orchestration
The art of assigning musical material to specific instruments in an ensemble.
In Depth
Ravel was such a master of orchestration that Stravinsky called him a Swiss watchmaker — every instrumental choice was perfectly calibrated, with no wasted notes.
Related Terms
More in Techniques
Browse allSinging without instrumental accompaniment, with voices providing all musical parts.
The musical background that supports a solo melody or voice.
At the performer's discretion — an instruction allowing freedom in tempo, ornamentation, or inclusion.
An accent created by slightly lengthening a note rather than playing it louder, using duration rather than volume to create emphasis.
A left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern that breaks a chord into a repeated sequence of low-high-middle-high notes, creating a gentle, flowing texture.
A broken-chord accompaniment pattern in which the notes of a chord are played in the order lowest-highest-middle-highest
The ubiquitous left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern of low-high-middle-high notes, named after Domenico Alberti, that defines the texture of Classical-era piano music.
A guitar picking technique that strictly alternates between downstrokes and upstrokes.