Tacet is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

which translates literally into English as "(it) is silent" (pronounced: , , or ). It is a musical term to indicate that an instrument or voice does not sound, also known as a

rest REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architectural style that was created to describe the design and guide the development of the architecture for the World Wide Web. REST defines a set of constraints for how the architecture of ...

. In vocal polyphony and in orchestral scores, it usually indicates a long period of time, typically an entire movement. In more modern music such as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, tacet tends to mark considerably shorter breaks. Multirests, or multiple-measure rests, are rests which last multiple measures (or multiple rests, each of which lasts an entire measure). Tacet Sheetmusic

It was common for early symphonies to leave out the

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

in certain movements, especially in slow (second) movements, and this is the instruction given in the parts for the player to wait until the end of the movement. Old multirests

It is also commonly used in

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of m ...

music to indicate that the instrument does not play on a certain run through a portion of the music, e.g. "Tacet 1st time." The phrase ''tacet al fine'' is used to indicate that the performer should remain silent for the remainder of the piece (or portion thereof), and need not, for example, count rests. Tacet may be appropriate when a particular instrument/voice/section, "is to rest for an entire section, movement, or composition." "Partial rests, of course, in every case must be written in. Even though it means 'silent,' the term ''tacet''...is not a wise substitution for a lengthy rest within a movement...The term ''tacet'', therefore, should be used ''only'' to indicate that a player rests throughout an . "N.C." ("no chord"Bissell, Patricia Melcher (2017). ''Classroom Keyboard: Play and Create Melodies with Chords'', p. 41. Rowman & Littlefield. .) is often used in guitar tablature or

chord chart A chord chart (or chart) is a form of musical notation that describes the basic harmonic and rhythmic information for a song or tune. It is the most common form of notation used by professional session musicians playing jazz or popular music. It ...

s to indicate tacets, rests, or

caesura 300px, An example of a caesura in modern western music notation A caesura (, . caesuras or caesurae; Latin for "cutting"), also written cæsura and cesura, is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase beg ...

s in the accompaniment.

Uses of tacet

The earliest known usage of the term is 1724. A unique usage of this term is in John Cage's 1952 composition

4′33″ ''4′33″'' is a Modernism (music), modernist composition by American experimental music, experimental composer John Cage. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments; the score instructs performers not to play t ...

. Tacet is indicated for all three movements, for all instruments. The piece's first performance lasted a total of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, without a note being played.

References

{{Musical notation Musical notation Musical terminology Latin words and phrases

Uses of tacet

See also

References