descant viol

descant, also spelled discant, (from Latin discantus, “song apart”), countermelody either composed or improvised above a familiar melody. Descant can also refer to an instrument of higher-than-normal pitch, such as a descant recorder.

In music, a descant is an additional vocal part above the main melody. Many church hymns include a descant, sung at a higher pitch than the melody. Literary types use descant as a verb to mean "talk on and on in a dull way."

verb(dɛsˈkænt, dɪs-) (intr) Also: discant (often foll by on or upon) to compose or perform a descant (for a piece of music) (often foll by on or upon) to discourse at length or make varied comments.

1. : to sing or play a descant. broadly : sing. 2. : comment, discourse.

The soprano recorder in c2, also known as the descant, is the third-smallest instrument of the modern recorder family and is usually played as the highest voice in four-part ensembles (SATB = soprano, alto, tenor, bass).

In music, a descant is a countermelody either composed or improvised above a familiar melody. The word can also refer to an instrument of higher-than-normal pitch, such as a descant recorder.

descended from; descending from; descends from. : to have (something or someone in the past) as an origin or source. Recent evidence supports the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs. The plants descend from a common ancestor. They claim to be descended from a noble British family.

phrasal verb. descend into something. ​[no passive] (formal) to gradually get into a bad state. The country was descending into chaos.

Examples of descant The girls join them on a descant, soaring high. It is unnecessary to descant upon the economy of this procedure. You ought to hear that fellow descant on domestic virtue! Such a storm as this was the memorable one of 1493, upon whose violence chroniclers of the time delighted to descant.

Percussion instruments The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra. Percussion instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit, shaken, or scraped.

The earliest use of discant, or terms like it, stems from the medieval age, when traditional single-line chant was increasingly embellished by improvised countermelodies.

If you descend or if you descend a staircase, you move downwards from a higher to a lower level.