AP Music Theory Vocab Terms for Exam Flashcards
Vocab you don't know/aren't familiar with
Cautionary accidental
An accidental placed between parantheses even though the same note with the same accidental is used in the same measure
Timbre
Unique sound or tone of a musical note
Alla Breve
Cut time (2/2)
Anacrusis
Pick up note of a melody. The last measure has 3 beats to balance with the 1 beat at the beginning, which is the anacrusis.
Hemiola
Rhythmically alters or regroups the music so that it presents 2 bars of triple meter as 3 bars of duple meter
Syncopation
Accenting beats that are usually not stressed (like the 2nd and 4th beats)
Church Modes
Ionian Mode
Major scale
Dorian Mode
Natural Minor with raised 6th (scale degree)
Phrygian Mode
Natural Minor with lowered 2nd
Lydian Mode
Major with raised 4th
Mixolydian
Major with lowered 7th
Aeolian
Natural Minor
Locrian
Natural Minor with lowered 2nd and 5th
I Don’t Play Loud Music At Lunch
Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian
Scalar Variance
Use of all 3 forms of minor in the same piece
Enharmonic Intervals
Sound the same but spelled differently
- Simple Intervals
- Compound Intervals
- Octave or Smaller
- Larger than Octave
- Consonant Intervals
- Dissonant Intervals
- Stable: P1, P5, P8, M3, m3, M6, m6
- Unstable: M2, m2, M7, m7
Phrygian Half Cadence (PHC)
A kind of half cadence occuring in harmonic minor. iv^6 - V (Le-So)
- Conjunct Motion
- Disjunct
- Stepwise
- Skipwise
Motivic transformation
Changing or transforming original motive
Andante
Moderately slow tempo
Presto
Very fast (faster than allegro & vivace)
Marcato
Playing notes louder
Tenuto
Hold or sustain a note
Dynamics of Music
Pianississimo
Pianissimo
Piano
Mezzo Piano
Mezzo Forte
Forte
Fortissimo
Fortississimo
Very, very Soft
Very Soft
Soft
Kinda soft
Kinda loud
Loud
Very Loud
Very, very loud
Vivace
Lively and fast (faster than just allegro, a bit slower than presto)
Subito forte/piano
Suddenly loud/soft
Tremolo
Quivering or Trembling
Sempre (legato, allegro, tenuto)
Always (connected, fast, sustaining)
Adagio
Played slowly
Ritardando
Gradual decrease in speed
Diminution
When the rhythm gradually condenses (Ex: half notes to quarter notes)
Alberti vs. Walking Bass
Alberti: Broken chords on left hand (bottom, top, middle, top)
Walking: Notes move on every beat (jazz)
Canon
Richly layered and harmonious texture
Imitative vs. Non-Imitative Polyphony
If lines are similar, imitative; but if lines are completely unrelated; non-imitative
Basso Continuo
Bass line group
Intimative Counterpoint
Same melodic idea throughout multiple parts w/o variation
Terraced Dynamics
Sudden change in dynamics without crescendo or diminuendo
Sequences
Repeating melodic passage or similar at a higher or lower pitch
Picardy third
Major chord played at the end of a piece with a minor key
Syllabic and Melismatic
Syllabic: Relating to syllables
Melismatic: A phrase or composition where you hold a word or words with different pitches flowing until the end.
Grave
Slow, slower than andante
Retrograde
Playing a musical piece backwards
Voice exchange
Between two chords with a passing chord in between, the notes of the bass and soprano exchange so that the bass and soprano of the first chord are switched as the soprano and base of the last chord.
Cross rhythm, relation
When two notes or sounds are played in a chromatic alteration to make it sound dissonant, two conflicting rhythms being played together
Phrygian Half Cadence
Only in minor, when iv6 (first inversion four chord) goes to a major five chord (V) with a sharp on 7th scale degree.
Rhythmic Augmentation
Doubling note values. Ex: eighth changes to quarter note, quarter to half. The opposite of rhythmic augmentation is called diminution
Elision
When two phrases overlap with the overlapping material as a PAC. The first phrase will end in a PAC. After the PAC, another phrase continues off of that.
