| M |
after Carl H. Mennicke, cataloguer of music by Carl
Heinrich Graun (1701-1759), Karl Heinrich Graun
(1704-1759) & Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783) |
| meta-catalogue of music by Vagn Holmboe (1909-96)
prepared by Paul Rapoport |
| or MS, reference to the catalogues of music by Johann
Melchior Molter (1696-1765) prepared by Klaus Hafner |
| after Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973), the
cataloguer of music by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
& Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) |
| after Frederick Marvin, the cataloguer of music by
Antonio Soler (1729-1783) |
| after F. Munter, the cataloguer of music by Ignaz
von Beeke (1733-1803) |
| after Murray, the cataloguer of music by Francesco
Antonio Rosetti-Rösler (1750-1792) |
| M |
developed in 1986 by David Zicarelli, Joel Chadabe,
and Antony Widoff at Intelligent Music, M was the first
realtime software for interactive composition |
|
|
| M. |
abbreviated form of 'manual' (on the organ),
main (French: hand), mano (Italian:
hand), mezzo (Italian: 'half' or 'medium') or
'metronome' (usually M.M.) |
| MA, M.A. |
abbreviation of Magister Artium (Latin:
Master of Arts) |
| Ma |
(Italian) but, as in allegro ma non troppo
(Italian: fast, but not too much so) |
| (Japanese, literally 'space') it is used in music
to describe a period of silence. In taiko
drumming, ma is the period between hits on the
drum. It is important to appreciate this silence when
playing taiko, just as you would appreciate the
sound of a hit on the drum. Since ensemble taiko
is focused on rhythm, the ma of a piece is
critical to adding drama, excitement, and tension.
Ma can be a rhythmic rest, or an extended
silence, to be broken at the player's discretion. If
the player concentrates on hearing the ma
between each hit, in addition to the hits themselves,
he or she will create a much more effective and
satisfying sound |
| Maandblad |
(Dutch) monthly publication |
| maandelijks |
(Dutch) monthly |
| Maat |
(Dutch) bar, measure |
| maat houden |
(Dutch) keep time |
| Maatschappij |
(Dutch) company, society |
| Maatsoort |
(Dutch) time signature, meter |
| Maatstreep |
(Dutch) barline |
| maatvast |
(Dutch) keeping time |
| Mâau |
(Wallis and Futuna, French overseas territory)
specialists who teach the traditional music of
Polynesia |
| maboul | (French) mad (familiar) |
| macabre | (French) gruesome, reminiscent of the danse macabre or 'Dance of Death' |
| Macarena |
a song by Los del Río about a woman of the
same name, originally released in 1993, as a new
flamenco rumba pop fusion theme with fully Spanish
lyrics, with a great success in Spain and Mexico |
- Macarena from which this
extract has been taken
|
| Macaron | (French m.) a macaroon (a small cake), badge |
| Macaronic |
text spoken or written using a mixture of
languages, although the term is occasionally used of
hybrid words, which are in effect internally
macaronic |
|
|
| Macaronis | (French m. pl.) macaroni (a pasta) |
| Macchina |
(Italian f.) machine, mechanism, valve unit |
| Macchina da scrivere |
(Italian f.) typewriter |
| Macchina del vento |
(Italian f.) wind machine |
| Macchina per il tuono |
(Italian f.) thunder machine |
| Mace |
the large ornamented tapered rod or baton used by a
drum major in a marching band or military band |
| Macédoine | (French f.) mixed vegetables |
| Macédoine de fruits | (French f.) fruit salad |
| Macedonian folk music |
|
| macérer | (French) to soak, to pickle (in vinegar) |
| Machair | (Gaelic) a strip of costal plain, a sandy tract almost at sea-level |
| Machalath |
(Hebrew) found in the titles of Psalms 53:1 88:1,
and believed to be a type of lute or guitar |
| Mâchefer | (French m.) clinker |
| mâcher | (French) to chew |
| Ma chère |
see mon cher |
| Machete | (Spanish) a broad, heavy knife or cutlass |
| see cavaquinho |
| machiavélique | (French) machiavellian |
| Machicot |
(French) leader of the choir in church |
| Machicotage |
(French) extemporised ornamentation of plainsong by
the celebrant |
| Machim |
see cavaquinho |
| Machimbo |
see cavaquinho |
| Machin | (French m.) thing (familiar), what's his name (familiar) |
| machinal | (French) automatic |
| machinalement | (French) automatically |
| Machine à coudre |
(French f.) sewing-machine |
| Machine à écrire |
(French f.) typewriter |
| Machine à laver |
(French f.) washing-machine |
| Machine à rythme |
(French f.) rhythm unit, rhythm machine |
| Machine à sous |
(French f.) fruit machine, slot-machine (US) |
| Machine à tonnerre |
(French f.) thunder machine, thunder-sheet |
| Machine à vent |
(French f.) wind machine |
| Machine head |
also 'tuners' or 'tuning machines', a system of
worm gears used to control the tension of the strings
on string instruments, used since the
eighteenth century in particular on guitar and double
bass |
| Machine music |
a variety of Western European movements appeared at
the beginning of the early twentieth century, associated
with extreme statements and political stances |
|
|
| Machine-outil |
(French f.) machine tool |
| Machine pour le tonnerre |
(French f.) thunder machine |
| machiner |
(French) to plot |
| Machinerie |
(French f.) machinery |
| Machine stop |
a mechanism operated by a pedal or knee lever found
in some eighteenth-century French and English harpsichords.
