#16 MUSICAL TERMS

1.   Presto – Italian - Tempo marking meaning very fast

2.   Prima donna – Italian - leading lady in an opera

3.      Processional – A hymn sung in church during the entrance of the choir and clergy

4.   Quarter tone – A quarter step. (Half-way between a half step). Used in some contemporary music as well as some non-Western music.

5.   Quasi – Italian – nearly or approaching. I.e. quasi forte is nearly forte

6.   Quaver – British term for an eighth note

7.   Quintet – A group of 5 performers

8.   Quintuplet – A group of 5 notes that should be sung in the same time as 4; Written with a 5 over it

9.   Quodlibet – A musical medley in which several well-known pieces are all sung together.

10. Rallentando – Italian – Gradually slowing in tempo

11. Ranz des vaches – French – A song played on the alpine horn or sung in the Swiss Alps to call the cattle

12. Recessional – A hymn sung in church during the departure of the choir and the clergy

13. Recitative – Declamatory singing. 

14. Refrain – The recurring melody in a song, usually at the end of a stanza. Also called the chorus

15. Register – The range of the voice – high register, low, middle…

Schirmer Pocket Manual of Musical Terms, Edited by Theodore Baker, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1978