Dictionary of Music - Birding America

Qqānūn (kä′noo n) Arabic. Also, Greek, kanûn (känoo — n′), kanon (kä nôn′). An Arab PSALTERY thatdates from the tenth century or earlier and is stillplayed today in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. It isthe leading instrument of the traditional Egyptianorchestra, which consists also of a lute, violin, andflute. Versions of the qānūn are played in India andIndonesia.The present-day qānūn consists of a shallowbox, usually trapezoidal in shape (four sides, withthe two shorter sides slanting outward), strungwith seventeen to twenty-five triple courses (setsof three strings each, each set being tuned to thesame pitch). The Egyptian qānūn has gut stringsand is played with two plectra worn on the player’sforefingers. The instrument is held flat on theplayer’s lap; the right hand plucks the melodynotes and the left hand repeats them in a loweroctave. The Egyptian instrument also has movablebridges for slightly raising the pitch of the strings.During the Middle Ages the qānūn was heldupright instead of flat and usually had metalstrings.quadrille (kwə dril′). A dance that became popularin the early nineteenth century in France, andlater also in England and Germany. Danced by eithertwo or four couples, it had five sections, the oddnumberedones (1, 3, 5) in 6/8 meter and the others(2, 4) in 2/4 meter. The music was usually takenfrom popular songs, operatic arias, and other familiarmusic of the period.quadrophonicquadruple counterpointPOINT.quadruple fugueSee under STEREOPHONIC.See under FUGUE.See under COUNTER-quadruple meter Any METER in which there arefour beats per measure, such as 4/4 or 4/8. Quadruplemeter is often considered a type of duple meter,since there are two accented beats in a measure (thefirst and third).quadruplet A group of four notes of the sametime value (all eighth notes, or all quarter notes, forexample) that are to be performed in the time usuallytaken for three notes of that value. For example,in 3/4 meter, calling for three quarter notes permeasure, a quadruplet might be a group of fourquarter notes within a measure. The quadruplet isusually marked with the figure 4 and with a bracketor slur.fig. 192 p/ufrom p. 342329