It affects several registers simultaneously and is used
to obtain a sudden piano effect |
| Machiniste |
(French m.) stage-hand (in a theatre), driver |
| Macho | (Eglish, Spanish m.) male (in English, someone who is aggressively masculine, virile or rough) |
| the male or smaller of any two paired percussive
instruments (bongos, clave,
timbales, etc.) |
| Mâchoire |
(French f.) jaw |
| mâchonner |
(French) to chew at |
| Machree | (Irish) or mochree, my darling |
| mächtig |
(German) mighty, powerful |
| Machtpolitik | (German f.) power politics |
| Machtübernahme | (German f.) a taking-over of power by violent means, a putsch, a coup d'état |
| mâchurer |
(French) to blacken (the face) |
| Machwerk |
(German) a term of disparagement for music that is
thought mundane, the product of labour and study rather
than that of imagination or inspiration |
| Macinko | see masenko |
| Ma cocotte |
(French) my sweet, my dear |
| Maçon |
(French m.) builder, bricklayer |
| Maçonnerie |
(French f.) brickwork, stonework, masonry |
| maçonnique |
(French) Masonic |
| Macramé | (Turkish, from Arabic) (the art of making) a fringe of knotted thread |
| macrobiotique |
(French) macrobiotic |
| Macron | (Greek) a short horizontal line - placed over a vowel to indicate that it is long |
| Macuilxochitl |
(literally 'Five flower') Aztec god of music and
dance, actually another name for Xochipilli |
| Maculelê |
a circle dance from Brazil in which dancers carry
and strike one another's sticks; not to be confused
with and a combat dance without sticks called
capoeira |
|
|
| maculer |
(French) to stain |
| Macumbo |
an Afro-Brazilian ritual dance |
| macushla | see acushla |
| Madaal |
see madal |
| Madal |
(Nepal) a drum, suspended horizontally from the
neck of the player by means of a cord, played in a
sitting or standing position. The player uses both
hands |
- Madal from which this extract
has been taken
|
| Madalam | see maddalam |
| Madama Dorè |
a canzo a ballo (song for dancing) from the
thirteenth century, sung at weddings, which became a
children's game known throughout Italy. The king sends
his emissary to bring back Madame Dorè's beautiful
daughters to marry a succession of men, beginning with
the chimney sweep |
| Madame Rentz's Female Minstrels |
a blackface minstrel troupe composed completely of
women. M. B. Leavitt founded the company in 1870 |
|
|
| Madame (s.), Mesdames (pl.) |
(French f.) madam, Mrs |
| the singular form, madame, is used in English for the proprietress of a brothel - the word is then preceded by the definite article |
| Madchester |
a term coined for a music scene that happened in
Manchester, UK, at the end of the 1980s and the
beginning of the 1990s. The scene mixed indie and dance
music |
|
|
| Maddalam | barrel drum from Indonesia |
| or madhalam, an abbreviation for shuddha madalam or suddha maddalam, a heavy, two-sided drum, from Southern India, that is tied around the waist of the person playing. Each side of the drum produces a different note and the player stands while performing |
| Madeleine |
(French f.) a small shell-shaped sponge-cake |
| Mademoiselle (s.), Mesdemoiselles (pl.) |
(French f.) miss, Miss |
| the term is also used for a French governess in an English family and for a native French mistress in a girl's school |
| Madera |
(Spanish f.) wood, bois (French),
Holz (German), legno (Italian) |
| Maderas |
(Spanish f. pl.) woodwind (collectively) |
| Maderas que cantan |
(Spanish f. pl.) the marimba in Mexico is a
cultural symbol woven into the fabric of everyday life
in the state of Chiapas. It is indeed difficult to walk
down any street within the state without hearing las
maderas que cantan or what Chiapans affectionately
call 'the wood that sings'. Chiapas is one of Mexico's
most isolated and exotic states, which only adds
resonance to the combination of reality and legend that
surrounds the marimba, its music, and the people who
play the instrument. In the Mexican tradition,
generally several musicians perform on a single
instrument |
|
|
| Madère |
(French m.) Madeira (wine) |
| Madhalam |
associated with Panchavadyam, a heavy,
two-sided drum, from Southern India, that is tied
around the waist of the person playing. Each side of
the drum produces a different note and the player
stands while performing |
| Madhya |
in Indian music, 'medium' (for example, between
'fast' and 'slow') |
| Madiba |
a Mandinka wrestling rhythm |
| Madison |
a novelty line dance that was popular in the late
1950s to mid 1960s |
| Madone |
(French f.) madonna |
| Madonna | (Italian) a picture or statue of the Virgin Mary |
| Madrastra |
(Spanish f.) stepmother |
| Madre |
(Spanish f.) mother, bed (of a river), origin
(figurative), cradle (figurative), (coffee) grounds,
dregs, main channel |
| Madre adoptiva |
(Spanish f.) adoptive mother |
| Madre alquílada |
(Spanish f.) surrogate mother |
| Madre de família |
(Spanish f.) mother, housewife |
| Madre de leche |
(Spanish f.) wet-nurse |
| Madreperla |
(Spanish f.) mother-of-pearl |
| Madre política |
(Spanish f.) mother-in-law |
| Madrépora |
(Spanish f.) white coral, madrepore |
| Madreselva |
(Spanish f.) honeysuckle |
| Madre soltera |
(Spanish f.) unmarried mother |
| Madre superiora |
(Spanish f.) mother superior (nun) |
| Madriale |
(Italian m.) a madrigal |
| Madrialetto |
(Italian m.) a short madrigal |
| Madrigal, Madrigaux (French pl.) |
(English, French m., Spanish m., German n.) a fourteenth-century
Italian style where secular verse is set for two or
three unaccompanied voices, in two sections, the first
being repeated two or three times, the second performed
only once, where the top line is generally more florid
than the line(s) below |
| a sixteenth- and seventeenth-century contrapuntal setting of
verse (usually secular) for several equally important
voice parts, usually unaccompanied and unrelated to the
earlier form |
|
|
| Madrigal comedy |
a late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century musical
entertainment of linked madrigals illustrating a
common, usually comic, theme or story. The term is of
twentieth-century origin |
|
|
| Madrigal drama |
see 'madrigal opera' |
| Madrigale |
(Italian m.) madrigal |
| Madrigalkomödie | (German f.) madrigal comedy |
| madrigaleggiare |
(Italian) to compose madrigals |
| madrigalesco |
(Italian) in the style of a madrigal |
| Madrigalessa |
(Italian f.) a long madrigal |
| Madrigaletto |
(Italian m.) a short madrigal |
| Madrigalino |
(Italian m.) a short madrigal |
| Madrigalism |
the use of illustrative devices including 'text
painting', for example, through changes in texture,
tone, range, or volume to musically mirror what the
text is describing, used particularly in madrigals |
| Madrigali spirituali |
madrigals on sacred texts, for eaxample, Gesualdo's
most famous sacred composition, the set of Tenebrae
Responsories (1611) |
| Madrigal opera |
also called 'madrigal drama', a sequence of
madrigals performed as a staged drama, an early
experiment in opera |
| Madrileña |
(Spanish) a dance from the province of Madrid |
