C…
C1, C2, C3, C4, …… A single finger holding multiple strings on a stringed instrument at the same time.
CI, CII, CIII, CIV, CV, CVI…… A single finger holding multiple strings on a stringed instrument at the same time. Symbol used in standard notation for guitar. Roman numeral (after C) indicates which fret. Example: B7 (C7, CVII, VII) See Barre
C clef clef sign that marks the position of the note C on the staff. See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef
Ca…
Cacophony discordant or dissonant sound
Cadence a note ornament see cadence in Note Ornamentation
Cadence calls songs sung by soldiers while marching
Calando (Italian) diminuendo
Calcando (Italian) accelerando
Calmato (Italian) calmed, calming
Calme (French) calm
Calore (Italian) passion, warmth or animation
Caloroso (Italian) passion, warmth or animation
Calvarios Spanish Easter songs
Calypso Caribbean popular musical form often humorous sung by a single guitarist or bands
Camatillo Rosewood From Central America, it is sometimes known as Mexican Kingwood.The wood has a deep, rich purple color with numerous black ink lines. Straight grain is rare but it is surprisingly stable. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Camminando (Italian) a flowing style, a walking pace
Camphor Burl An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Canadian Cypress Alaskan Yellow Cedar, sometimes called Canadian or New World Cypress, is fine and even textured with very close grains. In terms of dimensional change due to moisture content change, it is one of the most stable. It is light yellow in color. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Canari very fast gigue-like dance, in triple or duple-compound meter, with a ‘skipping’ feel
Cancel natural sign, used to remove a previously applied accidental
Can-can Parisian dance, originating in Paris, involving a line of high-kicking women
Cancrizans (Latin) a tune repeated so that the original order of notes is reversed— the last note become the first, the penultimate note becomes the second, and so on until the first becomes the last
Canon a musical form in which a (second, third, fourth, ….) line starting later than the one before it matches it note for note but such that the parts overlap
Cans headphones, microphone and belt pack
Cantabile (Italian) in a singing style
Cantando (Italian) in a singing style
Cantaor (Spanish) flamenco singer (masc.)
Cantaora (Italian) in a singing style (femin.)
Cant de la sibila traditional Christmas song from Majorca (Spain) about the second coming of Christ
Cante chico light flamenco song
Cante grande profound Flamenco song style
Cante hondo (Spanish) serious Spanish flamenco song making use of the Phrygian cadence and the word ole
Cante jondo (Spanish) serious Spanish flamenco song making use of the Phrygian cadence and the word ole
Cantes de las minas flamenco style that has as theme the mines, its men and their difficulties
Cantes extremeños flamenco songs from the Extremadura region
Canticle a Biblical hymn
Cantilena (Italian) Lullaby–smooth, melodious vocal style
Canto (Italian) song, melody
Canto de velada Spanish evening song
Canto hondo (Spanish) serious Spanish flamenco song making use of the Phrygian cadence and the word ole
Cantus (Latin) melody at the top of a polyphonic piece, often set over a tenor line
Canzonet (Italian) short, simple song
Canzonetta (Italian) short, simple song
Caoine (Gaelic) Irish funeral song
Capelle (French) chapel
Capodaster (German) device that clamps to the neck of a guitar and which change its tuning by shortening the sounding length of every string
Capodastère (French) device that clamps to the neck of a guitar and which change its tuning by shortening the sounding length of every string
Capotasto (Italian) device that clamps to the neck of a guitar and which change its tuning by shortening the sounding length of every string
Capo d’astro (Italian) device that clamps to the neck of a guitar and which change its tuning by shortening the sounding length of every string
Capodastro (Italian) device that clamps to the neck of a guitar and which change its tuning by shortening the sounding length of every string
Cappella chapel
Capriccio (Italian) light, quick, sometimes fanciful composition
Capriccioso (Italian) capricious
Caprice (English) light, quick, sometimes fanciful composition
Caprice (French) light, quick, sometimes fanciful composition
Capricieux (French) capricious
Capricciosamente (Italian) capriciously
Carcassi, Matteo (1792-1853) see Classical Guitarists and Composers
Carcelera (Spanish) prisoner’s song
Caressant (French) caressing
Carezzando (Italian) caressing
Carezzevole (Italian) caressingly
Carol (English) Christmas song
Carrée (French) double whole note see Note Values
Carulli, Fernando (1770-1841) see Classical Guitarists and Composers
Catgut (German) good, well; (English) a cord made from the intestines of animals, esp. of sheep, lambs or goats, used for strings of early guitars
