Glossary Flashcards
A cappella
Unaccompanied singing
Acciaccatura
(pronounced atch-akka- too-ra). An ornament, printed as a small note with a slash through its tail, that is performed as quickly as possible on or just before the beat that follows it.
Accordion
An instrument with hand- operated bellows that force air to vibrate metal reeds. The sound is controlled from small buttons on both sides of the bellows, although the larger piano accordion has a small vertical keyboard on one side. An instrument often used in folk music
Aeolian mode
A scale that can be found by playing the white notes on the piano from A to A an octave higher. It is the same as C major except that the home note is A. The mode can be transposed to start on any note providing that the order of tones and semitones in its scale is retained.
Alla breve
A pulse of two minim beats in a bar (2/2 time). Sometimes called cut-C time.
Alto
The lowest female singing voice.
Anacrusis
One or more notes that occur before the first strong beat of a phrase (i.e. before the first bar line of the phrase). Often called a ‘pick up’ in jazz and pop music.
Antiphonal
A texture in which two or more spatially separated soloists or groups perform alternately and in combination.
Appoggiatura
(pronounced a-podge- a-too-ra). An expressive dissonance that then usually moves by step to a note of the current chord. If written as an ornament, the note forming the appoggiatura is printed in small type.
Aria
A song for solo voice with accompaniment, usually forming part of a longer work such as an opera, oratorio or cantata.
Atonal
Western music that is not in a key or a mode and that is often dissonant.
Augment
- A proportionate increase in note lengths, e.g. when a rhythm of two quavers and a crotchet is augmented it becomes two crotchets and a minim.
- An augmented interval is a semitone larger than a major or a perfect interval. Augmentation is the opposite of diminution.
Backing vocals
The vocal accompaniment to the lead vocal in a pop song. The part is often labelled BVOX.
Ballad
In jazz and pop, a slow, romantic song.
Baroque
In music, the period between about 1600 and 1750.
Bass
- The lowest male singing voice.
- An abbreviation of double bass.
Bass guitar
A guitar that has the same pitch and tuning as a double bass and, also like the double bass, that sounds an octave lower than its written notes. Usually electrically amplified, it forms the harmonic foundation of a rock group by playing the bass line.
Bass viol
A bowed string instrument of the viol family, similar in size to the later cello, but having between five and seven strings and a fretted fingerboard (like a guitar).
Bell chord.
A chord that is sounded as a downward succession of sustained notes.
Bend
A slight change in the pitch of a note while it is sounding. The change is usually upward and is made for expressive purposes.
Book musical
A musical in which songs, vocal ensembles and dances are fully integrated into a plot with serious dramatic goals.
Book
A document containing the spoken dialogue of a stage musical.
Bossa nova
A dance and highly syncopated style of music that developed in the 1960s. It is slower and gentler than samba, from which it developed, and the music was influence by jazz of the period.
Bouzouki.
A plucked string instrument of the lute family usually associated with the music of Greece, but used by a number of Celtic folk musicians in recent decades.
Break.
In pop and jazz, an instrumental solo (usually improvised), e.g. a saxophone break.
Breakbeat.
A short section (often just one bar) of a dance track in which most instruments other than drums stop playing. The term is also used for a type of electronic dance music.
Bridge.
A short and often contrasting passage in a pop song that links two other sections. Sometimes called a middle eight, even if not eight bars in length.
Broken octaves.
Rapidly alternating notes that are an octave apart.
Cadence.
The end of a musical phrase, often harmonised by two chords.
Cadenza.
- An improvised vocal flourish just before a singer’s final cadence in an aria.
- In music from the Classical period onwards, an improvised or written out solo towards the end of a movement in a concerto, when the soloist plays alone to demonstrate their virtuosity.
Canon.
A contrapuntal device in which the melody in one part is overlapped by the same melody in another part, starting a few notes later. This process of exact imitation continues throughout the length of the canon or canonic passage.
Chamber orchestra.
A small orchestra, typically consisting of a small but complete string section plus a limited number of wind players.
Chromatic.
Notes that don’t belong to the current key. The opposite of diatonic.
