Glenn Bonney’s Music School - Musical Terms & Signs

da capo al fine - return to the beginning and play to the word "fine"

dal segno - d.s. repeat from the sign (

)

decrescendo - gradually getting softer

Degree - A note of a scale, usually as identified by number.

delicato - delicately

Diatonic - The notes that occur naturally in ascale, without being modified by accidentals other than in the key signature.

diminuendo - gradually getting softer

Diminished Lowered - Generally refers to the lowering of a pitch chromatically by one half step.

Diminished Seventh Chord - A chord which contains a root, a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh.

Diminished Triad -A chord which contains a root, a minor third, and a diminished fifth.

di molto - very much

disperato - with desperation

Double bar - Two vertical lines placed on the staff to indicate the end of a section or a composition. Also, used with two dots to enclose repeated sections.

Double flat - A symbol for lowering pitch one step.

Double Sharp - An accidental that raises the note it preceeds by one whole step.

dolce - sweetly

dolente sorrowful

dolore - grief, sorrow

Dominant - A chord based on the fifth degree of the diatonic scale being used. A dominant usually resolves to the tonic.

Duet - A piece for two performers.

Duplet - A group of two notes performed in the time of three of the same kind.

Dynamics - The degrees of loudness or softnessin a musical work, and the symbols that represent them.