CONCEPT DICTIONARY Flashcards
A B
Two-part form (see binary).
A B A
Three-part form where the first section is repeated at the end (see ternary).
A cappella
Unaccompanied choral singing.
Accelerando
Getting gradually faster.
Accompanied
Other instrument(s) or voice(s) supporting / accompanying the main melody.
Accordion
An instrument with a keyboard in which sounds are produced by squeezing bellows with the arms. Sometimes called a “squeezebox.” Often features in a Scottish dance band.
Acoustic guitar
A guitar that does not require an electric amplifier to produce sound.
Adagio
Slow and stately.
African music
Music that features voices and/or African drums.
Alberti bass
Broken chords played by the left hand outlining harmonies while the right hand plays the melody. Classical composers such as Haydn and Mozart used this technique extensively in their piano music.
Allegro
Fast tempo
Alto
The lowest type of female voice.
Andante
Walking pace (tempo).
Anacrusis
The notes that appear before the first strong beat of a musical phrase. It sounds as an upbeat.
Answer
A reply to a “musical question.” For example, an instrument will play a short tune and then another instrument will play something in response to this.
Arco
Instruction given to string players to play using a bow.
Aria
A song in an opera (or oratorio or cantata) with orchestral accompaniment.
Arpeggio
Notes of a chord played one after the other. For example, the chord of C major has 3 notes (C,E,G). Therefore an arpeggio based on this chord would be C followed by E, followed by G, followed by C, and so on.
Ascending
Notes which rise in pitch.
A tempo
An instruction telling the performer to return to the original speed after a speed change.
Atonal
No feeling of key (major or minor). Very dissonant (clashing notes), A feature of some 20th-century music.
Backing vocals
Singers who support the lead singer(s), usually by singing in harmony in the background.
Bagpipes
The national instrument of Scotland. A bag with 3 drones and a chanter (to play the melody on) inflated by blowing through a mouthpiece.
Baritone
A male voice whose range lies between that of bass and tenor.
Baroque
Music written between 1600-1750 approximately. Bach and Handel were two of the composers from this period. This music is often very polyphonic and often features the harpsichord.
Bass (voice)
The lowest type of male voice.
Bass Guitar
A 4-string electric guitar that plays the bass part of a piece of music.
Beat
The basic pulse you hear in music. The pulse might be in groups of 2, 3 or 4 and so on with a stress on the first beat in each group / bar.
Binary (form)
A B. A form in which the music up of two different sections labelled A and B (so tune A followed by tune B). Each section may be repeated.
Blowing
The sound is produced by blowing into or across the mouthpiece of the instrument, e.g. brass, woodwind etc.
Blues
Blues music is often in 4/4 time and is often patterned on a 12-bar structure and on a scale where some of the notes are flattened. For example, the blues scale in the key of C: C, Eb, F, Gb, Bb, C.
Bodhran
An Irish wooden drum played with a double headed stick. This is a popular instrument in a folk group.
Bothy ballad
A folk song, usually with many verses, from the North-East of Scotland. It is often in strophic form. It is sung in Doric, usually by a solo male singer. The songs are usually about farming life and / or the lives of the farm workers.
Bowing
The sound is produced by drawing the bow across the strings of a stringed instrument (violin, viola, cello, double bass) to create sound.
Brass
A family of instruments made from metal with a mouthpiece (e.g. trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba).
Brass band
A band of brass instruments and percussion. (A brass band uses additional brass instruments not found in an orchestra such as the cornet, flugal horn, tenor horn and baritone).
Broken chord
The notes of a chord are played separately (like an arpeggio).
Cadenza
A passage of music in a concerto when the orchestra stops so that a soloist can display their technical ability (show off) in singing or playing an instrument. Performers used to improvise cadenzas themselves but eventually composers began to write them into the score. In a concerto the end of the cadenza is marked by a dominant 7th chord and often a trill (to signal that the orchestra should join back in).
Canon
Strict imitation. After one part starts to play or sing a melody, another part enters shortly afterwards performing exactly the same melody that the previous part played.
Celtic rock
A style of music that mixes Celtic music with rock music.
Change of key
A move from one key to another key.
Choir
A group of singers - this can be all male, all female, or a mixture of voices (SATB - soprano, alto, tenor, bass).
Chord
Two or more notes sounding together.
Chord change
A move from one chord to a different chord.
Chord progressions using I, IV, V in a major key or in a minor key
A series of related chords. Examples of chord patterns are: I, V, IV, V I, IV, V, IV I, IV, I, V etc.
