The Music Dictionary
Voice, Choir and Stage Terms
Every voice and stage term in The Music Dictionary, with its meaning in music.
- A cappella
- Vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.
- Alto
- A low female or treble-range choral part. Its meaning varies with vocal context.
- Aria
- An extended solo vocal piece, especially in opera and oratorio.
- Baritone
- A male voice category generally between tenor and bass.
- Bass voice
- The lowest conventional male vocal category, with several subtypes.
- Belt
- A contemporary vocal production approach associated with a strong, speech-like upper range.
- Breath support
- Coordinated respiratory control that helps sustain efficient, expressive phonation.
- Chest voice
- A perceptual and pedagogical label for lower-register vocal production.
- Choir
- An organized ensemble of singers performing in multiple parts or unison.
- Choral balance
- The relative prominence of different voice parts within a choir.
- Choral blend
- The coordinated shaping of tone and vowels to create a unified ensemble sound.
- Chorale
- A Lutheran congregational hymn tune, or a harmonized setting or composition based on one.
- Coloratura
- Elaborate, agile vocal passagework featuring runs, leaps, and ornamentation.
- Countertenor
- A male singer performing predominantly in an alto or soprano range.
- Diction
- The clarity and stylistic shaping of words in sung performance.
- Duet
- A composition or passage for two singers or instrumentalists.
- Fach
- A system classifying operatic voices by range, weight, color, and dramatic suitability.
- Falsetto
- A vocal register or production quality often associated with a lighter upper range.
- Head voice
- A pedagogical term for upper-register vocal sensation and production.
- Libretto
- The written text of an opera, musical, or other extended vocal stage work.
- Lied
- A German art song, especially one for solo voice and piano.
- Lyric soprano
- A soprano category associated with a flexible, warm sound and lyrical repertoire.
- Musical theater
- A stage form integrating song, dialogue, movement, and dramatic storytelling.
- Opera
- A dramatic work in which singing and instrumental music carry substantial narrative action.
- Operetta
- A generally lighter form of sung theater, often incorporating spoken dialogue.
- Oratorio
- An extended concert work for voices and instruments, frequently on sacred subjects.
- Passaggio
- A transitional region between vocal registers requiring coordinated adjustment.
- Phonation
- The production of voiced sound through vibration of the vocal folds.
- Recitative
- A speech-influenced style of singing used to advance dramatic or narrative action.
- Repertoire
- The body of works a performer or ensemble studies and presents.
- Resonance
- The reinforcement and shaping of sound by vibrating spaces and structures.
- SATB
- An abbreviation for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass choral parts.
- Sight-singing
- The performance of unfamiliar written melody using notation and internal hearing.
- Soprano
- The highest conventional female voice category and a high choral part.
- Sprechstimme
- A vocal technique between speech and song, using approximate pitched inflection.
- Stage presence
- A performer’s ability to communicate intention, focus, and connection with an audience.
- Supernumerary
- A non-singing performer appearing in an opera or stage production.
- Tenor
- A high conventional male voice category, with varied dramatic and lyric subtypes.
- Tessitura
- The range in which a vocal part spends much of its time, distinct from total range.
- Text setting
- The relationship between words and musical rhythm, stress, and melodic design.
- Unison singing
- Multiple voices performing the same melodic line, possibly in octaves.
- Vibrato rate
- The speed of periodic pitch fluctuation in sustained vocal tone.
- Vocal fry
- A low-frequency phonation pattern producing a creaky quality.
- Vocal onset
- The manner in which breath flow and vocal-fold vibration begin a sung tone.
- Vocalise
- A sung exercise or composition performed on vowels rather than words.
- Voice type
- A practical classification of a singer’s range, tessitura, color, and weight.
- Vowel modification
- The adjustment of vowel shape to support resonance and clarity across pitch ranges.
- Warm-down
- Gentle vocal activity after demanding singing, sometimes used to reduce strain.
- Whistle register
- The highest vocal register, available to some singers.
- Word stress
- The relative emphasis of syllables, important for intelligible text setting.
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