Music glossary

C
Note of the scale.

Cantate Domino
Lat.: "sing to the Lord". A part of the Latin mass.

Cantilena
It.: a smooth, Iyrical melody line.

Capo d'astro (or just capo)
A device for shortening the strings of an instrument (particularly a guitar) simplifying playing in difficult keys.

Chaconne
A vocal or instrumental composition in a slow, stately 3/4 time and based on a ground. Popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries.

Chanson
A (French) song or instrumental composition with a melodramatic character.

Chord
Two or more notes played simultaneously.

Clatant
Fr.: "brilliant, bright" or "blaring".

Coda
It.: "tail". The ending of a piece of music.

Con bocca chiusa
It.: "with closed mouth".

Con espressione
It.: "with expression".

Con fuoco
It.: "with fire".

Con grandezza
It.: "with grandeur".

Con moto
It.: "with movement", "with life".

Cornet (or Cornetto)
An old woodwind instrument like a flageolet. The modern cornet looks similar to a trumpet, but has a more mellow sound.

Country music
Rural or cowboy songs originating in the US, and usually accompanied by a guitar, violin and/or banjos.

Crescendo
It.: "gradually louder".

Cycle of fifths
A chain of perfect fifths which will lead back to the original note (at a different octave) after working through the other eleven notes of the chromatic scale.