Chord progressions using I, IV, V, VI
Different progressions using the chords built on the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th notes of a major or minor scale. Examples of chord progressions are: I, vi, IV, V I, IV, vi, V etc.
Chorus
- A group of singers with several people to each part.
- The music written for the aforementioned group of singers.
- The refrain between the verses of a song (the catchy, repeated section of a song).
Chromatic scale
A stepwise series of notes built up entirely of semitones. For example, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C.
Clarsach
A Celtic harp - a folk instrument. Often features in Scottish and Irish music.
Classical
Music written between 1750-1810 (approximately). The era of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Cluster
A group of notes played on a keyboard instrument with the palm of the hand or even the with the forearm. Used in some 20th-century music. It sounds very dissonant / clashing.
Coda
A passage at the end of a piece of music that rounds it off effectively.
Compound time
The beat subdivides into groups of 3. Jigs are written in compound time.
Compound time groupings
The beat is a dotted note that divides into three. For example, the time signature 6/8 = two dotted crotchet beats in a bar and each beat can be divided into three quavers.
Con sordino
The Italian term telling a performer to play their instrument “with a mute.”
Concerto
A piece of music written for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. For example, a flute concerto is written for a solo flute and accompanying orchestra. A concerto is normally in three movements.
Contrapuntal
Texture in music where two or more parts have independent melodic interest - it has a similar meaning to polyphonic. A lot of music from the Baroque period is particularly contrapuntal.
Contrary motion
Two parts that move in opposite directions. For example, as one part ascends (gets higher in pitch) the other part will descend (get lower in pitch).
Countermelody
A 2nd melody played against the main melody.
Crescendo
Gradually getting louder. Can be abbreviated to cresc.
Cross rhythms
- A term used to describe the effect of two notes being played against three (e.g. in piano music, there might be groups of two quavers played in the right hand while groups of triplets are played in the left).
- The term is also used to describe the effect that occurs when the accents in a piece of music are different from those suggested by the time signature (e.g. the division of 4/4 time is changed to 3+3+2 quavers).
Descant
Another melody above the main tune (mainly in vocal music).
Descending
Notes that get lower in pitch.
Diminuendo
Getting gradually quieter. Can be abbreviated to dim.
Discord
A chord where the notes clash.
Distortion
An electronic effect used in rock music to colour the sound of an electric guitar. Distortion makes the guitar sound rough / gritty.
Dotted rhythm
A longer note followed by a shorter one. For example, a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver.
Drone
- One note or notes held on or repeated in the bass.
2. The low-pitched pipes of a bagpipe that provide a sustained sound (a drone) to accompany the melody being played.
Drum fill
A rhythmic decoration played on a drum kit.
Drum kit
A set of drums and cymbals often used in rock and pop music.
Electric guitar
A guitar that requires an electric amplifier to produce sound. Often used in rock, pop, jazz & blues music.
Episode
A section of music linking / separating / contrasting two appearances of the same material. For example, in Rondo form (A-B-A-C-A), section A is a recurring tune and sections B & C are episodes that separate the appearances of the section As.
Faster
The speed increases.
Fiddle
Another name for the violin (used in Scottish / folk music).
Flutter tonguing
A method of tonguing used by woodwind and brass players where the performer rolls the letter “r” while playing their instrument.
Folk group
A group of singers and instrumentalists who perform traditional music from a particular country, e.g. Scotland and Ireland.
Gaelic psalm
Slow, unaccompanied Gaelic church song heard mostly in the Western Isles of Scotland. Phrases are usually started off by a solo “presenter” and then the congregation joins in. It can often clash as each singer will interpret the melody in their own way at the same time.
Glissando
Sliding from one note to another (taking in all the notes in between where possible).
Gospel
Religious music from America. It is usually happy, uplifting and sung in praise of God. It often features voices in harmony and syncopated rhythms.
Grace note
A type of ornament played as a quick (or crushed) note before the main note of a melody.
Ground bass
A theme in the bass which is repeated many times while the upper parts are varied. It’s a little bit like the “classical” equivalent of a riff. A famous example is Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.”
Harmony
The sound of two or more notes sounding at the same time.
Homophony / homophonic
Texture where all the parts move rhythmically at the same time, or where you a hear a melody above an accompaniment that isn’t overly complex.
Imitation
When the melody played by one instrument / voice is immediately copied by another instrument / voice. It doesn’t need to be an exact copy - there can be small changes made.
Imperfect cadence
If music was a paragraph then cadences would be the punctuation marks.
