All terms are Italian unless otherwise noted.
A fior di labbro. With the flower of the lips. An expression which means a gentle or finely drawn rendition.
Acuta. Sharp (tonal quality).
Alt Register. See Whistle Register.
A piacere. See ad libitum.
Accellerando. To speed up the tempo. See Rubamento di tempo.
Acciaccatura. From acciacare—to crush. A short grace note, written with a slash through the stem, always before the beat. It takes the place in the harmony of the note it precedes. See Vorschlag.
Ad libitum; Ad. lib. To phrase with freedom, always slower.
Affetti. Vocal affects expressing moods or emotions.
Affetto. Affect; emotional impact.
Agilità di forza. Vocal agility of power.
Agilità di maniera. Vocal agility of dexterity.
Aggiustamento. Modification (of vowels).
Alto. Formerly the highest normal male voice, now the lowest female voice.
Appannata. Dimness.
Appoggiarsi in petto. Chest resonance. Chest (tonal) placement.
Appoggiarsi in testa. Head resonance. Head (tonal) placement.
Appoggiatura. From appoggiare, to lean. An embellishing note, always on the beat, above or below the written note, added sometimes for emphasis, and sometimes to soften a jagged interval.
Appoggio. Support (usually of the breath). From appoggiare, to lean.
Arbitrio. Freely. See Ad libitum.
Aria. Air, song.
Aria agitata. An agitated, excited, or hurried air. See Aria di note e parole.
Aria da capo. Literally from the beginning. A three-part (sometimes a five-part) aria. The second part is contrasted in both musical form and dramatic content from the first, and the third part returns to the material of the first. In Baroque opera, the second and third parts were usually extensively embellished.
Aria d‘agilità. See Aria di bravura.
Aria dei risi. “Rice” aria. An aria composed at great speed, in the time it takes to cook a plate of rice. (Rossini).
Aria d’espressione. An aria which makes great use of tempo rubato and changes of mood.
Aria di baule. Literally a “suitcase” aria. A favorite aria inserted into an opera at the whim of the singer.
Aria di bravura. An aria that includes difficult passages, usually composed to allow the singer to “show off.” The aria di baule was an aria of this type.
Aria di cantabile. A slow, highly ornamented aria intended to invoke feelings of pathos.
Aria di maniera. An aria that makes up for its lack of fire and brilliance by a graceful sensitivity.
Aria di mezzo carattere. A finely drawn aria that includes elements of the portamento and of the cantabile types of arias.
Aria di narrazione. A ballad; an aria that tells a story. (Neapolitan).
Aria di nota e parole. A patter song where each syllable is assigned to just one note. Also called aria parlante.
Aria di portamento. A dignified, serious aria constructed upon sustained long notes.
Aria di slancio. An aria that includes wide skips in the melodic line.
Aria di strèpito. An excited aria di nota e parole.
Aria di tempesta. A vigorous aria that depicts violent weather as a metaphor for human agitation.
Aria infuriata. See Aria di strèpito.
Aria parlante. See Aria di nota e parole.
Arrotondamento. Rounding (of vowels).
Arpeggio. A broken chord. A phrase composed of skips, where the singer sounds the notes of a chord successively in the fashion of a harpist.
Aspera. Raucous, not smooth (tonal quality).
Aspirato. Aspirated; an escape of air between the tones, as in the consonant [h].
Attacco. Attack.
Attacco del suono. To attack the sound.
Attacco della voce. Attack of the voice.
Atemstütze. (Ger.) Breath support.
Ausgeglichene Vocale. (Ger.) Equalized vowels.
Baritono. Formerly synonomous with basso, now the middle-range male voice.
Baritono drammatico. Dramatic (Verdi) baritone.
Baritono lirico. Lyric (high) baritone.
Barytenor. (Celleti) See tenore seria.
Basso buffo. Comic or character bass.
Bass-Buffo. (Ger.) Comic Bass.
Basso cantante. A smooth, melodious bass voice.
Basso profondo. A powerful, deep bass voice.
Battuta di gola. Literally “beat of the throat.” A single mordent.
