page_title: Glossary of jazz and popular music
section_title: B
hierarchical_section_title: Glossary of jazz and popular music / B
caption_attribution_description: Yamaha MC2403 audio mixing console (1992)
context_page_description: This is a list of jazz and popular music terms that are likely to be encountered in printed popular music songbooks, fake books and vocal scores, big band scores, jazz, and rock concert reviews, and album liner notes. This glossary includes terms for musical instruments, playing or singing techniques, amplifiers, effects units, sound reinforcement equipment, and recording gear and techniques which are widely used in jazz and popular music. Most of the terms are in English, but in some cases, terms from other languages are encountered.
context_section_description: B
  Slang abbreviation for a B-3 organ (see below)
   B-3
  The B-3, a widely used version of the Hammond organ, an electromechanical, tonewheel-based keyboard instrument.
  B-Section
  A term referring to a second part of a verse, typically using different chords, possibly a new key, and often a different feel, often leading into a chorus, sometimes referred to as the "pre-chorus".
   back-beat
  Beats 2 and 4 in 4/4 time, particularly when they are strongly accented. A term more used in rock 'n roll.
  backmasking
  Recording a sound and then flipping it so that when it is replayed, it sounds backwards. Backmasking was explored as a recording studio effect in the psychedelic 1960s. A moral panic was created when some listeners claimed to hear evil, Satanic messages in backmasked sections. While any recorded music could be backmasked, it is most effective when applied to individual instruments; an example is backwards cymbals effect, in which the sound swells up from silence.
  ballad
  A slow song, often on a romantic or emotional theme.
   bark
  A slang term used by keyboard players to refer to the growling, biting tone of a vintage Fender Rhodes electric piano when played through a turned up tube amp.
   barre chord or bar chord
  A guitar chord in which the first (or another finger) holds down two or more adjacent strings (that is it "bars" several notes)
   bass
  The lowest-pitched voice of the standard four voice ranges (bass, tenor, alto, soprano); the lowest melodic line in a musical composition, often thought of as defining and supporting the harmony; in a jazz or popular music context, the term usually refers to the double bass or the electric bass.
   bassline
  The low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument, often by an electric bass player or upright bassist, but a bassline can also be performed on organ, piano, or even guitar. While basslines emphasize the root and the fifth of the chord, other chord tones, notably the third and seventh, are used to express the type of chord and add musical interest. (see also "line" below)
   beat
  The pronounced rhythm of music; or one single stroke of a rhythmic accent.
   bend
  Jazz term referring either to establishing a pitch, sliding down half a step and returning to the original pitch or sliding up half a step from the original note. With the electric guitar, bending is widely used in blues, blues-rock, and rock and, to a somewhat different fashion, in jazz.
   bin or bass bin
  A subwoofer cabinet that reproduces very low-frequency sounds, usually with some type of horn or transmission line system in a large cabinet to enhance the bass response; typically used for the main, front of house speaker system, but in rare cases, may also be used as part of a bass player's bass amplifier set-up. The term "bin" was more common in the 1980s; in the 1990s and 2000s, the term "subwoofer" or "sub" is much more widely used.
   binary
  A musical form in two sections: AB
   bird's eye
  A slang term for fermata, which instructs the performer to hold a note or chord as long as they wish, usually for twice the printed time value.
   bleeding, bleed, or bleed-through
  A slang term which refers to the ambient sounds that a microphone aimed at an instrument picks up from other instruments or singers in the same room. In some cases, "bleeding" is considered undesirable, if unwanted sounds from other instruments are picked up by a microphone. To prevent "bleeding", studios use isolation booths and cloth-covered room dividers. In some cases, "bleed-through" is desirable, because it makes the recording sound fuller or more "live".
   block chords
  A style of piano playing, developed by Milt Buckner and George Shearing, with both hands 'locked' together, playing chords in parallel with the melody, usually in fairly close position. It is a technical procedure requiring much practice, and can sound dated if the harmonies are not advanced enough. Also called "locked hands".
   blow
  A jazz term instructing a performer to improvise a solo over the chord progression of a jazz tune; may also be written "blowing section" or
caption: Yamaha 2403 audio mixing console (or "board") in a 'live' mixing application. Each column of knobs controls the volume, tone, and other elements for a single channel (e.g. a microphone being used by a singer).
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