AOS2: Popular Music

Question 1

Riff

Answer 1

Melody: see Ostinato. A short repeated pattern.

Question 2

Pitch Bend

Answer 2

Articulation: bending a pitch by roughly a semi-tone (eg. using the strings on a guitar or using your lips on a trumpet)

Question 3

Melisma

Answer 3

Melody: setting one syllable to multiple notes

Question 4

Syllabic

Answer 4

Melody: setting one syllable per note

Question 5

Hook

Answer 5

Melody: a catchy fragment of melody to catch the listeners attention. Used to make a song stick in the memory

Question 6

Slide

Answer 6

Articulation: moving smoothly between two notes without breaking the sound (eg. Trombone)

Question 7

Glissando

Answer 7

Articulation: see Slide. moving smoothly between two notes without breaking the sound (eg. Trombone)

Question 8

Improvisation

Answer 8

Melody: making up a melody as you go along, using a chord progression or fragment as stimulus

Question 9

Ostinato

Answer 9

Melody: see Riff. A short repeated pattern.

Question 10

Blue Notes

Answer 10

Melody: notes of a scale which have been flattened to create a mood in the music

Question 11

Power Chords

Answer 11

Harmony: block chords played on guitar

Question 12

Chord Symbols

Answer 12

Harmony: Used to represent chords for players to realise. (eg. C7 = C major chord with added 7th, Am = A minor chord)

Question 13

Chord Progressions

Answer 13

Harmony: a standard series of chords which follow each other. (eg. I, IV, V, I)

Question 14

Pentatonic

Answer 14

Harmony: A scale only using 5 notes. (eg. the block notes of a piano)

Question 15

Modal

Answer 15

Harmony: using modes instead of scales to create harmony

Question 16

Blues Scale

Answer 16

Harmony: Scale typically used in blues music. (eg. C, Eb, F, Gb, G, Bb, C)

Question 17

Intro / Outro

Answer 17

Structure: the beginning or the end of a piece

Question 18

Verse

Answer 18

Structure: the part of the song which moves the story on

Question 19

Chorus

Answer 19

Structure: the part of the song which repeats and is catchy

Question 20

Break

Answer 20

Structure: the part of the song which breaks-up the verses and choruses

Question 21

Strophic Form

Answer 21

Structure: song structure. Each verse and chorus are set to the same music

Question 22

12-bar Blues

Answer 22

Structure: a structure of music used in blues music based on a 12-bar repeating pattern of chords.

C C C C
F F C C
G F C C

Question 23

Drum Fill

Answer 23

Structure: a short interesting drum line which is played before choruses