The "What are you listening now?" thread

[eliasfrost]

Too many.. weird... words...

What a great chance to learn:

cantabile = Italian for "singing" (can be adv. or adj. depending on context) - it means to be played in a singing style

nocturne = a piece of music inspired by, or representative of night

op. = opus, Latin for "work", an artistic effort

adagio = Italian for "slowly"

crescendo and dynamics = a steady increase in note intensity over a designated period of time - the intensity of any given note, ranging from ppp (sometimes more p's) which stands for pianissimo possible (as soft as possibile) to fff (sometimes more f's) which stands for fortissimo possibile (with as much force as possible)

doppio movimento = double the tempo

score = sheet music, all of the instructions followed by the conductor or player

sotto voce = I believe it means something like "below the voice" in Italian. In vocal music it means to whisper the notes or half-sing very quietly and in instrumental music it means essentially the same thing only referring to the notes being played softly

marcato = a sign written above individual notes (or writing marcato over a passage) that tells the performer to play with more intensity, louder

slur = a line written above a passage to indicate that it should be played smoothly or legato

tempo rubato = Italian for "robbed time". The original idea was to rob some duration from one note and give to another, retaining the tempo (or BPM), but it often means to play as freely as you want while keeping the basic tempo in mind (aka, not playing lightning fast through an entire piece marked adagio)

Have fun with your newfound knowledge. These terms are not meant to confuse people, they are just ordinary Italian words that developed out of tradition. Nowadays people use them because they are instantly understood by musicians worldwide and so convenient.

Interesting, I've been thinking about borrowing some musical theory books from my local library but I haven't taken the opportunity to do so yet. I have a good friend who studied music too, so I've got a lot of handy sources in case I get the urge to start learning for real.