Glossary

F
A note of the scale
f
The abbreviation of 'Forte', the Italian for 'loud'
F Clef
Another name for the Bass Clef
Facile
French and Italian for 'fluent' and 'easy-seeming'
Falsetto
Singing or speaking, usually by a male voice, i a higher register than normal. Sometimes used by tenors for very high, quiet notes
Fandango
A lively Spanish dance in triple time, accompanied by guitars, singing and castanets
Fanfare
A piece or passage of music for trumpets or other brass instruments in a declamatory or proclamatory style. Often used at the beginning of large pieces for dramatic effect
Fantasy
A very loose term describing a piece in which the composer indulges his compositional whims with little or no regard to any particular form or musical genre
Farandole
A Provencale dance in 6/8, accompanied by pipes and a tabor (a type of drum)
Fermata
The musical term for a pause in the music
ff
Abbreviation of 'Fortissimo', the Italian for 'very loud'
Figure
A short musical phrase which is repeated occasionally throughout a piece, giving the work a recognisable 'feature'
Figured Bass
See 'Basso Continuo'
Finale
Italian word referring to the final movement of a large-scale work in several movements (such as a Symphony), or the final section of an Opera, often consisting of several subsections
Fine
Italian for 'end', meaning the end of a work, or sometimes written to indicate the point where a movement should end if there has been a 'Da Capo Al Fine' repeat marking (See 'Da Capo')
Fioritura
From the Italian word for 'flowering', meaning the decoration of a melody with ornaments which may be either written down or improvised. (See 'Ornament')
First Movement Form
See 'Sonata Form'
Flat
A note which has been lowered in pitch from its 'natural' position by a semitone (such as A becoming A-flat). Also used of the sign that indicates this, and of the unintentional performance of a note lower in pitch than it should be
Flourish
A decorative musical figuration similar to an Ornament, although often more intricate. Also another term for 'Fanfare'
Flutter-Tongueing
Vibrating the tongue very quickly whilst playing a wind instrument to produce a fluttering sound
Forte
Italian for 'loud', abbreviated 'f'
Fortissimo
Italian for 'very loud', abbreviated 'ff'
Forzando
Italian for 'strongly accented', abbreviated 'fz'
Fuga
Latin for a type of Canon in the 15th and 16th centuries. Italian for 'Fugue'
Fugato
A section of music which is written in the style of a Fugue whislt not actually being one
Fugue
A contrapuntal (See 'Counterpoint') composition for two or more voices or parts in which a central theme is sucessively imitated by each voice or part at the beginning and then developed throughout the piece. J. S. Bach wrote some of the most famous Fugues
fz
Abbreviation of 'Forzando', Italian for 'strongly accented'