Ta…

Tab Clef clef used for tablature see Elements of Tablature for Classical Guitar

Tablature a notational system that uses letters, figures and other symbols to indicate how a piece might be performed, for instance by showing the position of a player’s fingers on a representation of the strings of a guitar or lute see Elements of Tablature for Classical Guitar

Table the belly of a stringed instrument

Table-book music printed in such a way that the performers could sit around a table and read their own various parts, popular in the Renaissance

Table of Key Signatures see Table of Key Signatures

Table of Major and Melodic minor Scales see Table of Major & Melodic minor Scales

Tacciono (Italian) are silent

Tace (Italian) is silent

Tacere (Italian) to be silent

Tacet (Latin) silent

Taconeo (Spanish) a stomping dance often performed to flamenco accompaniment

Tafelmusik (German) table-music, the performance of which might accompany a meal

Tag jazz term for a coda, or a short concluding section

Tail piece a piece of metal or wood at the lower end of a stringed instrument to which the strings are attached

Takt (German) measure, time, beat

Taktart (German) time-species; duple, triple….

Taktfest (German) in steady time

Taktieren (German) to beat time

Taktmässig (German) tempo commodo

Taktnote (German) semibreve

Taktpause (German) a bar’s rest

Taktschlag (German) beat

Taktstrich (German) bar-line

Taktwechsel (German) time-change

Taktzeichen (German) time signature

Takt halten (German) to hold or beat time

Tam (Vietnam) a guitar-like instrument with 3 silk strings

Tambotie An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tambura Accompanying drone instrument from India, a large lute with 4-6 strings; five-string Egyptian lyre, long-necked fretted lute from Bulgaria, Croatia and other European countries

Tamburitza Croatian lute

Tambutica plucked lute from Yugoslavia

Tammorriata southern Italian traditional songs and dances

Tamunangue, El an Afro-Venezuelan rural music and dance style

Tamure new dance form from Micronesia

Tanbur general term for various long-necked fretted lutes of the Middle East and Central Asia

Täendelnd (German) playfully

Tändelei (German) playfulness

Tango the Argentinean samba, a passionate musical style, originating in the streets and brothels of Buenos Aires, Argentina, marked by strong syncopation and dotted rhythmic figures, in simple duple (2/4) time and, when danced, performed by a couple

Tango flamenco the only non-dramatic variety of the older flamenco genres, festive in style, with a faster rhythm

Tanguillos festive and joyful flamenco style derived from tangos

Tanko bushi Japanese coal miner’s dance

Tanpura a drone instrument, it resembles a sitar except it has no frets. It has four strings tuned to the tonic

Tant (French) as much, much

Tantino (Italian) a very little

Tanto (Italian) so much

Tanz (German) dance

Tänze (German) dances

Tap dance a dance form in which the performer taps out rhythms and patterns with his or her heels and toes while wearing special shoes with small metal plates called taps

Tape loop a continuous loop of tape which produces an everlasting sound effect when played. Used for any long sound needed without having to continuously repeat a short effect

Tar a lute-type chordophone that is widespread in the Turkish/Azeri/Persian world and the Caucasus

Tarantas flamenco style from Almería

Tarantella (Italian) a dance in 6/8 time from Southern Italy, which gets faster and faster and is supposed to cure the result of a poisonous bite from the tarantula spider

Tarantelle (French) a dance in 6/8 time from Southern Italy, which gets faster and faster and is supposed to cure the result of a poisonous bite from the tarantula spider

Tarantos an eastern Andalusian flamenco style

Tarda (Italian) slow

Tardamente (Italian) slowly

Tardantemente (Italian) gradually slowing

Tardato (Italian)

Tardo (Italian) slow gradually slowed

Tarn thap luc (Vietnamese ’36’) Vietnamese version of the hammered dulcimer

Tárrega, Franciso (1852-1909) see Classical Guitarists and Composers

Tartando (Italian) gradually slowing

Taskiwin Moroccan warrior’s dance

Tasis (Greek) pitch

Tasto solo (Italian) a performer’s marking indicating that a note should be performed without harmony

