The Music of Wild Birds: An Illustrated, Annotated, and Opinionated Guide to Fifty Birds and Their Songs

183 Pages·2004·10.41 MB·English

by  Judy Pelikan

The Music of Wild Birds
ILLUSTRATED AND ADAPTED BY
Judy Pelikan
From Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music by F. Schuyler Mathews
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2004
Contents
Glossary of Musical Terms
A Note from the Artist
Introduction
A Musical Key
Black-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Whip-poor-will
Ruffed Grouse
Bobwhite Quail
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher (Chebec)
Blue Jay
Crow
Bobolink
Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown Thrasher
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
House Wren
Black-capped Chickadee
Veery
Wood Thrush
Olive-backed Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
Screech Owl
Baltimore Oriole
Common Grackle
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Indigo Bunting
Scarlet Tanager
Cedar Waxwing
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Ovenbird
Song Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow (Peabody-bird)
White-crowned Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Yellow-breasted Chat
Catbird
Meadowlark
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Bluebird
In Conclusion
Glossary of Musical Terms
Accel. or Accelerando. Faster and faster.
Acciaccatura. A short note which is crushed against the principal note, as it
were (i.e., both struck at the same instant), but which is instantly released and
the principal key held.
Adagio. Slow.
Ad libitum. At pleasure.
Affettuoso. Tenderly; with feeling.
Agitato. With agitation.
Allegretto. A little quick; not so quick as allegro.
Allegro. Quick; cheerful. joyful.
Andante. The same as Moderato; going at a moderate pace.
Animato. With animation.
Ben. Well, good.
Cadenza. A more or less elaborate flourish of indefinite form, introduced
immediately preceding the close of the composition.
Cantabile. In a graceful, singing style.
Chromatic Scale. All the tones, intermediate and diatonic, in successive order.
Con. With; as, con brio, with spirit.
Cres. or Crescendo. Gradually increasing in strength or power.
Da capo. From the beginning.
Da capo al Fine. From the beginning to the end.
Delicato. Delicately.
Diatonic Scale. The five whole tones and two semitones of any key, in
successive order.
Dim. or Diminuendo. Gradually diminishing.
Dolce. Sweetly.
Dot. A point placed after a note or rest which adds one half to the rhythmical
value of the note or rest.
Dynamics. The force of musical sounds. The degrees range from pp., which is
the softest, through p. m. and f. to ff., which is the loudest.
Finale. The end.
Fine. The end.
Forte. Loud.
Fortissimo. Very loud.
Fuoco. Fire, energy.
Glissando. Playing a rapid passage on the piano by sliding the tips of the fingers
along on the keys.
Interval. The difference of pitch between two tones.
Largo. Slow.
Legato. Connected; each tone of a phrase being continued until the next is
heard.
Lento. Slow.
Marcato. Marked.
Moderato. Going at a moderate pace.
Phrase. A short tone chain which makes sense, but not complete sense.
Pianissimo. Very soft.
Portamento. A gliding of the voice from one tone to another.
Presto. Quickly.
Rallent. or Rallentando. Gradually slower and softer.
Ritard. or Ritardando. Slackening the time.
Scherzando. Playfully; sportively.
Sempre. Always.
Sforzando. With emphasis on one particular tone; forced.
Sostenuto. Sustained and smooth.
Staccato. Short and distinct; detached.
Syncopation. The displacement of the usual accent, either by cutting it away
from the commonly accented beat, and driving it over to that part of a measure
not usually accented, or by prolonging a tone begun in a weak beat past the
instant when the usual accent should occur.
Theme. A simple melody on which variations are made.
Tonic. The key tone.
Tremolo. A note made to quiver or shake.
Triad. A chord consisting of three tones—i.e., the tonic with its third and its
fifth.
Trill. A rapid alternation of two contiguous tones.
Triplets. Three equal tones performed in the time of one beat.
Vivace. Quickly; sprightly.