organ | a pipe organ designed for continuo use with a limited number of ranks. As a domestic instrument in England, the chamber organ was often perceived to be as much a piece of furniture as an item of musical equipment |
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| Chamber sonata | also called sonata da camera (Italian) or Kammer Sonate (German), a suite from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, composed mainly of dance movements, generally for two or more soloists with accompaniment |
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| Chamber symphony | a symphony for a small ensemble of players |
| Chambre | (French f.) room, bedroom, chamber (politics, court) |
| chambré | (French) brought to room temperature |
| Chambre à air | (French f.) inner tube |
| Chambre à coucher | (French f.) bedroom |
| Chambre à deux lits | (French f.) double room |
| Chambre à un lit | (French f.) single/double room |
| Chambre d'amis | (French f.) spare ou guest room |
| Chambre forte | (French f.) strong-room |
| chambrer | (French) bring (wine) to room temperature |
| Cham Dance | associated with some sects of Buddhism, a lively dance which employs dancers wearing masks and ornamented costumes. The dance is accompanied by music played by monks using traditional Tibetan instruments. The dances often offer moral instruction relating to non-harm to sentient beings and are said to bring merit to all who observe them |
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| Chameau | (French m.) camel |
| Chamfer | Abkantung (German f.), Phase (German f.), Randel (German n.), chanfrein (French f.), smusso (Italian m.), a bevelled surface at an edge or corner |
| Chamois | (French m.) the European antelope or mountain goat, the skin of which is used as a wash-leather (when it is pronounced and sometimes written 'shammy') |
| Chamonge guitar | made from a cooking pot strung with metal wires, it is one of the instrument particularly associated with the Borana who live in Kenya near the Ethiopian border. Their music reflects Ethiopian, Arab and other traditions |
| Champ | (French m.) field |
| Champagne | (English, French m.) white sparkling wine from the Champagne region of Eastern France |
| (English) pale cream colour |
| Champara | Kosovar Albanian small metallic finger cymbals |
| Champ de bataille | (French m.) battlefield |
| Champ de courses | (French m.) racecourse |
| Champeta criolla | Afro-Colombian music style and dance from Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, it is a combination of indigenous rhythms, Caribbean beats and African influences, with lyrics that are usually satirical; also known as terapia criolla |
| champêtre | (French) villanesco (Italian), agreste (Italian, Spanish), campestre (Italian), rural, rustic, pastoral, ländlich (German) |
| see danse champêtre |
| see fête champêtre |
| Champignon | (French m.) mushroom, fungus (caused by damp) |
| Champignon de Paris | (French m.) button mushroom |
| Champion | (French) person who fights or argues on behalf of another or for a cause, person who surpasses all his or her rivals |
| Champion (m.), Championne (f.) | (French) champion |
| champlevé | (French, 'raised field') a form of enamel work in which the metal ground is engraved or hollowed out, the hollows being filled with opaque enamel |
| Chamrieng | Cambodian vocals |
| Chance | (French f.) luck, good luck, chance (probability) |
| Chancel | (from Latin, cancelli 'lattice') part of the apse, the word 'chancel' is a reference to the carving or construction of the rood screen often includes latticework, which makes it possible to see through the screen partially from the nave into the chancel. The 'chancel' itself is that part of a church near the main altar used by the priests and open to the choir |
| Chancel screen | see jubé |
| chanceler | (French) stagger, falter (figurative) |
| Chancelier | (French m.) chancellor |
| Chance music | see 'aleatoric' |
| Chance operations | see 'aleatoric' |
| chanceux (m.), chanceuse (f.) | (French) lucky |
| Chan-chiki | see atarigane |
| Chancre | (French m.) canker |
| Chandail | (French m.) sweater |
| Chandelier | (French m.) candlestick |
| in English, a branched candle-holder, suspended from the ceiling and often ornamented with cut-glass lustres |
| Chandelle | (French f.) candle |
| Chang | a harp from Iran that dates back to about 2000 BC. The strings are attached to a soundbox but rather than coming from a crossbar, they are attached at an oblique angle from a neck at one end of the soundbox |
| also called chang ko'uz and temir chang, a Jew's harp which has a flexible, thin lamella extending through the center of the iron frame to the handle |
| the ancient Uzbek chang dates as far back as the Middle Ages. Up to forty-two wire strings are stretched across a wooden trapezoidal body. The musicians produce stirring clinking sounds by striking the strings with two cane or bamboo sticks |
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| Changdan | in Korea traditional music, cyclic rhythm patterns played on percussion instruments |
| Change | any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale |
| in harmony, modulation |
| in the voice, mutation |
| Change | (French m.) (foreign) exchange |
| Changeable | a term applied to chants that may be sung either in a major or minor mode of the key or tonic in which they are written |
| changeant (m.), changeante (f.) | (French) changeable |
| Changed note | (sometimes called a changing note, a non-harmonic passing note, nota cambiata (Italian), Wechselnote (German), note changeante (French), note changée (French) |
| the term was introduced in the seventeenth century for an accented passing note, but which has come now to mean an unaccented non-harmonic note that is quitted by a leap of a 3rd downwards (or by extension a 3rd upwards) |
| Changeless system | (in tuning theory) Ptolemy's name for the Perfect Immutable System (PIS), [systema teleion ametabolon] the amalgamation of the Greater Perfect System and the Lesser Perfect System into one "complete" system |
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| Changement d'amure de la clé | (French m.) change of key signature |
| Changement de chiffres indicateurs | (French m.) change of time signature |
| Changement de position | (French m.) shift position (on a string instrument), cambiamento di posizione (Italian m.), Lagenwechsel (German m.) |
| Changement de vitesses | (French m.) gears |
| Changement enharmonique | (French m.) enharmonic change |
| Changements | (French m. pl.) in dance, short for changements de pieds |
| Changements battu | (French m. pl.) see royale |
| Changements d'accords | (French m. pl.) changes |
| Changements de pieds | (French m. pl., literally 'changing feet') a small or large jump in which the feet change position in the air |
| changer | (French) change |
| changer d'avis | (French) change one's mind |
| changer de direction | (French) change direction |
| changer de jeu | (French) change the stops in an organ or harmonium |
| changer de nom | (French) change one's name |
| changer de place | (French) change places |
| changer de vitesses | (French) change gear |
| changer d'idée | (French) change one's mind |
| Change-ringing | Wechselläuten (German n.), Variationsläuten (German n.), the ringing of a peal of church bells by a team of ringers, developed in England in the fifteenth century. It is a method of ringing tower bells or handbells for producing changes in the note sequences in sets of bells of various sizes. With four bells there are 24 possible changes; with eight, 40,320; and with twelve, 479,001,600. It is estimated that it would take nearly 36 years to ring, sequentially, the full number possible on a set of 12 bells; each bell rope is pulled by one member of the team; the term is also used to describe a peal performed by a team of hand-bell ringers |
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| Changes | the set of chord changes (progressions), or harmonies, contained in the central theme or melody around which a piece has been built. In jazz, for example, changes refers to the set of harmonies around which an improvisational performance of that piece will be based |
| short for 'rhythmic changes' |
| short for 'chord changes' |
| the varied or altered passages produced by a peal of bells (see 'change-ringing') |
| Changeur automatique | (French n.) change machine |
| changez | (French) change (imperative) |
| Changgo | (Korea) double headed wooden drum |
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| Changguk | Korean dramatic song |