| Madrilène |
(French) a dance from the province of Madrid |
| Mad scenes |
an enormously popular device in nineteenth-century
Italian and French romantic opera, that provided an
opportunity for exciting and demanding vocal writing
for great singers. The most famous examples are in
Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena by
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), and I Puritani by
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini
(1801-1835). They are nearly always for soprano |
|
|
| Maelstrom | (old Dutch) a whirlpool (both the Danish and Swedish forms are probably from the Dutch) |
| the term is now applied to describe any influence drawing someone or something irresistibly to destruction |
| Maelzel |
Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772-1838), inventor of a
mechanical metronome |
| Maestà |
(Italian f.) majesty, dignity |
| a representation of the Virgin and Child seated on a throne surrounded by censing angels |
| maestade |
(Italian) majesty, dignity |
| maestate |
(Italian) majesty, dignity |
| maestevolissimo |
(Italian) extremely majestic, extremely
dignified |
| maestevole |
(Italian) majestic, dignified, noble |
| maestevolmente |
(Italian) majestically |
| maesto |
abbreviated form of maestoso (Italian:
majestic, dignified, noble) |
| maestosamente |
(Italian) majestically |
| maestosissimo |
(Italian) exceedingly majestic |
| maestoso |
(Italian) majestic, dignified, noble, majestically |
| Maestra |
(Italian f., Spanish f.) artiste, female performer |
| Maestrale |
(Italian) the term is applied to the stretto
in a fugue in which all the voices take part, and in
which the subject is heard complete in each voice |
| (Italian) a strong cold north-wind, the equivalent of the French mistral |
| Maestra repetidora |
(Spanish f.) female rehearsal director |
| maestrevole |
(Italian) masterly, highly finished |
| Maestri |
see maestro |
| Maestria |
(Italian f.) art, skill, ability, authority,
mastery, perfect command |
| Maestri secolari |
(Italian pl.) teachers of secular music, teachers
of instruments in a conservatorio |
| Maestro (s.), Maestri (pl.) |
(Italian m./f.) master, teacher, conductor, an
experience and skilful artist |
| in Italy, an honorific given to conductors,
composer and impressarios |
| Maestro al cembalo |
(Italian m./f.) a director who guides the
performance while seated at a keyboard (usually a
harpischord) |
| Maestro all'organo |
(Italian m./f.) a director who guides the
performance while seated at an organ |
| Maestro collaboratore |
(Italian m./f.) a deputy to the director, for
example a coach or répétiteur,
originally called maestro sostituto |
| Maestro concertatore |
(Italian m./f.) conductor, although this term has
been replaced by direttore (d'orchestra) |
| Maestro de ballet |
(Spanish m./f.) ballet master |
| Maestro de flamenco |
(Spanish m./f.) the equivalent to a classical ballet master but who teaches dance from the Flamenco tradition, called the Flamenco master |
| Maestro del coro |
(Italian m./f.) a choir-master or
chorus-master |
| Maestro di ballo |
(Italian m./f.) ballet master |
| Maestro di canto |
(Italian m./f.) a singing-master |
| Maestro di capilla |
(Spanish m.) maestro di cappella (Italian), Kapellmeister (German), maître de chapelle (French), choirmaster or
director of music (English) |
| Maestro di cappella | (Italian m./f.) maestro di capilla (Spanish), Kapellmeister (German), maître de chapelle (French), choirmaster or director of music (English) |
| (Italian m./f.) a director or conductor of a chapel
choir, although later applied generally to a director
or conductor of music associated with a court rather
than a chapel. The role of maestro di cappella
might often include the writing of music for specific
church or chapel services and for this reason the
maestro di cappella may often be found to be a
noted composer |
| the spelling maestro di capella is incorrect |
| Maestro di coro |
(Italian m./f.) a director of the choir in an opera
house |
| Maestro di musica |
(Italian m./f.) a music master |
| Maestro d'organo |
(Italian m./f.) organ virtuoso |
| Maestro repetidor |
(Spanish m.) or repetidor (Spanish) rehearsal director |
| Maestro sostituto |
(Italian m./f.) see maestro
collaboratore |
| Maestro suggeritore |
(Italian m./f.) the prompter |
| Maeta |
`Are`are (Malaita, Solomon Islands) wood
blocks |
| Mag | abbreviation of Magnificat (Latin) |
| Magas |
(Greek) the bridge of a stringed instrument |
| Magadi vina |
a simple bamboo-stick zither. Its image may be
found on the walls of ancient temples. This instrument
appears to be the progenitor of classical instruments
such as the rudra vina. Today this instrument is
very rare |
| Magadis |
(Greek) an ancient Greek harp with 20 strings |
| Magasin |
(French m.) shop, store, warehouse, magazine (of an army) |
| Magazine |
(French m.) programme (broadcast) |
| see 'journal' |
| magg. |
abbreviated form of maggiore (Italian:
major) |
| Maggiolata |
(Italian f.) a May song, a Spring song |
| maggiore |
(Italian) major (in reference to key or interval),
greater |
| Maggot |
a fancy, a madrigal |
| Maghreb |
(French m.) North Africa |
| Maghrebin (m.), Maghrebine (f.) |
(French) North African (person) |
| maghrebin (m.), maghrebine (f.) |
(French) North African |
| Magi | see magus |
| Magicien (m.), Magicienne (f.) |
(French) Magician |
| magico |
(Italian) magically |
| Magie |
(French f.) magic |
| magique |
(French) magic, magical |
| Magiscoro |
(Italian) the chief of a choir or chorus |
| Magister Artium |
(Latin) Master of Arts, MA |
| Magister Cappellae |
(Latin) choirmaster, maestro di
cappella |
| Magister Civium |
(Latin) Bürgermeister |
| Magisterium |
(Latin) the authority of the Church in matters of doctrine, the authoritative teaching of the Church |
| Magister Organi |
(Latin) organist, maestro d'organo |
| Magister Puerorum |
(Latin) master of the boys (the choir master
responsible for training the boy singers) |
| magistral |
(French) masterly, colossal |
| magistralement |
(French) in a masterly fashion |
| Magistras |
(Latin) the collective body of those in authority |
| Magistrat |
(French m.) magistrate |
| Magistrature |
(French f.) judiciary |
| Magna |
(Italian) great |
| Magna Charta |
(Latin) or Magna Carta, the Great Charter of liberties signed by King John in 1215 |
| Magna cum laude |
(Latin, 'with great honour') with academic
distinction |
| magnanime |
(French) magnanimous |
| Magnanimitas |
(Latin) nobility of intention, courage to do the right thing, fortitude |
| Magnanimité |
(French f.) magnanimity |
| Magnat |
(French m.) tycoon, magnate |
| Magnetband |
(German n.) magnetic tape |
| Magnetbandgerät |
(German n.) tape-recorder |
| Magnetkopf |
(German m.) magnetic head |
| Magnetic recording |
the storage of data using a magnetised medium |
|
|
| Magnétisme |
(French m.) charisma |
| Magnetófono |
(Spanish m.) tape or cassette recorder |
| Magnétophone |
(French m.) tape or cassette recorder |
| Magnificat |
(English, German n., Latin, 'it magnifies') the first word of the
