From Aces to Angels

Glossary

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To clear up any possible confusion among the readers, here is a short glossary of musical, and not so musical, terms I picked up on my travels. Terms the general public might not be familiar with.

Axe:  Electric guitar.
Ballhead:  Type of microphone with rounded top.
Bat:  Guitar or banjo.
Bend: A guitar technique where instead of stopping the string at the desired note, it is stopped a tone or a half tone lower and 'bent' (pushed up) to the desired pitch.
Blow:  A musical get together; a session.
Blow off the stage:  Achieve cynical oneupmanship on the  perceived opposition.
Bottleneck: A blues guitar style (sometimes called 'slide') where instead of playing the notes with the fingers, a metal or plastic tube is slid up and down the strings to give a wailing steel guitar effect.
 Box:  Accordion.
Bob Copies:  Sheet music, so called because at one time they cost a bob (five pence).
Dolly Mixtures:  Different types of drugs in tablet form (e.g. speed).
Double:   Play another instrument apart from the main instrument (e.g. sax player doubles on clarinet).
Dry Hall:  Ballroom where no alcoholic liquor is served.
Eg-Latin (or 'The Neganty'):  A form of back slang spoken by musicians and invaluable when slagging people you don't like. So called because the word 'eg' was placed before every vowel (e.g. If you wanted to say something like 'I hate your guts,' that would become 'EgI hegate yegour geguts'). Sounds complicated but easy enough to learn, usually by listening.                               Fair Midden:  Affectionate term for country girl.
Feedback: (dictionary definition) The return of a fraction of the output signal from an amplifier, microphone or other device to the input of the same device; sound distortion produced by this. In layman's terms, squealing and howling from the speaker of your amplifier.
Flies' Shite:  What reading musicians are said to play when they hit wrong notes.
Four in:  A count (usually by the drummer) that sets the tempo and enables the band to start playing (hopefully)in a synchronized fashion. Depending on how the piece of music begins, you can also have, 'three in' or 'two in' etc.
Fuzz Box:  Device that guitarists use to distort and 'dirty' their sound.
Gather Up:  A band just thrown together in a hurry for one night.
Gig:  Engagement; booking.
Groupies:  Young ladies who 'specialize' in musicians (obviously girls of good taste).  
Hambone:  Trombone.
Handbrake:  Lever like device on electric guitar (proper name 'tremolo arm') which enables the player to 'bend' the pitch up or down. If used vigourously makes guitar sound like something from outer space, and with some guitarists, overuse can become addictive.
Handouts:  Publicity photographs given out to audience at end of dance.
Harp:  Blues harmonica.
Head:  The leading exponents in their chosen field, in this case, music.
Horn:  Trumpet.
Jam:  Live session where everybody gets together without rehearsing.
Johanna:  Piano.
Knuckles:  Nickname for pianist not noted for his dexterity.
Liquorice Stick:  Clarinet.
Lug it:  Play by ear; Improvise.
Middle Eight:  Passage in music between verse and chorus.
Mixed Grill:  Medley of dances all played in the one set.
Nanty (the polari):  Keep your mouth closed; say nothing.
Near enough for Jazz:  The tuning doesn't have to be spot on, as when playing jazz nobody will be able to tell the difference.
One Night Stand:  Travelling to a gig, playing, and coming straight home when it's over; Not staying overnight.
Orchs; Orchestrations:                                                            
Pencil:  Long slimline microphone.                                                                                          
Relief Band:  Band who plays support to main band.
Round The House:  Similar to 'Mixed Grill.'                                                                            Safari:  A far off gig, usually in the wilds of Mayo or Kerry.
Set:  Short selection of songs.
Shitkicker:  Country and Western song.
Singing in the cracks:  Applied to member of the audience who comes up to the stage and starts singing in neither one key or the other. So called because the would be star is in the cracks between the piano keys.
Three Chord Trick:  The minimum amount of musical dexterity required by guitarist to enable him to play simple tunes.
Tweeter:  Small speaker designed to handle the high pitched sounds in a P.A. system.
Skins:  Kit of drums.
Skull:  Type of microphone the top of which superficially resembled a human skull.
Stickman:  Drummer.
Tepee:  Marquee; Large tent where dances were held during the summer months.
 Tin Ears:  A complete idiot in musical terms.
Tone Deaf:  Not quite as bad as 'tin ears,' but getting there.
Treble Booster:  Another accessory used by guitarists to enhance the sharpness of their sound.
Twelve Bar:  Chord pattern found a lot in blues music where, as the name suggests, a sequence of twelve bars is repeated.
Wagon:  Vehicle for transporting band and instruments to gigs.(also used for other unmentionable purposes).

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