Te…

Technique the mechanical aspects of performance

Tedesca (Italian) used in the sense of German fashion, manner or style

Teil (German) part

Tema (Italian) theme

Tammorriata southern Italian traditional songs and dances

Tempestoso (Italian) tempestuous

Tempestosamente (Italian) tempestuously

Tempo (Italian) speed

Tempo I the first tempo, as the original tempo

Tempi (Italian) speeds

Tempo comodo (Italian) at a speed to suit the player

Tempo commodo (Italian) at a speed to suit the player

Tempo di ballo (Italian) dance speed

Tempo di Minuetto (Italian) minuet speed

Tempo giusto (Italian) the speed the style demands, strict tempo

Tempo maggiore (Italian) alla breve

Tempo markings Symbol marking speed see Elements of Standard Notation for Classical Guitar

Tempo minore (Italian) standard or moderate time, neither too fast nor too slow

Tempo ordinario (Italian) standard or moderate time, neither too fast nor too slow

Tempo primo the first tempo, as the original tempo

Temporal term means parameters such as beat, rhythm, and meter, those having to do with time

Tempo rubato the freedom to make small changes in tempo during the progress of the piece to enhance its musical effect, irregular tempo

Tempo wie vorher (German) the first tempo

Temps (French) time, beat

Tendency note a note that is a semitone (half-step) away from another note

Tendency tone a note that is a semitone (half-step) away

Tendre (French) tender

Tendrement (French) tenderly

Tenebroso (Italian) gloomy, dark mood

Tenendo (Italian) sustaining

Teneramente (Italian) tenderly

Tenerezza (Italian) tenderness

Tenero (Italian) tender

Teneroso (Italian) tenderly

Tenete (Italian) hold, sustain

Tenor Clef See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef

Tenu (French) held, held on  

Tenue (French) held, held on

Tenuta (Italian) held, held on, fermata

Tenuto (Italian) held, held on

Tepido (Italian) unimpassioned, lukewarm

Tepidità (Italian) lukewarmness, in a tepid manner

Tepidamente (Italian) lukewarmness, in a tepid manner

Terana a six beat to the measure dance

Terapia criolla an Afro-Colombian music style and dance from Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast

Ternary form a three section form in which the first section A is repeated, often with some changes, after a middle section B, thus the form is called A B A

Terraced dynamics expressive style typical of some early music in which volume levels shift abruptly from soft to loud and back without gradual crescendos and decrescendos often by changing the number of instruments playing each part

Tertian harmony harmony based upon the interval of the third, particularly predominant in Western music from the Baroque era through to the nineteenth-century

Tertiary harmony harmony based upon the interval of the third, particularly predominant in Western music from the Baroque era through to the nineteenth-century

Terzet (Italian) three-voice compositional form of the eighteenth-century

Terzetto (Italian) three-voice compositional form of the eighteenth-century

Tessitura (Italian) the range and position of a instrument

Testa (Italian) head

Testo (Italian) text

Tetrachords the two groups of four notes that make up the two halves of a major or minor scale

Texas Ebony 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

Texture the way in which individual musical lines interact within a musical work

Th…

Thai Rosewood 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

Theater (German) theatre

Theil (German) portion, section 

Thematic catalogue the classification of music under headings which include the opening notes of the composition and/or the notes of the main theme of the composition

Thematic development the compositional process by which a theme is transformed by modifying its melodic outline, its harmony, or its rhythm

Thematic transformation the compositional process by which a theme is transformed by modifying its melodic outline, its harmony, or its rhythm

Theme a group of notes, also called a melody, that will form the basis for a work that includes the theme’s repetition and/or development

Theme and variations an extended work, sometimes in separated movements or sections, where the opening musical statement (theme) is subjected to development (variations)

Theme group a number of themes all in the same key that function as a unit within a section of a form

Theorbo a large member of the lute family, in use from the sixteenth- to eighteenth-centuries, with an extended neck and two sets of strings, one set being fretted and fingered like those of the standard lute, the second, longer set of strings being tuned to the diatonic scale and designed to be played open

Third an interval spanning two diatonic scale steps

Third stream a style of music that synthesizes characteristics and techniques of classical music and jazz

Thirty-second note a note one thirty-second the time value of a whole note see Note Values

Thirty-second rest one thirty-second the time value of a whole rest

Through-composed a form with no pre-established musical structure

Thunder sheet large suspended steel sheet with handles which produces a thunder-like rumble when shaken or beaten

Thuya Burl An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Ti…

Tidinit a Saharawi instrument of dug out wood and a leather cover, similar to a four-stringed lute

