Baroque Music Concepts Flashcards
What is a scale?
It moves up the notes by steps
What is an arpeggio?
An arpeggio moves in leaps ascending or descending patterns
What’s an ornament?
It decorates the main melody
What is a trill?
Quick and continuous alternation between two notes most often the main note and note above. Often used at the ends of phrases or at cadence points.
What is repetition?
When a pattern of notes are repeated at exactly the same pitch
What is a sequence?
When a pattern of notes are repeated at a higher or lower pitch with each repetition
What is perfect cadence?
When the section of music that finishes the music which sounds finished as it ends on chord 1 and is preceded by chord 5
What is an imperfect cadence?
When the end of the piece finishes on chord 5
What is syllabic word setting?
When each syllable is set to only one note
What is melismatic word setting?
When a syllable can be set to more then one note
What is a descant?
This is when a higher part is sung above the main melody
What is adagio?
Slow
What is andante?
Walking pace
What is moderato?
Moderate speed
What is allegro?
Fast
What is accelerando?
To speed up
What is ritardando?
To slow down
What is an anacrusis?
When one or more notes are played/sung before the first beat of the bar
What is simple time?
When each beat can be divided into quavers (think cof-fee).
It contains the following time signatures 2/4, 3/4, 4/4
What is compound time?
When each beat can be divided into triplets (think straw-bed-ry) and can use the following time signatures 6/8, 9/8, 12/8
What is a dotted rhythm?
When a dot is added is added after a note which increases its value by half
What is arco?
Playing with the bow
What is pizzicato?
Plucking the stings
What is a roll?
When the player plays quick, repeated notes on one pitch.
What is cannon?
When instruments or voices play/sing the EXACT SAME material in turn, overlapping.
What is imitation?
When SIMILAR material is played/sung, possibly at different pitches, or with slight differences.
What is homophonic?
Homophonic music is when all instruments/ voices move at the same time with the same rhythms, though possibly in harmony, i.e same rhythms at different pitches.
What is polyphonic music?
Polyphonic music has independent parts, using different rhythms and pitches, ‘weaving’ in and out of one another. It can also be described as contrapuntal.
What is a ground bass?
A base line which is repeated all the way through a piece of music while the parts above it change.
What is binary form?
Binary form is for music written in two sections, which can be labelled ‘A’ and ‘B’. Each A and B section is normally repeated, so it actually sounds like AABB
What is Ternary form?
Music written for two sections ‘A’ and ‘B’ with section A being played again, giving a structure of ABA
What is rondo?
Rondo form has a recurring section ‘A’ with a different section in between each labelled ‘B, ‘C’, ‘D’, etc. this gives a structure of ABACADA
What is a chorus?
A chorus features a choir sining together. The word chorus can also be used for the name of the group singers, so chorus and choir are interchangeable.
What is an aria?
An aria is for a solo singer (or very occasionally, a duet) and is expressive in nature.
What is a concerto?
A piece written for an instrument accompanied by orchestra and is intended to show off what an instrument or a player can do