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| Changing note | see 'changed note' |
| Chang ko'uz | see chang |
| Changó | in Yorùbá mythology, Shango (Xango), or Changó in Latin America, is one of the most popular Orisha, (also spelled Orisa and Orixa) a spirit that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God). He is the focus of a number of South American and Caribbean festivals |
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| Changüí | an early form of Cuban music, characterised by its strong emphasis on the downbeat, as well as being fast and very percussive. It is usually performed with an instrumentation that includes très, bongos, güiro, maracas, and the marímbula |
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| Chanfrein | (French f.) Randel (German n.) Abkantung (German f.), Phase (German f.), smusso (Italian m.), chamfer, a bevelled surface at an edge or corner |
| Channel | see 'release', 'bridge' |
| (in electronics) a channel is a path for passing data. In MIDI, channels are used to separate different lines of a song that are going to play together. Each channel, which can contains note and non-note event data, is assigned to a single instrument in any particular instant of time. One channel is usually reserved for a percussion voice. Most MIDI devices can support up to 16 MIDI Channels at one time |
| Channelize | move from one channel to another |
| Chanoine | (French m.) canon |
| Chanson | (French f.) song |
| (English, German n., French f., from the Latin cantio, via the Provençal canso, French, literally 'song') a style of fourteenth- to sixteenth-century French song for voice or voices, often with backing instrumental accompaniment; the structure could be like the troubadour canso (see above), through-composed (i.e. free form) or by the fourteenth century, normally following one of the formes fixes. While some three-part pieces written before 1520 were given a fourth part, the majority of concordant three- and four-part chansons show the reverse: four-part chansons before 1550 were most often turned into three-part pieces by removing a line, usually the contratenor |
| in the fifteenth century, the 'instrumental chanson' used one or more voices from the source forme-fixe chanson and added two or more repetitive and rhythmically dense parts as counterpoints against the source material; however, borrowed melodic lines were only used in part and never taken in entirety. This allowed for greater freedom and flexibility in instrumental chanson compositions. Phrase lengths varied more, since there were no textual considerations in instrumental music. Note values were often shortened to create more rhythmic uniformity among the parts. Sequential and repetitive devices were more common in the instrumental chansons in comparison to their vocal models, but such devices were commonly found in large sacred vocal works, where a more abstract relationship between the text and music invited the use of sequences and repetitive designs in the music. While instrumental music depends on a strong performance tradition, the most prominent pieces of instrumental music from the early sixteenth century were still composed by singer-composers who approached the instrumental medium from a vocal standpoint. Without true predecessors, instrumental works in the mid-sixteenth century either continued to borrow from vocal models or were newly invented
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| Chanson à boire | (French f.) drinking song |
| Chanson à danser | (French f.) see troubadour |
| Chanson à personnages | (French f.) see troubadour |
| Chanson à refrain | (French f.) chanson in which the refrain is repeated after each couplet |
| Chanson à succès | (French f.) hit song |
| Chanson à toile | (French f.) chanson de toile |
| Chanson d'amour | (French f.) love song |
| Chanson de charme | (French f.) crooning |
| Chanson de croisade | (French f., literally 'crusade song') Medieval song or lay on some aspect of the crusades, most commonly associated with the troubadours |
| Chanson de geste (s.), Chansons de geste (pl.) | (French f., literally 'a song of deeds') an epic or action story in poetic form sung, or rather declaimed from memory, by a minstrel to the accompaniment of a vielle (a mediæval fiddle played with a bow) or a lyre |
| an epic poem in Old French, the medieval vernacular language of France, rather than in Latin; for example the Chanson de Roland |
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| Chanson de marche | (French f.) marching song |
| Chanson de marins | (French f.) sea shanty |
| Chanson de toile (s.), Chansons de toile (pl.) | (French f.) or chanson à toile, spinning song, weaving song |
| Chansonette | (French f.) or chansonnette, little song, light-hearted song |
| Chanson folklorique | (French f.) traditional folksong |
| Chansonnette | (French f.) or chansonette, little song, light-hearted song |
| Chansonnier | (French m.) a song- or ballad-writer, a writer of satirical songs or lampoons |
| (French m.) a medieval French collection of songs, a song book |
| (French m.) the earliest chansonniers preserve the work of the troubadours, trouvères, stilnovisti and Minnesinger, manuscripts variously furnished with illuminations, music, even fanciful biographies of the poets |
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| Chanson paillarde | (French f.) bawdy song |
| Chanson populaire | (French f.) traditional or popular song |
| Chanson rustique | (French f.) traditional folk song, the model for many noël-parodies, chanson rustique existed in both monophonic and polyphonic versions and are said to have been the invention of Mathieu Gascongne and Antoine de Févin. Few sixteenth-century chansons rustiques survive, although some of the popular monophonic tunes can be reconstructed from polyphonic chansons that incorporate the original. These preexisting tunes are most often found as a cantus firmus in the tenor of the new work, with or without new text added to the free voices; as two cantus firmi in canon surrounded by new material; as a cantus firmus in the superius; or paraphrased in multiple voices. Polyphonic chansons rustiques prior to 1500 show more contrast between the new and preexistent material, while those after 1500 integrate imitation more carefully. Composed works in this manner indicate that the division between popular and courtly style was beginning to dissolve |
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| Chanson sans paroles | (French f.) song without words |
| Chansons avec des refrains | (French f. pl.) refrains found in chansons à refrain appear interpolated in other works, often with their own melodies, or borrowed (with or without music) in chansons avec des refrains |
| Chanson spirituelle | (French f.) the French equivalent of the Italian madrigale spirituale, the chanson spirituelle is a spirtual song encouraged and disseminated by the Calvinists for performance in the home. Except for one collection, all extant chansons spirituelles are in the form of text, meant to be set to well-known secular songs. The exception is a collection by Jacques Buus from 1550. Four of his pieces are based on preexisting works. In these chansons Buus's method of composition involves the reshaping of a tune by compression or fragmentation, which is then surrounded by new material. In an earlier secular chanson anthology (1543), Buus parodies eight models. Typically, he either quotes the existing material exactly and surrounds it with new material, or treats each voice as a model to be paraphrased, with one in particular dominating |
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| Chant | (from 'plainchant', 'plainsong') plainchant manuscripts began to survive in some quantity in Western Europe from about 890. There were some isolated and intriguing examples prior to this period, but they pose many difficulties of interpretation. Generally speaking, as chant evolved from the medieval era into modern times, its rhythm became more regular and less varied. This fact is partly conjectural, as early chant notation did not include rhythm. The medieval era saw the creation of many varieties of plainchant, especially if one includes those of Byzantine provenance. Even restricted to Western Europe there was Roman chant, Ambrosian (Milanese) chant, Mozarabic (Spanish) chant, Sarum (English) chant, and even Cistercian (a monastic order) chant. The type of chant mainly identified with "Gregorian" today is what might be called Carolingian chant, the style installed in France under Charlemagne, with the help of advisors from Rome |
