About the Glossary

What this glossary covers, how to look things up in it, and where the writing stands today.

What this station is for

The glossary is the quick-reference layer of the whole music library. The other stations explain things in depth; this one does a single job — let you find out what a word means in a few seconds.

One entry per word, and each entry answers only "what is it". When you want to go deeper, the bottom of the entry points you to the station that covers it properly.

What it will cover

• Theory and harmony terms — the words that keep coming up: intervals, modes, chords, progressions, counterpoint, form.
• People — composers and notable performers, remembered in one line: who they were, roughly when, and what they are known for.
• Genres and forms — what sonata, fugue, concerto or art song actually mean.
• Instrument names — the common ones, plus the near-relatives that are easy to mix up.
• Chinese music terms — words that only exist in the Chinese context, such as gongche notation, ban and yan, and qupai.

What each entry looks like

• One sentence to a short paragraph — a hundred-odd words, not an essay.
• Written in both Chinese and English, saying the same thing in each.
• Examples only where they are needed; the depth lives on the other stations.

How to read it

1. Look it up, then go back — when a word stops you while reading elsewhere, confirm it here. 2. Follow the link down — for the "why", take the link at the bottom of the entry. 3. Compare near-synonyms — confusable pairs are explained side by side.

When the entries arrive

Entries are being added over time: first the words most often referenced by the other stations, then each station's specialised vocabulary. Until they are in place, this page is what you will find here.

Sources

• 本站自订说明，据实描述本站的内容范围与编写约定

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.