A cadence consists of two chords at the end of a phrase (this can be anywhere in the music, not just at the end of a piece). If the music stopped at the end of an imperfect cadence, the music would sound unfinished. In an imperfect cadence the second chord is chord V (chord 5).
For example, in the key of C major, the second chord of an imperfect cadence would be the chord of G.
Impressionism / impressionist
A term borrowed from painting in which brief musical ideas merge and change to create a rather blurry and vague outline of sound. It often has a dream-like sound. Debussy was an important composer of this style.
Improvisation
The performer makes up music on the spot during a performance. Improvisation is an important feature of jazz (but can appear in many contemporary styles of music).
Indian
Music from India that uses instruments such as the sitar and tabla.
Inverted pedal
A high pitched note that is repeated or sustained in a piece of music with harmonies changing around it.
Jazz
At first this was music created by African Americans in the early 20th century. This style of music often features instruments such as the piano, saxophone, trumpet, drum kit, double bass, sometimes voice, amongst other instruments. The music often features improvisation. The harmonies often include additive chords like 7th, 9th, 11th & 13th chords and also features blues notes.
Jig
A fast (Scottish / Irish) dance in compound time usually with two or four beats in a bar. Each beat divides equally into groups of three.
Latin American
Music from South and Central America. Percussion instruments feature heavily in Latin American music and provide lively, off-beat / syncopated rhythms. If singing is present it will often be in Spanish or Portuguese,
Leaping / Moving by leap
Moving up or down between notes that are not next door to each other (for example, jumping from a C to an A). It is the opposite of stepwise movement (moving between next door notes, e.g., C to D, or D to E etc).
Legato
The notes are played or sung smoothly.
Major
The music is played in a major key. Major keys have a bright, warm, and sometimes happy sound.
Major scale
A stepwise series of notes built on an order of tones and semitones.
For example, the scale of C major is: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.
For example, the scale of G major is: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G.
For example, the scale of F major is: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F.
March
A (Scottish) dance with a strong steady pulse with two or four beats in a bar. It feels like you could march to it.
Melismatic / melisma (word setting)
Vocal music in which two or more notes are sung to one syllable.
Mezzo soprano
A female singer whose voice range lies between that of a soprano and an alto.
Middle 8
In popular music, a section that provides a contrast to the verses and choruses of a song. It is often in the second half of a song and often lasts for 8 bars (although it can be longer or shorter than this too).
Minimalist
A development in the second half of the 20th century. It is based on simple rhythmic and melodic patterns that are constantly repeated with very slight changes each time. It can sometimes have a hypnotic quality to it.
Minor
The music is played in a minor key. Music in a minor key has a dark, cold, and sometimes sad sound to it.
Minor scale
A stepwise series of notes built on an order of tones and semitones (but a different order from a major scale).
For example, the harmonic minor scale of A minor is: A, B, C, D, E, F, G#, A.
Moderato
A moderate speed.
Modulation
Changing key.
Mouth music
Gaelic song to provide music for dancing, first created when instruments had been banned. The songs are sung in Gaelic with the occasional nonsense word added. The songs are sung a cappella / unaccompanied.
Musical
A musical play that has speaking, singing and dancing and is performed on a stage. The songs also often help tell the story. Often features contemporary music styles and contemporary instruments like the drum kit, guitar etc, but not always. The performers often sing in a contemporary style too.
Muted
Using a device that reduces the volume or alters the sound of an instrument. Con sordino means “with a mute.” Brass instruments often use mutes (especially in jazz based music) which can give them a squeezed or nasal sound.
Octave
The distance between a note and the nearest note of the same name.
For example, playing middle C and then playing the C that is 8 notes higher. The first two sung notes in the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” are an octave apart.
Off the beat
The main notes are accented against the beat.
On the beat
The main accents fall on the beat.
Opera
A drama set to music with soloists, chorus, acting and orchestral accompaniment. The vocalists sing in a “classical” or operatic style.
Orchestra
A large group of strings, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
Organ
A keyboard instrument usually found in churches. It usually has more than one keyboard.
Ornament
An ornament is a short and/or additional note that decorates a melody (for example, a grace note or a trill).
Ostinato
A short musical pattern repeated many times. For example, the clapped / stamped pattern all the way through Queen’s song “We Will Rock You.” It is a similar concept to a riff.
Pan Pipes
Pipes that are graded in size and are bound together. The sound is made by blowing across the top of the pipes. They have quite an “airy” sound. They are one of the oldest wind instrument from South America.
Pause
The musical flow is held up by pausing on a long note or silence.
