N
Naker
A drum. (Obsolete.) Narrante (It.) (nar-ran-teh). A style of singing in which especial attention is given to distinctness of enunciation…
Nacaire (Fr.) (nah-kehr') – Nason Flute
A soft, closed stop, 4-foot pitch.
Natural
A sign which restores a letter to its place in the natural scale. In the ancient system of music the only changeable note in the scale was…
Natural Horn or Trumpet
Those without valves or slides. The sounds produced are called natural harmonics, and are the same as may be produced by touching lightly a…
Natural Pitch
The sounds produced by flute, clarionet, etc., without overblowing. The flute, oboe, and bassoon overblow at the octave above their…
Neapolitan Sixth
A name given to a chord consisting of the subdominant with minor 3d and minor 6th, as F, A2, D2; used in both major and minor keys.
Nebenwerk
The second manual of the organ. Neck [Ger., Hals; Fr., manche (mongsh)].
Nineteenth
An organ-stop; two octaves and a fifth above the diapason. Néruda, Wilhelmina (Norman). Violinist; Austria; B. 1840.
Ninth
An interval one degree beyond the octave, being the second removed an octave; it may, like the second, be minor, major, or augmented. The…
Noch (Ger.)
Still; yet, as, noch schneller, still faster. Nocturne (Fr.) (noc-toorn), Notturno (It.), Nachtstück or Nokturne (Ger.) (noktoor'-neh)…
Node
A line or point of rest in a vibrating body. A node may be produced in a vibrating string by touching it lightly. (Cf. under Natural Horn.)…
Normal Pitch
The pitch of a sound, generally A or C, adopted as a standard. This standard for the sound A, second space, has varied from 404 vibrations…
Notation
The various signs used to represent music to the eye, as staff, clefs, notes, rests, etc. The earliest attempts at the representation of…
Note
A sign which, by its form, indicates the relative duration of a sound, and by its position on the staff the pitch of a sound.
Novelette
A name invented by Schumann and given by him to a set of pieces without formal construction, with numerous con- Nohl, Carl F. L. Author…
Number
(1) A movement of a symphony or sonata. (2) A solo, chorus, or other separate part of an opera or oratorio, etc. (3) A given piece on a…