| see 'Christian Chant' |
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| Chant | (French) singing |
| (French m.) song, hymn |
| the vocal line or voice part of a song as opposed to the accompaniment |
| Chantage | (French m.) blackmail |
| Chantage psychologique | (French m.) emotional blackmail |
| chantant | (French) tunable, cantabile, in a singing style |
| Chant à plusiers voix | (French m.) part-song |
| Chant à répondre | (French m.) call and response |
| Chant des oiseaux | (French m.) bird-song |
| Chant des Partisans | the Chant des Partisans was the most popular song in Free France. Based on a Russian song written by Anna Marly, it was written in London in 1943. Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon wrote the French lyrics. Performed by Anna Marly and broadcast by the BBC, it was then adopted by the maquis. After the war the Chant des Partisans was so popular that it was proposed as the new national anthem of France. Indeed, for a short time, it became the unofficial national anthem |
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| Chant de triomphe | (French m.) a song of victory, a triumphal song |
| Chant du départ | the Chant du Départ (French, 'Song of departure') is a revolutionary and war song written by Étienne Nicolas Méhul (music) and Marie-Joseph Chénier (words) in 1794. It was the official anthem of the First Empire. The song was nicknamed "brother of the Marseillaise" by Republican soldiers. It was presented to Robespierre, who called it "magnificent and republican poetry way beyond anything ever made by the Girondin Chénier" |
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| Chant du 14 juillet | a poem written by Marie-Joseph Chénier (1764-1811) which, in 1791, was set for for three voices, men's chourus and wind orchestra by François-Joseph Gossec (1734-1829). The song was sung in the Écoles Normales until the Second World War |
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| chantée | (French) in a singing style, sung |
| Chant en ison | (French f.) a form of psalmody in which only two different notes are employed |
| Chanter | one who chants |
| (English, German m.) the fingered melody pipe on a bagpipe, as opposed to the drones |
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| Chanter | (Anglicized form of 'cantor') the superintendent or leader of a cathedral choir |
| chanter | (French) to sing |
| chanter à livre ouvert | (French) to sing at sight |
| chanter avec âme | (French) to sing with a lively and impassioned expression, with feeling or with taste |
| chanter à vue | (French) to sing at sight |
| Chanterelle | (French f.) top string on a stringed instrument (for example, the top e" string of a violin, or the top string on a lute, etc.), cantino (Italian), Sangsaite (German), Singsaite (German) |
| chanter en canon | (French) to sing a round |
| Chanter en choeur | (French) choral singing |
| chanter faux | (French) to sing out of tune, with poor intonation |
| chanter juste | (French) to sing in tune, with perfect intonation |
| Chanterres | (French) the singers of songs or ballads in the medieval period |
| chanter trop bas | (French) to sing flat |
| chanter trop haut | (French) to sing sharp |
| Chanteur (m.), Chanteuse (f.) | (French) singer |
| Chanteur compositeur | (French m.) singer-songwriter |
| Chanteur de charme (m.), Chanteuse de charme (f.) | (French) crooner |
| Chanteur interprète | (French m.) singer-songwriter |
| Chanteur soloiste | (French m.) solo singer, vocal soloist |
| Chantey | (from the French chanter, 'to sing') shanty |
| Chant funèbre | (French m.) lament, dirge. funeral song |
| Chant hispanique | (French m.) Spanish chant |
| Chantier | (French m.) building site |
| Chantier naval | (French m.) shipyard |
| Chant mozarabe | (French m.) Mozarabic chant |
| Chant nuptial | (French m.) wedding song |
| chantonnement | (French) humming |
| chantonner | (French) to hum, to croon (to sing softly) |
| Chantor | synonymous with 'chanter', the precentor in a choir |
| Chant parlé | (French m.) speech-song |
| see Sprechgesang |
| Chant pastoral | (French m.) a pastoral song |
| Chant profane | (French m.) profane song |
| Chantre | (French m.) chanter, cantor, precentor, singer |
| Chantrerie | see 'chantry' |
| Chantry | or 'chantrerie', a endowed chapel where masses are said for the souls of the donors |
| Chantry priests | priests who are appointed to sing in the chantry |
| Chant sacré | (French m.) sacred song |
| Chant sans paroles | (French m.) song without words |
| Chants des marins | (French m. pl.) Breton sailor songs |
| Chant sur le livre | (French m.) an extemporised counterpoint added by one or more singers to the canto fermo sung by another, identical to contrappunto alle mente |
| Chantuelle | see bélé |
| (Trinidad and Tobago) as calypso developed, the role of the griot (traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian |
| Chantwell | (Windward Islands, Caribbean, corruption of chantuelle) the female singer who sings the socially aware or satirical lyrics in 'Big Drum' music and is accompanied by dancers in colourful skirts and headresses |
- Big Drum from which this extract has been taken
|
| Chant Wisigothique | (French m.) Visigothic chant |
| Chanty | alternative spelling of 'shanty' |
| Chanvre | (French m.) hemp |
| Chanz | Mongolian long-necked spiked lute with an oval wooden frame and snakeskin covering stretched over both faces. The three strings are fixed to a bar, which is inserted in the body. The instrument is struck or plucked with a plectrum made of horn or with the fingers. As the tones do not echo, every note is struck several times |
| Chanzy | three-stringed Tuvan bowed string instrument |
| Chaos | (English, French m., German n.) utter confusion and disorder, a term applied to music that lacks a clear structure |
| Chaotic hardcore | see 'mathcore' |
| chaotique | (French) chaotic |
| Chap | from Thailand, a pair of small cymbals. Held in the right and left hands and struck together either with the flat surfaces facing each other or at a right angle. Immediately after striking they are held slightly apatt to allow them to reverberate |
- Chap from which this extract has been taken
|
| chapado a la antigua | (Spanish) old-fashioned |
| chaparder | (French) filch |
| Chaparejos | (Spanish m. pl.) stout leather trousers worn by cowboys as a protection against thorny scrub |
| Chaparral | (Spanish) a dense undergrowth of thorns, brambles, etc. as commonly found in Texas and Mexico |
| Chapati | (Hindi) a small flat unleaved bread |
| Chapbook | a generic term to cover a particular genre of pocket-sized booklet (usually of 24 pages bearing a paper cover illustrated with a woodcut generic to the content), popular from the sixteenth through to the later part of the nineteenth century. No exact definition can be applied. Chapbook can mean anything that would have formed part of the stock of chapmen, a variety of pedlar. The word chapman probably comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for barter, buy and sell. The term chapbook was formalised by bibliophiles of the nineteenth century, as a variety of ephemera. It includes many kinds of printed material, such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales, children's literature and almanacs |
| see 'patterer' |
- Chapbook from which part of this extract has been taken
|
| Chapeau | (French m.) hat |
| Chapeau-bras | (French m.) a three-cornered hat, designed to be carried under the arm |
| Chapeau chinois | (French m.) alternatively, Turkish crescent, bell tree, albero di sonagli or Schellenbaum, an instrument met in some marching bands, which consists of a staff (called the 'carriage'), a crescent with two horse-tails, and a metal ornament like a Chinese hat, to the latter parts being attached a number of small bells, which will sound when the staff is shaken |
| Chapel | a group of musicians associated with a private chapel or church the cost of which would be met by a person of some considerable rank, for example, a king, queen, other members of the royal family, duke, cardinal, bishop etc. |
| Chapelet | (French m.) rosary, string (figurative) |
| Chapel master | English equivalent of Kapellmeister (German), maestro di cappella (Italian), maestro di capilla (Spanish), maître de chapelle (French)
[entry corrected by Michael Zapf] |
| the director of music in a church or the person whose duty it is the compose music for a church or for a private chapel |
| Chapelle | (French f.) chapel, cappella (Italian), Kapelle (German), capilla (Spanish) |