Bauchaussenstütze. (Ger.) Distended abdominal support. (Down and Out).
Bel Canto. Literally, beautiful singing. The name given to the historical Italian school of singing, especially that of the period of the beginning of the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century. See p. 10 for a discussion of the term.
Bell Register. See Whistle Register.
Ben appoggiata. Well supported.
Blind Voice. A cul-de-sac sound, lacking overtones. See Cocca.
Blockflötentöne. (Ger.) Recorder-like tones. Constricted “heady” tones.
Buffo. Comic character.
Buffo caricato. An exaggerated comic style.
Buffo-Tenor. (Ger.) Comic or character tenor.
Cadenza. A long flourish introduced just before the end of a movement or aria.
Calando. Getting both slower and softer.
Cantabile. Literally, singing. A smooth delivery of the vocal phrase.
Cantatrice. Female singer.
Cantilena. A flowing, melodious phrase. Cantabile.
Canto declamato. The dramatic style.
Canto d’agilità. A brilliant style showing the singer’s fluency in the rapid execution of ornaments and graces of all kinds.
Canto di bravura. Similar to the canto d’agilità, but grander and more dramatic.
Canto fiorito. The overall florid style.
Canto liscio e spianato. Song stripped of pretentious ornamentation.
Canto maniera. A florid style that is exemplified by fineness and delicacy.
Canto spianato. A melody that is “spun out,” simply, tranquilly, and smoothly. The broad style.
Cascata. A “cascade”; passing notes in a descending scale pattern to fill an interval.
Castrato. A male singer emasculated in childhood to retain his treble boy’s voice.
Cavatina. Originally an entrance aria but now a name for all arias.
Cerca la nota. Literally “search for the note.” Scooping. See Scivolo.
Chest Register. A low register in the female voice and a lower middle register in the male voice; associated with the speaking voice.
Chiaroscuro. Literally “light and shade.” The coloring of the voice for interpretive effects from bright to dark timbre. Also an echo effect.
Circolo mezzo. A semi-circle of passing notes emanating from and returning to the same pitch.
Clamatione. See Intonazione della voce.
Cocca. Blind. Dull and unresonant (tonal quality). See Blind Voice.
Col canto. With the voice. (Direction for accompaniment.)
Colascione. A measured flowing of the voice.
Coloratura. Literally colored. Florid song (to color the vocal line.).
Coloratura soprano. A light high soprano who specializes in florid music.
Colpo di glottide. Glottal stroke. See Coupe de la glotte.
Colpo di petto. The “stroke of the chest,” referring to the sudden collapse of the chest upon the attack.
Combinaison voyelle. (Fr.) Combination vowel. See Umlaut.
Come bere. Singing as though about to experience the sensation of swallowing.
Con crescente calore. With increasing warmth, passion.
Con slancio. With abandon.
Condur la voce. To conduct (produce) the voice.
Contrabasso. See Basso profondo.
Contralto. See Alto.
Contralto buffo. Character contralto.
Copertura. See Cover.
Corona. Literally a crown. See Fermata.
Cover. To sing with a dark tone, usually with vowel modification toward the back vowels, and with the lowered larynx and raised soft palate. See Voix sombrée.
Coupe de la glotte. (Fr.) Garcia’s term for the preparation and the onset of the tone.
Crescendo. A gradual increase in loudness.
Cupo. Dark timbre, “covered.”
Da Capo. (Aria) Literally, from the beginning. A freely embellished three- (sometimes five- ) part aria (ABA), which was the standard form of the opera seria duing the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Deckung. (Ger.) Covering (the voice).
Demi-voix. (Fr.) Half voice. See Mezza voce.
Diminuendo. A gradual diminishing of loudness.
Diminuzione. An embellishment where there is a reduction of long notes into groups of smaller notes Disposizione della gorga. Arrangement of the throat. See Disposizione della voce.
Disposizione della voce. Arrangement of the voice; i.e., a voice flexible enough to sing coloratura well.
Distaccare. See Piccatata staccata.
Diva. Goddess. A prima donna.
