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Scan 16
SA Dictionary Of Music, 1904
10 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1strings are fastened at the lower end of the hoop, and run over and at a little distance above the parchment, along the finger board at the front of the long neck of the instrument, to the head, where they are attached to pegs or screws, by means of which the strings are tightened to produce notes of a given pitch. The chanterelle or melody string, also called the thumbstring, is an exception to the other strings by being attached to a peg placed about half way up the neck, and not at the head of the instrument. This is tuned to the highest note, and is placed next to the string tuned to the lowest note, and in this arrangement the Banjo differs from all other instruments of the same family. Banjos differ as to the number of strings they possess, some having five, others six, seven or nine, in the latter case there are three thumbstrings. The following are the notes in the treble stave to which the strings are tuned, but as with the Guitar the actual pitch is to be understood as an octave lower.
3Bar. A vertical line drawn through the stave to divide the music into equal portions as to time, and to indicate the place of the periodic accent by which in performance the music is made to move in equal rhythmic divisions. The first note immediately after the bar is the accented note. The word bar is sometimes used to mean the actual amount of music between one bar line and the next, but MEASURE is the more appropriate word to use in such a case. The employment of the bar dates from about the beginning of the 16th century. In modern music its use is almost universal, but in certain passages, as in what is called a CAZENZA, the music is not of such a measured character as to allow of it being divided into definite portions by the bar, so that the notes are given in an unbroken succession, apart from any consideration of the time value of the ordinary measure of the piece. An approximate marking of the relative value of the notes must be preserved, however, even in such a passage, although the performer is left to his own discretion as to speed and style.
5Baritone. The name usually given to the Saxhorn in B♭, which has the same range as the Euphonium, but which differs from the latter in having a smaller volume of tone, because of the bore (the size of the tubing) being on a lesser scale. It is an important instrument in Brass Bands, and often has the air, as well as ornamental work requiring some amount of skill, allotted to it in the music.
7Bass. The lowest part of a composition written in harmony, and also the male voice and any kind of instrument that renders such a part is so named. A Bass part is responsible for supplying the roots or fundamental notes of chords, without which the harmony would be incomplete and ineffective. On this account the Bass part possesses an individuality that is well defined, and such as most people easily recognise. The main chords in each key are the Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant, and consequently the chief notes falling to the Bass part are the roots of these chords, as, for example, in the key of C—
9KEY C. | d : – | f : – | s : – | d : – | In ordinary music these intervals, either in this plain form or one more or less elaborated, will be found to be the main material given in the Bass part. The following are a few of many ornamental
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