Tie a sign that shows that the note being played or sustained, unbroken, throughout the total time value of the notes under the sign. see ties in Note Symbols

Tief (German) deep, low

Tiento a Spanish Renaissance composition

Tientos flamenco style derived from tangos, although with a slower beat

Tierce (French) third

Tiger Striped Narra 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

Timba songo layé an Afro-Cuban musical style

Timbral nuances sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings of the tone quality distinctive of a musical instrument

Timbrer (French) accented

Time a word used to mean ‘in the rhythm of’

Time Signature A symbol placed at the left side of the staff indicating the meter of the composition. See time signature in Elements of a Musical Score See time signature in Time Signatures See time signature in Elements of Standard Notation for Classical Guitar

Timed segments unmetered music which in measured in minutes and seconds, not beats

Timidezza (Italian) timidity

Timido (Italian) timid

Timore (Italian) fear

Timorosamente (Italian) fearfully

Timoroso  (Italian) fearful

Timple a small guitar with 12 metal strings used in Spain, Colombia, Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking countries

Tinter (French)  to tinkle

Tintement (French) tinking

Tintinnare (Italian) to tinkle

Tinto (Italian) colour, expression

Tinya pre-Hispanic Mexican resonating box with 5 strings

Tiompán Irish hammered dulcimer

Tipico (Spanish)  typical or traditional

Tiple a small stringed instrument of Spanish origin, derived from the guitar family, It usually has four double or triple sets of strings. (There are eight to twelve strings tuned to four different pitches.), made of wood—usually pine, cedar, or walnut. Tiple players strum chords as rhythmic accompaniments for songs or melodies played by other instruments

Tirana A Spanish song-dance from Andalusia

Tischharfe German table zither that can be both plucked and bowed

Titebond A wood glue often used in guitar construction. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Title of Piece see Elements of Standard Notation for Classical Guitar

To…

Tobend (German) blustering

Tobshuur Mongolian lute

Tocaor the Iberian term for a flamenco guitarist

Toccata a rapid piece of music for keyboard intended as a display for virtuosity; a toccata is often the prelude to a fugue

Toile (Italian) theatre curtain

Tololoche Mexican double bass guitar

Tombeau (French) a piece written in someone’s memory

Tome (French) volume of a set of collected volumes

Ton (French) pitch, key, note

Ton (German) pitch, key

Ton aigre (French) shrill sound

Ton Majeur (French) major key

Tonabstand (German) interval

Tonality the sense of a particular key

Tonante (Italian) thunderous

Tonart (German) character of different types of scale, i.e. major, minor, modal, ….

Tonás one of the oldest flamenco styles, with songs that include long moans and sudden halts, relating the tragedies suffered by the incarceration of the Gypsies, chain gangs

Tondo (Italian) full-toned

Ton doux (French) a sweet tone-quality

Tone a sound of definite pitch; the quality of a sound; the American word for note.

Töne (German) pitches, keys

Tone poem symphonic poem

Tonfarbe (German) tone-colour, timbre

Tonfolge (German) melody

Tonfülle (German) volume of tone

Tongeschlecht (German) major or minor

Tonhöhe (German) pitch

Toni (Italian) tones, keys, modes

Tonic first degree of the scale; the key center

Tonic accent emphasis that may be given to notes where their pitch is high

Tonic chord the chord based on the tonic of a key or scale

Tonic triad triad built on the first degree of the scale

Tonitruone (Italian) a sheet of metal used to simulate the sound of thunder

Tonkunst (German) musical knowledge

Tonkünsterler (German) someone possessing musical knowledge

Tonlage (German) range, compass, register

Tonlehre (German) acoustics

Tonleiter (German) scale

Tonlos (German) toneless

Ton majeur (French) major key

Tonmalerei (German) programmed music

Tonmass (German) time

Tonnerre (French) thunder

Tono (Italian) tone, key, mode

Tonreihe (German) serial music

Tonschlüssel (German) key-note

Tonsetzer (German) composer

Tonus (Latin) mode, Gregorian tone

Tonus contrarius (Latin) contrary melody, counterpoint

Tonus peregrinus (Latin) wandering note

Top The soundboard of the guitar. A resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument. The guitar soundboard.  see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Torch song a song describing an unrequited love

Toré a religious rhythm of the Fulni-o Indians in Brazil

Tornada (Spanish) melody, tune with guitar accompaniment, in a major key and at a slow tempo

