p Thumb of the right hand See p,i,m,a in Left & Right Hand Fingerings
p (Italian) soft see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
pp (Italian) softer than p see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
ppp (Italian) softer than pp see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
pppp (Italian) softer than ppp see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Paar (German) few, pair
Pacato (Italian) placid
Pacatamente (Italian) placidly
Padauk A bright orange or almost crimson wood when freshly cut, but oxidizes more to a dark, rich purple-brown over time. Padauk is slightly harder and heavier than Indian Rosewood. It is stable with a strong tone. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Padovana (Italian) pavan
Paean a song of praise
Pair (French) even
Palabra (Spanish) word
Palcoscenico (Italian) stage
Palindrome a word, verse or piece of music that reads the same forward and backwards
Palindromic a word, verse or piece of music that reads the same forward and backwards
Palm wine a music style from Sierra Leone based on the sound of acoustic guitar riffs accompanied by traditional percussion
Palotache an instrumental piece in duple time from Hungary
Pandiatonicism a passage of music that uses only the tones of a single diatonic scale but does not rely on traditional harmonic progressions and dissonance treatment to establish the tonal centre
Pandoura a lute of the ancient Greek and Roman cultures with a long neck and small soundbox
Panduri fretted three-string lute from Georgia
Pandurina a small lute-like instrument strung with wire
Pan-hu Chinese bowed lute
Panjitar Afghan five-string lute
Parabolic Braces Additional braces that add tremendous stiffness to the back of a guitar. See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Parallel chords a sequence of chords where the intervals remain unchanged as the notes of the chord changes
Parallel intervals the movement in two or more parts of the same intervals in the same direction
Parallel keys two keys, one major and one minor, having the same tonic
Parallel motion when two parts move the same interval in the same direction at the same time
Parap a song style from Malaysia
Pareados two-line stanzas
Part book a single vocal or instrumental part of a composition
Part crossing when two voices cross over each other
Parte (Italian) part
Parti (Italian) parts
Partita (Italian) a suite
Partito (Italian) divided
Partner song two or more different songs that can be sung at the same time to create harmony
Part-writing essense of polyphonic music
Pas (French) not, not any, step
Pasacorredoiras traditional Galician songs
Paseo introduction
Pas d'action a ballet with a dramatic style
Pas de deux a dance for two performers
Pas glissé a single gliding step
Pasichigare traditional Zimbabwe music
Pasillo colombiano a Colombian dance that is danced to a time of 6/8 against 3/4 meter
Pasodoble (Spanish) a lively dance in simple duple time
Passacaglia an instrumental dance form similar to the chaconne in which there is continuing repetition of a theme
Passage a section of a musical work
Passagio (Italian) a written or improvised melodic passage; a transition or modulation
Passecaille (French) passacaglia
Passemezzo (Italian) a old dance in 2 beats in a bar
Passend (German) fitting
Passing note a note that is not part of the prevailing harmony but which, as the harmony changes, arrives at another note consonant with the new harmony
Passion music a religious work
Passionatamente (Italian) passionately
Passionato (Italian) passionate
Passione (Italian) passion
Pastoral an instrumental piece with rural connotations
Pastorale (French) pastoral; an instrumental piece, often written over long drone-like bass notes, with rustic overtones
Pastoso (Italian) mellow, soft
Pastourelles a slow musical composition with more than one group of simple time units in each bar
Pas trop (French) not too much
Pasucais (Spanish) traditional Austrian march
Patetica (Italian) pathetic
Pateticamente (Italian) pathetically
Patetico (Italian) pathetic
Pathétique (French) pathetic
Pathétiquement (French) pathetically
Pathetisch (German) pathetic
Patimento (Italian) suffering
Patsch to lightly slap one's thigh
Pau Rosa An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Pausa (Italian) rest
Pausa di biscroma (Italian) thirty-second rest
Pausa di breve (Italian) a double whole rest
Pausa di croma (Italian) a eighth rest
Pausa di minima (Italian) half rest
Pausa di semibiscroma (Italian) sixty-fourth rest
Pausa di semibreve (Italian) a whole rest
Pausa di semicroma (Italian) a sixteenth rest
Pausa di semiminima (Italian) a quarter rest
Pause (English) the fermata sign
Pause (French) rest
Pause (German) rest
Pavan (English) a stately court dance of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries
Pavana (Italian) a stately court dance of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries
Pavane (French) pavan
Paven pavan
Paventato (Italian) timid
Paventoso (Italian) fearful
Pearwood An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Pedal steel guitar distantly related to the Hawaiian steel guitar, played by sliding a steel bar up and down the strings, employs a system of pedals and knee levers that mechanically alter the tuning of individual strings while the instrument is being played