Pentatonic scale
Any five-note scale. In the practice, the most common one is that on which folk music is based, particularly Scottish and Celtic music. Music from China, Japan and other countries from the Far East also make use of the pentatonic scale. “Auld Lang Syne” is composed on a pentatonic scale.
The five notes could be C, D, E, G, A.
Percussion
Instruments that are hit, shaken or scraped. Tuned or pitched percussion can produce different notes, e.g. glockenspiel, xylophone and timpani.
Unpitched percussion has no fixed pitch, e.g. cymbals, hi-hat, castanets, triangle, tambourine, guiro, bongo drum, bass drum and side (snare) drum.
Perfect cadence
If music was a paragraph then cadences would be the punctuation marks.
A cadence consists of two chords at the end of a phrase (this can be anywhere in the music, not just at the end of a piece). If the music stopped at the end of a perfect cadence, the music would sound finished. In a perfect cadence the chords move from chord V (chord 5) to chord I (chord 1).
For example, in the key of C major, a perfect cadence would move from a chord of G to a chord of C.
Pitch bend
Changing the pitch of a note e.g. pushing a guitar string to slide its pitch to another note.
Piano
- A keyboard instrument that produces sounds by hammers striking strings.
- A dynamic (volume) direction meaning to play quietly. It can be abbreviated to p.
Pibroch
The “classical music” of the Highland bagpipe, always in Theme and Variation form. The music is heavily decorated and quite slow.
Pizzicato
An instruction given to string players to pluck the strings instead of using the bow.
Plucking
Sound made when you pluck the strings of a stringed instrument with a finger / fingers.
Polyphonic
Texture which consists of two or more musical lines or parts, possibly of equal importance, and which weave in and out of each other.
Pop
A style of popular music. Contemporary styles making use of contemporary / electronic instruments such a synthesiser, it often features programmed drums, singing in a modern style.
Pulse
The basic beat in music. The pulse may be in groups of 2, 3 or 4 with a stress on the first in each group.
Question
An opening phrase. It might be followed by a musical answer / response.
Ragtime
It features a strongly syncopated melody against a steady vamp accompaniment. This style of music is often played on piano. A famous performer and composer of ragtime is Scott Joplin.
Rallentando
Getting gradually slower. Can be abbreviated to rall.
Rapping
Rhyming lyrics that are spoken and performed to a beat. Rapping is popular in hip-hop music.
Recorder
A woodwind instrument. There are four main types: descant, treble, tenor and bass.
Reel
A fast Scottish dance in simple time with two or four beats in a bar. Each beat divides equally into groups of two.
Reggae
Developed in the late 1960s in Jamaica performed by people such as Bob Marley. It has a distinctive sound, written in 4/4, and has strong accents on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar.
Repetition
A musical idea is heard / repeated more than once.
Reverb
An electric effect which can give the impression of different hall acoustics, e.g. as if the performance is in a cathedral.
Riff
A repeated phrase usually found in jazz and popular music. Famous riffs feature in songs like “Smoke on the Water,” “Seven Nation Army,” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Ritardando
Meaning to slow down. It can be abbreviated to rit.
Rock
A style of popular music featuring instruments such as electric guitar, maybe with distortion, bass guitar, and drum kit.
Rock band
A group playing a type of music in a rock style using instruments such as electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kit etc.
Rock ‘n’ Roll
1950s American music that grew from the combined styles of gospel, jazz, blues and country. Songs often use electric guitar, bass guitar (or double bass), drum kit and sometimes other instruments saxophone and piano. Sometimes the songs would follow a 12 bar blues pattern.
Rolls
A very fast repetition of a note on a percussion instrument, e.g. on a snare drum or timpani.
Romantic
Music written between 1810-1900 approximately. The music is often very expressive featuring the use of concepts such as rubato.
Rondo
A B A C A.
A form (structure) where the first section (A) comes back between contrasting sections (episodes).
Round
Each performer sings or plays the melody entering one after the other. When they reach the end they can start again. For example, Frere Jacques.
Rubato
A rhythmic “give and take” where the tempo is pulled about to allow for more expression. Common during the Romantic period.
Scale
A sequence of notes ascending and descending in a certain order. For example, major scale, minor scale, pentatonic scale, chromatic scale, and whole tone scale.
Scat singing
Nonsense words and sounds are improvised by a singer. Sometimes the singer is imitating the sounds of instruments. Used mainly in jazz singing.
Scotch snap
A very short accented note before a longer note. Gives a “di-dum” effect. A feature of the strathspey.
