Glossary of Musical Terminology - F

F

• facile: easily, without fuss
• fall: jazz term describing a note of definite pitch sliding downwards to another note of definite pitch.
• falsetto: vocal register above the normal voice
• fermata: finished, closed; i.e., a rest or note is to be held for a duration that is at the discretion of the performer or conductor (sometimes called bird's eye); a fermata at the end of a first or intermediate movement or section is usually moderately prolonged, but the final fermata of a symphony may be prolonged for twice its printed length or more for dramatic effect.
• feroce: ferociously
• feurig (Ger): fiery
• festivamente: cheerfully, celebratory
• fieramente: proudly
• fill (English): a jazz or rock term which instructs performers to improvise a scalar passage or riff to "fill in" the brief time between lyrical phrases, the lines of melody, or between two sections
• fine: the end, often in phrases like al fine (to the end)
• flat: a symbol (♭) that lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone. The term may also be used as an adjective to describe a situation where a singer or musician is performing a note in which the intonation is an eighth or a quarter of a semitone too low.
• flautando (may also appear as flautendo): flutelike; used especially for string instruments to indicate a light, rapid bowing over the fingerboard
• flebile: mournfully
• focoso or fuocoso: fiery; i.e., passionately
• forte or f (usually): strong; i.e., to be played or sung loudly
• fortepiano or fp (usually): strong-gentle; i.e., 1. loud, then immediately soft (see dynamics), or 2. an early pianoforte
• fortissimo or ff: very loud (see note at pianissimo in this list)
• fortississimo or fff: as loud as possible
• forza : musical force
• forzando or fz: see sforzando in this list
• freddo: cold(ly); hence depressive, unemotional
• fresco: freshly
• fröhlich: lively, joyfully
• fugue (Fr), fuga (Latin and Italian): literally "flight"; hence a complex and highly regimented contrapuntal form in music. A short theme (the subject) is introduced in one voice (or part) alone, then in others, with imitation and characteristic development as the piece progresses.
• funebre: funeral; often seen as marcia funebre (funeral march), indicating a stately and plodding tempo.
• fuoco: fire; con fuoco means with fire
• furia: fury
• furioso: furiously