| Term | Description |
|---|
| Tablature | Tablature (or Tabulature) is a form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play. |
| Techno | Techno is a form of electronic dance music originally developed in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. during the mid to late 1980s. |
| Tempo | In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. It is an extremely crucial element of sound, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece. |
| Tempo rubato | Tempo rubato (Italian stolen time) is a musical term for slightly speeding up or slowing down the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. |
| Tenor | A tenor is a singer, usually male, with a voice range from approximately C3 (one octave below middle C) to A4 (above middle C) in choral music, or up to "tenor C" (C5, one octave above middle C) or higher in operatic music (see voice type). |
| Tenor clef | When the C-clef is placed on the fourth line of the staff, it is called the tenor clef. |
| Tenor drum | A tenor drum is a cylindrical drum, which is higher pitched than a bass drum. |
| Tenore leggero | Tenore di grazia, also called tenore leggero, is a lightweight, flexible tenor type of voice. The tenor roles written in the early 19th century were invariable di grazia roles. |
| Tension | In music, tension is the perceived need for relaxation or release created by a listener's expectations. For example, dissonance may give way to consonance. Tension may also be produced through reiteration or gradual motion to a higher pitch. |
| Ternary form | Ternary form is a structuring mechanism of a piece of music. Also note that this structure, along with several other "music structures," can be used to choreograph dance. Ternary form is a three part structure. The first and third parts are identical, or very nearly so, while the second part is sharply contrasting. |
| Terraced dynamics | Terraced dynamics are the use of varying levels of volume, and is commonly found in baroque music. |
| Tessitura | In music, the term tessitura (Italian for texture) generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable timbre for a given voice or, less frequently, musical instrument; the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding texture or timbre. |
| Texture | In music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between these voices. |
| The Crowd | The Crowd was a 'supergroup' formed specifically to produce a charity record for the Valley Parade football disaster, in which 56 people died on May 11, 1985. |
| The Musical Offering | The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, based on a musical theme by Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great) and dedicated to him. |
| Theme | In music, a theme is the initial or primary melody. The 1958 Encyclopédie Fasquelle defines a theme as follows: "Any element, motif, or small musical piece that has given rise to some variation becomes thereby a theme." |
| Thirty-two-bar form | The thirty-two-bar form, often shortened to AABA, is a musical form common in Tin Pan Alley songs, later popular music including rock and pop music, and jazz. |
| Thirty-second note | In music, a thirty-second note (American or "German" terminology) or demisemiquaver (British or "classical" terminology) is a note played for 1/32 of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). |
| Tie | In music notation, a tie is a curved line connecting the heads of two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as a single note with a duration equal to the sum of the individual notes' note values. |
| Timbre | In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that mediate the perception of timbre include spectrum and envelope. |
