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The sackbut was a musical instrument of the brass family, developed during the 14th century, like a bass long trumpet, so contrived that it can be lengthened or shortened according to the tone required. The trombone developed from the sackbut. The sackbut of the Scriptures was a stringed instrument, the translators of the King James bible having been mistaken in their translation, which should not read sackbut but rather sambuca.
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The sambuke was an ancient stringed musical instrument used by the Greeks, the particular construction of which is unknown.
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The samisen is a Japanese musical instrument with three strings, resembling a guitar or banjo.
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The sansa is an African plucked idiophone consisting of a number of metal or reed tongues attached by one end only side-by-side to the side of wooden board which serves as a resonator box.. The sound is produced by plucking the free ends of the tongues, and the pitch varied by sliding the tongue backwards and forwards under its fixing bracket.
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The saraband is a stately dance which was at one time popular in Spain, France and England. It was said to have been invented in the 16th century by the dancer Zarabander, although other sources ascribe it to an Oriental source. In England the saraband was transformed into an ordinary country dance.
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The Sarrusophone is a conical-bore brass instrument similar in sound to the oboe named after its inventor, the French bandmaster Sarrus who in 1856 produced a design for the instrument's construction in several sizes ranging from soprano to contrabass. The sarrusophone is a double-reed valved instrument regularly found in military bands and sometimes used in a symphony orchestra in place of the contrabassoon.
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In ballet, a saut is a jump off both feet landing in the same position.
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The sax-tuba is a powerful musical instrument of brass, curved somewhat like the Roman buccina, or tuba.
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The saxhorn is a musical instrument of the brass family. It evolved from the bugle-horn, but has valves instead of keys. The name derives from it's inventor, Adolphe Sax.
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The saxophone is a metal musical instrument of the woodwind family, invented by Adolphe Sax and containing a reed, and partaking of the qualities both of a brass instrument and of a clarinet. It consists of a conical brass tube, curved forwards and upwards at the bottom, and having a short section bent backwards at the top, upon which a mouthpiece and reed resembling those of the clarinet are fitted. The instrument contains twenty lateral holes, which are covered by keys and studs, and manipulated by the first three fingers of each hand of the player.
Saxophones, like saxhorns, are made in a variety of keys and sizes, but all are fingered in a similar manner.
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In music, a scale is the graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the keynote to its octave. It may be repeated through any number of octaves.
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In music a scena is an accompanied dramatic recitative, interspersed with passages of melody, or followed by a full aria.
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In music, scherzando describes a playful or sportive manner of playing.
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In music a scherzo is a playful, humorous movement, commonly in 3-4 measure, which often takes the place of the old minuet and trio in a sonata or a symphony.
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The schottische is a form of round dance which resembles a polka. Its music is usually written in 2/4 time, but the Highland schottische is often danced to strathspey tunes.
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In music a score is the original and entire draught, or its transcript, of a composition, with the parts for all the different instruments or voices written on staves one above another, so that they can be read at a glance. It is so called from the bar, which, in its early use, was drawn through all the parts.
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In music a second is the interval between any tone and the tone which is represented on the degree of the staff next above it. The term is also applied to the second part in a concerted piece.
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In music a secondo is the second part in a concerted piece.
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The seguidilla is a sixteenth century Andalusian dance in triple time, probably of Moorish origin. It resembles a brisker bolero, accompanied by guitar and castanets, interspersed with the singing of vocal couplets.
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A semi-breve is a musical note of half the time or duration of the breve. It is the longest note in general use.
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In music a semichorus is a half chorus or a passage to be sung by a selected portion of the voices, as for example by the female voices only, in contrast with the full choir.
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In music, a semidiapason is an imperfect octave.
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In music a semidiapente is an imperfect or diminished fifth.
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In music a semidiatessaron is an imperfect or diminished fourth.
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In music a semiditone is a lesser third, having its terms as 6 to 5.
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A semiquaver is a musical note of half the duration of the quaver.
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In music, a semitone is a half-sized step, as between C and C sharp.
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In music the name sensible note is applied to the major seventh note of any scale. It is so called because, being but a half step below the octave, or key tone, and naturally leading up to it, it makes the ear sensible of its approaching sound.
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In music, a septet is a piece for seven singers or players; or a group of seven such singers or players. Several different instrumental combinations are possible: Ludwig van Beethoven's Septet in E uses clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola and double bass; Ravel's Introduction and Allegro, though not described as such, is in fact a septet for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet. Other composers using this medium include Hummel, Spohr, and Schoenberg.
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A septimole is a group of seven notes to be played in the time of four or six.
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In music, a sequence is the repetition of a melodic phrase at a higher or lower pitch but without any key change. If the repetition is purely melodic, it is called a melodic sequence; if it involves a progression of chords, it is a harmonic sequence, and if slight variations are needed because the phrase involves semitones when moved up or down, this is a tonal sequence. When a change of key occurs but the melodic or harmonic pattern remains the same, the correct term for the sequence is a rosalia.