canticle Magnificat anima mea dominum (Latin: my soul
doth magnify the Lord) which, since the
fourteenth century, forms part of the Roman Catholic
vespers service, a setting of the Biblical hymn of the
Virgin Mary (Luke I, 46-55) |
| Magnifico |
(Italian m.) a nobleman of Venice, an exalted personage |
| Magnifikat |
(German n.) Magnificat |
| magno |
(Italian) great |
| magno intervallo |
(Italian) (divided) by a great interval (of space), (followed) after a great interval (of time) |
| Magnum |
(Latin) a bottle containing two quarts of wine or spirits |
| Magnum opus |
(Latin, 'great work') or opus magnum, the greatest work of an author's life, a great or important literary work |
| Magnus liber organi |
(Latin, literally 'great book of organum') a
collection of Notre Dame organa for special occasions
throughout the Church year believed composed by Leonin
with additions by Leonin's pupil, Pérotin |
|
|
| Magotee |
a musical instrument used by the Pambatees
or snake-charmers of the east Indies. A hollow calabash
is fitted with a mouth-piece, similar to that of a
clarinet, at one end and a tube with fingerholes, like
those of a recorder, at the other. The player blows
through the mouth-piece. Small mirrors or brightly
coloured beads are fixed to the instrument which
attract the attention of the snakes |
| Mago-uta |
(Japanese) the song of the horseman, that features
in kabuki to the accompaniment of the
ekiro, or horsebells |
| Magruna |
a North-African double-reed wind instrument |
| Magu |
Aboriginal Australian term for the
didjeridu |
| Magus (s.), Magi (pl.) |
(Latin, from the Persian) a member of the ancient Persian preisthood, one skilled in astrology and magic, a wise man |
| Mahabharata |
the story of the struggle between the five Pandawa
brothers, Yudistira, Bima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sadewa,
who rule the country of Amarta and the hundred Korawa
brothers of Ngastina, led by Suyodana, Sakuni, Dorna
and Karna, the dissident half-brother to the Pendawa,
which ends with the disatrous battle (Baratayuda)
lasted eighteen days during which the champions from
each side face one another; this story provides one of
the subjects for wayang theatre |
| Mahagita |
(Burmese, literally 'the great or royal songs') a
rich source of songs from the days of the Burmese kings
(1800s). The Mahagita contains many different
song types of which the Co, Bwe and
Tahein ghan are the oldest. In addition, there
are the more recent Patt Pyou songs, the
Yodaya songs modeled on a musical style drawn
from the Kingdom of Ayuthia in Thailand and many
others |
| songs that formed the basis of the repertoire of
the hsaing ensembles of Burma |
| Mahandja |
leg-rattles from Mozambique, made from little
packets of leaf fibres filled with seeds |
| Maharajah |
(Hindi) an Indian prince |
| Maharanee |
(Hindi) the wife of a maharajah |
| Mahatma |
(Sanskrit) an adept in esoteric Buddhism, supposed to possess supernatural powers |
| a term similar in usage to the Christian term 'saint' |
|
| Mahfils |
(India) popular venues for gatherings of folk
music |
| Mahout |
(Hindi) an elephant-driver |
| Mai |
(Japanese) dance |
| Maidan |
(Persian) an open space near a town, used for sports and exercise |
| Mailänder Gesang |
(German m.) Ambrosian chant |
| Mailloche (de batterie) |
(French f.) mallet, beater or drum stick |
| Main (s.), Mains (pl.) |
(French f.) hand |
| for example, main droite (French: 'right
hand') or main gauche (French: 'left hand') |
| Main drape |
also known as the 'act curtain' or 'front drape',
the main drape serves as a visual and sound barrier
between the audience and the activity on stage that is
not intended for the audience experience. In addition,
the main drape is an important part of the auditorium
décor and helps set the tone for the evening's
performance |
| Main droite |
(French f.) right hand |
| Main gauche |
(French f.) left hand |
| Mains croisées |
(French f.) crossing hands |
| Mainstream |
(English, German m.) twentieth-century music, in particular, jazz, swing
and pop; music that is currently popular |
| Mairie |
(French f.) the adminstrative office of a French municipality |
| Mais |
(French) but |
| mais |
(French) but |
| mais alto |
(Portuguese) louder |
| Maison | (French f.) house, home, building |
| Maison close | (French f.) a brothel |
| Maison de commerce | (French f.) firm, home-made (cooking) |
| Maison de convalescence | (French f.) convalescent home |
| Maison d'édition | (French f.) publishing house |
| Maison de passe | (French f.) a disorderly house, a hotel or boarding house that is in effect a brothel |
| Maison de rendezvous | (French f.) a hotel or lodging house offering accommodation to men and their mistresses |
| Maison de repos | (French f.) convalescent home |
| Maison de retraite | (French f.) old people's home |
| Maison de santé | (French f.) a nursing-home, a private hospital |
| Maison des jeunes | (French f.) youth centre |
| Maison de société | (French f.) a brothel |
| Maisonette | misspelling of maisonnette |
| Maison mère | (French f.) parent company |
| Maisonnée | (French f.) household |
| Maisonnette | (French f.) small house, cottage |
| Maison tolérée | (English from the French f.) or maison de tolérance (which is more correct in French), a State-licensed brothel |
| Maïstor |
in the Orthodox rite, a composer of church music
who is often also an accomplished singer |
| Maître (m.), Maîtresse (f.) |
(French) master, mistress |
| the masculine is a form of address or reference to a French lawyer |
| Maître à penser | (French m.) a teacher whom one chooses, in order to learn not just a set of facts or point of view, but a way of thinking |
| Maître de ballet (m.), Maîtresse de ballet (f.) |
(French) chefe do balé (Portuguese m./f.), ballet master (m.), ballet mistress (f.), the person responsible for the training of a company of dancers and for the conducting of rehearsals |
| Maître de chapelle | (French m.) the French equivalent of the terms Kapellmeister (German), director of music (in a church), maestro di cappella (Italian), maestro di capilla (Spanish) |
| Maître de musique | (French m.) a music master, a conductor, musical director |
| Maître d'hôtel | (French m.) the manager of a hotel, a head-waiter, steward (older meaning) |
| Maîtres chanteurs | (French m. pl.) master singers |
| Maîtresse de ballet | see maître de ballet |
| Maîtresse en titre | an acknowledged mistress, an 'official' mistress generally of a person of some social standing |
| Maîtresse femme | a competent, efficient woman |
| a masterful woman, a woman of the world |
| Maîtrise | (French f.) a French choir school (usually attached to a cathedral) and by extension a choir formed of members of such a school |
| (French f.) master of the choirboys |
| Maje krahi | (Albanian, 'cries') an important part of North Albanian folk song, originally used by mountaineers to communicate over wide distances, but are now considered
'songs'. Maje-krahi songs require the full range of the voice and are full of "melismatic nuances and falsetto cries" |
