Dictionary of Music - Birding America

anjo 27among the civilian population as well. 5 symphonicband or concert band A band including woodwinds,brasses, percussion instruments, and occasionallysome cellos and double basses. The purposeof a symphonic band is more purely musical thanthat of bands performing at athletic events or militaryparades, since such bands generally perform atconcerts. Numerous composers have written musicfor symphonic band, among them Holst, Hindemith,and Vaughan Williams. 6 marching band A bandthat generally performs during parades and thereforecannot include instruments too large or too heavy tocarry while being played. The most famous nineteenth-centuryAmerican bandmaster was Irish-bornPatrick Gilmore (1829–1892), who led his GrandBoston Band with the Union Army in 1861. Themost famous American composer of marching bandmusic is John Philip Sousa. (See also DRUM ANDBUGLE CORPS; MARCH.) 7 jazz band A band thatperforms jazz and other popular music, and generallyincludes some stringed instruments (usuallydouble bass or guitar). 8 big band A jazz band thathas a total of twelve to fifteen or more instruments:four or five rhythm instruments (piano, bass, drums,guitar), four or five brasses (trumpets and trombones),and four or five woodwinds (mostly saxophonesbut perhaps also clarinet or flute), plus amale or female vocalist (or perhaps a vocal group)and sometimes also a string section. See also underJAZZ. 9 dance band A band similar in compositionto a jazz band that provides music for ballroomdancing. 10 jug band A folk string band, with guitar,fiddle, and perhaps mandolin, and sometimesalso piano. Its name comes from a homemadeinstrument, a one-gallon glass bottle or earthenwarejug; the player half-vocalized and half-blew acrossthe opening, producing a tuba-like sound.bandura (bän doo r′ä). Also, bandoura. A lutelikeinstrument with a very short neck, round body,and forty or more steel strings, eight attached to tuningpins in the neck and the rest to tuning pins distributedaround the edge of the instrument’s body. Afolk instrument of the Ukraine, it is plucked with aplectrum and is used alone or in ensembles of two ormore instruments.bandurria (bän doo — r rē′ä) Spanish. A kind of lute,used especially in southern Spain and Latin America.It has six pairs of strings tuned G♯,C♯,F♯, B, E, and A,which are plucked with a plectrum. The bandurria isoften used in bands along with several kinds of guitar.fig. 16 p/u from p. 29banjo A stringed instrument widely used inAmerican popular and folk music. It has a long neckand a body consisting of a round, shallow framecovered with parchment on one side. The banjo mayhave from five to nine strings, made of gut, nylon, ormetal, and plucked with either a plectrum or the fingers.The most common variety of banjo has fivestrings, which are tuned D′, B, G, C, G′ and pluckedwith the fingers. Frets indicate the stopping places.The banjo was brought by slaves from West Africato North America, where for a time it became thetraditional folk instrument for American blacks. Atfirst used for folk songs, it soon came to be used byminstrel troupes and in vaudeville performances.The banjo was also used by early jazz musicians butwas later replaced by the guitar. It is quite easy toplay and remains a popular instrument, especiallyamong amateurs, chiefly for accompanying singing.bandola (bän dō′lä) Spanish. A flat-backed luteused mainly in Colombia and Venezuela. Derivedfrom the BANDURRIA, it has a similar teardrop shape,concave back, and six pairs of strings, which, however,are tuned in descending fourths, G D A E B F♯.It generally performs the melody and is accompaniedby guitar.fig. 17 p/u from p. 29fig. 18 p/u from p. 29bandora (ban dôr′a).Another name for PANDORA.