| Chapelle ardente | (French f., literally 'burning chapel') chapel of rest, a chapel used for the lying-in-state of a distinguished person |
| Chapel Royal | Chapel Royal referred originally not to a building but an establishment in the Royal Household. It is a body of priests and singers to serve the spiritual needs of the Sovereign. Over time the term has become associated with a number of chapels used by monarchs for worship over the centuries. Today the two main Chapels Royal are located at St James's Palace in London: The Chapel Royal and The Queen's Chapel. Since such establishments are outside the usual diocesian structure, they are known as royal peculiars |
|
| Chapelure | (French f.) breadcrumbs |
| Chaperon | (English, French m., literally 'little hood') a woman, usually someone older, who accompanies a young unmarried woman on social occasions usually for the sake of propriety |
| Chaperone | erroneous spelling of chaperon |
| chaperonner | (French) chaperon |
| Chapiteau | (French m.) big top (circus), capital (column) |
| Chapitre | (French m.) chapter, subject (figurative) |
| chapitrer | (French) reprimand |
| Chapman (s.), Chapmen (pl.) | itinerant seller of chapbooks, broadside ballads, and other items in early modern Britain |
| Chapman Stick | a guitar-like musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. He set out to create an instrument designed for the tapping technique and the first production model of the Chapman Stick was shipped in 1974 |
|
| Chapi | a hoe (a tool for cultivation), used on Curaçao to perform tambú |
| chaque | (French) each, every |
| Char | (French m.) tank (military vehicle), float (carnaval), cart, chariot |
| Charabia | (French m.) gibberish |
| Char-à-banc | (French m.) a vehicle for carrying a large number of passengers, with all the seats facing forward, what, today, would be called a 'coach' or 'motor-coach' |
| Character | collective qualities or characteristics that distinguish a person or thing, carattere (Italian), Charakter (German), caractère (French) |
| Character dancing | Charaktertanz (German m.), a style of dancing derived from national, traditional or folk dances, for example, mazurka (Polish), csárdás (Hungarian), bolero (Spanish), gigue (French). The term character dance also refers to roles that are largely
mimed or comic such as the role of Dr. Coppélius in the ballet Coppélia (1870) by Léo Delibes (1836-1891) |
| Characteristic interval | (in tuning theory) the largest and nominally uppermost interval in the tetrachord - the size of this interval is the principal determinant of the genus, as diatonic, chromatic or enharmonic |
| Characteristic note | or 'characteristic tone', the leading note |
| a note (tone) that distinguishes a particular key from its near relations |
| Characteristic tone | (US) characteristic note |
| Character piece | a musical piece representing a definite mood, impression, location, event or personality |
| Characters | the signs employed in the notation of music |
| Charaktertanz | (German m.) character dance
[entry provided by Michael Zapf] |
| see 'character dancing' |
| Charade | (French f.) riddle in which each syllable of a word, and finally the word itself, forms part of a brief dramatic scene (although originally the term was used too for a written puzzle along similar lines) |
| (French f.) mummery |
| Charakter | (German m.) character, carattere (Italian), caractère (French) |
| Charakterbariton | (German m.) comic baritone |
| see 'Fach' |
| Charakterbass | (German m.) or Bassbariton, bass-baritone |
| see 'Fach' |
| Charakteristik | (German f.) characteristic |
| Charaktersopran | (German m.) comic soprano |
| see 'Fach' |
| Charakterstück (s.), Charakterstücke (pl.) | (German n., literally 'character pieces') pieces that represent definite moods, impressions, scenes, people or events |
| Charaktertenor | (German m.) (dramatic) comic tenor |
| see 'Fach' |
| Charanga | (Spanish f.) a brass band, a din, a racket, a hullabaloo, informal dance (Latin America) |
| a genre of Cuban dance music popular in the 1940s, heavily influenced by son and performed on European instruments such as the vioin and flute |
|
| Charanga a la francesa | a Cuban musical group, developed in the early twentieth century, which played danzón and danzonete (a combination of the danzón and the Cuban son), and later chachachá |
| Cuban groups that interpret the danzón style, initially called charanga francèse, French-influenced in their instrumentation with flute, strings section and rhythm section of string bass, European tympani (which later became the timbales) and the güiro. This chamber music ensemble performed a repertoire of minuets, waltzes and contradanses at the parties and grand balls of the elite. Many flautists continued using the 5-key flute developed by Georg Tromlitz of Bavaria in the early nineteenth century, instead of the more modern Boehm flute, because of its warm sound, its subtlety, and its facility in the fourth octave, as well as because of a desire to keep with tradition |
|
|
| Charanga bell | the smallest of the mounted timbale bells, used for the tipico charanga style |
| Charanga orchestra | the first charanga orchestra was formed at the turn of the twentieth century by Antonio María Romeu. These orchestras play lighter and faster versions of the danzón without a brass section, emphasising flutes, violins, and piano. The movement climaxed in the 1930s |
| Charanga-vallenato | 1980s mixture of salsa, charanga and vallenato |
| Charango | the first charangos, from Potosi (Bolivia), a mountain once fabulously rich in minerals as well as the city that prospered around it before the earth was stripped of its wealth, were almost certainly made of wood in the style of a vihuela and had a vaulted back. But the Andes, while rich in minerals, are poor in forests. Over time, as it became a typical instrument of what are now Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and part of northern Chile and Argentina, the charango came to be made from the shells of the quirquincho, the abundant Bolivian relative of the armadillo, or, in the valleys, carved from solid wood. Although charangos are made in a variety of sizes, the instrument best known today is small enough to be cradled in the musician's arms. It carries five double strings, the third, or middle, of which includes the bass string and its octave, an arrangement that at least one author traces to 1780. The same author, Campos Iglesias, traces the name to the quechua charaancu (dried tendon) and the aymara chara ancu (leg tendon), and relates it also to the quechua words chajhuancu (noisy) and chajhuncu (joyful). The charango is strummed with the middle finger or plucked, for different effects such as accompanying the lead musician or carrying a melody. The standard charango has a smaller cousin called waylacho (also hualaycho, or maulincho) as well as two larger relatives ronroco and rocongo both large and lower sounding |
|
|
| Charangón | a larger charango also called the ronroco |
|
| Charanguista (s.), Charanguistas (pl.) | musicians who play instruments of the charango family |
| Charbon | (French m.) coal |
| Charbon de bois | (French m.) charcoal |
| Charbonnages | (French m. pl.) coal-mines |
| Charcuterie | (French f.) pork-butcher's shop, (cooked) pork meats |
| Charcutier (m.), charcutière (f.) | (French) pork-butcher |
| Chardon | (French m.) thistle |
| Charfreitag | (Swiss German m.) Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday)
[corrected by Michael Zapf] |
| Karfreitag (German m.: Good Friday) |
| Charge | (French f.) load, burden, charge (military, judicial), responsibility |
| chargé | (French) busy (day), coated (tongue) |
| Chargé de mission | (French m./f.) head of mission |
| Chargé d'affaires (s.), Chargés d'affaires (pl.) | (English, French m./f.) ambassador's deputy, envoy in a minor country |
| Chargé de cours | (French m./f.) lecturer |
| Chargement | (French m.) loading, load (objects) |
| charger | (French) lad, charge (attack), charge (battery) |
| Charges | (French f. pl.) expenses, service charges |
| Charges sociales | (French f. pl.) social security contributions |
| Charikawi | a dance music form of the Garifuna of Honduras and Belize |
|
|
| Chariot | (French m.) trolley, cart |
| Charisma (s.), Charismata (pl.) | (English, German n., from the Greek kharis, 'grace') power to charm or attract others, a spiritual gift (religious), a special grace (religious) |
| charismatique | (French) charismatic |
| charismatisch | (German) charismatic |
| charitable | (French) charitable |