Divisioni. Divisions. Roulades. The divisions of big beats into groups of smaller notes.
Divisions. (Eng.) Literally the breaking up of long notes into figures compounded of shorter connecting notes. Coloratura.
Do di Petto. “Chest” high C.
Dolce. Sweet, mellow.
Dolcezza. Sweetness of tone.
Doppelgriff. (Ger.) Literally, double grip. The principle of forming a combination (umlaut) vowel by firmly holding the resonance positions of its two components simultaneously.
Doux, f. Douce. (Fr.) Sweet. See Dolce.
Duftigkeit. (Ger.) A breathy tone.
Dunkel. (Ger.) Dark (timbre).
Dura. Hard (tonal quality).
Echo Voice. See Whistle Voice.
Effetti. Ornaments.
Effetti meraviglia. Vocal effects calculated to cause astonishment in the audience.
En travesti. A woman singing a man’s role and vice-versa.
Esclamazione. A forte attack gradually decreased to pianissimo, which probably also entailed a change in intensity (relaxation of the Tensors).
Esercizi. Exercises.
Evirato. See Castrato.
Fa stupire. To astonish the audience. See Effetti meraviglia.
Fach. (Ger.) A specific vocal category.
Facilitá. Virtuosity.
Falsettierung. (Ger.) Falsetto. See Fistelstimme.
Falsetto. 1. Literally a “false” tone produced by a shortened and thinned adjustment of the vocal cords. There are two species of falsetto, one uncoordinated and the other coordinated, which are often confused. 2. The name given to the Medium Register until the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Falsettone. Coordinated Falsetto.
Falsetto-testa Register. Middle or Medium Register.
Fassetto. Falsetto.
Fermata. A hold or suspension of the tempo on a single note, doubling the note value.
Filare di voce. See Canto Spianato.
Finale. The end of an act of an opera (vocal).
Fiorire. To embellish (bloom), as in florid singing.
Fioritura. Embellishment. See Coloratura.
Fistelstimme. (Ger.) Falsetto.
Flageolet Registre. (Fr.) See Whistle Register.
Flautati. Swelled sounds with inflections or echoed tones.
Flötenähnlich. (Ger.) Flute-like.
Flute attack. A lightly aspirated attack.
Flute Register. Head Voice. (Female).
Gehauchte Einsatz. (Ger.) Aspirated attack.
Glissando. Where the voice is drawn across an interval between one note and another, notated in half or whole tones.
Glottisschlag. (Ger.) Glottal Stroke.
Gola aperta. Open throat.
Gorgheggi. Warbling noises made in the throat.
Grazia. Graceful (singing).
Groppetto. See Groppo.
Groppo. Modern trill.
Growl Register. The register beneath the Chest Register (male voice). See Strohbass.
Gruppetto. See Gruppo.
Gruppo. A turn. A series of rapid notes grouped together, as a double appoggiatura above and below the principal note.
Harte Einsatz. (Ger.) Glottal plosive.
Haute-contre. (Fr.) See Tenor Contraltino.
Heldenbariton. (Ger.) Heroic (Dramatic) Baritone, often having bass-baritone characteristics.
Heldentenor. (Ger.) Heroic (Dramatic) Tenor.
Hochdramatische sopran. (Ger.) Dramatic soprano. See Soprano sfogato.
Hohe Quinta. (Ger.) See Whistle Voice.
Holentöne. (Ger.) Cavernous, hollow sounds.
Impasto. A natural operatic fullness of tone.
Impostazione della voce. Placement of the voice.
Impostazione del organo fonatore. Disposition of the glottis upon the attack of the tone.
Imposto. Nasality. Nasal “placement.”
Ingolato. In the throat (a “back” sound). See Knödel.
Intonazione della voce. An expressive device in which the first note of the phrase is attacked as much as a third below the written pitch.
Jugendliche dramatische Sopran. (Ger.) Literally, youthful dramatic soprano. See Spinto soprano.
Jugendlicher Heldentenor. (Ger.) Literally, youthful heroic tenor. See Tenore spinto.
