stopping

In music, an action affecting pitch: on a string instrument, the shortening of the vibrating length of the string (raising pitch), by pressing the finger onto the string, bringing the string into contact with the fingerboard; on a horn (especially a valveless natural horn), the alteration of pitch and timbre is achieved by blocking the bell to varying degrees, with the hand; in an organ, stopping occurs by the blocking of one end of a pipe, lowering pitch by one octave.