| Majesta | (Italian) majesty, dignity, stateliness |
| Majestically | with majesty, with dignity, with stateliness, maestoso (Italian), majestätisch (German), majestueusement (French) |
| majestätisch | (German) majestic, majestically, maestoso |
| Majesté |
(French m.) majesty |
| "Character of grandeur and
superiority that makes sovereigns revered. ... Also
said about a grave and serious air with which one does
something. ... One also says that verse is full of
majesty when it is grave, full of pomp, and when it has
great meaning." - Furetière (1690) |
|
|
| majestueusement |
(French) majestically, with majesty, with grandeur,
maestoso |
| majestueux (m.), majestueuse (f.) |
(French) majestic, noble |
| majestuoso (m.), majestuosa (f.) |
(Spanish) maestoso, majestic, stately |
| majeur |
(Dutch) major |
| majeur (m.), majeure (f.) |
(French) major (key or interval) |
| majeur-Akkord |
(Dutch) major triad |
| majeur septiem Akkord |
(Dutch) major seventh chord |
| majeur Toonladder |
(Dutch) major scale |
| Majo (m.), Maja (f.) |
(Spanish) a gaily-dressed Spaniard of the lower classes |
| Majolica |
(English from the Italian maiolica) a fine Italian pottery glazed with a tin enamel and highly decorated |
| Major |
maggiore (Italian), Dur (German), majeur (French), greater, as opposed to minor or lesser
(particularly when discussing intervals, scales, keys
and chords) |
| Major cadence |
a cadence that ends on a major triad |
| Major chord |
a chord that has a major third and a perfect
fifth |
| Major flat nine (b9) pentatonic
scale |
 |
| this pentatonic can be used over C7, Eb7, F#7 or
A7, where the symmetric diminished scale would be
used |
| Major intervals |
the intervals between the tonic and the second,
third, sixth and seventh degrees of a major scale |
| Major key |
tono maggiore (Italian), Dur Tonart (German), ton majeur (French), a key that has major intervals between both the
first and third degrees and first and sixth degree |
| Major minor major ninth chord |
a ninth chord consisting of a major triad, minor
seventh, and major ninth, a dominant ninth chord in a
major key |
| Major-minor relatives |
also called 'Aeolian twins' (by Ger Tillekens), a
term used to describe the pairing of major keys with
their relative minors, for example, the scales of C
maajor and a minor, that have the same notes in common
(C, D, E, F, G,
A and B). Relative major-minor pairs of
chords, like A minor (A-C-E) and C
Major (C-E-G), share two notes,
which makes it easy to keep a sense of the original key
when shifting between them which explains why they can
take each other's place in a chord progression. So
major-minor relatives, though separated melodically,
are closely related harmonically |
|
|
| Major minor seventh chord |
the V7 chord, for example,
G-B-D-F, so named because
it has a major triad with a minor third above the
fifth. The seventh above the root is minor |
| Major mode |
a mode that has major intervals between both the
first and third degrees |
| Major modus |
(Latin) see 'major mode' |
| Major ninth chord |
equivalent to a dominant ninth chord in a major
key |
| Major pentatonic scale |
a five-note scale consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
5th and 6th degrees of a major scale |
|
|
| Major scale | scala maggiore (Italian), Dur Tonleiter (German), gamme majeur (French), |
 |
| a mode consisting of the rising interval sequence
T-T-S-T-T-T-S, (T=tone or whole-step, S=semitone or
half-step) |
|
|
| Major second |
the interval of a tone (a whole step) |
| Major semitone |
synonymous with 'diatonic semitone' (for example, C
to D flat) |
| Major seventh chord |
a seventh chord consisting of a major triad plus a
major seventh |
| Major sixth |
an interval of four tones and one semitone (four
steps and a half step) |
| Major sharp nine (#9) flat seven (b7)
pentatonic scale |
 |
| this pentatonic scale comprises 2 triads, C major
and Eb major |
| Major tetrachord |
also called 'Dorian tetrachord', a rising row of
four notes, with successive intervals T-T-S (T=tone or
whole-step, S=semitone or half-step) |
| Major third |
an interval of two tones (two steps) |
| tonus cum diapente or hexachordo
maior |
| Major triad |
 |
|
a chord consisting of a major third above
which is placed a minor third. The example shown
here is the G major triad |
|
|
|
| Major triple (meter) |
a meter that is synonymous with double triple meter
or 3/2 |
| Majuscule |
in medieval manuscripts, any script composed
entirely of capital letters |
| Makam (s.), Makamlar (pl.) |
(Turkish, from the Arabic maqâm (s.),
maqâmat (pl.)) based on the use of
untempered intervals (with as many as 53 microtones
amplifying the western octave), a given makam
follows a particular scale and a set of associated
musical practices. A makam has no intrinsic
(allegorical) value and is not bound to certain times
of the day or year, as is the related Indian
raga |
| the melody type used in Turkish music; that is, it
is the concept used to codify phenomena of scale
structure, interval structure, and melodic
characteristics that underly composition and
improvisation. Its counterpart in Arab music is
maqam; in Byzantine music, echos; in
Assyrian music, makam; in Uyghur music,
muqam; in Uzbek music, shashmakom; and in
Indian music, raga. All of these concepts
roughly correspond to mode in Western music, although
they may differ in detail depending on the specifics of
the music theory to which they belong |
|
|
| Makamia |
the Greek form of the Turkish makamlar |
| Maké |
the small drum in gwo ka that embellishes
the central rhythm played on the larger
boula |
| Makellarikos horos |
see hasapiko |
| Makimono |
(Japanese) a Japanese painted scroll, so arranged as to unroll horizontally and reveal a series of pictures |
| Makina |
an electronic music genre originating in Spain,
similar in sound to UK Hardcore but with elements of
bouncy techno and other differences. The makina sound
is usually characterized by its resonating synthesized
sounding chords, and has a weaker but higher octave
sounding punchier kick drum than the similar United
Kingdom produced tracks. Makina is also popular in
North East England, where both gabber and bouncy techno
had been played for many years previously |
- Makina from which this extract
has been taken
|
| Makossa |
Cameroonian dance rhythm from the Duala region |
| Cameroon's most popular pop style |
|
|
| Makusé |
Pygmy music designed to bring luck to a hunting
camp |
| Makuta |
the makuta drums, brought to Cuba by Congo
or Bantu people, are one of the ancestors of the conga
drums. The makuta drums can have a tubular,
cylindrical or barrel-shaped body. They have a single
head with the lower end open. The head is tensioned by
the heat of a fire since the membrane is tacked onto
the shell of the drum. more recent models are commonly
tensioned with a more complex system of lugs and
turnscrews. Makuta festivals are ceremonial
celebrations which originated and still exist in
societies of the Congo people and their descendants.
