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Music Terms Glossary - B
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ballade  (1) One of several types of medieval secular songs, usually in A-A-B form; (2) a type of nineteenth-century character piece for piano.

ballad opera  A popular eighteenth-century English dramatic form characterized by spoken dialogue on topical themes interspersed with popular folk songs.

ballata  A type of fourteenth-century italian secular song, similar to the French virelai.

ballet  The theatrical presentation of group or solo dancing of great precision to a musical accompaniment, usually with costumes and scenery and conveying a story or theme.

bar  Same as measure.

baritone  Adult male voice of moderately low range.

basic set  The underlying tone row in a serial composition.

bass  (1) The lowest adult male voice; (2) the lowest voice in a polyphonic texture.

bass clef  The clef in the upper staff that shows pitches mostly below middle C

basse danse  A popular Renaissance court dance for couples.

blue note In blues singing or jazz, the deliberate offpitch lowering of certain pitches.

blues (I)A form of African-American folk music, characterized by simple, repetitive structures and a highly flexible vocal delivery; (2) the style of singing heard in the blues.

bow In string playing, a bundle of bleached horsehairs stretched tautly between the ends of a wooden stick. To produce a sound, the bow is drawn over one or more of the strings.

branle A high-stepping Renaissance group dance.

brass A family of instruments with cup-shaped mouthpieces through which the player blows into a series of metal tubes. Usually constructed of brass or silver.

bridge (1) A passage connecting two sections of a composition; (2) on string instruments, a small piece of wood th I at holds the strings above the body.

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