Musical Notations for 2009

Here are some new musical terms to help you play your way through 2009!



Adagio formaggio -- to play in a slow and cheesy manner
Al dente con tableau -- in opera, chew the scenery
AnDante -- a musical composition that is infernally slow
Angus Dei -- a divine, beefy tone
Antiphonal -- referring to the prohibition of cell phones in the concert hall
A patella-- unaccompanied knee-slapping
Appologgiatura -- an ornament you regret after playing it
Approximatura -- a series of notes played by a performer and not intended by the composer, especially when disguised with an air of "I meant to do that."
Approximento -- a musical entrance that is somewhat close to the correct pitch
Bar line -- what musicians form after a concert
Basso continuo -- the act of game fishing after the legal season has ended
Basso profundo -- an opera about deep sea fishing
Brake drum -- the instrument most used to slow the tempo in an orchestra
Concerto grosso -- a really bad performance
DC al capone -- you betta go back to the beginning, capiche?
Dill piccolo -- a wind instrument that plays only sour notes
Diminuendo -- the process of quieting a rumor in the orchestra pit
Eardrum -- a teeny, tina tympani
Fermantra -- a note that is held over and over and over and...
Fiddler crabs -- grumpy string players
Flute files -- gnat-like bugs that bother musicians playing out of doors
Fog horn -- a brass instrument that plays when the conductor's intentions are not clear
Frugalhorn -- a sensible, inexpensive brass instrument
Gaul blatter -- a French horn player
Good conductor -- a person who can give an electrifying performance
Gregorian champ -- monk who can hold a note the longest
Kvetchendo -- gradually getting annoyingly louder
Mallade -- a romantic song that's pretty awful
Molto bolto -- head straight for the ending, but don't make it seemed rushed
Opera buffa -- musical stage production at a nudist camp
Pipe smoker -- an extremely virtuosic organist
Poochini -- when singing, to beaccompanied by your dog
Pre-Classical Conservatism -- school of thought which fostered the idea, "if it ain't baroque, don't fix it."
Pre-lude -- a cue, found in some of the earlier oratorios, instructing those singing the roles of the wicked to sing in an offensive or profane manner
(The) Rights of Strings -- manifesto of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Bowed Instruments
Spinet -- politician's order
Spritzicato -- plucking of a stringed instrumentto produce a bright, bubbly sound, usually accompanied by sparkling water with lemon (wine optional)
Status cymbal -- an instrument to be played at inaugurations and socialite balls
Tempo tantrum -- what a young orchestra is having when it's not keeping time with the conductoer
Timpani alley -- a row of kettledrums
Tincanabutation -- the annoying or irritating sounds made by an unmusical person using extremely cheap bells
Vesuvioso -- a gradual buildup to a fiery conclusion