Meaning

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Music Words Meaning

F

F

In music F is the name of the fourth tone of the model scale, or scale of C.

F SHARP

In music, F sharp is a tone intermediate between F and G.

FA

In music Fa is a syllable applied to the fourth tone of the diatonic scale in solmization.

FABURDEN

In music the faburden is a species of counterpoint with a drone bass.

FALSE

In music the term false is used to describe something not in tune.

FALSE RELATION

In music, a false relation is a progression in harmony, in which a certain note in a chord appears in the next chord prefixed by a flat or sharp.

FANDANGO

The fandango is a Spanish dance involving lively movements accompanied by the chatter of castanets, snapping of fingers, and stamping of feet.

FANTASIA

In music a fantasia is a continuous composition, not divided into what are called movements, or governed by the ordinary rules of musical design, but in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted by set form or formal rules.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer. He was born in 1809 at Hamburg and died in 1847.

FERRUCCIO BUSONI

Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer. He was born in 1866 and died in 1924. He composed Doctor Faust.

FIDDLE

Fiddle is another name for a violin.

FIDELIO

Fidelio is Beethoven's only opera. It was composed in 1804 and produced at Vienna in 1805.

FIFE

A fife is a small shrill pipe, resembling the piccolo flute, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music.

FIFTEENTH

In music, a fifteenth is a stop in an organ tuned two octaves above the diaposon. In music a fifteenth is an interval consisting of two octaves.

FIFTH

In music a fifth is an interval of three tones and a semitone, embracing five diatonic degrees of the scale.

FIGURATE

In music, figurate describes a florid piece involving passing discords by the freer melodic movement of one or more parts or voices in the harmony.

FIGURATE COUNTERPOINT

In music a figurative counterpoint is that which is not simple, or in which the parts do not move together tone for tone, but in which freer movement of one or more parts mingles passing discords with the harmony.

FIGURATION

In music a figuration is a mixture of concords and discords.

FIGURED

In music the term figured describes a free and florid style.

FINALE

In music a finale is the last movement of a symphony, sonata, concerto, or any instrumental composition.

FINGER BOARD

In music, a finger board is the part of a stringed instrument against which the fingers press the strings to vary the tone or the keyboard of a piano, organ, etc.

FIORITURE

In music, fioriture are small decorations or embellishments introduced into a melody by a singer or player.

FLAGEOLET

The flageolet is an old musical wind instrument, the ancestor of the modern tin whistle.

FLAGEOLET TONES

In music, flageolet tones are the natural harmonics or overtones of stringed instruments.

FLAT

In music flat indicates that a note is below the true pitch and hence is applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step for example a flat seventh or A flat. The term also describes a sound which is not sharp, shrill or acute.

FLATTEN

In music flatten means to lower the pitch of or to cause to sound less sharp.

FLORID

In music the term florid describes a style which is running in rapid melodic figures, divisions, or passages, as in variations.

FLUEWORK

In music, fluework is a general name for organ stops in which the sound is caused by wind passing through a flue or fissure and striking an edge above as distinct from reedwork.

FLUGELHORN

The flugelhorn is a valved brass musical instrument in various pitches, the most commonly used being the alto in B flat. It is similar to a cornet, but with a wider bore and more mellow tone. It is used mainly in military and brass bands, but can also be found in Stravinsky's 'Threni' and Vaughan William's Ninth Symphony. From the middle of the 20th century it was increasingly used in jazz groups, the trumpeter Miles Davis exploiting its tonal richness to great effect.

FLUTE

The flute is a tubular or sometimes globular musical instrument enclosing air that is set in vibration when the player's breath is directed against the sharp edge of the hole. Usually additional holes in the flute wall can be opened or closed to produce different pitches. In transverse, or horizontally, held flutes, such as the Western orchestral flute and the Chinese di, the mouth hole, or embouchure, is cut into the side of the tube. In end-blown, or vertically held, flutes the hole may be at the end of the tube (for example, the Arabic nay). In duct flutes, such as the end-blown penny whistle and the recorder and the police whistle and ocarina, a mouthpiece channels the breath against the edge of a sound hole. The transverse flute, the typical flute of Western music, was known in China by about 900 BC. By about ad 1100 it reached Europe, where it became a military flute in German-speaking areas-hence its old name of German flute. Families of flutes from soprano to bass were played in 16th and 17th-century chamber music. Made in one piece, these flutes had a cylindrical bore and six fingerholes. The flute was redesigned in the late 1600s by the Hotteterre family of French woodwind makers. They built it in three sections, or joints, with one key and a conical bore tapering away from the player. This flute displaced the recorder as the typical orchestral flute in the late 1700s. Gradually, more keys were added to improve the intonation of certain tones; by about 1800 a four-keyed flute was common, and eight-keyed flutes were developed in the 19th century. In 1832 the German flute maker Theobald Boehm created an improved conical-bore flute, and in 1847 he patented his cylindrical-bore flute, which is the model in widest use now. The cylindrical Boehm flute is made of metal or wood and has thirteen or more tone holes controlled by a system of padded keys. Its range extends three octaves, from middle C upward. Other orchestral flutes include the piccolo and the alto nd bass flutes.