They were very common during the nineteenth century and were
still not infrequent during the early decades of the
20th. In Cuba the word makuta indicates a
festive gathering. The term also refers to a kind of
ritual staff to which is attached a spherical
receptacle containing magical elements or objects. This
staff or makuta is used at certain moments in
the ceremony to strike the ground in a rhythmic
accompaniment to a song or dance. The makuta
drums bear individual names: caja, ngoma
and nsumbi |
|
|
| Makuti |
see pungi |
| Mal |
(German n.) time, occasion |
| (German n.) mark |
| mal accordé (m.), mal accordée (f.) |
(French) out of tune |
| Malade | (French m./f.) sick person, patient (of a doctor) |
| malade | (French) sick, ill, bad (arm, throat, etc.), diseased (plant) |
| Malade imaginaire | (French m./f.) a hypochondriac, one who imagines himself (or herself) to be an invalid |
| Maladie | (French f.) illness, disease |
| maladif (m.), maladive (f.) | (French) sickly, morbid (fear) |
| Maladresse | (French f.) clumsiness, awkwardness, lack of tact, a blunder (particularly in a social setting) |
| Maladroit (m.), Maladroite (f.) | (French) clumsy (person) |
| maladroit (m.), maladroite (f.) | (French) clumsy |
| mala fide | (Latin) in bad faith, with intent to deceive, fraudulently |
| Malagasy hip hop |
|
| Malagueña |
(German f., Spanish f.) a improvised song based on a repetitive
chordal accompaniment |
| see flamenco |
| Malaise | (French f.) an ill-defined and inexplicable feeling of discomfort, either physical or mental |
| Malakat | long trumpetlike wooden ceremonial horns from Ethiopia |
| Malanconia |
(Italian) melancholy, sadness |
| mal à propos | (French) inopportunely, unseasonably, inappropriately, inopportune, unseasonable, inappropriate |
| malas artes |
(Spanish f.) trickery |
| mal avisado |
(Spanish) ill-advised |
| mal avisé de |
(French) ill-advised to |
| Malaysian hip hop |
|
| mal coiffé |
(French) with untidy hair |
| mal conçu |
(French) badly planned |
| Mal d'amour | (French m.) the pangs of love, love-sickness |
| Mal de mer | (French m.) sea-sickness |
| mal disposé |
(French) in a bad mood |
| Mal du pays | (French m.) or maladie du pays (now rarely used), home-sickness |
| Mal du siècle | (French m.) weariness of life, pessimistic depression |
| Male alto |
see 'alto' |
| Maleficium | (Latin) the doing of evil by means of magic, sorcery, a malicious enchantment |
| Malenconico |
(Italian) melancholy, sadness |
| Malentendu | (French m.) a misunderstanding, a misapprehension |
| mal équipé |
(French) poorly equipped |
| malerisch | (German, 'picturesque') (a painter or a picture) expressing form by colour and tone, not by contour |
| Maleviziotis |
the traditional dance of Iraklion, Crete |
| malgrado |
(Italian) in spite of, although |
| malgré |
(French) in spite of, although |
| malgré lui |
(French) in spite of himself, against his will |
| malgré moi |
(French) in spite of myself, against my will |
| malgré tout |
(French) in spite of everything, all things considered |
| Malhoun |
see milhûn |
| Malhun |
see milhûn |
| Malian hip hop |
|
| Malimba |
an African thumb-piano |
|
|
| Malinconia |
(Italian f.) melancholy |
| malinconicamente |
(Italian) dejectedly, gloomily, with an expression
of melancholy |
| malinconico |
(Italian) melancholy, dejected, sad, gloomy |
| malinconioso |
(Italian) in a melancholy or dejected manner |
| malinconoso |
(Italian) in a melancholy or dejected manner |
| Maling |
(China) horse bell |
|
|
| Malinteso |
(Italian m.) misunderstanding |
| malinteso |
(Italian) mistaken |
| Malivata |
a contemporary presentation of the hunters' music
and dance from Eastern Tanzania incorporating variety
of props and other visual elements from the Southern
Region of Africa |
|
|
| Malizia |
(Italian f.) malice, cunning |
| Malizioso |
(Italian) mischievous, malicious |
| malle in arnese |
(Italian) in bad condition |
| Mallet | mazza (Italian f.), mazzuolo (Italian m.), Schlägel (German m.), mailloche (French f.), mazzo (Spanish m) |
| a beater used to strike
percussion instruments, that has a cylindrical or
spherical head that comes in a variety of
materials (soft cloth or yarn - soft or hard
rubber - woods of varying hardness) to produce a
wide range of timbres: |
| unwrapped mallets |
used on glockenspiel, xylophone and other
instruments with keys |
made of durable material, have heads made of
brass, kelon, nylon, acrylic, wood, or other hard
materials |
| wrapped mallets |
used on marimba, vibraphone and other
instruments with softer keys |
have heads of kelon, nylon, acrylic or other
medium-hard materials wrapped in softer materials
like yarn, cord or latex |
| softer or thicker mallets |
used on an instrument's lower
registers |
| harder or thinner mallets |
used on an instrument's higher
registers |
|
| Mallet instruments |
also called 'mallet percussion instruments',
'keyboard percussion' or 'tuned percussion',
instruments played with mallets, for example,
xylophone, glockenspiel, marimba, tubular bells,
crotales, steel drums and vibraphone |
| Mallet percussion instruments |
see 'mallet instruments' |
| Mal mariée |
(French f.) an unhappily married woman |
| Maloya |
in Reunion, the traditional sega which is
relatively slow and is danced by couples who are not as
physically close as those on Mauritius |
| MALS | abbreviation of 'Master of Arts in Library Sciences' |
| mal soigné (m.), mal soignée (f.) |
(French) unkempt, shabby, uncared for |
| malsonnant |
(French) ill sounding, bad-toned |
| mal venu | (French) untimely |
| mal vu |
(French) viewed with disapproval, resented |
| Mambo |
(English, German m.) a generic term for a popular dance and hybrid music
style, developed in the 1940s and 50s. The history of
modern mambo begins in 1938, when a danzon
called "Mambo" was written by Orestes and Israel 'Cachao'
López. The word Mambo is the name of a
Voodoo priestess |
| there are a number of sub-groups: |
