ACCELERANDO
An acceleration or speeding up of the tempo of a particular aria, chorus or ensemble.

ACT
A portion of an opera designated by the composer, which has a dramatic structure of its own.

ALLEGRO
A quick and lively tempo that is faster than allegretto and slower than presto

ALLITERATION
Repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of words.

ANDANTE
Tempo of a walking pace.

ARCHETYPAL
The original model or form, after which other things are modeled.

ARIA
A solo piece written for a main character which focuses on the character's emotion.

ASCENDING
A series of notes going from a low to a high pitch.

ASIDE
A secret comment from an actor or singer directly to the audience that the other characters cannot hear.

BARITONE
The male singing voice that is higher than bass but lower than tenor.

BASS
The lowest male singing voice.

BEL CANTO
Italian phrase literally meaning 'beautiful singing.' A traditional Italian style of singing emphasizing tone, phrasing, coloratura passages, and technique; also the operas written in this style.

BREECHES PART
Male roles that are sung by women performers.

BUFFO
From the Italian for 'buffoon'. A singer of comic roles (basso-buffo) or a comic opera (opera-buffa).

CADENZA
A passage of singing, often at the end of an aria, which shows off the singer's vocal ability.

CHORD
A simultaneous combination of three or more tones that constitute a single block of harmony.

CHOREOGRAPHY
The act of setting movement to music to create a dance.

CHORUS
A group of singers who portray servants, party guests, or other unnamed characters; also the music written for them.

COLORATURA
Elaborate ornamentation of music written for a singer using many fast notes and trills.

COMPOSER
The person who writes the music.

COMPOSITION
A work of music, literature, or art.

CONDUCTOR
The leader of the orchestra sometimes called maestro.

CONTRALTO
The lowest female singing voice.

COUNTERTENOR
A countertenor voice is that of a male contralto. Some roles that are usually sung by a female contralto can be sung by a male countertenor.

CRESCENDO
A build in the volume or dynamic of the music.

DECRESCENDO
Gradually playing music softer.

DESIGNER
The person who creates the lighting, costumes or sets.

DIRECTOR
The person who instructs the singer-actors in their movements on-stage and in the interpretation of their roles.

DUET
Two people singing or playing together, or the music written for two performers. (Example: "Stepsister's Lament")

ENSEMBLE
Two or more people singing at the same time, or the music written for such a group.

FAIRY TALE
A story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings. (such as fairies, wizards, and goblins)

FINALE
The last musical number of an opera or the last number of an act.

FORTE
The Italian term for "loud", indicated in the musical score by the marking "f".

HARMONY
Two or more notes played at the same time; in other words harmony deals with chords, simultaneous sounds, and counterpoint with melody set against melody.

HERO(INE)
The principle character at the center of the story who struggles throughout the story, but generally triumphs in some manner at the story's conclusion.

INTERLUDE
A short piece of instrumental music played between scenes or acts.

KEY
The specific tonality of a piece of music, indicating the precise pitch which is to serve as the tonal center.

LIBRETTO
The text or words of an opera.

LYRICS
The sung words or text of a musical comedy or operetta song.

MAGIC
A mysterious quality of enchantment, or the art which invokes that quality.

MELODY
The tune of the music.

METAPHOR
An implied comparison between two things, where they are stated as the same thing, i.e. "Hope is a thing with feathers" (Emily Dickinson) (Note: related to a simile, where the comparison uses the words like or as, as in "light as a feather")

MEZZO-SOPRANO
The middle female singing voice, lower than soprano, but higher than contralto.

MAESTRO
Another word for conductor; Italian for "master".

MODERATO
Moderate tempo

OCTAVE
Eight notes, beginning and ending on the same letter name; double the frequency of vibration.

OPERA
Italian for "the work". A libretto acted and sung by one or more singers to an instrumental accompaniment. In short: words plus music plus staging.

ORCHESTRA
The group of instrumentalists or musicians who, led by the conductor, accompany the singers.

ORCHESTRATION
The art of writing for the orchestra. Decisions about what instruments should play which parts of the music can affect the sound of a composition a great deal.

OVERTURE
The orchestra's introduction to an opera that shows the mood or tone of the opera. It may contain melodies used in the opera itself.

PIANO
The Italian term for "soft", indicated in the musical score by the marking "p".

PITCH
The highness/lowness of a sound or tone.

PRESTO
A tempo that is very fast.

PRINCIPAL
A major singing role, or the singer who performs such a role.

QUARTET
Four singers or the music that is written for four singers. Also quintet, sextet, etc. (Example: "When You're Driving Through the Moonlight")

QUINTET
Five singers or the music that is written for five singers.

RANGE
How high and low an instrument can play.

RECITATIVE
The sung words which often come before an aria or ensemble. The purpose of recitative is to advance the plot.

REHEARSAL
A session of practice for a performance.

REPRISE
A return to an original theme.

RITARD
A slowing in the tempo of a piece of music.

RHYME
Words that share the same sound; (i.e. share/care/bear/stare)

RHYTHM
The arrangement of notes according to their relative length and relative emphasis (beat).

SCALE
A scale is a sequence of notes arranged in order from lowest to highest or from highest to lowest.

SCORE
The written music of an opera or other musical work.

SOLO
Playing or singing alone, as a featured performer. (Example: "In My Own Little Corner")

SOPRANO
The highest female singing voice.

STEREOTYPICAL
A conventional, oversimplified, or expected opinion or idea that can be transferred to an image, object or person.

TEMPO
The speed of the music.

TENOR
The highest adult male singing voice.

TRILL
Very quick alternation of pitch between two adjacent notes. See coloratura.

TRIO
An ensemble of three singers or the music that is written for three singers.

TUTTI
"All", meaning that everyone should play or sing together.

UNDERSCORE
Music that is played softly underneath other action, usually characters talking.

VILLIAN(S)
A character in a story (or play/musical) that is pitted against the hero and is generally depicted as evil or wicked.

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