Kammersänger m. (in f.). (Ger.) 1. A concert singer. 2. An honorary title given to distinguished singers.
Kavalier Bariton. (Ger.) Lead baritone.
Keller Register. (Ger.) The register under the Chest Register. (Female).
Knacklaut. (Ger.) Glottal stroke. See Glottisschlag.
Knödel. (Ger.) Literally, a dumpling in the throat. Constriction.
Kopfigheit. (Ger.) “Heady” quality.
Kopfstimme. (Ger.) Head Voice.
Kopfstimme Tenor. (Ger.) A light tenor who resorts to a coordinated falsetto for high notes. See Tenorino.
Legato. Literally “tied together.” A smooth equal scale with matched resonances of the individual notes.
Leggiero. Light (voice).
Libretto. Little book. The text of an opera or oratorio.
Liebenswürdig. (Ger.) Amiable, charming (expression).
Lieder. (Ger.) Songs.
Lotta vocale. See Lutte vocale.
Lutte vocale. (Fr.) The vocal “struggle” between the inspiratory and the expiratory muscles.
Lyrische Sopran. (Ger.) Lyric soprano.
Lyrischer Tenor. (Ger.) Lyric tenor.
Madrigal. (Eng.) A polyphonic composition on a secular text.
Maestro. Literally, a master. Term of respect for a conductor, eminent teacher, or artist.
Maestro m. (maestra f.) di canto. Voice teacher.
Marcato. Marked. See Martellato.
Martellato. Literally “hammered.” A legato line with each note marked or accented.
Messa di voce. A pianissimo note expanded to the loudest fortissimo and then returning to pianissimo, retaining the same quality throughout. One of the hallmarks of Bel Canto.
Metallo. Inherent vocal quality.
Metallo coperto. See Metallo oscuro.
Metallo oscuro. Dark timbre.
Mezza voce. Literally, middle voice. A well-supported piano tone.
Mezzo petto. Literally, half-chest. A high tone dominated by chest resonance. See Do di Petto.
Mezzo respiro. The half breath, taken quickly when there is no time for the full breath.
Mezzo-soprano. “Middle” soprano, about one whole step beneath the lyric soprano range.
Misto di granito. A “solid” quality with good equilibrium between the breath and the closure of the glottis.
Mixed Voice. A register that lies in the top of the male voice and the upper middle of the female voice. It consists of a mixture of the harmonics of the Middle (Upper) Register and the Vowel Register.
Morbidezza. Softness, tenderness.
Mordente. An ornament consisting of a single rapid stroke of the auxiliary note below the principal note and then a return to the principal note.
Morendo. A long diminuendo; the tone “dying away.”
Motet. A polyphonic composition on a sacred text.
Musico. A term meaning musician, but often synonymous with castrato in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Nach-Hinten Singen. (Ger.) Rearward voice placement.
Nota mentale. A psychological device by which the singer imagines that the note exists before he sings it and continues on after he releases it. This assists in smooth attacks and releases.
Note filate. See messa di voce.
Opera buffa. Comic opera.
Opera seria. Serious opera. The typical opera of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Orrechianti. Those who learn music by ear.
Paccatezza di voce. Sedateness of voice.
Parlando. Speaking style. Used extensively in opera buffa.
Passaggio. Passage. 1. Transition area between registers. 2. An embellishment.
Patata. Literally a potato. A singer who lacks charisma on the stage.
Perfetta. Literally perfect. High, sweet, and clear (tonal quality).
Piano tedesco. Constricted (German) head voice.
Pfeifestimme. (Ger.) Piping voice. See Whistle Voice.
Piccatata staccata. An accented vocal line with each note detached from the other, but without allowing air to escape before the tone.
Picchettato. Detached.
Picchiettato (or Picchettato). “Knocked.” Detached notes.
Ponticello. Literally, “the little bridge.” The coordination between the normal voice and falsetto.
Portamento. Literally a carrying of the voice from one pitch to another, making use of a prepared short note on the final pitch.
Portamento crescere e schemare della voce. To swell and diminish the voice. Messa di voce.
Prima donna. Literally first woman. The principal female lead in an opera.
