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prettygoodwordfermata (fer-MAH-tuh) - n., (music) the holding of a note or rest for longer than as written; the symbol 𝄐 over a note or rest indicating a fermata.
Length of pause at the discretion of the performer or conductor, but the rule of thumb is about twice the usual length (unless it's over a bar, in which case it's about a measure). This is often written over a final chord, drawing it out. Apparently sometimes called a bird's eye, though I've never actually heard that. Adopted in the 1850s from Italian, where it means stop or pause, from the feminine form past participle of fermare, to stop, from Latin firmāre, to make firm, from PIE *dʰer-, to hold.
---L.
Length of pause at the discretion of the performer or conductor, but the rule of thumb is about twice the usual length (unless it's over a bar, in which case it's about a measure). This is often written over a final chord, drawing it out. Apparently sometimes called a bird's eye, though I've never actually heard that. Adopted in the 1850s from Italian, where it means stop or pause, from the feminine form past participle of fermare, to stop, from Latin firmāre, to make firm, from PIE *dʰer-, to hold.
---L.