Cavaquinho small 4-stringed instrument from Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking countries, used in samba music. inspiration for the Hawaiian ukulele
Cc…
C clef clef sign that marks the position of the note C on the staff. See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef
Ce…
Cédez (French) slow down generally before a return to an earlier tempo
Cejilla device that can be moved to change the pitch of the flamenco guitar
Celere (Italian) quick, speedy
Celerità (Italian) speed
Celeramente speedily
Celtic harp small harp 24 to 34 strings, around 1 metre tall, with curved neck and pillar that is played resting on the knee
Cent logarithmic unit used when measuring the difference between two pitches in an equal-tempered scale; one cent is one one-hundredth of an equal-tempered semitone (half step)
Center Seam Backstrip The Backstrip, usually made of wood, will match or compliment the guitars edge binding. It will also reinforce the center seam of a book-matched back of a guitar.see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Center Seam Reinforcement Strip A strip of wood is added to the seam of a book-matched back for reinforcement on a guitar. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Cf…
cf (Latin) abbreviated form of conferatur meaning ‘compare’
Ch…
Chaabi popular Arabic music, also known as shaabi
Chacarrá fandango dance from Tarifa, in southern Spain, performed by two women and one man
Chace (French) fourteenth-century French term for ‘canon’, two- and three-voice canons that imitated bird calls or the sounds of instruments, …..
Chachachá 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 quarter-notes, three eighth-notes and a eighth-rest
Chaconne a slow stately dance with variations, popular during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, generally in triple time, played over a ground bass
Chacony (Old Eng.) a slow stately dance with variations, popular during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, generally in triple time, played over a ground bass
Chaleur (French) warmth, with warmth
Chaleureusement (French) warmth, with warmth
Chamber a prefix used to describe small-scale musical activities, for example- chamber symphony (a symphony for a small ensemble of players), chamber music (music generally written to be played one-to-a-part)
Champeta criolla Afro-Colombian music style and dance from Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast
Champêtre (French) rustic
Changed note device in strict counterpoint where a non-harmonic note is used on an accented beat
Changes the set of chord changes, or harmonies, contained in the central theme or melody around which a piece has been built
Changez (French) change
Changing notes non-harmonic notes; two notes, one that leaves the chord note by a tone or semitone, then leaps to the next non-harmonic note by skipping over the chord note, before resolving to the same chord note by a tone or semitone
Changing time signatures see Time Signatures
Chantant (French) in a singing style
Chaque (French) each, every
Character piece a musical piece representing a location, mood or personality
Charango small, 5-course, double strung guitar from South America, traditionally made with the shell of an armadillo
Chart colloquial or jazz term for a arrangement or score
Chase 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
Che (Italian) who, which
Chechen An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Chechen Burl An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Cheese cloth A thin, loose woven cotton cloth, such as is used in pressing cheese curds. see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings
Chevalet (French) bridge of a stringed instrument
Cheville (French) peg of a stringed instrument
Chiaro (Italian) clear
Chiara (Italian) unconfused
Chiaramente (Italian) clearly
Chiarezza (Italian) clarity
Chiave (Italian) clef see Staff, Barline, & Clef
Chiave di basso (Italian) bass clef see Staff, Barline, & Clef
Chiave di tenore (Italian) C clef see Staff, Barline, & Clef
Chiave di violino (Italian) treble clef see Staff, Barline, & Clef
Chin chin Chinese 4 string banjo with aluminum body
Chitarra (Italian) guitar
Chitarra batente guitar from Calabria (southern Italy), also known as ‘Renaissance guitar’. With four or five metal strings
Chitarrone a long-necked member of the lute family fitted with extra bass strings, used to accompany solo singers, which was popular in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries
Chops performer’s technique when playing riffs, improvisations and melodic lines
Choral music sung by a choir
Choral symphony a symphony that includes a chorus
Chorale (German) traditional German hymn
Chord a group of notes, normally two or more, played simultaneously
Chordal a form of music in which a single melody is accompanied by sets of chords,
instead of a competing counter melody
Chord diagrams a form of musical notation using vertical and horizontal lines to represent the strings and frets on a guitar that uses numbered dots to show the position of the fingers.