Prima vista. First sight; sightsinging.
Primo passaggio. First passage (transition from Chest to Middle [for females] or Upper [for males] Register).
Professore. Professor; teacher. Also, one who is able to read music by sight (Stendhal).
Puntare. To transpose.
Puntatura. Alterations of the tessitura to accommodate a voice of different range, but with the original accompaniment.
Recitativo accompagnato. A recitative accompanied by an orchestra.
Recitativo instrumentale. See recitativo accompagnato.
Recitativo parlante. The spoken recitative reserved for comic opera. See Recitativo secco.
Recitativo secco. Dry recitative. A speech that is freely sung, accompanied only by a keyboard instrument, sometimes with a sustaining instrument underneath, such as a cello or organ.
Recitativo semplice. See Recitativo secco.
Registro. A vocal register.
Rein Lyrische Bariton. (Ger.) Pure lyric baritone.
Resonanz. (Ger.) Resonance.
Respiro. The full breath, taken slowly when allowed by the music.
Ribattuta di gola. Redoubled trill. A double mordent. See Trillo raddopiato.
Rinforzando. Accenting notes in a phrase without breaking the line.
Ritardando. To slow up the tempo. See Rubamento di tempo.
Ritirare. A calm replenishing of the breath.
Ritornello. Literally a return or repetition. A short instrumental melody played between scenes of an opera or even during the action.
Roulades. (Eng.) Divisions.
Rubamento di tempo. From rubare, to steal. Variation of the tempo in the melodic line, without destroying the regularity of the meter. Literally to steal time and give it back, not merely accellerando and ritardando.
Rundlippige Vokale. (Ger.) Round-lipped vowel formation. The Umlaut Principle.
Rundung. (Ger.) (Vocal) roundness.
Salti. Leaps, skips.
Sanft. (Ger.) Soft.
Sanftheit. (Ger.) Softness.
Sbalzare. Leaps in the melodic line.
Scalate trillate. Scales sung while trilling each note.
Scale in giu. Ascending scale.
Scale in su. Descending scale.
Schädelgefühl. (Ger.) Literally, head-full. Head placement.
Schädelstütze. (Ger.) Skull support.
Schnarregister. (Ger.) See Strohbass.
Schwartzer Bass. (Ger.) Literally a “black” bass voice. See Basso profondo.
Schwebender Ton. (Ger.) Hovering tone, “heady.”
Schwerer Heldentenor. (Ger.) Dramatic Tenor. See Tenore drammatico.
Sciolto. Effortless singing technique.
Scivolo. Scooping, sliding.
Scrocco di voce. A squawk. See squaiato.
Secondo passaggio. Second passage (transition from Middle to Head register).
Senza battuta. Without a beat. A feature of the Stile recitativo where the singer follows the natural rhythm of the words instead of the rigid beat.
Senza misura. Without a measure. See Senza battutta.
Seriöser Bass. (Ger.) Serious bass.
Sfumatura. Literally, to evaporate or vanish. Shading, coloring, or graduating the tone.
Shake. (Eng.) Trill.
Singen hinein in den Körper. (Ger.) Singing “backward down into the body.”
Smorzare il canto. Diminish the tone.
Smorzarla. An echo effect obtained by closing the resonators of the voice, thereby shifting into a parallel register.
Smorzatura. Literally to extinguish. See Sfumatura.
Solfeggio. 1. An exercise singing a melody on “Sol-Fa” syllables only or, also, on vowel sounds only. 2. A sight-singing exercise.
Solmization. (Eng.) The method of illustrating the construction and individual function of the notes of a scale by assigning syllables to each of the notes of that scale. Sol-Fa.
Soprano drammatica. A soprano with a large voice, usually possessing a dramatic temperament.
Soprano lirico. Lyric soprano.
Soprano lirico-spinto. A slightly bigger lyric soprano voice.
Soprano sfogato. “Unlimited” soprano, dramatic soprano.
Soprano sopracuto. The very highest soprano.
Sottile. Softness, subtleness.
Sotto voce. Literally, under the voice. An extremely quiet tone; a stage whisper.
