Glossary

accidental

A category including sharps, flats, naturals, double sharps and double flats. These words or symbols indicate that a note is to be raised or lowered, depending on the context.

bass clef

F clef; a symbol that indicates that the second highest line of a staff represents the F below middle C.

bass staff

A staff written in the bass clef.

cent

A unit of perceived intervallic distance; there are 1200 equal cents in an octave.

cipher notation

Indonesian notation system using numbers to designate pitches, with dots above or below the numbers designating pitches in higher or lower octaves.

courtesy accidental

A discretionary accidental that clarifies which version of a note (sharp, flat, natural, etc.) is in play. A courtesy accidental is a helpful reminder rather than a symbol modifying a note.

double flat

A word or symbol (resembling two flats side by side) indicating a note lowered by two semitones.

double sharp

A word or symbol (𝄪) indicating a note raised by two semitones.

fermata

A sign, typically placed above or below a note, to indicate a pause.

flat

A word or symbol (♭) indicating a note lowered by one semitone.

frequency

rate of vibration, typically measured in hertz.

gamut

A collection of notes that stand in a culturally determined intervallic relationship to one another; pitch system.

gong-chimes

Pot-shaped gongs.

grand staff

A pair of staves, typically with the upper in the treble clef and the lower in the bass clef, joined together by a brace. The grand staff is often used to notate piano music.

half step

The smallest interval conventionally used in Western music. A semitone can be found between any two adjacent notes on a keyboard instrument. Also called a semitone.

hertz

Vibrations per second, sometimes abbreviated Hz.

interval

The distance between two pitches, often measured in cents or hertz.

intervallic

Involving or related to intervals.

keyboard instrument

A mechanism that produces musical sound when its keys are pressed down. Keyboard instruments include the organ, piano, harmonium and synthesiser. Most keyboards are organised in a repeating pattern of dark- and light-coloured keys and embed the 7- and 12-note Western pitch collections.

ledger line

A short line used in notating pitches that are higher or lower than the staff. Also spelled as ‘leger’.

maqa̅m

In Arab music theory, (a) the complete gamut, comprising 24 equally spaced notes per octave; (b) smaller pitch collections such as Maqām bayātī, derived from the larger gamut.

middle C

Typically the C found closest to the centre of a keyboard instrument.

natural

A word or symbol (♮) that cancels a sharp or flat.

note

(a) A musical sound of fixed pitch, typically belonging to a pitch collection; (b) the elliptical shape used to represent this sound in staff notation.

notehead

The elliptical part of a musical note, distinct from the stem.

octave

(a) In Western music, the distance between a note and the closest note above or below it to share the same note name; (b) an interval in which the higher of the two notes vibrates at twice the speed of the lower.

out of tune

Too sharp or too flat.

pélog

A pitch system from Sunda in western Java comprising seven pitches, used in music played by a kind of ensemble called Gamelan Pélog. Note that there is also a 5-note version of pélog in Sunda, used by an ensemble called Gamelan Degung, and that different pitch collections called pélog exist in other parts of Java.

pentatonic

Of a pitch system or scale: having five distinct pitches.

pitch

(a) The perception of the frequency of a sound or of its highness or lowness; (b) a note.

pitch collection

(a) A group of pitches or notes; (b) (rarer) a pitch system.

pitch system

A collection of notes (also called pitches) that stand in a culturally determined intervallic relationship to one another; gamut.

polyphonic

(n. polyphony) Music in which two or more distinct parts are heard simultaneously

qānūn

An instrument whose plucked strings are laid out across a sounding board.

quarter step

See quarter tone.

quarter tone

The smallest interval conventionally identified in Arab music theory. Two quarter tones comprise a semitone and four quarter tones comprise a tone. Also called a quarter step.

rebab

Stringed instrument played with a bow and used in Indonesian gamelan performance.

saléndro

A pitch system from Sunda in western Java, comprising five approximately equidistant pitches and used in music played by an ensemble called Gamelan Saléndro. Note that different pitch systems called sléndro (a slightly different pronunciation) exist elsewhere in Java.

sléndro

A pitch system used in central Java and comprising five pitches. Note that a different pitch system called saléndro (a slightly different pronunciation) exists in western Java.

saron

A xylophone used in Sundanese gamelan performance.

semitone

The smallest interval conventionally used in Western music. A semitone can be found between any two adjacent notes on a keyboard instrument. Also called a half step.

sharp

A word or symbol (♯) indicating a note raised by one semitone.

slur

In staff notation, a curved line placed above or below a succession of notes. This can indicate that the notes are played smoothly. In music theory, a slur can also be used to group notes together for analytical or demonstrative purposes.

staff

(pl. ‘staves’) A set of lines on which notes are written in staff notation. A five-line staff is usual in contemporary Western and Arab musical notation.

staff notation

A method for representing music visually in which notes designating sounds of fixed pitch are arranged on staves.

step

A step comprises two half steps. Also called a tone.

taqsīm

An improvised section in a performance of Arab music.

tone

A tone is equal to the sum of two semitones. Also called a step.

treble clef

G clef; a symbol that indicates that the second lowest line of the staff represents G above middle C.

treble staff

A staff written in the treble clef.

‘ūd

A short-necked lute (a guitar-like instrument) whose strings are plucked.

unison

Musicians perform in unison when they sing or play the same pitches in the same octave at the same time.