Chord symbols abbreviations for chord names used by players of the guitar, ukulele….
Chorus a fairly large choir; a refrain of a song
Chromatic a scale in which all the intervals between succeeding notes is a semitone (half-note)
Chromatic interval a note that does not form part of the major or natural, melodic or harmonic minor scales
Chromatic scale Scale composed of twelve half steps. see Chromatic scale see Musical Scales
Chromatic signs accidentals
Chromatique (French) chromatic
Church Cadence Plagal Cadence. A chord progression where the subdominant chord is followed by the tonic chord- In the tonality of C major, an plagal cadence would be the subdominant f major chord (F A C) moving to the tonic C major chord (C E G). see Musical Cadences
Ci…
CI, CII, CIII, CIV, CV, CVI…… A single finger holding multiple strings on a stringed instrument at the same time. Symbol used in standard notation for guitar. Roman numeral (after C) indicates which fret. Example: B7 (C7, CVII, VII) See Barre
Ciacona (Italian) slow stately dance with variations, popular during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries, generally in triple time, played over a ground bass
Cinq (French) five
Cinque (Italian) five
Cinquième (French) fifth
Cioà (Italian) that is
Circle of fifths chain of intervals. each interval a fifth, after passing through every note of the scale returns to a note, several octaves different, from that on which the chain began. see Circle of Fifths
Cl…
Clangorous containing partials that are not part of the natural harmonic series. Clangorous tones often sound bell-like
Claque (French) members of an audience, hired by a performer, usually to respond rapturously and loudly during the performance including calling for frequent encores, audience response
Clarity Free from obscurity and easy to understand; the comprehensibility of clear expression. See Dressing the Frets on a Classical Guitar see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings
Classical a period in music generally understood to be between 1750 and 1820; music that is has an enduring quality
Classical Guitar A guitar, usually of six nylon strings, used to play classical style music. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Classical music a period in music generally understood to be between 1750 and 1820; music that is has an enduring quality
Clave five-note, two-bar rhythmic pattern which generates rhythmic measurement and is the foundation and backbone of salsa
Clef symbol placed on the left of the stave which establishes the relationship between notes and their position on the staff lines and spaces See clef in Elements of a Musical Score See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef see Elements of Standard Notation for Classical Guitar
Clef de fa (French) clef sign that shows the position of F on the staff, for example, the bass clef See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef
Clef de sol clef sign that shows the position of G on the staff, for example, the treble clef See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef
Click track technique for reinforcing the live sound of a musical or band with recorded sound from one track of a tape. The other track of the tape consists of a click used by the musical director to keep the live band and cast synchronized with the recorded band or cast
Clos a cadence in which the last note sounds conclusive; that note, termed the ‘final’, which is the central note of the melody; the second ending of a repeated section
Close cadence
Closed ending second of two endings in a secular medieval work, usually cadencing on the final
Close harmony a form of harmony where the harmonizing notes lie close to the melody
Co…
Cocobolo Cocobolo is a Rosewood that grows in southern Mexico and Central America. Freshly cut, it is a bright yellow and orange-red but over time it oxidizes to a rich brown-red color with black streaks. It is probably as close to Brazilian Rosewood in beauty and tonal qualities as any wood. Cocobolo is heavier than most Rosewoods, not as stable, and occasionally more brittle. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Coda (Italian) passage ended onto the end of a composition see in Repeats, D.S.,D.C….
