Free Music Glossary

H

• habanera Moderate duple meter dance of Cuban origin, popular in the nineteenth century. It is based on a characteristic rhythmic figure.
• hairpin The symbol, made up of two joined lines, used to indicate a crescendo or a decrescendo.
• Halbe See half note.
• Halbenote See half note.
• Halbton See semitone.
• half note A note that has half the duration of time of a whole note.
• half-step See semitone.
• Haltebogen See tie.
• halve noot See half note.
• halvnode See half note.
• halvnot See half note.
• halvton See semitone.
• Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis The numbering system identifying compositions by George Frederic Handel.
• Handschrift See autograph.
• håndskrift See autograph.
• handskrift See autograph.
• harmonic Any integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of a tone. The fundamental frequency is considered to be the first harmonic; doubling its frequency you obtain the second harmonic, tripling it you obtain the third harmonic, and so on.
• harmonic minor scale A minor scale where the seventh tone is raised by a semitone, both ascending and descending.
• harmonie See harmony.
• harmony Tones sounding simultaneously.
• haut Literally, “high”. Medieval category of loud instruments, used principally for outdoor occasions.
• hautbois Oboe.
• hauteur See pitch.
• head joint The top section of a flute, with the tone hole where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across the opening.
• head voice The highest register of the voice, excluding falsetto.
• heavy metal Rock style that gained popularity in the 1970s, characterized by simple, repetitive ideas and loud, distorted instrumental solos.
• heftig Vehement, boisterous.
• hele See ornament.
• hele noot See whole note.
• hele toon See whole tone.
• helnode See whole note.
• helnot See whole note.
• helton See whole tone.
• heltone See whole tone.
• hemidemisemiquaver See sixty-fourth note.
• hemiola In modern musical parlance, a metrical pattern in which two bars in simple triple time are articulated as if they were three bars in simple duple time.
• hémiole See hemiola.
• hengitysmerkki See breath mark.
• heptatonic scale Any scale of seven tones.
• herstellingsteken See natural.
• Hertz The basic unit of measurement of frequency, definable as one cycle per second. Usually abbreviated “Hz”.
• heterophony Texture in which two or more voices (or parts) elaborate the same melody simultaneously, often the result of improvisation.
• hidastaen See ritenuto.
• Hilfslinie See ledger line.
• hitaasti See adagio.
• hjälplinje See ledger line.
• hjælpelinie See ledger line.
• hocket A Medieval practice of composition in which two voices would move in such a manner that one would be still while the other moved and vice-versa.
• hold See fermata.
• Holzbläser See woodwind.
• homofoni See homophony.
• homofonía See homophony.
• homophonie See homophony.
• homophony Music in which one voice leads melodically followed by the other voices more or less in the same rhythm. In contrast with polyphony.
• hopak A folk Ukrainian dance, introduced to the orchestra by such composers as Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky.
• hoppande See disjunct.
• hoquet See hocket.
• hoquetus See hocket.
• houtblazers See woodwind.
• hulplijntje See ledger line.
• Hundertundachtundzwanzigstel See one hundred and twenty-eighth note.
• Hundertundachtundzwanzigstelnote See one hundred and twenty-eighth note.
• huojunta See beat.
• HWV See Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis.
• hymn Song in praise of God; often involves congregational participation.
• hymne national See national anthem.
• hyperaeolian See locrian.
• Hz See Hertz.