Sequences were skilfully used by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Romantic composers in the nineteenth century loved to build up dramatic tension by means of sequences urging the music on to a climax. The word is also applied to a medieval chant which was introduced into the Mass after the Gradual and the Alleluia - i.e. a sequential addition. The practice of interpolating such hymns was widespread until 1560, when the Council of Trent abolished all save four: the Victimae paschali laudes at Easter; Veni sancte spiritus at Whitsun; Lauda Sion for Corpus Christi; and the Dies Irae for a Requiem Mass. In 1727 a further sequence was allowed, the Stabat Mater.
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The seraphine is a wind instrument whose sounding parts are reeds, consisting of a thin tongue of brass playing freely through a slot in a plate. It has a case, like a piano, and is played by means of a similar keyboard, the bellows being worked by the foot. The melodeon is a portable variety of this instrument.
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A serenade is evening music, especially that sung or played in the open air. Originally it was the song of a troubadour wooing a girl beneath her window (and is used as such, mockingly, in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni). Later it was expanded into a form of agreeable, entertaining music for instrumental groups, and became hardly distinguishable from a cassation or divevtimento. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a number of serenades, including the Haffner, for a Salzburg wedding, and the name has been attached to works by Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, and Copland.
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A serenata is a piece of vocal music, especially one on an amorous subject. The name serenata was given by Italian composers in the time of George Frideric Handel, and by George Frideric Handel himself, to a cantata of a pastoral of dramatic character, to a secular ode, etc; also by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and others to an orchestral composition, in several movements, midway between the suite of an earlier period and the modern symphony.
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The serpent was a bass wind instrument, of a loud and coarse tone, formerly much used in military bands, and sometimes introduced into the orchestra. It was so called from its form.
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In music, a sesquialter is a stop on the organ, containing several ranks of pipes which re-enforce some of the high harmonics of the ground tone, and make the sound more brilliant.
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In music a sesquitone is a minor third, or interval of three semitones.
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A sestet is a piece of music composed for six voices or six instruments.
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In music a seventeenth is an interval of two octaves and a third.
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In music a seventh is an interval embracing seven diatonic degrees of the scale. The term is also given to a chord which includes the interval of a seventh whether major, minor, or diminished.
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The Sex Pistols were a revolutionary English punk rock band of the mid-1970's. Led by 'Johnny Rotten' (John Lydon) they sought to convey a political message that the music industry and western society in general was exploiting and conning the young people. Using outrageous clothing, including Nazi emblems, and more outrageous song lyrics and obscene slang language they sought to pervade the atmosphere of apathy and reach the minds of the young. Ironically, they were not listened to, and instead became adored by many youngsters as pop idols. The irony was not lost on the Sex Pistols, who were so obviously devastated by the sheep-like mentality and stupidity of the very people they were trying to reach that during their final tour in the USA they failed to arrive at venues and on one memorable event appeared on stage, played one song and then announced 'ever had the feeling you've been conned' before walking off stage, thereby illustrating the message they were trying to get across by graphically conning their audience. John Lydon, insensed by the moronic following he developed formed a new band after the death of side-kick and bass guitarist 'Sid Vicious' ironically titled 'Public Image Ltd' and immediately released a song which commenced with the lyrics 'You never listened to a word that I said. You only see me for the clothes that I wear.' The message still failed to get across, and John Lydon was to be seen storming out of many television interviews when the interviewer sought to discuss the importance of the band's and John's image and clothes. More positively, perhaps, the Sex Pistols may have encouraged other politically motivated bands and movements which arose from the ashes of the late 1970's to resist the exploitative and sycophantic music industry, with varying degrees of success.
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In music a sextolet is a double triplet; a group of six equal notes played in the time of four.
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In music a sforzando is a direction placed over a note, to signify that it must be executed with peculiar emphasis and force.
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In music the term shake describes a rapid alternation of a principal tone with another represented on the next degree of the staff above or below it.
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The shawm was an ancient musical wind instrument that resembled either the clarinet or the hautboy in form.
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A shofar (shophar) is a Jewish wind instrument made from a ram's horn and traditionally blown during battles to communicate signals, and more recently used at synagogue services on Rosh, Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
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In music a signature is the designation of the key (when not C major, or its relative, A minor) by means of one or more sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff, immediately after the clef, affecting all notes of the same letter throughout the piece or movement. Each minor key has the same signature as its relative major.
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The sistrum is a musical instrument consisting of a thin metal frame, through which pass a number of metal rods, and furnished with a handle by which it is shaken and made to rattle. It was peculiarly Egyptian, and used especially in the worship of Isis. It is still used in Nubia.
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The sitar is an Indian musical instrument similar to the lute.
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In music a sixteenth is an interval comprising two octaves and a second.
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In music a sixth is the interval embracing six diatonic degrees of the scale.
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In music the term skip describes a passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once.