| a musical section evolved in the late 1930s
and 1940s from the nuevo ritmo of the
danzón |
| an up tempo Afro-Cuban musical style,
invented by Pérez Prado, that evolved in the
1940s and 50s, a blending of the mambo
section, elements of the son and some
influences of American jazz orchestras |
| a section of an arrangement usually following
or developing from the montuno section
featuring new arranged (or sometimes improvised)
material such as moñas in the horn
section |
| an Afro-Cuban dance of the same name
popularized in New York and sometimes called
salsa |
|
|
|
| Mambo bell |
the bell played by the timbalero in mambo
style songs |
| Mambo with güiro rhythm |
an early name for the chachachá |
| man. |
abbreviated form of mano, 'manual' |
| Mana |
(Maori) supernatural or magical power or influence |
| Maña | (Spanish f.) skill |
| Mañas | (Spanish f. pl.)cunning |
| Manadsskrift |
(Swedish) monthly publication |
| Managerkrankheit |
(German f.) physical and mental sickness and disturbance resulting from excessive executive responsibility |
| Mañana | (Spanish m.) the future, tomorrow |
| Mañana | (Spanish f.) the morning |
| mañana | (Spanish) tomorrow |
| mañana por la mañana | (Spanish) tomorrow morning |
| Mañanero | (Spanish m.) early riser |
| mañanero (m.), mañanera (f.) | (Spanish) early-rising, morning |
| Mañanita | (Spanish f.) bed jacket |
| Manata |
(Italian f.) slap |
| Manatlig |
(Swedish) monthly |
| manc. |
abbreviated form of mancando (Italian:
failing, diminishing in strength, dying away,
lacking) |
| Manca |
(Italian) the left |
| mancando |
(Italian) failing, diminishing in strength, dying
away, lacking |
| mancante |
(Italian) failing, diminishing in strength, dying
away, lacking |
| Mancanza |
(Italian f.) lack |
| Manche | (French m.) Hals (German m.), manico (Italian m.) neck (of a stringed instrument, for example, a lute or violin) |
| (French m.), handle (for example, on a barrel organ, which is turned to operate the internal mechanism), handle (on a broom, etc.), haft, crop (whip), grip (as in handgrip) |
| (French f.) sleeve (of a jacket, etc.) |
| Manche à balais | (French m.) broomstick |
| Manche de balai | (French m.) broom handle |
| Manche de chemise | (French m.) shirt-sleeve |
| Manche de l'épée | (French m.) sword-arm |
| Manche du couteau | (French m.) knife-handle |
| Manche du sabre | (French m.) sword-arm |
| Manchega | a lively kind of seguidilla |
| Manche raglan | (French m.) raglan sleeve |
| Manchete | see cavaquinho |
| mancino | (Italian) left-handed |
| Manco | (Italian f.) left hand |
| manco | (Italian) left |
| mand | abbreviation of 'mandolin' |
| Mandador | (Portuguese) the caller who 'calls' the folk dances of Portugual, in particular the corridinho, baile de roda and baile mandado. The instruments that support these Algarve dances consists mainly of the accordion, the violin, the pífaro or the flute and the tamboril (drums) |
| Mandal |
a tuning device found on the Turkish kanun,
a small levers, one for each string, which can be
turned by the player while the instrument is being
played, raise the pitch of the course up to one
semitone (half-step). Typically, they are used to raise
the pitch by a quarter tone |
| mandare avanti la baracca |
(Italian) keep the ship afloat |
| Mandarin pop music |
see 'Mandopop' |
| Mandilatos |
(from Mandra, Greece) a Thracian couples dance
performed at weddings |
| Mandilion |
(in use 1520-1560, 1577-1620) a loose, thigh-length
overcoat with a standing collar and loose sleeves |
| mando |
abbreviated form of mancando (Italian:
failing, diminishing in strength, dying away,
lacking) |
| Mandobass |
a rare bass mandolin |
| Mandocello |
(English, German n., called 'mandoloncello' in Italy) a large mandolin,
larger than a mandola. When tuned an octave
below a mandola (CC-GG-dd-aa) it is called an 'octave
mandola'. When tuned an octave below the mandolin, it
is called an 'octave mandolin'. The first dated music
for this instrument was written in Paris by R.
Leoncavallo in a symphonic poem entitled La Nuit de
Mai (1887) |
|
|
| Mando-cümbüs |
see cümbüs |
| Mandola |
(English, German f.) also mandora or mandore, a large
mandolin, bearing six to eight courses of strings, in
use during the Renaissance |
| also mandora or mandore, a large
mandolin a fifth below a standard mandolin |
| Mandolin, Mandoline |
(Italian) a family (the family name is
mandola, mando or mandolin) of
originally lute-shaped instrument usually with four to
six pairs of strings, a fretted fingerboard and played
with a plectrum. There are two types of mandolin in use
today, bluegrass and folk. The third type, known
colloquially as 'roundback', is the original
lute-backed mandolin of earlier times and is rarely
used today. The modern Bluegrass mandolins, including
mandolin, mandola, mandocello and mandobass, often have
f-holes rather than the traditional round sound-holes
of the folk mandolin. The folk instrument is
distinguishable by its deeper and larger body. |
| name |
standard scale length |
tuning(s) |
piccolo mandolin
also called brilliantone mando/piccolo mando |
10.2"/26cm |
four courses of eight
strings |
| pocket mandoline |
12.9"/32.7cm |
four courses of eight
strings |
| travelling mandoline |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
four courses of eight
strings |
| mandriola |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
triple strung with twelve
strings, tuned like a standard mandolin |
mandolinetto
mandolin-guitar |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
small guitar-shaped instrument
with 8 strings in pairs tuned and played like a
mandolin and with a much softer tone. The
instrument is really a guitar not a mandolin |
archtop mandolin
American mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
during the 1890s, a number of US
instrument builders developed a new kind of
mandolin and guitar, the archtop mandolin and
archtop guitar. These instruments had an arched
(and usually carved) top and back like a violin.