Spielbass. (Ger.) Utility bass. See Spieltenor.
Spieltenor. (Ger.) A low lyric or “A” tenor who sings serious supporting roles.
Spinata di voce. See Messa di voce.
Spinto. Literally “pushed.” A heavier lyric voice that can sing some dramatic parts.
Spostamento della voce. Change of position of the voice by which a mezzo-soprano becomes a dramatic soprano, etc.
Sprechgesang. (Ger.) Speech-song.
Sprechstimme. (Ger.) Sustained semimusical speech on approximate notated pitches.
Sprengeinsatz. (Ger.) See Harte Einsatz.
Sprezzatura. A rhythmic flexibility following the natural accents of the text, especially in recitative.
Squaiato. An open shouted sound. A “squawk.”
Squillo. The “ring” of the voice. A prized overtone around 2,800–3,000 cycles per second, probably produced in the laryngeal cavity.
Staccato. Detached; separated.
Stagione system. Opera produced during a specified season.
Staumethode. (Ger.) A German breathing concept that uses a great deal of abdominal tension and subglottal pressure.
Stauprinzip. (Ger.) See Staumethode.
Stehbass. (Ger.) See Seriöser Bass.
Stelleinsatz. (Ger.) Balanced attack.
Stentati. Forced embellishments.
Stentato. Strained, forced.
Stile di camera. Chamber style (of singing).
Stile di chiesa. Church style (of singing).
Stile di teatro. Theatrical style (of singing).
Stile recitativo. (Caccini) “Reciting” style developed during the late Renaissance. A free arioso type of melody.
Stile rappresentativo. (Caccini) “Theater” style. A style of composition that allowed for little freedom of embellishment and followed the rhythms of the text closely.
Stimme. (Ger.) Voice.
Stimmaufbau. (Ger.) Voice building (development).
Stimmbildung. (Ger.) Formation of the voice.
Stirnresonance. (Ger.) Frontal (Sinus) Resonance.
Strascino. Gliding from one note to another. Scooping or dragging.
Strisciato. Slurring up to the next note. See Cerca la nota.
Stöhnlaut. (Ger.) Groaning sound.
Strohbass. (Ger.) Literally, “straw bass.” See Growl Register.
Stütze. (Ger.) Support.
Suono incarto. Constricted sound.
Super Whistle Register. (Coffin) The register that lies above the Whistle Register.
Tempo rubato. See Rubamento di tempo.
Tenor contraltino. A voice higher than the normal tenor, with a bold piercing quality. See Haute-contre.
Tenore. From tenere, to hold. Loose term for the highest normal male voice. Originally one who held the melody line (cantus firmus) in a polyphonic composition.
Tenore buffo. Character (comic) tenor.
Tenore di grazia. A smooth, graceful tenor voice, usually limited in range and power.
Tenore di mezzo carattere. Lyric tenor.
Tenore leggiero. A somewhat lighter tenor voice than the lirico.
Tenore lirico. Lyric tenor, somewhat more powerful than the tenorino.
Tenore lirico-spinto. A tenor who retains the more lyric aspects of the voice while singing more dramatic roles.
Tenore robusto. A powerful tenor voice sometimes called drammatico or spinto.
Tenore seria. Baritone-tenor.
Tenore spinto. A “pushed” tenor; one who seeks to exceed the natural limitations of the lyric voice.
Tenorino. A light, high, flexible tenor voice.
Tenuta di voce. See messa di voce.
Tenuto. Hold a note for its full value.
Tessitura. The range of the average pitch of a song, high or low.
Timbro. Color, timbre.
Timbre. (Fr.) Color or quality of voice.
Timbre clair. (Fr.) Bright vocal color.
Timbre sombre. (Fr.) Dark vocal color.
Timbro apperto. Open or bright timbre of the voice. Timbre clair (Fr.)
Timbro chiuso. Closed or dark timbre of the voice. Timbre sombre (Fr.)
Tirata. A “tirade”; passing notes in an ascending scale pattern to fill an interval.
