Glossary of Musical Terminology - D

D

• da capo: from the head; i.e., from the beginning (see capo in this list)
• D.S.: Dal Segno, from the sign
• 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 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
• decelerando: slowing down; decelerating; opposite of accelerando (same as ritardando or rallentando)
• decrescendo or decresc.: same as diminuendo or dim. (see below)
• deest: from the Latin deesse meaning absent; placed after a catalogue abbreviation to indicate that this particular work does not appear in it. The plural,desunt is used when referring to several works.
• delicatamente or delicato: delicately
• detaché: act of playing notes separately
• devoto: religiously
• diminuendo, dim.: dwindling; i.e., with gradually decreasing volume (same as decrescendo)
• disjunct: an adjective applied to a melodic line which moves by leap (intervals of more than a 2nd) as opposed to conjunct motion (by step)
• 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
• dolore: pain, distress, sorow, grief
• doloroso: sorrowfully, plaintively
• doppio movimento: twice as fast
• double stop: the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument or string instrument
• downtempo: a slow, moody, or decreased tempo or played or done in such a tempo. It also refers to a genre of electronic music based on this (downtempo).
• drammatico: dramatically
• drop: jazz term referring to a note that slides to an indefinite pitch chromatically downwards.
• 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.)
• duolo: (Ital) grief
• dumpf (Ger): dull
• dynamics: the relative volume in the execution of a piece of music