In music a half shift is a position of the hand, between the open position and the first shift, in playing on the violin and kindred instruments. Research Half Shift
Harmonics are the accessory sounds accompanying the predominant and apparently simple tone of any string, pipe, or other sonorous body. No purely simple sound, ie no sound whose vibrations are all in the same period, is producible in nature. When a sound is produced by the vibration of an open string, the whole string vibrates as a unity, giving rise to a tone called the fundamental. The string, however, further divides into various sections, which vibrate separately and more rapidly, and produce sounds differing from the fundamental, but bearing certain fixed proportions to it. The first harmonic of the fundamental note of any string is that produced by half the string, and is the octave of the first; the second harmonic is given by the third of the string, and is the fifth or dominant of the fundamental note, and so on, the complete series of harmonics containing all the notes of the musical scale. But while harmonics enter into the composition of any musical sound from any vibrating body whatsoever, the different structure of different instruments suppresses now some now others of the succession of harmonics, and a different body of tone is thus produced, distinguishing a note in one instrument from the same note in another. These differences are called in English quality, in French timbre, in German klangfarbe. Research Harmonic
The harmonica was originally a musical instrument consisting of glasses tuned by regulating the amount of water in them, and played by running a wet finger around the rim - the glasses being revolved means of a mecahnism worked by a foot pedal. The harmonica was first played by Christoph Willibald Von Gluck in 1746. Today the term harmonica refers to a mouthorgan played by blowing. Research Harmonica
The harmonichord (also known as the piano-violin, violin-piano and the tetrachordon) is a keyed instrument invented by Thomas Kauffmann in 1810. It resembles a piano in appearance and is played like a piano, but produces a sound like a violin. The tone is produced by the pressure of the keys which sets a revolving wooden cylinder covered with leath, and charged with rosin in action over the strings. Research Harmonichord
The harmonicon was a musical instrument consisting of a large barrel-organ, containing, in addition to the ordinary pipes, others to imitate the different wind-instruments, and an apparatus to produce the effects of drums, triangles, cymbals &c. so that the combined sounds produced the effect of a military band. Research Harmonicon
The harmoniphon was a wind musical instrument with a keyboard, in which the sound, which resembled the oboe, was produced by the vibration of thin metallic plates, acted upon by blowing through a tube. Research Harmoniphon
The harmonium is a musical instrument of relatively modern invention, producing sounds somewhat resembling those of the organ, resulting from the pressure of wind on a series of vibrating metallic reeds. By the action of bellows, to which the feet communicate a more or less rapid movement, the air is made to impinge against thin tongues of metal (here termed reeds), and to set them vibrating. These metal tongues are fitted into a slit in the top of a small box or sonorous cavity, called a wind-box, and are enabled to vibrate by being fixed only at one end. The discovery that the form of the wind-boxes determines the quality of the sound produced by the vibration of these metallic tongues contributed very much to the development of the harmonium, as it enabled the player to imitate the sound of the oboe, flute, etc.
The instrument has a keyboard like that of a piano, and when one of the keys is pressed down a valve is opened, which allows the wind from the bellows to rush through one of the wind-boxes and act on the vibrator. There are several stops, by means of which the performer can direct the stream of wind into the wind-boxes which produce a flute, clarionet, or any other sound. There is also a knee action, which either serves as an expression stop, or brings all the stops of the instrument into play at once, and what is called the percussion action, which consists in the application of a small hammer, which strikes the vibrator as soon as the key is pressed down, and thus aids the action of the wind. The better class of harmoniums usually have two or more extra rows of vibrators, which, acted upon by separate stops, add so many octaves to the compass. Research Harmonium
In music a harmony is a succession of chords according to the rules of progression and modulation.
Harmony results from the concord of two or more strains or sounds which differ in pitch and quality. In contrast, melody denotes the pleasing alternation and variety of musical and measured sounds, as they succeed each other in a single verse or strain. Research Harmony
The harp is a plucked stringed instrument of ancient origin. The ancient harp was found among the Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, Irish, Welsh, and other nations. Its variety of form and construction was only equalled by its universality. The modern instrument has the strings distended from the upper part to one of the sides. It stands erect, and is played with both hands, the strings being struck or pulled with both fingers and thumbs. The instrument in its ancient forms was very defective. Egyptian harps are represented with four, seven, ten, twenty, or more strings, but we have little idea of the scale to which they were tuned. The frames are depicted as being curved in various forms, and the front pillars are wanting. The harps of the Hebrews were probably similar to the Egyptian instruments. It is probable that the various Celtic harps were derived from some oriental pattern. Among the Anglo-Saxons the harp was a favourite instrument. The modern harp was by no means an efficient instrument, until pedals were invented, an invention finally perfected by Sebastian Erard, whose patent was taken out in 1795. In 1810 he patented a double-action harp with seven pedals, each effecting two changes in the pitch of the strings. The harp thus constructed contains forty-three strings tuned according to the diatonicscale, every eighth string being a replicate in another octave of the one counted from. Research Harp
The harpsichord was a harp-shaped musical instrument set horizontally on legs, like the grand piano, with strings of wire, played by the fingers, by means of keys provided with crowquills, instead of hammers, for striking the strings. In the front the keys were disposed, the long ones being the naturals, and the short ones the sharps and flats.It has now been superseded by the piano. Research Harpsichord
The hautboy is a woodwind instrument consisting of a conical tube, with side holes, as in the clarinet and the flute. It is played vertically with a double reed, and it first 'overblows' at the octave. Research Hautboy
In music a hemi-demi-semiquaver is a short note, equal to one quarter of a semiquaver, or the sixty- fourth part of a whole note. Research Hemi-Demi-Semiquaver
In music, hidden fifths are consecutive fifths not sounded, but suggested or implied in the parallel motion of two parts towards a fifth. Research Hidden Fifths
In music, the term homophonic is used to describe a plain harmony, note against note, as opposed to a polyphonic harmony, in which the several parts move independently, each with its own melody. Research Homophonic
The hora is an ancient and typical Romaniandance. It is a gay, circular dance danced by a chain of people, any of whom may leave whenever they wish. Research Hora
A horn is a musical instrument, originally formed, as the name denotes, from the horn of an animal. The name includes a large family of wind-instruments, many of which have fallen into disuse. Research Horn
A hornpipe (also called the pib-corn, pib or piob) was a musical instrument formerly popular in Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany, consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals. It was so called a hornpipe because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.
The hornpipe is a lively tune of English origin played on a hornpipe, for dancing. The dance is usually performed by one person and is popular among sailors. There were originally many rhythms of hornpipe dance and the hornpipe along with the lancers is the national dance of England. Research Hornpipe
The hula (or hula-hula) is a traditional dance performed in Hawaii. The hula is comprised of six basic steps accompanied by gestures that symbolize or imitate natural phenomena and historical events and the like. Research Hula
A hurdy-gurdy is a musical instrument of ancient origin, popular among most of the European nations during the 19th century. It consists of a flat rectangular sounding board, upon which are stretched four to six strings of catgut or sometimes wire, two of which are carried directly to the tailpiece, and tuned in unison, and one or both are stopped by a simple apparatus of keys, which shortens the vibratory length to make the melody. The strings are set in vibration by the friction of a wooden wheel charged with rein and turned by means of a handle at one end. Research Hurdy-Gurdy
Abbreviations
Music
Research H