Scots ballad
A Scottish song that tells a story - this can be about a important event or about love. It is usually strophic in form and performed by a solo singer. It is performed in Scots.
Scottish
Music that represents the various elements of Scottish music.
Scottish dance band
A band that plays traditional Scottish music for people to dance to. The instruments may include fiddle, accordion, piano, bass and drums.
Semitone
Half a tone, e.g. C to C# or the distance from one fret to the next on a guitar.
Sequence
A melodic phrase that is immediately repeated at a higher or lower pitch.
Simple time
The beat subdivides into groups of 2.
Sitar
A plucked, string instrument from India. In addition to melody strings, it has a drone and strings that vibrate in sympathy with each other.
Slower
The speed decreases.
Solo
One instrument or voice.
Extended definition: a prominent instrument or voice can be solo even when part of a larger ensemble when it takes the melody / has a solo part.
Soprano
The highest female voice.
Staccato
The notes are short and detached.
Steel band
A Caribbean band whose instruments are made out of oil drums called pans. The top of each drum is hammered into panels to make different pitches.
Stepwise
Moving up or down between notes which are next to each other. For example, C to D, D to E etc.
Strathspey
A Scottish dance with four beats in a bar. It is performed at a moderate speed and usually features the Scotch snap.
Striking
The sound is produced by hitting the instrument.
String instruments
Instruments whose sounds are produced by making the strings vibrate. String instruments include violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, guitar and harpsichord.
Strings
The orchestral family of instruments that has strings (violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and harp). The sound is produced by dragging a bow across the strings or by plucking them with the fingers.
Strophic
A song in which each verse has the same music. There is not a specific chorus. The structure is verse 1, verse 2, verse 3 etc. Bothy ballads and Scots ballads are often in strophic form.
Strumming
A finger, fingers or plectrum are drawn across the strings of an instrument, usually guitar or ukulele.
Swing
A jazz style that started in the 1930s. The rhythm is swung. Big bands often perform swing music.
Syllabic word setting
Vocal music where each syllable of a word is given one note only. The opposite of melisma.
Symphony
A large work (piece of music) written for orchestra usually in four movements. There is no instrument more important than the rest and there is no one solo instrument throughout the work (unlike the concerto).
Syncopation
Strongly accented notes playing off or against the beat.
Tabla
Two Indian drums tuned to different pitches and often used to accompany the sitar.
Tenor
A high adult male voice.
Ternary
A B A.
A form (structure) where the first section or tune (section A) is always repeated at the end with a contrasting section (section B) in between.
Theme and variations
A theme (the main tune) is played. After this, it is repeated but on each repeat it is changed (or varied) each time. So the piece is made up of lots of different versions of the same tune one after the other.
Tone
Two semitones.
For example, C to D, or the distance between two frets on a guitar.
Trill
Rapid and repeated movement between two adjacent (next door to each other) notes.
Unaccompanied
No other instrument(s) or voice(s) perform along with a soloist.
Unison
Two or more instruments / voices performing the same notes at the same time.
Vamp
A rhythmic accompaniment with a bass note played on the beat and chord off the beat. Usually played on piano or guitar and features in Scottish dance music as well as ragtime.
Voice
The human instrument used to speak or sing. There are six voice types you need to know for National 5 Music.
Female (highest to lowest): Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Alto
Male (highest to lowest): Tenor, Baritone, Bass
Verse and chorus
A structure / form popular in many songs. The music of the verse will repeat (usually with different words each time). In between the verses the chorus will appear (each time it will usually have the same lyrics).
Walking bass
A moving bass line with notes usually of the same value (although not always). It often moves by step, but not always. This is a common feature of jazz, blues, swing and sometimes rock ‘n’ roll music.
Waltz
A dance with three beats in the bar in simple time.
Waulking song
A rhythmic, work song sung in Gaelic. It was performed by women in the Western Isles of Scotland while they “waulked” the tweed to soften and shrink it. An important feature of the song is the pounding of the cloth on the table keeping a steady beat. The songs are usually in a question and answer structure where a solo woman would sing a line then the other women would answer here with a response.
Whole tone scale
A scale containing no semitones - it is entirely built on tones. Debussy used the whole tone scale in some of his pieces that were in an impressionist style.
An example of a whole tone scale is: C, D, E, F#, G#, A#, C.
Wind band
A band with woodwind, brass and percussion instruments often playing music composed for the concert hall rather than for marching.
Woodwind
Instruments that produce sounds by blowing across a hole against an edge or through a single or double reed e.g. (flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, saxophone or bassoon).