| Charité | (French f.) charity |
| Charivari | (French) to extemporise music of a violent discordant nature (sometime including the use of tin kettles, fire-tongs, penny whistles, etc). Also termed 'rough music' or 'mock music' (England), scampanata (Italian), Katzenmusik (German), shivaree (U.S.), chiasso (Italian) and 'Calthumpian Concert' (U.S.) |
| for more information refer to Customs in Common by E. P. Thompson - chapter VIII - Rough Music |
| Charkula | every aspect of the culture of the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh is associated with Lord Krishna, so it would have been impossible for any dance form or song, story or legend of Braj to have remained untouched by the Krishna legend! So with the charkula dance, a folk dance of the Braj area, which has also finds its origin in this legend. It is believed that the charkula dance celebrates the happy victory over Indra by Krishna and the cowherd community of Braj. This dance, therefore, became a symbol of happiness as well as joyful rapture. Krishna raised the mount Gobardhan and as if to re-enact the Gobardhan, Leela the dancing damsel of Braj, raises the 60 kg charkula on her head while performing the charkula dance. Wearing long skirts that reach her toes and a blouse, the dancing damsel covers her body and face with the odhani and with its lighted lamps on her head and lighted lamps in both the hands, she dances, synchronizing her steps with the beat of the drum. Her movements are limited because of the heavy load on her head. She cannot bend her body, nor can she move her neck. In spite of these limitations the slim, sturdy and courageous dancer dances, gliding, bending, pirouetting to the tune of the song. The climax is reached when enraptured by the collective merriment of the occasion, the singers also starts dancing and, with the swift beat of music and movement, the onlookers find themselves carried away by the rejoicings |
| Charla | (Spanish f.) talk, chat, informal lecture, address |
| Charlador | (Spanish m./f.) chatterbox |
| charlador | (Spanish) talkative |
| charlar | (Spanish) talk, chat |
| Charlatan | (English, French m.) ciarlatano (Italian), cerretano (Italian), saltimbanco (Italian), Scharlatan (German m.), curandero (Spanish m.), curandera (Spanish f.), person falsely claiming knowledge or skill (particularly a fake doctor), an unfinished or superficial performer
[German translation provided by Michael Zapf] |
| Charlatán (m.), Charlatána (f.) | (Spanish) chatterbox, gossip, charlatan, bigmouth, trickster, charmer |
| charlatán (m.), charlatána (f.) | (Spanish) talkative, gossipy |
| Charlataneria | (Spanish f.) verbosity, talkativeness, sales patter |
| Charleston | a social dance characterized by a lively syncopated rhythm, cut-time with rhythmic pattern repeating over two bars (measures) quaver (quarter note), quaver rest (eighth note rest), followed by a quaver tied to a minim (eighth note tied to an half note) |
|
| Charleston | (Italian m.) or Charleston cymbal, a term used in some European orchestrions and dance organ for the hi-hat pedal |
| Charlestón | (Spanish m.) Charleston |
| Charleston-Becken | (German n.) Charleston cymbal |
| Charlestonmaschine | (German f.) hi-hat pedal |
| charmant (m.), charmante (f.) | (French) charming |
| Charme | (French m.) charm |
| charmer | (French) charm |
| Charmeur (m.), Charmeuse (f.) | (French) a charmer |
| charmeur (m.), charmeuse (f.) | (French) fascinating |
| Charmeuse | (French f.) a soft smooth fabric (usually of silk) with a satin-like surface |
| charnel (m.), charnelle (f.) | (French) carnal |
| Charnier | (French m.) mass grave |
| Charnière | (French f.) hinge |
| charnu | (French) fleshy |
| Charpente | (French f.) framework, build |
| charpenté | (French) built |
| Charpentier | (French m.) carpenter |
| Charpoy | (Hindi) a light Indian bed, a camp-bed |
| Charretier | (French m.) carter |
| Charrette | (French f.) cart |
| charrier | (French) carry |
| Charrue | (French f.) plough |
| Chart | colloquial or jazz term for a full score, lead sheet or arrangement |
| Chartal | see dhrupad |
| Charte | (French f.) charter |
| Charter | (French m.) charter flight |
| Charumera | (Japan, name derives from the Portuguese charamela) an oboe with a wheat straw reed, used by night-time noodle vendors, which probably derives from the Chinese suona brought to Japan sometime in the sixteenth century |
- Charumera from which this information has been taken
|
| Chasápikos | alternative name for hasapiko |
| Chase | chases are most often associated with blues and jazz performances, occurring during improvisations where one player performs a melodic riff and other members in the band take up the theme, often adding additional phrases, each trying to outplay the others |
| Font color=blue>Michael Zapf informs us that the German equivalent is Chase (German n./f.) |
| Chase The Rabbit | one of the figures unique to, or traditionally associated with, square dancing |
|
| Chase the Rabbit/Lady Round the Lady | one of the two-couple figures danced in a circle of four people traditionally associated with square dancing |
|
| Chase The Squirrel | one of the figures unique to, or traditionally associated with, square dancing |
|
| Chasquido | (Spanish, literally 'crack' or 'snap') an effect musically employed and clearly explained in the guitar works of the Uruguayan composer Guido Santorsola |
| Chasse | (French f.) hunting, shooting (with a gun), chase (pursuit), hunt (searching) |
| (French f.) in a hunting style |
| short for chasse-café, a liqueur or spirit taken after coffee (in French, the correct term is pousse-café |
| Chassé | (French, literally 'chased') in dance, a series of steps in each of which one foot literally chases (i.e. displaces) the other foot out of its position |
| Châsse | (French f.) shrine, reliquary |
| chasse, Cor de | (French m.) hunting horn |
| Chasse-cousin(s) | (French f.) an inferior dinner served with bad wine, designed to discourage unwelcome guests |
| Chassé-croisé | (French f.) a dance movement in which partners repeatedly change places (the term is used more generally in a figurative sense, for situations where people or objects are repeatedly changing places) |
| Chasse d'eau | (French f.) (toilet) flush |
| Chasse-neige | (French m.) snow-plough |
| chasser | (French) hunt, chase away, get rid of (smell, staff, etc.) |
| Chasse sous-marine | (French f.) underwater fishing |
| Chasseur | (French m.) page-boy, fighter (plane), a tout (for a night-club or similar establishment) |
| Chasseur (m.), Chasseuse (f.) | (French) hunter |
| Chasseur alpin (s.), Chasseurs alpins (pl.) | (French m.) a member of a French light infantry regiment, all experienced mountain climbers |
| Chassidic | related to a Jewish sect (Chassidism) that developed in the 18th- and 19th-centuries in Poland and the Ukraine. The theoretical structures and conceptual framework for music are found in the Zohar which includes angelic harmonies, secret melodies, a disregard for art music and inspired melodies and rhythms as music is spontaneously sung while participants revel in a state of ecstasy |
| Chassis | (from the French, châssis) the frame on which a canvas is stretched, the framework of a car, bus, etc. |
| Châssis | (French m.) (window) frame, (car) chassis |
| chaste | (French) chaste |
| Chasteté | (French f.) chastity |
| Chastushki | humorous, often anti-establishment Russian folk songs |
| Chat (m.), Chatte (f.) | (French) cat |
| Châtaigne | (French f.) chestnut |
| Châtaignier | (French m.) chestnut tree |
| châtain | (French) chestnut (brown) |
| Château (s.), Châteaux (pl.) | (French m.) castle (see comment below), palace (see comment below), manor, a large French mansion |
| a château (plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally - and still most frequently - in French-speaking regions. Where clarification is needed, a fortified château (that is, a castle) is called a château fort, such as Château fort de Roquetaillade. Care should be taken when translating the word château into English: it is not used in the same way as "castle" is in English, and most châteaux are more appropriately described as "palaces" or "country houses" in English than as "castles". For example, the Château de Versailles is so called because it was located in the country when it was built, but it does not bear any resemblance to a castle, so it is usually known in English as the Palace of Versailles. The urban counterpart of château is palais, which in French is applied only to grand houses in a city. This usage is again different from that of the term "palace" in English, where there is no requirement that a palace must be in a city, but the word is rarely used for buildings other than the grandest royal residences |
