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Glite Dictionary
🎶 Adjusting instrument sound 🗣️ Making voice sounds
voicing

voicing

8.3
Adjusting organ pipes or wind instruments so they make the desired tone and volume
  • noun
  • /ˈvɔɪsɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : afinación
  • The arranger will therefore need to make critical decisions regarding form and chord voicings, for example.

Examples

  • The conductor emphasized the importance of voicing in achieving the desired harmony during the performance.

  • Although some of his music requires quick motion and technical proficiency, he had only two functional fingers with which to travel the fretboard; many of his chord voicings are manageable by intermediate students.

    Academic text (2010)

  • OK, so you can start getting voicings like that.

  • Or check out the voicing for this chord.

  • I could do some open voicings over a spread triad.

  • These pieces are available in numerous voicings, from unison to SSATB.

    Academic text (1998)

  • During the music class, the teacher explained how proper voicing can enhance the sound of each instrument.

  • Musicians often experiment with different voicings to create unique arrangements for their songs.

Synonyms

tuning
vsvoicing
10 3.5

A specific way of adjusting an instrument so it makes a particular sound

emphasizes tone and timbre as well as pitch to shape the sound

Surface Forms

voicing singular
voicings plural

Morphology

voicing = voice (semi-transparent) = voice + ing

Formed regularly from the verb 'voice' with -ing, but the technical sense 'adjusting an instrument's tone' is a specialized extension that may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Voicing comes from the word voice, from the Latin vox meaning 'voice'. Think of an organ pipe or flute as having its own 'voice' — voicing is the careful work to shape that voice so the instrument sounds right.