Instruments of the orchestra
- Strings: violin, viola, cello and double bass. Woodwind: flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon.
- Brass: trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba. Percussion: timpani (tuned) and snare drum, cymbals and bass drum (untuned).
- Voices: soprano (highest female), alto, tenor and bass (lowest male). Falsetto is a light, high male voice.
Playing techniques
- Strings: arco (bowed), pizzicato (plucked), tremolo (rapid repeated notes), double stopping (two notes at once), con sordino (muted) and vibrato.
- Brass: muted playing and glissando (sliding between notes, as on a trombone).
- Guitar: distortion, strumming, palm muting and bends. Music technology: reverb, delay, panning, sampling and looping.
Dynamics
- pp (pianissimo): very quiet. p (piano): quiet. mp (mezzo piano): moderately quiet.
- mf (mezzo forte): moderately loud. f (forte): loud. ff (fortissimo): very loud.
- Crescendo: getting louder. Diminuendo (decrescendo): getting quieter. Sforzando (sfz): a sudden, strong accent.
- Terraced dynamics change suddenly between loud and quiet, typical of Baroque music.
Key terms
- Timbre
- The characteristic sound of an instrument or voice.
- Pizzicato
- Plucking the strings.
- Arco
- Playing the strings with the bow.
- Tremolo
- Rapidly repeating a note.
- Crescendo
- Getting gradually louder.
- Diminuendo
- Getting gradually quieter.
- Sforzando
- A sudden, strong accent.
- Terraced dynamics
- Sudden changes between loud and quiet.