AP Music Theory F-H

facile

Light, easy.

Fagott

Bassoon.

false cadence

Deceptive cadence (V - vi).

fandango

Lively Spanish dance in triple meter usually accompanied by guitar & castanets.

fanfare

A prelude or opening, usually played by a brass instrument.

fantaisie, fantasia

A piece in free style and form.

fastoso

Pompous.

festoso

Merry.

fiato

Breath.

fiero

Bold, fiery.

figure

A small group of notes or a phrase.

finale

The last movement of a symphony; the last section of an opera.

fine

The end.

fingering

Notation written on the music to indicate where to place fingers.

flamenco

"Flemish / Gypsy;" a Spanish song often performed on guitar.

flauto

Flute.

flip

A jazz technique on brass or wind where a note is raised in pitch and then glissed down to the following note.

flourish

A fanfare; an ornamented passage.

Flügel

"Wing;" grand piano (called for its wing-like shape).

flutter tonguing

On wind instruments, a rapid tremolo produced by rolling the tongue.

fortepiano

A historic name applied to the early pianoforte.

fugue

"Flight;" a contrapuntal piece built on 2 or more parts.

fugato, fughetta

A recurring subject that is introduced alone and followed by an answer (at a different pitch level).

fundamental

The lowest note in a harmonic series.

furioso

Furiously; wildly.

fusion

A combination of jazz and rock dating from the early 1970's.

galop

A spirited 19th-century round dance in 2/4 time.

gavotte

An elegant and graceful late-17th-century dance in 4/4 time.

Geige

A violin.

Gesang

Singing; song; voice part.

ghost note

A note that is barely played / sung, noted in parenthesis.

giocoso

Humorous.

gioioso

Joyful.

glee

Vocal music for 3 or 4 parts, unaccompanied and homophonic.

glissando

A rapid scale produced by sliding fingers/hand from 1 note to another.

grandioso

Grand, large, grandiose.

grave

Grave, slow; deep or low in pitch.

grazia, grazioso

Grace; graceful.

grosse ciasse

Bass Drum.

grosso, grosse

Great, large.

ground bass

A bass line that is repeated constantly throughout a piece.

guida

The subject of a fugue.

gusto

Style, enjoyment.

half cadence

Imperfect cadence.

harmonic rhythm

The rate of movement from one chord to another.

harmonic series

A series of notes produced above the fundamental and sounded in a definite order.

hastig

Quickly, hastily.

haut, haute

High.

hautbois

Oboe.

hemiola

The rhythmic relation of three note in the time of two.

heterophony

The simultaneous performance of 2 or more slightly different versions of the same melody.

homophony

Music in which 1 voice has the melody with a chordal accompaniment.

humoresque

"Humorous;" a humorous or capricious instrumental piece.

hemidemisemiquaver

A sixty-fourth note.