Entertainment / Music Glossary

Quintet: A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.

Quotation Music: Music that parodies another work or works, presenting them in a new style or guise.

Raga: Melodic pattern used in music of India: prescribes pitches, patterns, ornamentation and extramusical associations such as time of performance and emotional character.

Ragtime: Late nineteenth century piano style created by African-Americans, characterized by highly syncopated melodies: also played in ensemble arrangements. Contributed to early jazz styles.

Range: Distance between the lowest and highest tones of a melody, an instrument or a voice. This span can be generally described as narrow, medium or wide in range.

Rap: Subgenre of rock in which rhymed lyrics are spoken over rhythm tracks: developed by African-Americans in the 1970s and widely disseminated in the 1980s and 1990s.

Rebec: Medieval bowed-string instrument, often with a pear-shaped body.

Recapitulation: A reprise.

Recital: A solo concert with or without accompaniment.

Recitative: Solo vocal declamation that follows the inflections of the text, often resulting in a disjunct vocal style: found in opera, cantata, and oratorio.

Recorder: End-blown woodwind instrument with a whistle mouthpiece, generally associated with early music.

Reed: The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.

Reel: Moderately quick dance in duple meter danced throughout the British Isles: the most popular Irish traditional dance type.

Refrain: A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.

Regal: Small medieval reed organ.

Reggae: Jamaican popular music style characterized by offbeat rhythms and chanted vocals over a strong bass part: often associated with the Christian religious movement Rastafarianism.

Register: Specific area in the range of an instrument or voice.

Registration: Selection or combination of stops in a work for organ or harpsichord.

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