Coda Sign see in Repeats, D.S.,D.C….
Coda uncinata (Italian) the flag attached to the tail of a note to show its length
Code uncinate (Italian) the flags attached to the tail of a note to show their length
Codetta (Italian) a passage within a composition in sonata form which, while resembling a coda, occurs at the end of the exposition rather than at the end of the piece
Cogli (Italian) with the
Coi (Italian) with the
Col’ (Italian) with the
Col canto (Italian) to follow the speed of the singer
Coll (Italian) with the
Colla (Italian) with the
Collage a technique where musical fragments from other compositions are overlapped within a new work
Colla parte (Italian) to follow the speed of the singer
Colla voce (Italian) to follow the speed of the singer
Colle (Italian) with the
Colombianas flamenco style influenced by South American rhythms
Combination note third note heard when two notes are played simultaneously, resultant tone
Combined French Polished Shellac & Nitrocellulose Lacquer Many guitar makers are now combining both. They are using French polish for the soundboard because of the finish’s tonal characteristics and Nitrocellulose lacquer for the rest of the guitar for its durability. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Combo Small group of musicians, usually four to six
Come (Italian) as, like, as if
Comme (French) as, like, as if
Come prima (Italian) as before
Comique (French) comic
Commissioned work one for which a composer is given a contract
Common chord a chord containing a root, third, and fifth
Common meter the meter of a four-line stanza with eight, six, eight and six syllables per line
Common metre the meter of a four-line stanza with eight, six, eight and six syllables per line
Common note a note that remains the same between two different chords
Common time the time signature 4/4 See common time in Elements of a Musical Score see Time Signatures
Common tone a note that remains the same between two different chords
Comodamente (Italian) comfortably, conveniently, moderately
Comodo (Italian) at an easy pace, comfortable, moderate
comp. abbreviation of ‘composed’
Comparsa musical gathering
Compass the range of an instrument
Compiacevole (Italian) pleasing
Compiacevolmente (Italian) pleasingly
Compiacimento (Italian) pleasure
Comping the practice of supplying background music comprised of chords while a soloist is improvising
Complete cadence Plagal Cadence. A chord progression where the subdominant chord is followed by the tonic chord- In the tonality of C major, an plagal cadence would be the subdominant f major chord (F A C) moving to the tonic C major chord (C E G). see Musical Cadences
Complex meter a time signature such as 4+2+3 / 8
Complex time signature a time signature such as 4+2+3 / 8
Componiert (German) composed
Composé (French) composed
Composer a person who writes music
Composition the music that a composer writes
Compound harmony standard chord with an added octave in the bass
Compound interval an interval greater than an octave, for example, a ninth, an eleventh, a thirteenth
Compter (French) to count
Con (Italian) with
Con amore (Italian) with love, lovingly
Con brio (Italian) with spirit
Concert (Italian) musical performance in front of an audience
Concertant (French) in the form of a concerto, where there is interplay between the performers
Concertante (Italian) in the form of a concerto, where there is interplay between the performers
Concertino (Italian) a shorter work
Concert master (German) the first violinist or leader of an orchestra
Concert-meister (German) the first violinist or leader of an orchestra
Concerto ensemble music for voice(s) and instrument(s) (seventeenth-century
Concert overture single-movement concert piece for orchestra
Concert pitch the pitch to which an ensemble tunes, typically a’= 440Hz
Concitato (Italian) agitated, roused, stirred
Concitamento (Italian) agitation
Concitazione (Italian) agitation
Concord a chord, or group of notes complete and in total harmony with each other
Concordant a chord, or group of notes complete and in total harmony with each other
Conduct to direct a performance by an ensemble
Conductor a person who conducts
Con forza (Italian) forcefully, vigorously
Con fuoco (Italian) with fire
Con grandezza (Italian) with grandeur
Conjunct in which a theme moves by no more than a tone or semitone from one note to the next
Connecting note a note that is held between adjacent chords
Con passione (Italian) play with emotion
Consecutive interval a progression where the harmonic interval between the parts remains fixed -in octaves, in thirds, in fourths……..
