Exam 1 Music Technical Terms Flashcards
What is rhythm?
An organized pattern (arrangement of durations) of musical sounds occurring over time.
What is a beat?
A unit of musical time, often perceived as a regular, underlying pulse.
What is an accent in music?
The stressing of a note by playing it louder than the surrounding notes.
What is meter?
A recurring pattern of strong and weak beats, in relation to which rhythm proceeds and is perceived.
What is tempo?
The speed of music.
What are dynamics in music?
The volume of sound, the loudness or softness of a musical passage.
Terms include piano for soft and forte for loud.
What is pitch?
The relative highness or lowness of a sound.
What is an interval?
The difference between two pitches, sounded either in succession or simultaneously.
What is melody?
A musical pattern that combines a sequence of pitches and rhythms occurring over time.
What is a motive?
A short fragment of melody or rhythm used in constructing a long section of music.
What is a theme in music?
A clearly defined longer melody that is developed or altered throughout a composition.
What is harmony?
The simultaneous sounding of different pitches.
What is a chord?
A grouping of pitches played and heard simultaneously.
What is consonance?
Intervals or chords that sound stable and free from tension.
What is dissonance?
Intervals or chords that sound relatively tense and unstable.
What is texture in music?
Blend of various sounds and melodic lines occurring simultaneously in a piece of music.
What is tone color (timbre)?
The sound quality of a particular instrument, voice, or combination of instruments or voices.