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In music the term slide describes the passing from one note to another with no perceptible cessation of sound. The name slide is also given to a grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below. A slide is an apparatus in the trumpet and trombone by which the sounding tube is lengthened and shortened so as to produce the tones between the fundamental and its harmonics.
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In music, smorzando means growing gradually fainter and softer or dying away.
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Sol-fa is a system of musical notation which was invented by Miss Glover and popularised by John Curwen.
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In music, solfeggio is the vocal exercise utilising the system of arranging the scale by the names do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, by which singing is taught.
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In music a solo is a tune, air, strain, or whole piece, played by a single person on an instrument, or sung by a single voice.
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Sonata is an important form of musical composition comprising classically four movements. The modern form of sonata was fixed by Emanual Bach in the 18th century. The same general structure prevails in symphonies, instrumental trios, quartets, etc., and even in classical concertos. The
sonata form, distinctively, characterises the quick opening movement, which may have a short, slow introduction; the second, or slow, movement is either in the song or variation form; third comes the playful minuet or the more modern scherzo; then the quick finale in the rondo form. But both form and order are sometimes exceptional.
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A sonatina is a short and simple sonata.
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A sopranist is a treble singer.
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In music, soprano is the highest kind of female or boy's voice, forming the upper part in harmony for mixed voices. The name is also given to a singer, commonly a woman, with a treble voice.
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The sordun was an old form of woodwind instrument, having a double reed, with twelve ventages and two keys.
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In music the term sostenuto is applied to a movement or passage the sounds of which are to sustained to the utmost of the nominal value of the time and also, to a passage the tones of which are to be somewhat prolonged or protracted.
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In music, sotto voce means with a restrained voice or moderate force.
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A soundboard is a part of a stringed musical instrument intended to reinforce the tone of the strings, which would otherwise be too weak to be effective. In string instruments the soundboard is called the belly, and is pierced by sound holes. In the pianoforte it is a plate of wood at the back or the bottom of the instrument. The wood of the soundboard vibrates in response to the vibrations of the strings.
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In music a sounding post (sound post) is a small post in a violin, violoncello, or similar instrument, set under the bridge as a support, for propagating the sounds to the body of the instrument.
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A sounding-board is a thin board which propagates the sound in a piano, in a violin, and in some other musical instruments.
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In music, spiccato is a direction to performed in a distinct and pointed manner.
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A spinet (virginal) is a keyed musical instrument of the harpsichord type, but with only one string to a note and therefore less volume. It is generally square in shape and the strings are plucked.
Spinets were popular between 1500 and 1760 especially during the reign of Elizabeth I in England.
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In music, spiritoso is a direction to perform in an animated, lively manner.
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In music, staccato is a direction to perform in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.
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A sticcado is an instrument consisting of small bars of wood, flat at the bottom and rounded at the top, and resting on the edges of a kind of open box. They are unequal in size, gradually increasing from the smallest to the largest, and are tuned to the diatonic scale. The tones are produced by striking the pieces of wood with hard balls attached to flexible sticks.
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In an organ, a sticker is a small wooden rod which connects a key and a pallet, so as to communicate motion by pushing.
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On music, the term stop describes regulating the sounds of musical strings by pressing them against the finger board with the finger, or by shortening the vibrating part of other musical instruments.
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A strain is a portion of music divided off by a double bar forming a complete musical period or sentence. The term may be applied to a movement, or any rounded subdivision of a movement.
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The Strathspey is a Scottish dance said to have originated in the Strath valley of the Spey around the start of the 18th century. It is similar to the reel, but differs by its more broken movements in dancing, indicated in the music by the prevalence of dotted notes.
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In an opera or oratorio, a stretto is a coda, or winding up, in an accelerated time.
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In music the subdominant is the fourth tone above, or fifth below, the tonic. It is so called from being under the dominant.
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In music, the submediant is the sixth tone of the scale; the under mediant, or third below the keynote; the superdominant.
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In music a subtonic is the seventh tone of the scale, or that immediately below the tonic.
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A suite is one of the old musical forms, before the time of the more compact sonata, consisting of a string or series of pieces all in the same key, mostly in various dance rhythms, with sometimes an elaborate prelude.
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In music the superdominant is the sixth tone of the scale; that next above the dominant.
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In music a swell is a gradual increase and decrease of the volume of sound; the crescendo and diminuendo combined.
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A symphony is an elaborate instrumental composition for a full orchestra, consisting usually, like the sonata, of three or four contrasted yet inwardly related movements, as the allegro, the adagio, the minuet and trio, or scherzo, and the finale in quick time. The term has recently been applied to large orchestral works in freer form, with arguments or programmes to explain their meaning, such as the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt. The term was formerly applied to any composition for an orchestra, as overtures, etc., and still earlier, to certain compositions partly vocal, partly instrumental.
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In music syncopation is a peculiar figure of rhythm, or rhythmical alteration, which consists in welding into one tone the second half of one beat with the first half of the beat which follows.
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Abbreviations
Music
