Multilingual 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.