Composer Profile - Activefolio

154 Glossary
marimba Mallet percussion instrument usually employing rosewood bars and long
resonator tubes. The marimba has a darker more mellow sound than a
xylophone.
Mass Principal church service of the Catholic church.
mazurka Polish dance in triple meter.
measure In written music, the space between vertical bar lines.
melody An arrangement of pitches that express a complete musical thought.
meno Less.
meter Regular occurrences of strong beats in music, usually divisible by two (duple)
or three (triple).
metronome A machine that produces sonic beats, adjustable for speed, which is
used to measure the speed of music. Invented in 1812 by Dietrich Winkel.
mezzo forte (mf ) Moderately loud.
mezzo piano (mp) Moderately soft.
mezzo soprano Female vocal range, slightly lower than soprano.
MIDI Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Communication system
for networking electronic musical instruments.
minimalism Twentieth century musical style made popular by Philip Glass, which is
characterized by slow development of small, repeated, melodic ideas or rhythms.
minnesingers Secular German poet-musicians from the Medieval period.
minor scale Diatonic scale consisting of eight notes including the octave. In its pure
form half steps occur between the second and third steps, and between the fifth
and sixth steps.
minstrels See jongleurs.
minuet and trio Dance form in a moderate, triple meter. Later adopted by classical
symphonists as the third movement of a symphony.
mode Scale. In addition to major and minor, any diatonic arrangement of seven
tones plus the octave that contain two sets of half steps.
moderato Moderate tempo.
modulation Changing from one tonal center or key to another.
molto Very.
monophonic One unaccompanied melody line; no harmony.
motet Medieval polyphonic vocal form that could be sacred or secular, and often
included multiple texts.
motive Short musical phrase or rhythmic idea.
movement A self contained piece of music, designed to be part of a larger work.
music drama Wagnerian term for opera.
nationalism The movement of musicians in a country to preserve and promote the
folk music and unique characteristics of that country’s music.