The invention is usually credited to Orville
Gibson (1856-1918). Although this is not true,
Gibson's agressive marketing was certainly what
made these new instruments popular, and his A
style and F style mandolins are the models for
almost most all later archtop mandolins |
| A style mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
an archtop mandolin design
introduced by Gibson around 1900, originally the
A style mandolin had a round sound hole, but when
Loyd Loar joined Gibson in the 1920s, he
redesigned it with f holes |
| F style mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
an archtop mandolin design
introduced by Gibson around 1900. Unlike the A
style mandolin the F style mandolin has a small
extension of the body on the bass side (possibly
inspired by the significantly more extreme harp
mandolin) to make a larger resonance chamber.
Originally the F style mandolin had a round sound
hole, but when Loyd Loar joined Gibson in the
1920s, he redesigned it with f holes |
harp mandolin
(not to be confused with the mandolin-harp) |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
a mandolin with the body
extending upwards on the bass side all the way to
the headstock. Unlike the harp guitar it doesn't
have any extra bass strings. The extension is
only to provide a larger resonance chamber |
| lyre mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
a mandolin with the body
extending upwards on towards the headstock on
both sides, giving it a lyre like look and
providing a larger resonance chamber |
| resonator mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5mm |
introduced by the Dobro brothers
in the late 1920s |
| electric mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
a mandolin specially constructed
to be played amplified. There are three
distinctive kinds of electric mandolins, some has
a solid body like an electric guitar, some has a
regular mandolin body with a magnetic pickup
installed and some has a piezoelectric transducer
to produce a sound resembling an acoustic
mandolin |
mandolin
also called mezzo mando |
14.2"/36cm |
standard tuning: GDAE from bass
to treble |
| Celtic mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
the unique Celtic style mandolin
is very similar to the French kind, but with an
even simpler, cleaner design, a lighter build and
a light and dynamic tone of its own |
| Cremonese mandolin |
|
with a small bowlback body and
four single gut (or nylon) strings, the Cremonese
mandolin dates from about 1700. It appears to be
the first 'mandolin' to use the four fifths tuned
course configuration common to modern
mandolins |
| French mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
oldest of the flat/arched back
mandolins with four courses of eight strings. At
the end of the seventeenth century, Parisian musicians
took to their citterns 'mandolins' so that they
could compete with the more fashionable
Neapolitan musicians with their own native
mandolins |
| Genovese mandolin |
|
a bowlbacked, lute shaped 6
course, 12 string, metal-strung mandolin that
appeared towards the end of the seventeenth century |
Lombardic mandolin
also called mandolino
lombardo/mando-lute |
11.8"/30cm |
the word mandolino isn't
known until the end of the seventeenth century. The
Lombardic variety is a small bowlback wide and
shallow bodied lute with five or six double
courses, usually tuned an octave higher than a
modern guitar, the instrument for which Vivaldi
wrote his mandolin works |
| Milanese mandolin |
|
during the nineteenth century, the
Lombardic mandolin evolved into the Milanese
mandolin, very similar to its predecessor, but
with a louder tone to satisfy new musical tastes
and sometimes with single strings instead of
double courses |
| Neopolitan mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
the 4 course, 8 string
mandolin popular throughout most the nineteenth and
well into the twentieth century and even today it
remains by far the best known bowlbacked
mandolin |
| Portuguese mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm to
14.4"/36.5cm |
probably evolved from the French
mandolin, the Portuguese mandolin differs by
having a tapered and usually ribbed back while
the French has a simpler flat back |
Roman mandolin
Embergher mandolin |
13.1"/33.2cm |
invented by Luigi Embergher (4
Feb. 1856-12 May 1943) as a refinement of the
Neapolitan mandolin, it differs from its ancestor
mainly by a curved fretboard and a slightly
narrower body |
| ten-string mandolin |
|
the five course, ten-string
mandolin is a mandolin with an extra pair of low
strings, allowing it to reach down as far as the
alto mandola |
banjola
banjo-lute/mandoline-banjo/banjo-mandolin |
25.6"/65cm to 26.8"/68cm |
an instrument with a mandola
body and a five-string banjo neck, introduced by
US company Gold Tone, but similar instruments
called banjo-lute or
mandoline-banjo have been around since the
late nineteenth century. The banjola should not to be
confused with the mandolin-banjo or the
banjolin which are completely different
instruments |
alto mandola
mandora (old spelling)
usually simply called mandola and occasionally,
incorrectly, tenor mandola |
16"/41cm to 17"/43cm |
standard tuning: CGDA from bass
to treble.
other common tunings: ADGD GCGC GDGD.
Traditionally it had a fairly long scale
(16.5"/42cm to 20.3"/51.5cm), but around 1900
Gibson introduced a mandola with a much shorter
(15"/38cm to 15.8"/40.2cm) scale. Although the
shorter scale mandola was the dominating variant
for some time, today the longer scale version has
becoming more popular |
octave mandolin
also called tenor mandola/octave
mandola/bouzouki/octofone |
19"/48cm to 22"/56cm |
standard tuning: GDAE from bass
to treble (one octave below mandolin)
Other common tunings: CGDA EADG DADA DADG EADA.
Neapolitan style tenor mandolas were common in
the nineteenth-century mandolin quartet and recently
Celtic style octave mandos have become
popular in Irish traditional and folk music |
bouzouki
also called Irish bouzouki/octave mandolin |
19"/48cm to 27"/69cm |
4 or 5 courses (double strung),
guitar or lute shaped and fixed frets, the
instrument's standard tuning is: GDAE.
other common tunings: CGDA EADG DADA DADG EADA.
It is generally agree that term octave
mandolin should be used for the tenor
mandola (a mandola intended to be tuned GDAE
one octave below a mandolin) while Irish
bouzouki should be used for an instrument
resembling the original bouzouki (4 courses, long
neck, small body) except for the tuning and the
flat back, and Irish cittern used as a
generic term for any large mandola that doesn't
fit any other definition. Generally the tenor
mandola is regarded as most suitable for melodic
playing and the Irish bouzouki and Irish cittern
for chords, but there are many exceptions to this
convention |
| Irish cittern |
20"/50.8cm to 26"/66cm |
a wide variety of different
large mandolas mainly used in Irish/Celtic
music |
| mandocello |
24"/61cm to 26"/66cm |
standard tuning: CGDA (one
octave below the alto mandola) |
mandobass
also called bass mando/double bass mando |
39.6"/100.6cm |
standard tuning: as a double
bass or bass guitar, EADG |
| the alternative names depend on
the tuning adopted. Thus, an instrument tuned an
octave below a mandolin will be called an 'octave
mandolin', while the same instrument tuned an
octave below a 'mandola' will be called an
'octave mandola' |
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| Mandolina |
(Spanish f.) mandolin |
| Mandolinata |
(Italian) a serenade for the mandol |