Pegbox where on stringed instruments the tuning pegs or, in the case of instrument fitted with a worm gear system, machine heads used to adjust the tension of the strings are fitted
Pegdisc where on stringed instruments the tuning pegs or, in the case of instrument fitted with a worm gear system, machine heads used to adjust the tension of the strings are fitted
Peine, À (French) hardly at all, scarcely
Pendant (French) during
Pénétrant (French) penetrating
Pentatonic Scale See Musical Scales
Per (Italian) by, for, from, in order to
Perdendo (Italian) gradually dying away and becoming slower
Perdendosi (Italian) gradually dying away and becoming slower
Perfect intervals of a unison, octave, fourth, and fifth when they are exactly in tune and neither augmented nor diminished
Perfect interval intervals of an octave, a fifth and a fourth
Perfect prime alternative name for unison
Perfect time in medieval theory, triple time
Perfect unison alternative name for unison
Perfectus (Latin) intervals of a unison, octave, fourth, and fifth when they are exactly in tune and neither augmented nor diminished
Period a complete musical thought, concluded by a cadence, having two phrases, each usually two to eight bars (measures) in length
Periodicities recur at regular intervals
Permutation where a subject recurs with a change in the order of the notes
Però (Italian) however, therefore
Perpetual canon an infinite canon, a round
Pes (Latin) the first section of a canso
Pesant (French) heavy, heavily
Pesante (Italian) heavy, heavily
Pesamment (French) heavily
Pesantemente (Italian) heavily
Petenera a traditional Spanish song in brisk triple time
Petit (French) small, little
Petite
Peu (French) little
Peu à peu (French) little by little
Pezzo (Italian) piece
Pfeife (German) pipe
Pfiffig (German) artful
Phantasie (German) imagination, fancy, reverie
Phantasy (German) fantasia
Philharmonic a symphony orchestra
Phrase a short musical idea similar to a sentence in spoken language
Phrasing a style of performance that gives shape to the musical phrases
Phrygian cadence A chord progression where the subdominant chord (in first inversion) is followed by the dominant chord. The root of the final chord is approached from a half step above. In the tonality of A minor, a phrygian cadence would be the subdominant A minor chord (F A D) moving to the dominant E major chord (E G# B). The Phrygian cadence is a special type of half cadence. see Musical Cadences
Phthongos (ancient Greek) a note
Piacere (Italian) fancy, pleasure
Piacevole (Italian) agreeable, pleasing
Pianamente (Italian) softly
Piangente (Italian) weeping
Piangendo (Italian) weeping
Piangevole (Italian) mournful
Piangevolmente (Italian) mournfully
Piano (Italian) soft see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Pianissimo (Italian) softer than Piano see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Pianississimo (Italian) softer than Pianissimo see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Pianissississimo (Italian) softer than Pianississimo see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Pianississississimo (Italian) softer than Pianissississimo see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Pianto (Italian) lamentation, plaint
Picado similar to pizzicato, the striking of a guitar string while playing flamenco music, alternating between the index finger and the middle fingers
Picardy third the use of the major third in the last chord of a piece in a minor key
Piccola (Italian) little
Piccolo (Italian) full
Pick small piece of plastic (or other material including metal, bone or shell) that is used to strum or pluck stringed instruments of the guitar family
Pick-up a single or group of notes that come before the first strong metrical beat, usually the first beat of the measure; device which, when attached to an acoustic musical instrument, converts sound vibrations into an electrical signal
Piece any composition that is a complete in itself
Piena (Italian) full
Pieno (Italian) full
Pietà (Italian) pity
Pietoso (Italian) piteous
Pietosamente (Italian) piteously, tenderly
Pincé (French) pinched, pizzicato
Pink Ivory An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Pink Noise a random noise source characterized by a flat amplitude response per octave band of frequency
Pipa a Chinese lute-like instrument dating back to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) bearing four strings, with a pear-shaped body made of hard wood, measures almost four feet long and a foot across the belly. The neck normally has six ledges made of wood, horn, or ivory, and the belly has twenty-six bamboo frets. The strings are typically plucked, with picks attached to each of the player's five fingers, with the instrument held vertically in the lap.
Piqué (French) spiccato
Piquiren (German) to play spiccato
Pirekuas Purepecha Indian love songs from Michoacan Mexico
Pistachio Burl An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Pitch The relative position of a tone within a range of musical sounds.
