F

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F

The key of F.

F clef

A clef usually centered on the fourth line of the staff (bass clef), designating that line as the note F below middle C.

Fagott

Fagott (German) or fagotto (Italian) is the bassoon, the bass of the woodwind section in the orchestra (see Bassoon).

false cadence

A deceptive cadence.

falsetto

A high, artificial voice used for notes that lie above the normal register.

fanfare

A fanfare is a flourish of trumpets or other similar instruments, used for military or ceremonial purposes, or music that conveys this

impression.

fantasy, fantasia, fantaisie

A piece in free style and form.

feminine cadence

A cadence ending on a weak beat.

Fiddle

A fiddle is a violin, but the word is used either colloquially or to indicate a folk-instrument. The Australian composer Percy Grainger, who objected to the use of words of Latin origin, used the word fiddle for violin, middle-fiddle for viola and bass fiddle for cello, as part of his eccentric vocabulary of 'blue-eyed English'.

fifth

The interval of five diatonic degrees.

figured bass

The bass part with numbers written adjacent to it to indicate the intervals or harmonies to be played above it.

figured melody

A highly ornamented melody.

finale

The last movement of a sonata or symphony, or the last section of an opera.

fingerboard

On string instruments, the top surface of the neck where the fingers press down on the strings.

flats

Accidentals that lower a given pitch by one half-step. Also see key signature.

Flautist

A flautist is a player of the flute.

Flute

The word flute may indicate a variety of wind instruments without reeds. The modern orchestra makes use of transverse flutes, augmented as necessary by a smaller transverse flute known as a piccolo and very occasionally by a larger instrument, the alto or bass flute, pitched a fourth lower. The straight flute is known in English as a recorder (= French: flûte à bec; German: Blockflöte; Italian: flauto dolce) but was not used in the orchestra after the later Baroque period.

Follia, La

The Italian La Follia, (= Spanish: Fola; French: Folie d'Espagne) is a well known dance tune popular from the 16th century or earlier and found in the work of composers such as Corelli (1653 - 1713), who used the theme for a set of variations forming a violin sonata, or later by Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943) in his incorrectly named Variations on a Theme of Corelli.

forte

Forte (Italian: loud) is used in directions to performers. It appears in the superlative form fortissimo, very loud. The letter f is an abbreviation of forte, ff an abbreviation of fortissimo, with fff or more rarely ffff even louder.

fortepiano

The word fortepiano, with the same meaning as pianoforte, the full name of the piano, with its hammer action and consequent ability to produce sounds both loud and soft, corresponding to the force applied to the keys, is generally used to indicate the earlier form of the piano, as it developed in the 18th century. A Mozart piano, for example, might be called a fortepiano. The instrument is smaller, more delicately incisive in tone than the modern instrument, and is in some respects more versatile.

fourth

The interval of four diatonic degrees.

French sixth

A type of augmented sixth chord with a major third, augmented fourth, and augmented sixth above the bass.

fret

On certain string instruments, a thin, raised bar placed across the fingerboard to indicate a specific position of a note.

fugue

“Flight.” A contrapuntal piece, in which two or more parts are built or “layered” on a recurring subject that is introduced alone and followed by an answer, which is the subject (or theme) at a different pitch.

fundamental

The lowest note in a harmonic series.