Italian Words, Form, and Dynamics in Modern Music
Why not just say “get louder” instead of “crescendo”?
Why not just say “slow down” instead of “ritardando”?
Italian Words in Music
The Italian words that we use in music only exist because of the classical canon and the dawn of standardized Western staff notation. The Italian counterparts of these straightforward words are only relevant in a classical or jazz setting where sheet music is the staple. Outside of that, say in a popular setting, where sheet music is rare, there is no need for them. Speed up, and slow down are pretty clear and need no explanation. In fact, in popular musics, these Italian terms are just simply not used. Many times there are other words used to replace these Italian ones, but there are also terms that are exclusive to popular styles.
Italian Words, Form, and Dynamics in Modern Music
Steve Holley compiled a short list of musical terms that exist in popular styles, and many would never be uttered in a traditional or classical setting. He wrote a post for NAfME called “The Popular Music Ensemble Cheat Sheet.” It is a good overview of some of the terms you would come across. In his book “Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble” the appendix has a much more exhaustive list of terms typically used when coaching popular ensembles.
Some terms that I find myself using a lot are:
Groove – the overall feel of a song and whether everyone in the group is playing together as a tight group.
Pocket – sometimes used interchangeably with groove. It also takes into account the places inside and around the beat. We usually think of the beat as not a fluid substance, but in popular situations where rhythm is paramount, beat can be played with. You can lay on the back side of the beat or on the front (or top) side of the beat.
Push – an anticipation.
Blow – used to mean “take a solo.” It likely evolved from horn playing but is used for piano, guitar, and drums too.
Birdseye – a fermata.
Shots – usually used as a horn term to mean a single short accented (stacatto) note. Sometimes two shots can be used.
Pads – this is a keyboard term that typically uses pads as an effect to fade into the background and are usually held notes. Horn players who play long tones underneath the mix can be described as playing pads too.
Fill – when a drummer sets up the band before the next section. Usually between two and four beats long and commonly played at the end of a four or eight-beat phrase. Bass players have been known to play fills too.
Four to the floor – straight up rock pattern in 4/4 time.
Bring it down – bring the overall volume level down.
Doit – a horn term that describes the technique of sliding up to an indeterminate pitch.
Turn – this is used in baroque and classical music too but it is performed slightly differently in a jazz or popular tune. They are much more fluid and may or may not have specific pitches to them.
Fall – sliding down to an indeterminate pitch almost always at the end of a phrase.
Growl – vocal distortion and can be performed on horns too using a flutter tonging technique.
Vox – short for vocals.
Song Form
Traditionally, when talking about form in popular music, the form AABA is typically what is accepted. This is not entirely true. Popular music has very distinct forms that are different from, say a 32-bar form that the AABA form is typically associated with. Describing it as AABA is both too broad, and not clear enough to describe a typical popular song. The terms are different, and that’s okay, because the music is different. Here some terms that are commonly used to describe form of a popular song:
Intro – The beginning of the song. It could set up the chord progression for the song or present the listener with a the main riff of the song (a-la “The Final Countdown”), but either way, it is an introduction for the song.
Pre-verse – happens usually before the verse, sometimes in every verse sometimes only the second one. It could be a short melodic lick to lead into the verse. Pre-verses are quite rare but my band, The Sidewalks, commonly inserted them into our songs to help transition back into the verse and set the mood for those sections.
Verse – the part of the song that develops the poetry in the music, or progresses the story of the song and is typically void of “hooks.”
Pre-chorus – some songs insert these before the chorus. They are not chorus mater