Pitch pipe device that is used to set any pitch of the chromatic scale
Più (Italian) more
Piuttosto (Italian) rather, somewhat
Pivot a chord that is placed in a transition between two keys, serving a different function in each key
Pivot chord a chord that is placed in a transition between two keys, serving a different function in each key
Pizz. (Italian) plucked
Pizzicato (Italian) plucked
Placabile (Italian) peaceful, calm, tranquil
Placabilmente (Italian) peacefully
Placidamente (Italian) peacefully
Placidezza (Italian) placidly
Placido (Italian) placid
Placito (Italian) pleasure
Plagal Cadence A chord progression where the subdominant chord is followed by the tonic chord- In the tonality of C major, an plagal cadence would be the subdominant f major chord (F A C) moving to the tonic C major chord (C E G). see Musical Cadences
Plain Strings The treble strings of a guitar. Unwound. See How to Change Classical Guitar Strings
Plainte a slow song or instrumental composition of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-centuries
Plaisant (French) merry
Plaqué (French) chords played together rather than spread or arpeggiated
Plaudernd (German) chattering, babbling
Plectrum a small piece of plastic, wood, bone, leather, quill, or whatever, used to pluck a string
Plein (French) full
Pleine (French) full
Pleno (Italian) full
Plop a rapidly descending glissando at the start of a note, normally sounded just prior to the beat
Plötzlich (German) suddenly
Pluck by picking or pulling them with fingers or a pick, cause the strings on a stringed instrument to vibrate
Plucking point the point at which a string, such as that on a guitar, is plucked relative to the nut. The smaller the distance to the plucking point the more nasal the tone.
Plus (German) more
Pochettino (Italian) very little indeed
Pochetto (Italian) very little
Pochissimo (Italian) the least possible, the bare minimum
Poco (Italian) a little, rather
Poco a poco (Italian) little by little, gradually
Podium a raised platform for the conductor
Poggiato (Italian) dwelt upon, leant upon
Poi (Italian) afterwards, then
Poi a poi (Italian) by degrees
Poids (French) weight
Poirt (Gaelic) jigs
Polcaí (Gaelic) polkas
Polka a round dance, of Bohemian peasant origin, in quick duple time
Polnisch (German) Polish
Polo a Spanish folk song syncopated and in simple triple time
Polo, El a popular Venezuelan style where singers improvise and sing verses from well known traditional songs usually accompanied by bandolina, guitarra, cuatro, charrasca, maracas and furruco
Polacca (Italian) a stately simple triple time Polish dance from the sixteenth-century
Polonaise (French) a stately simple triple time Polish dance from the sixteenth-century
Polonäse (German) a stately simple triple time Polish dance from the sixteenth-century
Pols Swedish and Norwegian country dance
Polska a simple triple time dance of Scandinavian origin
Polychoral a term used to describe the writing of music in which in a single work distinct choirs of voices and/or instruments are set variously in opposition and in combination
Polychord the simultaneous use of two or more simple chords
Polyharmony two or more complete sets of harmony played against each other
Polymetric music using different time signatures simultaneously
Polyphonic contrapuntal writing
Polyphony contrapuntal writing
Polyrhythmic music that uses several different rhythms at the same time
Polytextual two or more texts set simultaneously in a composition
Polytonal music that uses many keys simultaneously
Polytonality music that uses many keys simultaneously
Pompeuse (French) pompous
Pompeux (French) pompous
Pomposo (Italian) arrogant, pompous
Ponche any of the rhythmic variations played off of this beat
Ponderoso (Italian) heavily, massively, ponderous
Ponticello (Italian) the bridge of a stringed instrument
Pop music shortened form of popular music
Pop screen a thin gauze screen placed between a singer and a microphone to reduce vocal "popping" and other breath noise
Portamento (Italian) very legato, carrying a instrumental line without gaps
Portando (Italian) portamento
Portato (Italian) portamento
Porté (French) portamento, stave or staff
Portée (French) portamento, stave or staff
Porter de voix (French) to use the portamento
Portuguese guitar not a guitar, but rather an instrument of a family that includes the mandolin and bandurria
Posément (French) steadily, sedately
Position on a stringed instrument, where the left hand is placed to play particular notes
Posizione (Italian) position
Possible (Italian) possible
Postlude anything played after another generally larger piece
Pot-pourri a musical work made up of popular tunes
Pouce (French) thumb
Pour (French) for
Prächtig (German) grand
Prachtvoll (German) grandly
Präcis (German) rhythmically precise
Praeludium (Latin) prelude
Präludium (German) prelude
Préamble (French) prelude
Précédemment (French) previously
Precipitando (Italian) impetuously, hurriedly
Precipitandosi (Italian) impetuously, hurriedly
Precipitato (Italian) impetuously, hurriedly
Précipité (French) impetuously, hurriedly
Precipitosamente (Italian) impetuously, hurriedly
Precipitoso (Italian) impetuously, hurriedly
Precisione (Italian) rhythmically precise
Preciso (Italian) rhythmically precise
Pre-classical music music predating the classical period
Pregando (Italian) praying
Preghiera (Italian) prayer
Prelude a piece that is played before another piece or group of pieces
Préluder to prelude, to tune up
Preludio (Italian) prelude
Premier first
Première first
Prendre (French) to take