- Château from which the second entry has been taken
|
| Château d'eau | (French m.) water-tower |
| Château en Espagne | (French m.) castle in Spain, a day-dream of extreme good fortune |
| Château fort | (French m.) fortified castle |
| Châtelain (m.), Châtelaine (f.) | (French) lord of the manor, lady of the manor |
| Châtelaine | (French f.) a bunch of keys, etc, worn suspended from the waist |
| châtier | (French) chastise, refine (style) |
| Châtiment | (French m.) punishment |
| Chaton | (French m.) kitten |
| Chatouillement | (French m.) tickling |
| chatouiller | (French) to tickle |
| chatouilleux (m.), chatouilleuse (f.) | (French) ticklish, touchy |
| Chatoyance | (French) iridescence, variable colour or lustre |
| Chatoyance | (French) iridescent, variable in colour or lustre (a term applied to materials like shot silk, certain jewels, etc.) |
| chatoyer | (French) to glitter |
| Chat, pas de | see pas de chat |
| châtrer | (French) to castrate |
| Chatting | one of many alternative Jamaican terms for what in other parts of the world is called 'rapping' |
| Chaturang | a Hindustani classical music composition with four distinct features - khayal, bols of tabla, sargam and tarana |
| Chatzozerah | (Hebrew) the straight trumpet (Psalms 98:6) |
| Chaucha | a giant wild pod up to two feet long that is dried and filled with seeds or beans. It is used as a rattle in traditional Andean melodies |
| Chaud | (French m.) heat |
| chaud (m.), chaude (f.) | (French) warm (literally and figurative), hot |
| chaudement | (French) warmly, (dispute) hotly |
| Chaud-froid | (French m.) a culinary dish composed of cooked chicken served cold in jelly or sauce |
| Chaudière | (French f.) boiler |
| Chaudron | (French m.) cauldron |
| Chauffage | (French m.) heating |
| Chauffage central | (French m.) central heating |
| Chauffard | (French m.) reckless driver (pejorative) |
| chauffer | (French) heat, heat up |
| Chauffe-eau | (French m.) water-heater |
| Chauffeur (m.), Chauffeuse (f.) | (French) a servant paid to drive a car |
| in France, the term is applied also to an owner-driver |
| Chaume | (French m.) thatch |
| Chaunter | alternative spelling of 'chanter' |
| Chaussée | (French f.) road, roadway |
| chausser | (French) put on (shoe, shoes), put shoes on (or onto) a child |
| chausser bien | (French) fit well |
| Chausse-pied | (French m.) shoehorn |
| Chausseur | (French m.) shoemaker |
| Chaussette | (French f.) sock |
| Chausson | (French m.) slipper, bootee (of a baby) |
| Chausson (aux pommes) | (French m.) turnover, apple turnover |
| Chaussure (s.), Chaussures (pl.) | (French f.) shoe |
| Chaussures de ski | (French f. pl.) ski boots |
| Chaussures de marche | (French f. pl.) hiking boots |
| Chaussures vernies | (French f.) patent leather shoes |
| Chautal | see dhrupad |
| Chau van | (Vietnam) mediums' trance songs, an ancient form of goddess worship |
| chauve | (French) bald |
| Chauve-souris (s.), Chauves-souris (pl.) | (French f.) bat |
| Chauvin (m.), Chauvine (f.) | (French) chauvinist |
| chauvin (m.), chauvine (f.) | (French) chauvinistic |
| Chauvinisme | (French m.) chauvinism |
| Chaux | (French f.) lime |
| chavirer | (French) capsize (boat) |
| Chavittunatakom | a Christian musical drama from Kerala in Southern India that evolved at the turn of the sixteenth century during the Portuguese colonization and bears many traces of the European Christian 'miracle play'. In this musical drama, the actors wear Greco-Roman costumes and even the stage props show foreign influences. In the past, the Chavittunatakom was performed on open stages, though sometimes the interior of a church was also a venue. It is performed in a language that is a colloquial mix of Tamil and Malayalam |
| Chazzanut | cantorial singing |
| chbr | abbreviation of 'chamber' |
| che | (Italian) who, than, which |
| Cheb | (Arabic, literally 'young') a singer of raï, a form of folk music, originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African-American and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s and has been primarily evolved by women in the culture |
| Check-action | the check is a contrivance in the pianoforte that prevents the hammers from rebounding |
| Checking | a term for the cracking found in lacquer finished guitars Checking is the result of the wood of a guitar expanding and contracting with changes in temperature and humidity. The term is also used more generally for a small splits that might form in a piece of timber that is not properly seasoned |
| Cheek | the shortest side of a harpsichord, connected to the bentside and opposite the spine, usually to the right (treble) side of the wrestplank |
|
| Cheerful | alegre (Spanish), giovale (Italian), lustig (German), gai (French) |
| in good spirits, noticeably happy, bright pleasant |
| Cheer-leader | one who leads cheers of applause, etc. |
| Cheerleading | the organized use of song, dance and/or gymnastics to encourage crowds to cheer on sports teams at games and matches |
|
| Cheesecloth | thin, loosely-woven cloth |
| Cheesed (off) | bored, fed up (slang) |
| Cheese-paring | stingy (tight, for example, with money) |
| Chef | (French m.) leader, head, head cook (in this case, short for chef de cuisine, although the full form is never used), chief (tribal) |
| Chef d'accusation | (French m.) charge (judicial) |
| Chef d'attaque | (French m.) orchestral leader, leader of a body of singers, concert master (U.S.) |
| Chef de choeur | (French m.) choirmaster, choral director |
| Chef de pupitre | (French m.) principal |
| Chef d'école | (French m.) the founder of a 'school of art' (for example, the school of Rubens, etc.) |
| Chef d'équipe | (French m.) foreman, captain (sport's team) |
| Chef d'État | (French m.) head of State |
| Chef de famille | (French m.) head of the family |
| Chef de file | (French m.) (political) leader |
| Chef de gare | (French m.) station-master |
| Chef de service | (French m.) department head |
| Chef d'oeuvre (s.), Chefs d'oeuvre (pl.) | (French m.) masterpiece, capo d'ôpera (Italian) |
| the f is silent |
| Chef d'orchestre | (French m./f.) orchestral conductor, leader of an orchestra, concert master (U.S.) |
| Chef d'orchestre militaire | (French m./f.) bandmaster |
| Chefe do balé | (Portuguese m./f.) mâitre-de ballet (French m.), maitresse du ballet (French f.) |
| Chef-lieu (s.), Chefs-lieux (pl.) | (French m.) the chief town of a district, especially of a French département |
| Chefredakteur | (German m.) chief editor |
| Cheikh | (Arabic, literally 'old') a singer of chaabi (also called 'sha-bii' or 'sha'bii'), a popular music of North Africa |
| (French m.) sheikh |
| Cheironomic notation | notation symbols that represent the gestures of the hand that inform singers of the correct note to sing in a chant. Cheironomy (i.e. the hand signs themselves) was used in ancient Egypt and is evident today in isolated Jewish religious practice. Unheighted neume notation is sometimes called 'cheironomic notation', as it indicates the general melodic shape, rather than specific note pitches |
|
| Chekeré | chékere |
| Chékere | or abwe, a beaded gourd instrument of African origin used in Cuban music of the Lucumi, which are played, for example, in ceremonies celebrating ritual 'birthdays' |
|
| Chekker | see dulce melos |
| Chelys | a name applied to members of the viol family during the 16th- and 17th-centuries |
| Chelys hexachorda | a six-stringed member of the viol family, on which the fourth-third tuning is employed (as on other members of the viol family), described by Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) in his important musicological work Musurgia Universalis (1650) |
| Chelys lyra | (ancient Greek) using a tortoise shell covered by leather and the instrument used at weddings (epithalamia), symposia, and komoi (activities where men danced), it was played by women (hetairai or courtesans who entertained at the symposia) or by respectable women who played at weddings or for their own entertainment. It was believed to have been discovered by Hermes when, at the age of one day, he climbed out of his cradle and he found the shield of a turtle. He stretched the skin of a cow around it, fixed two horns through the holes were once the paws of the animal stood and he tied strings at the horizontal connection between the arms |
|
| Chemical breaks | see 'Big beat' |
| Chemin | (French m.) path, road, way (direction) |
