Terminology

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Listing by Name { D }

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• da capo – from the head; i.e., from the beginning (see capo in this list)
• D.S. al coda or dal segno al coda (or, strictly but rarely seen, ...alla coda) – from the sign to the coda; i.e., return to a place in the music designated by the sign and continue until directed to move to the coda, a separate ending section. (See Coda in this list.)
• D.S. al fine or dal segno al fine – from the sign to the end; i.e., return to a place in the music designated by the sign (see preceding entry) and continue to the end of the piece
• D.S.S. al coda or dal segno al coda – same as D.S. al coda, but with a double segno
• D.S.S. al fine or dal segno al fine – from the double sign to the end; i.e., return to place in the music designated by the double sign (see D.S. al coda) and continue to the end of the piece
• deciso – decisively
• decrescendo or decresc. – same as diminuendo or dim. (see below)
• delicatamente or delicato – delicately
• devoto – religiously
• diminuendo, dim. – dwindling; i.e., with gradually decreasing volume (same as decrescendo)
• dissonante – dissonant
• divisi or div. – divided; i.e., in a part in which several musicians normally play exactly the same notes they are instead to split the playing of the written simultaneous notes among themselves. It is most often used for string instruments, since with them another means of execution is often possible. (The return from divisi is marked unisono: see in this list.)
• doit – jazz term referring to a note that slides to an indefinite pitch chromatically upwards.
• dolce – sweetly
• dolcissimo – very sweetly
• dolente – sorrowfully, plaintively
• doloroso – sorrowfully, plaintively
• double stop – the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument or stringed instrument
• drop – jazz term referring to a note that slides to an indefinite pitch chromatically downwards.
• D.S. – Dal Segno (see above)
• Dur (Ger) – major; used in key signatures as, for example, A-Dur (A major), B-Dur (B♭ major), or H-Dur (B major). (See also moll (minor) in this list.)
• dynamics – refers to the relative volumes in the execution of a piece of music