fermata

Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for fermata.

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Editorial note

The Fermata is his only book I’ve read, it was very interesting.

Examples13

Definitions2

Parts of speech1

Quick take

(music) The holding of a note or rest for longer than its usual duration.

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of fermata gathered in one view.

noun

(music) The holding of a note or rest for longer than its usual duration.

noun

(music, countable) The notation ⟨◌͒⟩ of such a prolongation, usually represented as a dot with a semi-circle above or below it, written above or below the prolonged note or rest.

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for fermata.

noun

(music) The holding of a note or rest for longer than its usual duration.

noun

(music, countable) The notation ⟨◌͒⟩ of such a prolongation, usually represented as a dot with a semi-circle above or below it, written above or below the prolonged note or rest.

Example sentences

The Fermata is his only book I’ve read, it was very interesting.

This means ending in a fermata, sort of fading (and not truly looping) or having the number of bars be somewhat musical (often powers of 2).

The slowest possible piece would have a fermata with an infinity sign over the first note, and that's it.

But the same premise is explored in the book The Fermata by Nicholson Baker and his writing is delightful.

It may have a fermata in addition to the extra beat.

It's a fermata on the second beat of that measure.

> The slowest possible piece would have a fermata with an infinity sign over the first note, and that's it.

The fermata overrides the time signature temporarily.

Additionally, certain notations are open to interpretation (fermata, accelerando, retardando, etc) and thus need someone to lead, unless they were standardized completely beforehand.

> The article on the Fermata Energy/Nissan announcement is not quite correct.

It seems like the point of the Cage piece is to play it at the slowest possible tempo, not over the greatest length of time possible (and that's why the fermata idea doesn't fit).

Yanked out the UV LED, dropped it into my Fermata light (pad/form factor compatible) and turned it into the mineral specimen lamp I was hoping to get from the original bulb.

Quote examples

(I find it interesting that this image doesn't even include a fermata[2] on the E; it includes the triplets on "hap-py" which is not in the original, but rushes the name.) Also, there is a slight syncopation-like effect when she says "4" - that's the triplet effect where three notes are played in the time of two (in this case a dotted-eighth + sixteenth taking (2/3 + 1/3) of a quarter note in time).