| Chemin de fer | (French m.) railway |
| (French m.) a card-game resembling baccarat |
| Chemin de halage | (French m.) towpath |
| Chemin vicinal | (French m.) by-road |
| Cheminée | (French f.) chimney, fireplace, mantelpiece, funnel (of a boat) |
| Cheminement | (French m.) progress |
| cheminer | (French) plod, progress (figurative) |
| Cheminot | (French m.) railwayman |
| Chemise | (English, originally French) woman's loose-fitting linen undergarment or long bodice, or any dress resembling these |
| (French f.) shirt, folder, (book) jacket |
| Chemise de bain | (French f.) a linen gown worn in the bath for the sake of modesty |
| Chemise de nuit | (French f.) a woman's nightgown |
| Chemisette | (French f.) short-sleeved shirt, an ornamental panel of lace or muslin which fills the open neck of a woman's dress |
| Chemisier | (French m.) blouse |
| Chemnitzer concertina | see 'Polka Box' |
| Chenal (s.), Chenaux (pl.) | (French m.) channel |
| Chenda | a cylindrical wooden drum from Kerala, Southern India |
- Chenda from which this extract has been taken
|
| Chêne | (French m.) oak |
| Chenet | (French) a fire-dog, an andiron |
| Cheng | smallest and highest-pitched of Chinese zithers, related to the ch'in and the Japanese koto |
| Chinese gong |
| Chengcheng | Balinese cymbals |
|
| Chengi | Turkish female dancer |
| Chengkok | or cengkok, patterns played by the elaborating instruments in the Javanese gamelan |
- Cengkok from which this short extract has been taken
|
| Chenille | (French f., from Latin canicula, 'little dog') caterpillar |
| (English, from the French) tuftly velvety cord or yarn, fabric made of this |
| Chenillette | (French f.) tracked vehicle |
| Cheong-sam | (Chinese) a long red dress worn by women in China on ceremonial occasions such as weddings, a tight-fitting dress in a quasi-Chinese style with a split at each side seam |
| Cheptel | (French m.) livestock |
| Cheque | written order to a bank to pay a stated sum from a specified account, printed form upon which this instruction is written |
| Chèque | (French m.) cheque |
| Chèque déjeuner | (French m.) Luncheon voucher. In France, spending on meals is considered a joint expense, with employer and employee each contributing half |
| Chèque de voyage | (French m.) traveller's cheque |
| Chequer | pattern of squares often alternately coloured |
| Chequered | marked with a pattern of squares often alternately coloured, with varied fortunes (as in 'chequered career') |
| Chéquier | (French m.) cheque-book |
| cher, chère | (French) dear, expensive, a lot (of money) |
| chercher | (French) look for, seek (help, peace, happiness) |
| chercher à faire | (French) attempt to do |
| chercher chicane à ... | (French) needle ... |
| chercher la femme | (French, literally 'look for the woman') there's certainly a woman at the bottom of it (figurative) |
| chercher la petite bête | (French) be finicky, be overfussy |
| Chercheur (m.), Chercheuse (f.) | (French) research worker |
| Chère amie | (French f.) a mistress (polite and inoffensive euphemism) |
| chèrement | (French) dearly |
| Cherewa | (Zanzibar) maracas made out of coconuts |
| Chéri (m.), Chérie (f.) | (French) darling (as a form of address) |
| chéri (m.), chérie (f.) | (French) beloved |
| chérir | (French) cherish |
| cher maître | (French) dear master (as a form of address, sometime ironic) |
| Cherry | (German Kirsche, French Cerise, Dutch Kers, European Species: Prunus cerasus (sour cherry), P. avium (wild or bird cherry), American Species: P. serotina (black cherry): Average Weight: 35 to 50 pounds per cubic foot)
Cherry was used for musical instruments, turned pieces, tool grips and spoons. Cherry is a good wood for making furniture |
|
| Cherté | (French f.) high cost |
| che sarà, sarà | (Italian) what will be, will be |
| Chest | (in the anatomical sense) pecho (Spanish), petto (Italian), Brust (German), poitrine (French) |
| the part of body enclosed by the ribs (anatomical), a large strong box or small cabinet (for valuables, for medicines, etc.) |
| see 'wind chest' |
| Chestnut | (Kastanie (German f.), Châtaigne (French), Kastanje (Dutch), European Species: Castanea sativa,
American Species: Castanea dentata: Average Weight: 36 pounds per cubic foot) Chestnut is native to southern Europe, but was introduced to England by the Romans. The wood was widely used as a substitute for Oak (to which is very similar in appearance), especially in Mediterranean regions. The nuts were a major source of grazing for swine and were used as food by the poor. European chestnut, like its American cousin, is highly weather-resistant and is used by French farmers for outdoor applications
[corrected by Michael Zapf] |
|
| Chest of viols | a set of six viols of various sizes (although commonly 2 trebles, 2 tenors and 2 basses) - used in the 16th- and 17th-centuries for consort playing |
| Chest organ | Truhenorgel (German f.), where full sized pipe organs were impractical, through reasons of space or expense, portable chests containing a small number of sets of pipes (called 'ranks'), fitted with a single keyboard, and with bellows generally placed on the top of the chest, were built to serve the functions of a larger instrument
[supplementary information by Michael Zapf] |
|
|
| Chest register | Brustregister (German n.), alternatively 'chest voice', 'chest tone' or Brustton (German m.), an adjustment that produces heavy tones suitable for loud singing and the lower range of the voice, where the singer feels the voice coming from the chest as opposed to the head
[supplementary information by Michael Zapf] |
|
|
| Chest tone | the vocal quality that characterises the chest register |
| Chest vibrato | diaphragmatic vibrato or Zwerchfellvibrato (German n.), whether slow or fast, chest vibrato is a pitch-, intensity-, and timbre vibrato. Delusse writing in his L'Art de la Flûte Traversieres (c. 1760) writes: "There is yet another kind of Tremblement flexible, called Tremolo by the Italians, which, when used properly, adds a great deal to the melody. It is done only by "blowing" the syllables "Hou, hou, hou, hou, etc." actively with the lungs ..." |
Corrette in his sonata for flute and continuo no. 5 op. 13 (c. 1735) entitles one of the airs Imitation du tremblant
doux de l'Orgue, par Bordet and comments: "To play this piece in the correct style, ... you may also play it like the soft organ
tremolo .... This is accomplished by causing the air to pulsate as it leaves the chest and passes through the throat, creating an effect similar to that of an organ valve."
[supplementary information provided by Michael Zapf] |
|
| Chest voice | see 'chest register' |
| chétif (m.), chétive (f.) | (French) puny, under-developed, sickly-looking |
| Cheval (s.), Chevaux (pl.) | (French m.) horse |
| cheval (vapeur) | (French) horsepower |
| Cheval à bascule | (French m.) rocking horse |
| Cheval-d'arçons | (French m.) (gymnastique) horse |
| Cheval de bataille | (French m.) a war-horse, a favourite subject, a favourite argument (implying that the subject or argument has been overworked) |
| chevaleresque | (French) chivalrous |
| Chevalerie | (French f.) chivalry |
| Chevalet | (French m.) bridge (of a stringed instrument, piano, etc.), Steg (German m.), ponticello (Italian m.) |
| (French m.) easel |
| Cheval-glass | a larger type of toilet mirror in a frame with four legs, also known as a horse dressing-glass (dated from the end of the eighteenth century) |
| Chevalier | (French m.) knight |
| Chevalier d'industrie | (French m.) an adventurer, a swindler, one who lives by his wits |
| Chevalière | (French f.) signet ring |
| chevalin (m.), chevaline (f.) | (French) horse, equine |
| Chevauchée | (French f.) (horse) ride |
| chevaucher | (French) straddle |
| Chevaux de frise | (French m. pl.) a rotating bar bristling with spikes set on the top of a wall to discourage entry, also a line of broken glass, barbed wire, etc. serving a similar purpose |
| chevelu | (French) hairy |
| Chevelure | (French f.) hair |
| Cheveret | see secretaire |
| Chevé rhythm syllables | Émile-Joseph Chevé (1804-1864) the originator of a system that uses syllables to learn rhythm in music. This mnemonic approach is included in the Galin-Paris-Chevé sight-singing method widely used in France and which was incorporated into the method for teaching music to children developed by the Hungarian composer and teacher Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). The Galin-Paris-Chevé method is named after Pierre Galin Exposition d'une Nouvelle méthode (1818)] and Émile-Joseph Chevé (1804-1864), Chevé's wife Nanine Paris and Nanine's brother Aimé Paris (1798-1866) [E. Chevé (Mme Nanine Paris) Méthode élémentaire de musique vocale (1864); E. Chevé (M. & Mme) Méthode élémentaire d'harmonie (1846); E. Chevé (M. & Mme) Exercices élémentaires de lecture musicale à l'usage des écoles primaires (1860)] |