Tornadas (Spanish) melody, tune with guitar accompaniment, in a major key and at a slow tempo

Tornare (Italian) to return

Tornando (Italian) returning

Tornavoz The Tornavoz is a conical tube beneath the soundboard of a guitar that extends toward the back of the guitar. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Torrás lively dance from the province Ciudad Real, Spain

Torvo (Italian) grim

Tostissimamente (Italian) rapidly

Tostissimo (Italian) very rapid

Tosto (Italian) rapid

Total serialism complex, totally controlled music where the twelve-tone principle is extended to elements of music other than pitch, for example, rhythm

Touch the art of depressing, striking, releasing….

Touche (French) fingerboard

Toujours (French) always

Tourney a musical piece created for a tournament, festive occasions

Tous (French) all

Tout (French) all

Tout à coup (French) suddenly

Tout à fait (French) completely

Toute (French) all

Tout ensemble (French) the whole, the general effect, all together

Toutes (French) all

To…

Tract a soloist chant

Tractus tail; small line; pause sign

Tradotto (Italian) translated, arranged, transposed

Traduit (French) translated, arranged, transposed

Traduction (French) translation, arrangement, transposition

Tradzione (Italian) translation, arrangement, transposition

Trainé (French) dragged

Tranh (Vietnam) a zither with 10 brass strings. The instrument is placed in front of the musician who uses his right hand to regulate the pitch and vibrato, while using his left hand to pluck the strings

Tranquillamente (Italian) tranquilly

Tranquillezza (Italian) tranquility

Tranquillità (Italian) tranquility

Tranquillo (Italian) tranquil

Transcribe to rearrange music for instruments other than those for which the work was originally written

Transcription music for instruments other than those for which the work was originally written

Transition a short passing change of key, an abrupt key change

Transpose to move; to play a piece in a different key or one or more octaves higher or lower than it was originally written, the better to suit the instrument

Transposing instruments instruments that do not play the notes they read

Transposition the changing of the pitch of a piece without changing anything else

Traquenard (French) a late seventeenth-century dance found in some ballets which is closely related to the gavotte

Trascinando (Italian) dragging, rallentando

Trascrizione (Italian) arrangement, transcription

Tratt. (Italian) held back, sustained

Trattenuto (Italian) held back, sustained

Tratto (Italian) dragged

Tratto, Non (Italian) do not drag

Trauer (German) sorrow

Trauermarsch (German) funeral march

Traum (German) dream

Traurig (German) sad

Trautonium an instrument that generates electronic pitches by pressing a wire on a metal bar, the position along the bar determined the pitch generated

Travesti (French) disguise

Tre (Italian) three

Treble the highest part

Treble Clef See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef

Treble Strings The first, second, & third strings of the guitar. see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings

Tre corde (Italian) three strings

Treibend (German) hurrying, rushing

Tremando (Italian) with tremolo

Tremante (Italian) with tremolo

Tremolando (Italian) with tremolo

Tremolante (Italian) with tremolo

Tremblement (French) trill, a note ornament see tremblement simple in Note Ornamentation

Tremblement simple a note ornament see tremblement simple in Note Ornamentation

Tremolo rapidly-recurring slight raising and lowering of pitch, vibrato; the rapid reiteration of a single note

Tremulant rapidly-recurring slight raising and lowering of pitch

Trepak a simple duple time popular Cossack dance

Très (French) very

Tres a Cuban guitar-like instrument with three pairs of strings (occasionally, three sets of three strings). strummed to accompany songs and dances

Trescone a Florentine dance similar to the cushion dance but employing a handkerchief

Trill An additional elaboration added to a written melody. see trill in Note Symbols

Trillo a note ornament. see trillo in Note Ornamentation

Trillo and Mordant a note ornament. see trillo and mordant in Note Ornamentation

Trilogia (Italian) three works on a common theme

Trilogie (French) three works on a common theme

Trilogy (English) three works on a common theme

Trinklied (German) drinking song

Trio a piece played by three players; a piece of music to be play such a group; a contrasted section between two performances of a minuet

Triolet (French) a triplet; a short trio

Trionfale (Italian) triumphant

Trionfante (Italian) triumphant

Trio sonata a chamber music form for two featured instruments and continuo accompaniment

