Elements of Rock Music

Question 1

– air vibrations created by a vibrating body (e.g. string, wind, or percussion instruments)

Answer 1

SOUND

Question 2

-the relative highness and lowness of a sound; the frequency of vibrations.

Answer 2

Pitch

Question 3

-– the recurring pulse of the music; what you tap your foot to

Answer 3

Beat

Question 4

-how sound is placed against a recurring beat.

Answer 4

rhythm

Question 5

-the speed of the beat

Answer 5

tempo

Question 6

-a unit of rhythm that contains one grouping of pulses

Answer 6

measure (bat)

Question 7

Two numbers, one on top of the other, placed at the beginning of a composition; the top number (the important one for us) represents the number of beats in each measure; the bottom number denotes what type of note receives one beat.

Answer 7

time signature

Question 8

-the first beat of a measure

Answer 8

downbeat

Question 9

1. on the “and/&” of the beat 2. played at a fast tempo

Answer 9

upbeat

Question 10

played with special emphasis, usually louder.

Answer 10

accent

Question 11

-the structure/contour of successive pitches, often the ones that the words are sung to; the main musical line

Answer 11

melody

Question 12

– 3 or more notes played simultaneously

Answer 12

Chord

Question 13

– chord progressions; how chords function in time. / chords played at same time

Answer 13

harmony

Question 14

-tone; the sonic characteristic/sound of an instrument or group of instruments.

Answer 14

Timbre

Question 15

-the relative volume of sound; changes in volume.

Answer 15

dynamics

Question 16

-instruments used (voice, guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, strings, orchestra, chorus).

Answer 16

instrumentation

Question 17

-the environment, instrumentation, recording/editing techniques, effects, arrangement and orchestration used in the creation of a recorded piece of music.

Answer 17

production

Question 18

-the words

Answer 18

lyrics

Question 19

-a section of a song that contains the same music but different lyrics for each repetition - the function
of the verses is to tell the story.

Answer 19

verse

Question 20

-a section of a song that contains the same music and the same lyrics for each repetition - the function of the chorus is to repeat the catch phrase, hook, or song title in hopes of getting the listener to sing
along.

Answer 20

chorus

Question 21

-the organizational structure of music, or how contrasting sections (verse, chorus, A B C ..) of a song/composition are ordered and/or repeated

Answer 21

form

Question 22

-an unchanging chord progression that repeats for each verse and chorus - only the lyrics change.

Answer 22

Strophic form

Question 23

the underlying music/chord progression repeats in support of a series of different verses which contain the lyrics .. i.e., same music for all the verses.

Song examples: “North Country Blues”, “House of the Rising Sun”, “Evil Ways”

Answer 23

Simple Verse

Question 24

• the underlying music/chord progression repeats in support of a series of different verses and choruses ..
  i. e., same music for all the verses and choruses

Song examples: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, “Stand By Me”, “Radioactive”..

Answer 24

Simple verse-chorus:

Question 25

the verses and choruses are based on different underlying music

Answer 25

Contrasting Verse-Chorus form

Question 26

(short, repetitive, melodic phrase

Answer 26

riff

Question 27

one-time contrast

Answer 27

bridge

Question 28

occurs usually as the last phrase of a verse and presents the title or hook replacing the chorus

Answer 28

refrain

Question 29

ending section

Answer 29

coda

Question 30

-denotes the number of measures (32) and the section letters (AABA) that are repeated throughout, where each section is 8 bars in length; used extensively in Jazz, Broadway, and Pop music
with modified forms used throughout Rock.

Song examples: “Blueberry Hill”, “Great Balls of Fire”, “All I Have to Do Is Dream”

Answer 30

32 bar AABA

Question 31

– a strongly accented snare drum stroke or handclap on beats two and four of a four-beat cycle, where the beat is typically a moderate tempo.

Answer 31

backbeat

Question 32

a rhythm which is mainly accented off the beat or on a weak beat; funk, reggae, and many African styles are quite syncopated.

Answer 32

syncopation

Question 33

-the subdivision of the beat into two equal parts (simple division); the majority of rock beats are in this form

Answer 33

straight time (8ths)

Question 34

the subdivision of the beat into three equal parts (triplet/compound division) where the first two are tied together to create a steady stream of notes in a long / short pattern; the most common feel in jazz and R&B.

Answer 34

swing feel

Question 35

-one of the most common blues and blues-rock rhythms; the cymbal rhythms are very similar to swing (and are often played on the hi-hat) but the kick plays on beats 1 & 3 and the snare plays on beats 2 & 4.

Answer 35

shuffle