A Cappella? Is That How You Spell It?
A Cappella? Is That How You Spell It?
The phrase a cappella is among the most butchered and misunderstood musical terms. The predominant, and most "correct" spelling, is ...
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's."
A Cappella, A Picky Definition
Musicologists have fun debating the extent to which a cappella, 'in the style of the chapel,' can include instrumental accompaniment. Some argue that early sacred a cappella performances would sometimes include instruments that double a human voice part. So, the correct definition of a cappella should be something like 'singing without independent instrumental accompaniment.'
At Primarily A Cappella, we are trying to popularize this style of music, so we like to keep it simple.
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's." singing without instruments
A Capella?
Some musical dictionaries indicate that the Italian a cappella is preferred over the Latin a capella (one "p") yet both are technically correct. Why do those dictionaries muddy the waters with two spellings?
The phrase was first used in Italian Catholic churches, where Latin was the language for sacred text. Thus, the Latin spelling for 'in the style of the chapel' - a capella - has some historical basis. However, most other musical terms - forte, accelerando, and many others - are Italian in origin. Since the
Italian spelling is more consistent with other musical terms, it has been used more frequently.
Given the difficulty of spelling our favorite style of music, we'd like to endorse the simplicity of a single spelling:
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's." singing without instruments
Acappella
Joining the two Italian words together to make Acappella is a popular variation in the U.S. For many streetcorner singing fans, Acappella means unaccompanied singing of 'fifties (and early 'sixties) songs. There were a series of
The phrase a cappella is among the most butchered and misunderstood musical terms. The predominant, and most "correct" spelling, is ...
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's."
A Cappella, A Picky Definition
Musicologists have fun debating the extent to which a cappella, 'in the style of the chapel,' can include instrumental accompaniment. Some argue that early sacred a cappella performances would sometimes include instruments that double a human voice part. So, the correct definition of a cappella should be something like 'singing without independent instrumental accompaniment.'
At Primarily A Cappella, we are trying to popularize this style of music, so we like to keep it simple.
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's." singing without instruments
A Capella?
Some musical dictionaries indicate that the Italian a cappella is preferred over the Latin a capella (one "p") yet both are technically correct. Why do those dictionaries muddy the waters with two spellings?
The phrase was first used in Italian Catholic churches, where Latin was the language for sacred text. Thus, the Latin spelling for 'in the style of the chapel' - a capella - has some historical basis. However, most other musical terms - forte, accelerando, and many others - are Italian in origin. Since the
Italian spelling is more consistent with other musical terms, it has been used more frequently.
Given the difficulty of spelling our favorite style of music, we'd like to endorse the simplicity of a single spelling:
a cappella - two words, two "p's", two "l's." singing without instruments
Acappella
Joining the two Italian words together to make Acappella is a popular variation in the U.S. For many streetcorner singing fans, Acappella means unaccompanied singing of 'fifties (and early 'sixties) songs. There were a series of