| duration | modern rhythm names | French time names of Aimé Paris
aa = ah; é = eh; i = short i (as in tip) |
| simple time |
| crotchet (quarter note) | ta | taa (sound: tah) |
| 2 quavers (2 eight notes) | ti-ti | ta-té (sound: ta-teh) |
| 4 semiquavers (4 sixteenth notes) | tika-tika | tafa-téfé (sound: ta-fa-teh-feh) |
| 3 triplet quavers (3 triplet eight notes) | tre-o-la | |
| quaver + 2 semiquavers (eight note + 2 sixteenth notes) | ti-tika | ta-téfé (sound: ta-teh-feh) |
| 2 semiquvers + quaver (2 sixteenth notes + an eighth note) | tika-ti | tafa-té (sound: ta-fa-teh) |
| semiquaver + quaver + semiquaver (sixteenth note + eighth note + sixteenth note) | syn-co-pa | |
| semiquaver + dotted quaver (sixteenth note + dotted eighth note) | | tafa-é (sound: ta-fa-eh) |
| semibreve (whole note) | | taa aa aa aa (sound: tah-ah-ah-ah) |
| minim (half note) | too | taa aa (sound: tah-ah) |
| dotted crotchet (dotted quarter note) | tum | |
| dotted crotchet + quaver (dotted quarter note + eighth note) | taam-ti | taa até (sound: tah-ateh) |
| dotted quaver + semiquaver (dotted eighth note + sixteenth note) | tim-ka | ta-éfé (sound: ta-ehfeh) |
| compound time |
| 3 quavers (3 eighth notes) | ti-ti-ti | ta-té-ti (sound: tah-teh-ti) |
| crotchet + quaver (quarter note + eighth note) | ta-ti | |
| quaver + 2 semiquavers + quaver (eighth note + 2 sixteenth notes + eighth note) | ti tika ti | |
| 4 semiquavers + quaver (4 sixteenth notes + eighth note) | ti-ka-ti-ka ti | |
| 6 semiquavers (6 sixteenth notes) | | tafa-téfé-tifi (sound: tafa-tehfeh-tifi) |
| dotted minim (dotten half note) | toom | taa aa aa (sound: tah-ah-ah) |
|
| Chevet | (French) the apse of a church |
| Cheveu (s.), Cheveux (pl.) | (French m.) hair |
| Cheville (s.), Chevilles (pl.) | (French f.) tuning peg, tuning pin, pirolo (Italian), bischero (Italian), voluta (Italian), Wirbel (German) |
| (French f.) ankle, pin, (wall) plug |
| Chevillier | (French m.) cavigliera (Italian f.), cassa dei bischeri (Italian f.), Wirbelkasten (German m.), cassetta dei piroli (Italian f.), pegbox (on a violin, etc.) |
| Chèvre | (French f.) goat |
| Chevreau (s.), Chevreaux (pl.) | (French m.) kid |
| Chevreuil | (French m.) roe(-deer), venison |
| Chevron | (French m.) rafter, a pattern like an inverted V, used in decorative art |
| chevronné | (French) experienced, seasoned |
| chevrotant (m.), chevrotante (f.) | (French) quavering, bleating, wobbling |
| Chévrotement | see 'bleat' |
| chevroter | (French) to perform a chévrotement, to wobble, to perform a shake or trill badly |
| chez | (French) at the house of, to the house of, among, in (about the characters found in a book, play, etc.) |
| chez le boucher | (French) at the butcher's |
| Chez nous | (French) at our house, at home |
| Chez-soi | (French m.) home |
| chez-soi | (French) at home, home |
| Chhand | in Indian music, the pulse |
| Chhing | Cambodian finger cymbals |
| Chi | (China) transverse flute |
|
| Chi | (Korea) reed pipe played horizontally like the daegeum |
|
| chiacchierare | (Italian) gossiping |
| Chiado | (Portuguese) hiss |
| chiamandolo | (Italian) calling |
| chiamare alle armi | (Italian) call up (call to join the armed forces) |
| Chiamata | (Italian, literally 'call' or 'summons') in the seventeenth century, a fanfare-like piece written to imite hunting horns |
| curtain call, a singer's bow to audience applause |
| chiara | (Italian f.) clear (tone), pure (tone or intonation), perfect (intonation) |
| Chiaramèlla | (Italian, mentioned in John Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611)) a kind of bag-pipe |
| chiaramente | (Italian) clearly, neatly, purely |
| Chiaranzána | (Italian, mentioned in John Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611)) see chiarantána |
| Chiara quarta | (Italian f.) perfect fourth |
| Chiara quinta | (Italian f.) perfect fifth |
| Chiarezza | (Italian f.) clarity, brightness, neatness, purity |
| Chiarina | (Italian f.) species of trumpet, clarion |
| Chiarintána | (Italian, mentioned in John Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611)) a kinde of Caroll or song full of leapings like a Scotish gigge, some take it for the Almaine-leape |
| Chiarintanáre | (Italian, mentioned in John Florio's Queen Anna's New World of Words (1611)) to dance the chiarantána |
| chiaro (m.), chiara (f.) | (Italian) clear, brilliant, unconfused |
| Chiaroscuro | (Italian, literally 'light dark') in painting, the modelling of form (the creation of a sense of three-dimensionality in objects) through the use of light and shade. The introduction of oil paints in the fifteenth century, replacing tempera, encouraged the development of chiaroscuro, for oil paint allowed a far greater range and control of tone. The term chiaroscuro is used in particular for the dramatic contrasts of light and dark introduced by Caravaggio. When the contrast of light and dark is strong, chiaroscuro becomes an important element of composition |
| in music, a term used to describe the various levels of piano and forte |
| Chiasmus | (Latin, from the Greek) in rhetoric, chiasmus is the figure of speech in which two clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the two clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in Latin literature, where it was used to articulate balance or order within a text |
- Chiasmus from which this extract has been taken
|
| Chiasso | (Italian m., literally 'hubbub') charivari |
| Chiave | (Italian f.) clef |
| (Italian f.) key of an instrument |
| (Italian f.) tuning key |
| Chiave alte | see chiavette |
| Chiave dell'acqua | (Italian f.) water key |
| Chiave di baritono | (Italian f.) baritone clef, a sign that shows the position of F on the staff (on the third line) |
|
| Chiave di basso |  | (Italian f.) bass clef, a sign that shows the position of F on the staff (on the fourth line) |
|
| Chiave di contralto |  | (Italian f.) contralo clef, a clef sign which marks the position of the note C on the staff (on the third line), the alto clef |
|
| Chiave di Do | | (Italian f.) a clef sign which marks the position of the note C on the staff, for example, the alto clef (Italian: chiave di Do3) |
|
| Chiave di Fa | | (Italian f.) a clef sign that shows the position of F on the staff, for example, the bass clef (Italian: chiave di Fa2) |
|
| Chiave di mezzosoprano | | (Italian f.) maezzosoprano clef, a sign that marks the position of the note C on the staff (on the second line) |
|
| Chiave di Sol |  | (Italian f.) treble clef, (Italian: chiave di Sol3), a sign that shows the position of G on the staff |
|
| Chiave di soprano | | (Italian f.) soprano clef, a sign that marks the position of the note C on the staff (on the first line) |
|
| Chiave di tenore | | (Italian f.) tenor clef, a sign that marks the position of the note C on the staff (on the fourth line) |
|
| Chiave di violino | | (Italian f.) violin clef, a sign that shows the position of G on the staff (on the second line), treble clef |
|
| Chiave trasportate | see chiavette |
| Chiavette | (Italian f.) also called chiave alte or chiavi trasportate - a notation system widely used in the seventeenth century for voice parts whereby the notes were placed higher on the staff than they were meant to be performed (often a fourth or fifth higher) to avoid the use of ledger lines and excessive chromatic notation. This system is not specifically noted in the score and so has caused confusion in modern times. Its use can often be indirectly inferred via analysis. See Kurtzman, J. The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 for examples
[entry supplied by Ed Batutis] |
| Chic | (French m.) style, elegance (of a superior kind) |
| chic | (French) smart, kind |
| Chica | (Spanish) early form of fandango |
| Chicago blues | a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois by adding electricity, drums, piano, bass guitar and sometimes saxophone to the basic string/harmonica Delta blues. The music developed mainly as a result of the "Great Migration" of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities of the North, and Chicago in particular, in the first half of the twentieth century |
|
| Chicago house | a style of house music. House music originated in a Chicago, Illinois nightclub called the Warehouse, which many hold to be the origin of |