Uber - Vaudeville
Veloce - Voluntary
U
Uber - (German) "over"; above or over
Ubung, uobunga - (Old German) "over"; an exercise for a students learning to play difficult procedures with any instrument
Uchite - Japanese term for a taiko drummer
Ukulele, ukekeke - (Hawaiian) "jumping flea"; a small four-string guitar developed by the Portuguese which was introduced in Hawaii in 1870
Ultrasonic - the pitch range above 20,000 hertz or 20 kilohertz; the higher pitch ranges that are inaudible to humans
Ultrasound - pitch ranges above 20 kilohertz or 20,000 hertz
Un, una, uno - "one"; "a"; a multi-language prefix denoting the words 'one' or 'a'
Unequal temperament - a tuning system between pure tonal and equal temperament mostly used for instruments of 'fixed tone' which sound in tune in some keys and out of tune in other keys
Un poco - (French) "a little"; a language prefix or suffix denoting 'a little' or small
Una corda - (Italian) "one string"; the left pedal on a piano which softens the sound by shifting the keyboard 'action' right in order to strike only two strings
Unison - two or more parts sounded simultaneously; two or more parts sounding the same pitch tones or at octave intervals at the same time
Unisono - (French) "in unison"; two or more parts sounding the same pitch tones at the same time
Unity gain - no increase or decrease of signal strength from input to output
Unmeasured - musical rhythm left up to the performer's discretion
Upbeat - the weaker beat preceding the strong main beat in music; the upward mark of the conductor's baton or hand
Up bow, upward bow - directive for string players to push the bow upward across the strings; notation denoting use of up bow
Up notes - notes occurring before the first measure of a composition
Upright - standing; a piano with a vertically mounted string arrangement intended for domestic use
Up tempo - (Italian) "quick time"; an increased tempo; music that is solely electronically created with no mechanical actions or devices
Ut - (French) "C"; the first syllable or tone of the former French major scale: ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, in used in 'fixed-do'or solfège; see also solmization
V
Vagans - (Latin) "wandering"; the fifth part of a motet
Valve - a piston-like mechanism on brass wind instruments which redirect the air into different lengths of tubing in order to change the pitch
Vamp - an improvised accompaniment, typically a similar repeated melody
Vamp till cue - a jazz, fusion, or theater directive instructing the rhythm parts to repeat a musical passage of an ostinato, riff, or melodic phrase until instructed (cued) by the conductor or leader to move on or stop
Vamp till end - a jazz, fusion, or theater directive instructing the rhythm parts to repeat a musical passage of an ostinato, riff, or melodic phrase to the end
Variation - any musical form with its main musical idea or theme altered with each successive passage, each retaining some elements of the original theme.
Variazioni - (Italian) "varied"; a directive to play varied; with variation or change
Vaudeville - (French) "voice of the city"; originally a 16th century popular comic street song of France, also known as vau de vire; a light theatrical performance with music, Burlesque, comedy, clowns, dancers, and various other performers
Veloce - (Italian) "fast"; play swiftly or quickly
Velocissimo - (Italian) "fast as possible"; instruction to play as quickly as possible
Verhallend - (German) "decaying"; gently dying away
Verismo - (Italian) "realism"; a 19th century Italian arts movement aimed at portraying the real life of the poor
Vessel - a wind instrument, primarily flute, in which the pipe body is globular rather than tubular such as the ocarina
Via - a prefix or suffix of 'away, out, or, off'
Vibraphone - a percussion instrument of metal bars struck with a beat stick with a fan underneath which gives the sound produced a pulse or vibrato effect
Vibrato - (Italian) "to vibrate"; a rapid vocal or instrumental pitch alternation of a single tone; a vocal tone pitch vibration accomplished with the singer's tongue and vocal cords
Vibration - a rapid alternation of sound; the rapid trembling of an object
Vihuela - (Spanish) ""; a 15th and 16th century 'plucked string' instrument and predecessor of the guitar but bigger
Viol - a group of stringed instruments of the 15th to 18th centuries which included the viola de gamba and viola de bracio
Viola - a larger four stringed predecessor or cello and larger of the violin originating from the smaller three stringed viola de bracio and viola de gamba
Viola de bracio - the smaller three stringed predecessor of the violin developed in the late 14th century; see violin
Violin - (Latin, Italian) "stringed instrument"; a staple instrument of the orchestra developed in the 17th century from the earlier viola de gamba
Violinist - "one who" plays the violin; a violin player
Violoncello - (Italian) "big little"; the full name for the cello instrument; an early viola type predecessor of the cello
Virginal - a small early version of the harpsichord from the 15th century
Virtuoso - (Latin, Italian) "learned"; a performer or artist of exceptional skill
Vital - a significant or important part of a composition or event in an opera
Vite - (French) "fast"; play faster
Vittorioso - (Italian) "victory"; victoriously
Vivace, vivacity - (Italian) "lively"; play in a lively and brisk manner
Vivacissimo - (Italian) "very lively"; play in a very lively and brisk manner
Vivamente - (Italian) "quickly"; play in a quick and lively manner
Vivezza (masc), vivezze (fem) - (Italian) "vivid"; play vividly or with vivacity
Vivo - (Italian) "lively"; lively or intense
Vocal - singing, speech, or sound produced using the human voice
Vocal chords - the human bodily organ which produces sound or speech
Vocals - the singer's written part of a composition, the singing section of a choir, ensemble, or orchestra
Vocalist - "one who" uses their voice to produce musical sounds; a singer
Vocalize - to produce or create sound using the human voice
Voce - (Italian) "with the voice"; use the voice
Voice - the sound produced by the human vocal chords; the various parts of a musical composition or performance whether vocal or instrumental
Volante - (Italian) "flying"; rapidly or 'flying'
Volti subito - (Italian) a directive typically written above or below the end of the staff to begin reading from the next page; turn the page; abbreviated V.S.
Voluntary - a pre-written or improvisational piece performed by a solo organist at a church service; a solo organ introduction or finale for a church service
