Basic Musical Elements Flashcards
What is Ryhthm?
The arrangement of long and short duration of notes in a musical passage
What is a beat?
The basic unit of measurement for time in music.
What is an accent?
A Beat/part of a rhythm that receives a particular emphasis
What is a meter?
A recurring pattern of strong and weak beats in a musical work (usually in 2s or 3s)
What is duple meter?
When beats are grouped in twos
What is triple meter?
When beats are grouped in threes (first beat is usually accented)
What is a simple meter?
When there is an obvious division of twos or threes (2/4 or 3/4)
What is a compound meter?
When a measure can be divided into strong beats (on 1 & 2), yet be subdivided into smaller groups within those accented patterns (ex 6/8)
What is syncopation?
When accented rhythms occur off of the main beats, sometimes in irregular places or patterns
What is Tempo?
The speed or pace at which a musical piece takes place
What is pitch?
The rate of sound vibration, or frequency. This can be perceived as “high,” “low,” or somewhere in between
What are dynamics?
How loud or soft a pitch or a phrase is played
What is timbre?
The specific tone color produce by an instrument or voice creating the musical sound
What is texture?
How songs and melodic lines interact or blend with one another (vertical dimension of music)
What is Monophony?
A texture of music when there is only one melody or line (no other notes or harmony)
What is Polyphony?
A texture where more than one melody or melodic line is playing at once
What is Homophony?
A texture that has one melody of interest, and with “less important” notes being played in the background
What is Tonality?
To have a written musical work based around one single “home” pitch (tonic)
What is Modality?
To have different intervals relationships that make a scale that results in different “moods”
What is a melody?
An organized series of pitches built from any scale
What is a motive?
(Motif) A distinctive melodic fragment - easy to recognize
What is a phrase?
A musical sentence that has a natural shape/motion as it’s expressed
What is a cadence?
The ending of a phrase, behaves like the period of the end of a spoken sentence
What is a tune?
A relatively short piece - ex popular song or hymn. They feel complete as you listen to them