Triple-croche (French) thirty second note see Note Values

Triple concerto a concerto for three solo instruments and orchestra

Triple counterpoint invertible counterpoint in which three parts can be interchanged, each making a suitable bass for the other

Triple meter a time signature in which each measure has three beats

Triple stop playing three notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument

Triplet A group of three notes of equal time value performed in the time of two. One or two of the notes may be rests of equal value. see triplets in Note Symbols

Triple time a time signature in which each measure has three beats

Tristan chord the half-diminished seventh chord; a chord which was originally made up of the notes ‘F’, ‘B’, ‘D sharp’ and ‘G sharp’, although the name is now applied to any chord with the same intervals

Triste (French) sad

Tristesse (French) sadness

Tristezza (Italian) sadness

Tristo (Italian) sad

Tritone the interval of the augmented 4th, two notes three whole tones apart

Tritonic a three-note scale pattern used in the compositions of some Southern African cultures

Trois (French) three

Troisième (French) third

Trommelbass (German) a bass line that contains steady, constant, repeated notes

Trop (French) too much; also non troppo, not too much

Tropa an ensemble of instruments which belong to the same family type and consists of different registers of sizes

Troppo (Italian) too much; also non troppo, not too much

Trüb (German) sad

Trübe (German) sad

Ts…

Tsambal Romanian hammered dulcimer

Tsigane (French) gipsy

Tsimbl Jewish hammered-dulcimer

Tsumen ivory picks used to play the Japanese koto

Tu…

Tulipwood An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See see Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tumbi a single stringed instrument from the region of Punjab, consisting of a dried, hardened gourd with a stick going through it, and a single string. The gourd is sliced and a parchment is stretched across the hole. The string is attached to a bridge, which rests on the parchment.

Tune air, melody; the process of adjusting the pitch of an instrument to itself

Tuner Knob An ivory, bone, plastic, or wood part of the tuner that is used to grasp when tuning a guitar. see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tuner Mounting Plates A Flat metal piece on a guitar that holds the tuner knobs, gears and rollers. see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tuner Roller The barrel shaped part of the tuner in which to attach a guitar string. see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tuners A set of devices located on the headstock of the guitar to attach and tune the strings. see How to Change Classical Guitar Strings see Anatomy of a Classical Guitar

Tuning temperament; the pitch to which various strings on a stringed instrument are to be set

Tuning fork a U-shaped steel device with a handle at its base, which when struck produces a relatively pure tone of definite pitch

Tuning hammer the metal key with mortised end used to turn the wrest pins in tuning

Tuning peg a peg, usually of wood, or a pin, usually of steel, around which a string runs, and which, when turned, increases or decreases the tension in the string, which changes the string’s pitch

Tuning pin a peg, usually of wood, or a pin, usually of steel, around which a string runs, and which, when turned, increases or decreases the tension in the string, which changes the string’s pitch

Turca, Alla (Italian) in a Turkish style

Turdanser choreographed figure folk dances from Scandinavia

Turmmusik (German) music played from a tower by the town band

Turnaround in jazz, the technique uses a set of chords played at the end of one section to provide a smooth transition into the next section

Turns The note above, the note itself, the note below, then the note itself again. The turn may be inverted as in the preparation of an ascending trill when the note sequence becomes the note below, the note itself, the note above, then the note itself again. see turns in Note Symbols

Turn the rhythm around changing the rhythm of a piece of music over several bars to establish a new meter

Tusch (German) a fanfare or flourish

Tutta (Italian) all the players

Tutte (Italian) all the players

Tutti (Italian) all the chorus

Tutto (Italian) all the players

Tw…

Tweeter part of a speaker system designed to handle the high frequency part of the signal

Two-beat music in which the first and third beats of each four-beat bar (measure) are accentuated, for example, in marches

Two step American dance style developed in the 1880s

Twos a set of two-bar phrases; in jazz, when different players alternate playing two-bar phrases, this is called trading twos

Ty…

Ty a derivative of the ancient lute, with a pear shaped resonator that becomes narrow toward its upper end to form the neck. It has 4 strings of braided silk

Ty ba a derivative of the ancient lute, with a pear shaped resonator that becomes narrow toward its upper end to form the neck. It has 4 strings of braided silk

Tyrolienne a quick triple-time dance form; an early nineteenth-century style of ballet music

Tz…

Tzigane a composition having gypsy influences or flavor

Tzouras Greek long-necked lute