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Musical symbols are marks and symbols in musical notation that indicate various aspects of how a piece of music is to be performed. There are symbols to communicate information about many musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics, or articulation of musical notes; tempo, metre, form (e.g., whether sections are repeated), and details about specific playing techniques (e.g., which ...
Most time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above the other: The lower numeral indicates the note value that the signature is counting. This number is always a power of 2 (unless the time signature is irrational), usually 2, 4 or 8, but less often 16 is also used, usually in Baroque music. 2 corresponds to the half note (minim), 4 to the quarter note (crotchet), 8 to the eighth ...
Most commonly, [note 2] the sharp symbol (♯) raises a note by a half step, while the flat symbol (♭) lowers a note by a half step. This half step interval is also known as a semitone (which has an equal temperament frequency ratio of 12 √ 2 ≅ 1.0595). The natural symbol (♮) indicates that any previously applied accidentals should be ...
Duple metre (or Am. duple meter, also known as duple time) is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples or 6 and multiples in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2 2 , 2 4, and 6 8 (at a fast tempo) being the most common examples.
In instrumental music, a style of playing that imitates the way the human voice might express the music, with a measured tempo and flexible legato. cantilena a vocal melody or instrumental passage in a smooth, lyrical style canto Chorus; choral; chant cantus mensuratus or cantus figuratus (Lat.) Meaning respectively "measured song" or "figured ...
In most modern musical notation, a trill is generally indicated with the letters tr (or sometimes simply t) [2] above the trilled note. This has sometimes been followed by a wavy line, and sometimes, in the baroque and early classical periods, [2] the wavy line was used on its own. In those times the symbol was known as a chevron. [6]
The precise meaning of mordent has changed over the years. In the Baroque period, a mordent was a lower mordent and an upper mordent was a pralltriller or schneller. In the 19th century, however, the name mordent was generally applied to what is now called the upper mordent, and the lower mordent became known as an inverted mordent. [2]
The most common symbol is the horizontal wedge, the first symbol in the diagram above. This is the symbol that is most commonly referred to as "accent mark". It indicates that the marked note should have an emphasized beginning and then taper off rather quickly. Though it is usually simply referred to as an accent.