Conservatoire (French) where musicians study
Conservatorium (German) where musicians study
Conservatory where musicians study
Conserver (French) to preserve, to retain
Con sordino (Italian) with mute
con sordini (Italian) with mutes
Conte (French) tale
Contemporary music a term applied to any music written within the last forty or fifty years
Continuous imitation Renaissance polyphonic style where subjects move between the lines or voices, often overlapping one another
Contra a prefix indicating that the pitch of an instrument is usually one octave lower
Contrabass double-bass
Contrebasse (French) double-bass
Contrabasso (Italian) double-bass
Contradanza (Italian) popular eighteenth-century French dance form
Contredanse (French) popular eighteenth-century French dance form
Contrary motion two voices moving in opposite directions
Contrast the use of differentiated tempi, timbres, dynamics or time signatures
Cool jazz restrained, unemotional performance with lush harmonies, moderate volume levels and tempos
Copla Spanish songs set to popular poems
Coplas (Spanish) stanzas
Coprifoco (Italian) piece with bell-like effects
Coprifuoco (Italian) piece with bell-like effects
Corda (Italian) string
Corde (Italian) strings
Corde (French) string
Cordas (Portuguese) strings
Corde à jour (French) open string
corde à vide (French) open string
Corea (Spanish) dance accompanied by song
Coro (Italian) choir, chorus
Corona (Italian) musical symbol placed over a note or rest to extend its normal duration
Corto (Italian) short
Corta (Italian) short
Corti (Italian) short
Corte (Italian) short
Coste, Napoléon (1806-1883) see Classical Guitarists and Composers
Countermelody a melody designed to fit against a more important line
Counterpoint the technique of setting a melody or melodies in conjunction with another
Countersubject secondary theme of a fugue
Countertheme secondary theme of a fugue
Country dance (English) popular eighteenth-century French dance form
Couplet duplet, a two-note slur, an episode in an early French rondeau
Courante Rapid French dance in triple meter time
Course pair or more of strings tuned to the same note or an octave apart
Cr…
Crab canon a piece of counterpoint in which one part is identical to another, but backwards
Credits The composer and/or arranger of a piece. see Elements of Standard Notation for Classical Guitar see Elements of Tablature for Classical Guitar
Crescendo increasingly loud. see crescendo in Phrasing Symbols see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Crescendo e accelerando increasingly loud and getting steadily faster
Croche (French) eighth note see Note Values
Crochet (French) flag attached to the tail of a note to show its length
Crochets (French) flags attached to the tail of a note to show its length
Croma (Italian) eighth note see Note Values
Cromatico (Italian) chromatic
Cromatica (Italian) chromatic
Cromatici (Italian) chromatic
Cromatice (Italian) chromatic
Crossover merging of styles
Crotchet quarter note see Note Values
Crotchet rest quarter rest
Crowning Frets A procedure of reshaping the frets on a guitar to improve balance, tone, clarity, & sustain. See Dressing the Frets on a Classical Guitar
Crustic a phrase that begins on the downbeat of a bar and ends at the end of a bar
Cu…
Cuivré (French) brassy
Cupo (Italian) dark, somber
Curly Lagerstroemia An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Cut-a-Way A Cut out of a guitar body that allows for easier access to the upper areas of the fingerboard. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Cut time quick duple time in which the half note is given one beat instead of two See cut time in Elements of a Musical Score see Time Signatures
Cy…
Cycle several movements or pieces designed to be played in succession
Cyclic form work in which some or all of the movements share related material
Cyklus (German) cycle