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Music Terms Glossary - S
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

sampling The capacity of a synthesizer to extrapolate from a single example a homogeneous timbre over a wide pitch range.

scale An array of fixed, ordered pitches bounded by two notes an octave apart. The common Western scales contain seven notes; in non-Western cultures, scales may contain fewer or more than seven notes.

scherzo (Italian, "joke") A faster, often humorous transformation of a minuet, introduced into symphonies by Beethoven.

score The complete musical notation of a composition, especially for an ensemble; the individual parts are lined up vertically.

scoring The process of orchestration.

secondary area In a movement in sonata form, the theme or group of themes that follows the transition and establishes the new key in the exposition.

semitone Same as halfstep.

sequence (1) The repetition of a musical idea at progressively higher or lower pitches; (2) a form of medieval chant.

sequencing On a synthesizer, programming a series of sounds.

serialist The technique, introduced by Schoenberg, of basing a composition on a series, or tone row. Boulez and others have extended serialism to rhythm and timbre.

shape The interrelationship through time of the parts or sections of a piece. Standardized shapes are commonly referred to as forms.

sharp In musical notation, a sign (#) indicating that the note it precedes is to be played a half step higher.

simple meter A meter in which the main beats arc subdivided into twos, such as 2/4 or 3/4.

Singspiel ("sung play") German folk or comic opera in which arias, ensembles, and choruses arc interspersed with spoken dialogue.

slur (1) In musical notation, a curved line connecting notes that are to be played legato; (2) in performance, the playing of legato.

sonata A chamber work in several movements; in the Baroque, typically for three parts (the continuo part normally requiring two instruments); in later periods, for one or two instruments.

sonata-concerto form A hybrid of Baroque ritornello form and sonata form often used in the Classical concerto.

sonata form A musical form or style, originating in the eighteenth century, based on successive stages of stability, tension, and resolution; the most influential form developed during the age of tonality.

sonata-rondo form A synthesis of sonata and rondo forms, especially popular in finales of Classical instrumental works.

song cycle A collection of poems set to music and tied together by mood or story line.

sonority A general term for sound quality, either of a brief moment or of an entire composition.

soprano (1) The high woman's (or boy's) voice; (2)the highest voice in a polyphonic texture.

spinning-out A translation of the German Fortspinnung, in reference to the single-minded use in Baroque music of a brief motive to generate a long, continuous phrase.

Sprechstimme A vocal delivery, developed by Schoenberg, intermediate between speech and song.

staccato In musical notation, a dot placed above a notehead to indicate that it is to be played crisply, with a short duration of sound.

staff (plural, staves) In musical notation, the five horizontal lines on which one or more voices are notated.

stem In musical notation, the vertical line attached to a notehead.

stop On the organ, hand-operated levers that activate different means of sound production, thereby varying the tone color.

stop (double, triple, quadruple) In string playing, the sounding of two, three, or four strings at once.

string quartet (1) Ensemble consisting of two violins, viola, and cello; (2) a work composed for this ensemble.

strings Family of bowed or plucked instruments in which thin strings are stretched over a wooden frame.

strophic form Vocal form in which each stanza of a poem is set to the same music. structure A term often used in music to mean shape or form.

style The result of the interaction among rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, color, and shape that gives the music of a particular period or composer its distinctiveness.

subdominant (1) The fourth degree of the diatonic scale- (2) the triad built on this degree; (3) the key oriented around this degree.

subject The main theme of a fugue.

suite (I) A work consisting of a collection of dances, popular in the Baroque; (2) an abbreviated version of a longer work, for example, the suite from the film Star Wars.

swing (I)A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation; (2) name used to describe big band jazz from the 1930s and 1940s.

syllabic In plainchant, a style in which each syllable of text receives a single note.

symphonic poem Same as Tone Poem.

symphony A large orchestral composition in several movements- a dominant form of public music in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

syncopation The accenting, within a well-defined meter, of weaker beats or portions of beats.

synthesizer An electronic device that can create a wide variety of sounds in response to the user's instructions.

system A group of staves connected by a brace, indicating that they are to be played simultaneously.

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