Tono sporco. A “dirty” or impure tone.
Trattenuto. Held back, as in tempo or intensity.
Tremolando. A deliberate trembling of the voice for emotional effect.
Tremolo. A trembling or unsteadiness of the voice.
Trill. (Eng.) “The rapid, equal, and distinct alternation of two notes at the distance of a major or minor second.” (Garcia) A shake.
Trillo. 1. The rapid reiteration of the same note (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). This ornament goes back to the Middle Ages. 2. A trill or shake. (Garcia.)
Trillo calato. A trill in which a crescendo is made.
Trillo caprino. A trill that resembles the bleating of a goat.
Trillo cavalino. A trill that resembles the neighing of a horse.
Trillo cresciuto. A trill in which a diminuendo is made.
Trillo lento. See Trillo molle.
Trillo molle. Slow and soft trill.
Trillo mordente. A trill with a turn or gruppetto.
Trillo raddopiato. A trill which is interrupted by another ornament and then “redoubled” without taking a breath.
Tutenton. (Ger.) A piping or tooting sound. See Voce infantile.
Umlaut. (Ger.) Literally, round sound. A combination vowel.
Urkraft der Stimme. (Ger.) Original force of the voice.
Variazioni. Variations on the melody.
Verdi baritone. A robust baritone voice combining a powerful middle voice with stentorian high notes.
Verismo. Literally truth. A late nineteenth-century Italian style of opera emphasizing realism.
Vibrare. To vibrate. To resonate a tone to the end of the phrase. Trill.
Vibrato. A rapid, regular oscillation of the vocal tone; not to be confused with the tremolo, which is irregular.
Vinnola. Delightful; sweet, soft, and flexible (tonal quality).
Vocalise. (Fr.) A vocal exercise.
Vocalizzo. A vocal exercise sung on vowels only.
Voce. Voice.
Voce bianca. White voice. A thin, spread sound sometimes associated with light soprano voices.
Voce chiara. Vocal brilliance.
Voce chiusa. Closed voice.
Voce coperta. “Covered” voice.
Voce di camera. A small, intimate voice.
Voce di campanello. Bell (Whistle) Register.
Voce di capelli. Literally “voice of the hair” (Rossini). Whistle voice.
Voce di petto. Chest Register.
Voce di testa. Head register.
Voce finta. “Feigned” voice. Coordinated falsetto.
Voce infantile. A light, youthful, and innocent sounding soprano voice. Voce bianca.
Voce misto. Mixed voice.
Voce oscura. Dark (timbre) voice.
Voce pastoso. Mellow voice.
Voce piena. Full voice.
Voce piena e naturale. The full, natural voice; the “noble” style.
Voce velata. “Veiled voice,” a breathy, dull sound. Also darkened or “covered.”
Voix. (Fr.) Voice.
Voix humaine. (Fr). Human voice.
Voix mixte. (Fr.) Mixed voice.
Voix sombrée. (Fr.) “Covered” voice. See Cover.
Volata descendente. A rapid, descending passage.
Volate. To “fly.” A very quick tempo.
Volatina. A small group of passing notes.
Vollton. (Ger.) Full, resonant tone.
Vornesingen. (Ger.) Nasality.
Vorschlag. (Ger.) See Acciaccatura.
Vowel Register (Coffin). A register that lies in the middle to upper part of the female voice and the extreme top of the male voice. It is composed of the actual pitches of the lowest formants of the vowels. All the acoustical registers are formed from harmonics of the Vowel Register.
Voyelle mixte. (Fr.) See Umlaut.
Weich. (Ger.) Mellow, tender. See Dolce.
Whistle Register. The register that lies above the Head Register (female). This register typically has a disembodied, ethereal sound; the female falsetto.
Witch voice. Uncoordinated falsetto.
Wobble. A slow, irregular movement of the tone.
Yodel. A sudden switch of registers.
Zona di passaggio. Area of register transition.
Zona intermedia. Area of register transition above the secondo passaggio.
Zweite Höhe. (Ger.) See Whistle Voice.
Zwischenfach. (Ger.) A voice midway between two categories.