Dictionary of Music - Birding America

316 pitch bendhave been international agreements concerning asingle standard pitch, so that instruments in differentcountries all can be tuned the same way. The presentinternational standard, called CONCERT PITCH, is 440cycles per second for the A above middle C (see alsoA). However, in practice there is considerable variationfrom this standard. During Bach’s time(1685–1750) three different pitches were in commonuse—one for instrumental music (about onehalf tone lower than modern concert pitch), one forchurch music (both organ and choral), and a third forbrass bands. Today performers of baroque music onperiod instruments generally use a compromise standardsuch as A = 415 cycles per second.The term “pitch” is also used to describe variousinstruments; for example, a trumpet is said to be“pitched” in B-flat or C, meaning it is built so that itsfundamental tone (produced by the vibration of theentire air column inside) is B-flat or C.pitch bend A slight raising or lowering of anote’s pitch (less than a half tone up or down). Longcommon in jazz, the technique has been called forby numerous twentieth-century composers, mainlyfor woodwinds and brasses but also for stringedinstruments.pitch class A set of all the pitches with the samename—for example, all A’s—regardless of whatoctave they occur in. The term was introduced byMilton Babbitt to help in analyzing SERIAL MUSIC.pitch names The syllables or letters of the alphabetthat are used for the pitches contained in anoctave. They are shown, along with the notes on thetreble and bass staves, under A in the accompanyingillustration. Various systems are used to indicatewhich octave a pitch belongs to. One of the mostcommon of such systems, called the Helmholtz system,is shown under B in the illustration. (See alsoSOLMIZATION).fig. 186 p/u from p. 327Pitch names have been used by numerous composersto create ciphers. A particularly common oneis BACH (the German names for the notes B-flat, A,C, B natural), used by J. S. Bach in the final fugueof The Art of Fugue and, in homage to him, bySchumann, Liszt, Schoenberg, and Webern, amongothers. Alban Berg in his Lyric Suite encoded hisinitials along with those of his secret lover. (Seealso B-A-C-H.)pitch pipe A small pipe with a movable stopperenabling it to sound any of the pitches of an octave.Formerly used to set the pitch for a choral group orfor the stringed instruments of the orchestra, it waslater replaced by the TUNING FORK, and still later, byvarious electronic instruments.più (pyoo — ) Italian: “more.” 1 A term used indirections such as più lento (“slower”), più marcato(“more marked [accented]”), più mosso or piùmoto (“faster”). 2 Used with il, più means “most,”as in il più presto, the fastest tempo (“as fast aspossible”). 3 Used alone, più usually means piùmoto (“faster”).più tostoSee PIUTTOSTO.fig. 187 p/u from p. 327piuttosto (pyoo — tôs′tô) Italian: “rather, somewhat.”Also, più tosto. A word employed in suchdirections as piuttosto allegro (“rather fast”).piva (pē′vä) Italian. 1 An old Italian bagpipe.2 An Italian dance of the fifteenth century, in rapidtriple meter (any meter in which there are three basicbeats per measure, such as 3/4 or 3/8). By the sixteenthcentury it was no longer danced but appearedin lute music of the time.