Music glossary

F
Note of the scale

Facile
It.: "easy" (fluent).

Facilmente
Easily or fluently.

Falsetto
The extreme upper range of the bass male ladder before going to the high range ladder. The falsetto register sounds much softer than the rest of the voice range and is also much more difficult to control and to obtain. It's more powerful than going to the higher ladder to get the same note.

Fantasia
A free form musical piece.

Fermata
It.: "pause". Hold the note a little longer than notated.

Fill in
Short, often improvised solo phrase inserted between the phrases in a song.

Fine
It.: "end".

Flageolet
A small flute blown at the end, like a recorder but with two thumb holes.

Folia
Spanish or Portuguese song/chord progression. The folia originated sometime in the 15th or 16th century and has been used as a base for variations by many composers since then.

Folk music
Music of popular or traditional origin or style.

Fontanelle
Cover to protect the mechanism of woodwind instruments. Mainly used on larger recorders.

Forte
It.: "strong". Dynamic mark: loud.

Fortissimo
It.: "very strong". Very loud (louder than forte).

Forzato (or forzando)
A very strong accentuation of a single note or chord.

Furioso
It.: "furiously".