Chapter 2 Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony. Flashcards
Beat
The Pulse of the Music. A regularly recurring sound that divides passing time into equal units.
Tempo
The at which the beat sounds.
60 BPM (1 beat 1 second)
Allegro
fast
Presto
very fast
Lento
slow
Grave
Very slow
Accelerando
When the tempo speeds up.
Ritard
When tempo slows down.
Downbeat
The first beat in a musical unit.
Accent
Stress
Meter
Organizing beats into groups.
Measure (Bar)
A group of beats.
Duple Meter
“ONE-two”
Triple Meter
“ONE-two-three”
Rests
Signs to indicate the absence of sound for a length of time.
Rhythm
The division of time into compelling patterns of long and short sounds.
Meter Signature/Time Signature
Tells the performer how the beats are grouped in a meter.
Bar Lines
Vertical lines that divide meters.
Syncopation
Places the accent either on a weak beat or between beats. “Off-Beat”
Melody
The tune (what we sing along with/like)
Pitch
The relative position perceived as high or low, of a sound.
Octave
Duplicating pitch (higher or lower)
Interval
When a tune moves from one pitch to another. Can be short or long distance.
Staff
The grid of lines and spaces notes are represented on.
Treble (G) Cleft
Upper range cleft for higher instruments & voice.
Bass (F) Cleft
Covers the lower-range instruments & voices.
The Great (Grand) Staff
The combination of treble & bass cleft.
Scale
A fixed pattern of tones within the octave that ascends & descends
Major Scale
Happy, cheerful, uplifting.
1-1-(1/2)-1-1-1-(1/2)
WWHWWWH
Minor Scale
Somber, Dark, Sinister
1-(1/2)-1-1-(1/2)-1-1
WHWWHWW
Mode
affects the mood of the music.
(ex. Major & Minor are modes)
Chromatic Scale
All 12 pitches.
Tonic
The first of the 7 pitches of a scale. (home)
Tonality
The organization of music around a central pitch.
Key
Can be interchangeable with Tonality (The organization of music around a central pitch)
Modulation
To temporarily move the home scale to another, for the sake of variety.
Harmony
The sound of one or more pitches that support & enhance a melody.
(Almost always, the pitches of the melody will be higher than the harmony)
Chords
The building blocks of harmony, 2 or more pitches that sound at the same time.
Triad
Chords made of 3 pitches.
Chord Progression
Chord changes beneath a melody.
Cadence
End of a Chord progression
Dominant
A triad built on the 5th degree of a scale.
When used at cadence (end of chord progression), it gives a strong feeling of conclusion.
Dissonance
Disagreeable & unstable
Consonance
Agreeable & stable
doo-wop
emerged in the 1950s, from African American churches in Detroit.
A cappella
voices only.
Ostinato
any element that continually repeats.
Cannon
A round where one voice starts & the others duplicate it exactly.