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diminution

 
Dictionary: dim·i·nu·tion   (dĭm'ə-nū'shən, -nyū'-) pronunciation
n.
    1. The act or process of diminishing; a lessening or reduction.
    2. The resulting reduction; decrease.
  1. Music. Statement of a theme in notes of lesser duration, usually one-half, of the original.

[Middle English diminucioun, from Old French diminution, from Latin dīminūtiō, dīminūtiōn-, from dīminūtus, past participle of dīminuere. See diminish.]

diminutional dim'i·nu'tion·al adj.

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Antonyms: diminution
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n

Definition: lessening, reduction
Antonyms: development, enlargement, expansion, growth, increase


Music Encyclopedia: Diminution
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Term denoting a kind of ornamentation involving the breaking down of a number of long notes into a larger number of short notes - that is, a diminution of note values through the increase in the number of notes to be played in the same time. It is one of the commonest methods in the Renaissance and Baroque periods of introducing melodic variation. The term is also used, particularly regarding fugue, for the playing of a melody in shorter notes (commonly at double speed).



Contractura or reduction of the diameter of a column-shaft with height: in Antiquity it began from the lowest part of the shaft, but C18 practice began it from about a third of the height. It is associated with entasis.

Law Encyclopedia: Diminution
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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Taking away; reduction; lessening; incompleteness.

The term diminution is used in law to signify that a record submitted by an inferior court to a superior court for review is not complete or not fully certified.

Diminution in market value is a rule of damages, within which the proper measure of damages for permanent injury to real property is the reduction of market value for any use to which the property might be appropriated. It is a rule providing for the before-and-after value of stolen or damaged property.

Wikipedia: Diminution
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Diminution, from Italian diminuimento, is a musical term used to mean different things in the context of intervals, scales, chords or note values.

Contents

Diminished intervals

An interval is diminished if a minor or perfect interval is narrowed by a chromatic semitone. Thus a diminished fifth interval, for example, is a chromatic semitone narrower than the perfect fifth. A diminished seventh interval is another name for a sixth interval. Diminished intervals are often used is jazz music and art music, but not as often in pop music because of their unusual sound. Les Claypool used diminished intervals in his song "DMV" for just this purpose.

Diminished scales

An example of a diminished scale would be A Dim - A B C D D F F G A Diminished Scales are very easy to construct, you simply start at your required root note, and from there just move up a tone and then a Semitone, continue this until you have your scale.

Root/  Tone/  Semi/  Tone/  Semi/  Tone/  Semi/  Tone/  Semi
 A      B      C      D      E     F      G     A     B

See also half diminished scale.

Diminished chords

From the the diminished scale you can form a diminished triad chord by using the A, C, and E (root, minor third, diminished fifth).

In a diminished seventh chord you have 4 notes which are each a successive minor third apart, leading to minimal transposition. In the latter So there are actually only 3 different diminished seventh chords (e.g Cdim7 contains the notes C, E, F, A, as does the diminished seventh chords with the roots of E, F, and A)

In most sheet music books, Cdim or C° denotes a diminished seventh chord (a four note chord) with root C, and Cm-5 or Cm5 denotes a diminished triad with root C. Howevever, in some modern jazz books and some music theory literature, Cdim or C° denotes a diminished triad, while Cdim7 or C°7 denotes a diminished seventh chord.

See also Half-diminished seventh chord.

Diminished note values

A melody or series of notes is diminished if the lengths of the notes are shortened (this is opposed to augmentation, where the notes are lengthened). A melody originally consisting of four crotchets (quarter-notes) for example, is diminished if it later appears with four quavers (eighth-notes) instead. This technique is often used in contrapuntal music. It gives rise to the "canon in diminution", in which the notes in the following voice are shorter than those in the leading.

In Schenkerian analysis a diminution is a division, rather than a diminishing is a prolongation or expansion, "the process by which an interval formed by notes of longer value is expressed in notes of smaller value," see nonchord tone.


Translations: Diminution
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - formindskelse, svind, diminuering

Nederlands (Dutch)
vermindering, afname

Français (French)
n. - diminution, baisse, réduction, affaiblissement, abaissement (de la température), baisse de (l'autorité), (Mus) diminution

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verminderung, Verringerung, Schmälerung, (Mus.) Verkleinerung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μείωση, ελάττωση

Italiano (Italian)
diminuzione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - diminuição (f)

Русский (Russian)
уменьшение

Español (Spanish)
n. - disminución

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - avtagande

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
减少, 减低, 缩小

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 減少, 減低, 縮小

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 축소

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 減少, 先細り

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نقصان, تنقيص, إنقاص‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הפחתה, הקטנה, הכמות שפחתה, חזרה על קטע מוסיקלי בצלילים קצרים מהמקוריים‬


 
 

 

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