Essentials of Music

ONLINE GLOSSARY

Click on a letter above to look up terms in the online glossary

raga Melodic pattern used in music of India; prescribes pitches, patterns, ornamentation and extramusical associations such as time of performance and emotional character.

ragtime Late nineteenth century piano style created by African-Americans, characterized by highly syncopated melodies; also played in ensemble arrangements. Contributed to early jazz styles.

range Distance between the lowest and highest tones of a melody, an instrument or a voice. This span can be generally described as narrow, medium or wide in range.

rap Subgenre of rock in which rhymed lyrics are spoken over rhythm tracks; developed by African-Americans in the 1970s and widely disseminated in the 1980s and 1990s.

rebec Medieval bowed-string instrument, often with a pear-shaped body.

recapitulation Third section of sonata-allegro form, in which the thematic material of the exposition is restated, generally in the tonic. Also restatement.

recitative Solo vocal declamation that follows the inflections of the text, often resulting in a disjunct vocal style; found in opera, cantata, and oratorio.

recorder End-blown woodwind instrument with a whistle mouthpiece, generally associated with early music.

reed Flexible strip of cane or metal set into a mouthpiece or the body of an instrument; set in vibration by a stream of air.

reel Moderately quick dance in duple meter danced throughout the British Isles; the most popular Irish traditional dance type.

refrain Text or music that is repeated within a larger form.

regal Small medieval reed organ.

reggae Jamaican popular music style characterized by offbeat rhythms and chanted vocals over a strong bass part; often associated with the Christian religious movement Rastafarianism.

register Specific area in the range of an instrument or voice.

registration Selection or combination of stops in a work for organ or harpsichord.

relative key The major and minor key that share the same key signature; for example, D minor is the relative minor of F major, both having one flat.

repeat sign Musical symbol that indicates repetition of a passage in a composition.

repetition Within a form, repetition fixes the musical material in our mind and satisfies our need for the familiar; it provides unity to a form.

Example: Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, "Fossils"
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This work fixes the opening idea in our minds through constant repetition of a short melodic passage.

Requiem Mass Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead.

resolution Conclusion of a musical idea, as in the progression from an active chord to a rest chord.

response Short choral answer to a solo verse; an element of liturgical dialogue.

responsorial singing Singing, especially in Gregorian chant, in which a soloist or a group of soloists alternates with the choir. See also call and response.

Example: Gregorian chant, "Kyrie eleison"
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In this example of Gregorian chant, a soloist alternates with a choir, who responds by imitating what was just sung.

restatement See recapitulation.

retrograde Backward statement of melody.

retrograde inversion Mirror image and backward statement of a melody.

rhythm The controlled movement of music in time.

Example: Ravel, Boléro
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In this example, the insistent rhythm drives the music forward and organizes it in time.

rhythm and blues Popular African-American music style of the 1940s through 1960s featuring a solo singer accompanied by a small instrumental ensemble (piano, guitar, acoustic bass, drums, tenor saxophone), driving rhythms, and blues and pop song forms.

ring shout Religious dance performed by African-American slaves, performed with hand clapping and a shuffle step to spirituals.

ripieno The larger of the two ensembles in the Baroque concerto grosso. Also tutti.

ritornando Holding back, getting slower.

Example: Smetana, The Moldau
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This work closes with a stretched-out and gradual slowing of the pace.

ritornello A short recurring passage that unifies an instrumental or vocal work.

Example: Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No.5, first movement
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In this example, the opening passage (the ritornello) is followed by a solo section (with harpsichord), after which the ritornello recurs.

rock and roll American popular music style first heard in the 1950s; derived from the union of African-American rhythm and blues, country-western, and pop music.

rock band Popular music ensemble that depends on amplified strings, percussion, and electronically generated sounds.

romance Originally a ballad; in the Romantic era, a lyric instrumental work.

ronde Lively Renaissance "round dance", associated with the outdoors, in which the participants danced in a circle or a line.

rondeau Medieval and Renaissance fixed poetic form and chanson type with courtly love texts.

rondo Musical form in which the first section recurs, usually in the tonic. In the Classical sonata cycle, it appears as the last movement in various forms, including A-B-A-B-A, A-B-A-C-A, and A-B-A-C-A-B-A.

Example: Mozart, Horn Concerto K.447, third movement
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A sectional form in which the opening section recurs several times to unify the contrasting sections (e.g., A-B-A-C-A). In this excerpt, the opening A section is heard, through its closing cadence.

roneat-ek Cambodian xylophone with 21 tuned wooden keys.

rosin Substance made from hardened tree sap, rubbed on the hair of a bow to help it grip the strings.

round Perpetual canon at the unison in which each voice enters in succession with the same melody (for example, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat").

rounded binary Compositional form with two sections, in which the second ends with a return to material from the first; each section is usually repeated.

rubato "Borrowed time", common in Romantic music, in which the performer hesitates here or hurries forward there, imparting flexibility to the written note values. Also tempo rubato.

rumba Latin-American dance of Afro-Cuban origin, in duple meter with syncopated rhythms.

rural blues American popular singing style with raspy-voiced male singer accompanied by acoustic steel-string guitar; features melodic >A HREF="b.html#bluenote">blue notes over repeated bass patterns.

Click on a letter above to look up terms in the online glossary