FORTE

In music, forte means loudly, strongly or powerfully.

FORTISSIMO

Fortissimo is a musical term directing the singers to sing with the utmost strength and loudness.

FOUETTE

In ballet, a fouette is a whipping movement of the leg, often used to create momentum for a jump or turn.

FOURTEENTH

In music the fourteenth is the octave of the seventh.

FOURTH

In music a fourth is the interval of two tones and a semitone, embracing four diatonic degrees of the scale.

FOX-TROT

The fox-trot is a ball-room dance danced against jazz music.

FRANCIS POULENC

Francis Poulenc was a French composer. He was born in 1899 and died in 1963. He composed Dialogues des Carmelites.

FRANCOIS COUPERIN

Francois Couperin was a French composer. He was born in 1668 near Paris and died in 1733. He composed music for the harpsichord and revealed new possibilities for that instrument.

FRANCOIS FETIS

Francois Joseph Fetis was a Flemish musical theorist and composer. He was born in 1784 and died in 1871. He founded the Revue Musicale.

FRANZ ABT

Franz Abt was a Prussian composer. He was born in 1819 at Eilenburg and died in 1885.

FRANZ LEHAR

Franz Lehar was a Hungarian composer. He was born in 1870 and died in 1948.

FRANZ LISZT

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer born at Dobr'jan in 1811. He died in 1886. He was also a pianist.

FRANZ SCHUBERT

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer. He was born in 1797 in Vienna and died in 1828.

FRANZ VON SUPPE

Franz Von Suppe was an Austrian composer. He was born in 1819 in Dalmatia and died in 1895.

FREDERIC CHOPIN

Frederic Francois Chopin was a Polish composer. He was born in 1810 near Warsaw and died in 1849. He spent much of his life in Paris where he founded the modern style of piano playing.

FREDERICK DELIUS

Frederick Delius was an English composer. He was born in 1862 at Bradford and died in 1934. Despite becoming blind and paralysed at the age of fifty he continued to compose.

FREE REED

A free reed is a reed whose edges do not overlap the wind passage, as used in the harmonium, concertina, etc. It is distinguished from the beating or striking reed of the organ and clarinet.

FRENCH HORN

The French horn is an orchestral brass transposing instrument, developed from the hunting horn. It consists of a coiled tube with a wide bell and a cup-shaped mouthpiece. In the 18th century crooks of tubing were inserted to enable it to change a key. In the 19th century valves were fitted giving the horn in F a complete range of about three octaves above B below the bass stave.

FRET

In music a fret is a short piece of wire, or other material fixed across the finger board of a guitar or a similar instrument, to indicate where the finger is to be placed.

FRIEDRICH FLOTOW

Friedrich Adolphus Von Flotow was a German composer. He was born in 1812 and died in 1883. He studied music in Paris, but his early operas were not popular with Parisian opera-house directors. From 1855 to 1863 he was director of the court theatre at Schwerin.

FRIEDRICH VON FLOTOW

Friedrich Von Flotow was a German composer. He was born in 1812 and died in 1883. He composed Martha.

FUGATO

In music, fugato describes a composition in the fugue style, but not strictly like a fugue.

FUGHETTA

In music a fughetta is a short, condensed fugue.

FUGUE

A fugue is a polyphonic musical composition, developed from a given theme or themes, according to strict contrapuntal rules. The theme is first given out by one voice or part, and then, while that pursues its way, it is repeated by another at the interval of a fifth or fourth, and so on, until all the parts have answered one by one, continuing their several melodies and interweaving them in one complex progressive whole, in which the theme is often lost and reappears.

FUGUIST

A fuguist is a musician who composes or performs fugues.

FULL ORGAN

In music full organ describes an organ when all or most stops are out.

FULL SCORE

In music a full score is a score in which all the parts for voices and instruments are given.

FUNDAMENTAL BASS

In music the fundamental bass is the root note of a chord

FUNDAMENTAL CHORD

In music, a fundamental chord is a chord, the lowest tone of which is its root.

FURIOSO

In music, furioso is a directive to play with great force or vigour.