The Musician’s Urban Dictionary
You probably know all of your typical music lingo – adagio, cantabile, dolce, sostenuto. Here are all the musical terms you didn’t know you needed!
- Restimate: to not accurately count during a rest, thus having to guess your next entrance
“I got lost in that 33-measure rest, so I had to restimate.” - Stage frightmare: a unique nightmare specific to musicians; usually involves being late to recitals, last-minute repertoire changes, or other anxiety-inducing musical situations
“I had a stage frightmare that I had to play the Nielsen concerto from memory tonight!” - Subzoned: when you are vying for a permanent position with a group but cannot escape the sub list
“I’ve performed all of Mahler’s symphonies with that orchestra, but it looks like I got subzoned.” - Tourmance: a relationship that develops on tour or other temporary musical situation which rarely survives long-term
“When I was at Aspen, I had a tourmance with a cellist.” - Metronope: deciding to not use a metronome against all better judgement
“The sonata was in 13/8 time, so it’s a metronope!” - Pracrastinate: to avoid practicing, usually with social media
“I’m pracrastinating by watching YouTube videos of cats.” - Ampitchous: to have high tuning expectations
“The ampitchous oboist set the tuning standards high for the orchestra.” - Trillolo: an unnecessarily long trill (inspired by the viral trololo video)
“What was the composer thinking when he added that trillolo?” - Bowlo: taking a risk by completely disregarding the bowing instructions of your principal
“I skipped the last rehearsal, so I had to bowlo during the concerto.” - Practice shaming: to passive aggressively compare daily hours spent practicing with the intent of showing off
“At band camp, all the section leader did was practice shame the flutes.” - Playcation: when a musician uses vacation time to practice instead of relaxing and/or traveling
“What did you do during the holidays?” “I have auditions soon, so I had a playcation.” - Loldition: when an audition is so bad the only recourse is to laugh
“I squeaked on Beethoven 6, got spit in my keys, and couldn’t tongue on the Scherzo-that was such a loldition!” - Afterclap: the final few claps heard after the general applause has ended
“The afterclap was so late that the next piece had nearly begun.” - Homosectional: a musician who dates exclusively within their section
“After dating only cellists for six years, she finally realized she was a homosectional.” - Accidontal: ignoring sharps, flats, or naturals
“The Schoenberg piece had no key signature, so I’m sure I’ll have lots of accidontals.” - Boleroop: a repeated melody à la Ravel’s Bolero
“That composer had a real Boleroop with the identical 26 measures of eighth notes.”
What other words should every musician have in their vocabulary? Leave a comment below!