Dictionary of Music - Birding America

FF 1 One of the musical tones (see PITCH NAMES),the fourth note in the scale of C major. The scalesbeginning on F are F major and F minor. A compositionbased on one of these scales is said to be in thekey of F major or F minor, the key signatures (seeKEY SIGNATURE) for these keys being one flat andfour flats, respectively. The note one half tone belowF is called F-flat or E (see ENHARMONIC for anexplanation); the note one half tone above F is calledF-sharp or G-flat. (For the location of these notes onthe piano, see KEYBOARD.) 2 An ornamented form ofthe letter F is used as the sign for the bass clef, orF clef (see under CLEF). 3 Abbreviation for FORTE,usually written in lower case (f). —F instrumentA TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENT, such as the F trumpet(or trumpet in F), that sounds each note a fourthhigher than it is written, or the French horn, whichsounds each note a fifth lower than it is written; ineach case, the fingering for the written note C yieldsthe pitch F.fa (fä). In the system of naming the notes of thescale (see SOLMIZATION), the fourth note of the scale(the others being do, re, mi, sol, la, and ti).faburden (fab′ ər d ə n). 1 In early fifteenthcenturyEnglish music, a form of vocal improvisationin which a plainsong cantus firmus (fixedmelody) is accompanied by a voice in thirds andfifths below it and another voice in fourths above it.This formula enabled singing three-part harmony atsight, reading only the notes of the chant melody.Although the term faburden appears to be a translationof the French term FAUXBOURDON, the techniquesare not identical. In the latter half of the fifteenthcentury faburden came to mean any technique ofthree-part harmony. 2 In sixteenth-century Englishmusic, a special way of setting hymns for organ.First a tenor part was written at a distance of sixthsand octaves below the plainsong melody (which wasmoved up an octave if it lay in the tenor range). Theplainsong itself was then discarded, and the newtenor, called the faburden, replaced it as a cantusfirmus, to which additional voice-parts were added.This sort of setting was intended to alternate withthe stanzas sung in plainsong.facile (fä′ chē le) Italian.in an easy, fluent manner.A direction to performfado (fä′dô) Portuguese. A form of urban solosong performed in cabarets and cafés. Its origin isdisputed, some saying it comes from Arab music,others from rural Portguese folk music. The songs,strophic in form (with several stanzas), may be ineither a major or a minor key (or, sometimes, shiftfrom one to the other), and are usually in duple meter(with two basic beats per measure). A guitar accompanimentplays the bass line in simple harmonies;there may also be a lute, which improvises a melody135