| Term | Description |
|---|
| Double stop | A double stop, in music terminology, is the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument (like a marimba) or stringed instrument (for example, a violin or a guitar). |
| Double-stroke roll | In percussion, the double-stroke roll is a rudiment consisting of alternating diddles (i.e. RR, LL, etc) of indeterminate speed and length. |
| Double tonguing | Double tonguing or double articulation is used when the music being performed has many rapid notes in succession too fast for regular articulation. In this case, the tongue makes a silent "tuh-kuh". |
| Double whole note | In music, a double whole note (American or "German" terminology) or breve (British or "classical" terminology) is a note lasting twice as long as a whole note (or semibreve). |
| Downbeat | In music performance and music theory, the downbeat is the first beat of a measure in music, the impulse that occurs at the beginning of a bar in measured music. |
| Drag | In percussion, a drag is a rudiment consisting of two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL). This is similar to the Diddle, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed, where drags are played at twice the speed as the context in which they are placed. |
| Drag paradiddle | In percussion, a drag paradiddle is a rudiment consisting of a paradiddle preceded by one or more tap/drag combinations. |
| Dramatic soprano | A dramatic soprano is an operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra. |
| Drone | In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. |
| Drum roll | A drum roll is a method a percussionist employs to produce a sustained sound on a drum. Rolls are used on other percussion instruments as well, such as the marimba and xylophone, to sustain the sound, where it can be likened to tremolo on string instruments. |
| Drumline | A drumline or drum line is a section of percussion instruments usually played as part of a musical marching ensemble. Drumlines are usually incorporated into high school or college marching bands, drum and bugle corps or drum and lyre corps, indoor percussion ensembles, and pipe bands, but also can exist independent of these ensembles. |
| DSCH | DSCH is a musical motif used by the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich to represent himself, in the manner of the BACH motif of Johann Sebastian Bach. |
| Duet | A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. In classical music the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. |
| Duple | In music, duple refers to duple meter. Duple is also a duration of 1½ the regular note value duration in compound and or triple meter. An irrational rhythm, it may also be used as a polyrhythm when played against the regular duration. |
| Duration | A duration is an amount of time or a particular time interval. |
| Dynamics | In music, dynamics normally refers to the softness or loudness of a sound or note, but also to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic (staccato, legato etc.) or functional (velocity). The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics. |