Circle of 5ths.
A series (or progression) of chords whose roots are each a 5th lower than the previous chord (e.g. E-A-D- G-C), In practice the bass usually alternates between falling a 5th and rising a 4th, which produces a less angular line from the same set of pitches.
Classical.
- In music, the period between about 1750 and 1825.
- In a wider sense, any type of music that is regarded as ‘art music’ rather than pop, folk or jazz - so styles as varied as Baroque, Romantic and postmodernist can all be described in a very general way as ‘classical”.
Close harmony.
A style of singing in which most of the accompanying voice parts lie close to the melody and close to each other, often no more than an octave apart.
Chord.
Three or more pitches sounded simultaneously, although just two notes can often imply a chord by their context. In a broken chord or arpeggio, the notes are sounded separately but in close proximity to each other.
Chordal.
A homophonic texture that consists mainly of block chords. Also known as homorhythmic.
Cluster.
A dissonant chord that includes several adjacent notes only one step apart from each other.
Coda.
A closing section at the end of a movement, song or other piece. Often called an outro in pop and rock music.
Codetta.
A short coda, used to end a section within a longer movement. Also known as a closing section.
Colla voce
Italian for ‘with the voice’, indicating that an accompaniment should follow the rhythm of the singers.
Coloratura.
Elaborate decoration, especially in vocal music, generally employed to display the skill of the singer.
Compound time
In compound time, the beat is a dotted note that can be divided into three shorter notes of equal length. Time signatures with 6, 9 or 12 as the upper number indicate compound time
Concept album.
A collection of pop songs related by lyrics that share a common theme.
Concertino.
The group of soloists, as opposed to the ripieno (the orchestra), in a concerto grosso.
Concerto.
A large-scale composition for orchestra with a soloist or group of soloists, often in three movements. A solo concerto has one soloist, a concerto grosso (a genre of the Baroque period) has a group of soloists.
Conjunct.
A melody that moves mainly by step between adjacent notes (the opposite of a disjunct melody). Conjunct movement can instead be described as stepwise movement.
Continuo.
A bass part (basso continuo) in Baroque music played by one or more bass instruments (such as cello, bass and bassoon) and used by the players of chordal instruments (such as lute, harpsichord and organ) as the basis from which to fill out the harmonies of the music, sometimes aided by a figured bass. The group of instruments that play this part is also known as the continuo.
Contrapuntal.
Music in which two or more melodic lines occur simultaneously (a texture known as counterpoint).
Contrary motion.
Simultaneous melodic lines whose pitches move in opposite directions.
Counterpoint.
A texture in which two or more melodic lines occur simultaneously. This texture can also be described as polyphony.
Countertenor.
An adult male voice with a range similar to that of an alto. Today many countertenors use falsetto in their higher register.
Cross rhythm.
- A rhythm that conflicts with the regular pattern of beats.
- The combination of two conflicting rhythms within a single beat (e.g. a triplet of quavers against two normal quavers).
Cue.
An individual piece of music in a film score.
Da capo form.
A type of ternary form (ABA structure) in which the repeat of the A section is indicated by the instruction Da capo (‘from the start’) instead of being written out.
Dal segno.
Literally ‘from the sign’. An instruction to repeat from the bar marked
Development.
The central section of sonata form. Also used more generally to describe the manipulation and transformation of motifs and themes in any sort of music.
Dialogue.
A texture in which motifs are exchanged between different parts without the use of imitation.
Diatonic.
Notes that belong to the current key. The opposite of chromatic.
Diegetic music.
In film music, music that occurs as part of the action in the film, such as when a character turns on the radio. Also called ‘source music’.
Diminish.
- A proportionate decrease in note lengths, e.g. when a rhythm of two crotchets and a minim is diminished it becomes two quavers and a crotchet.
- A diminished interval is a semitone smaller than a minor or a perfect interval. Diminution is the opposite of augmentation.
Diminished 7th.
- An interval notated as a 7th that is one semitone smaller than a minor 7th, such as E to D.
- A chord based on this interval, and made up of superimposed minor 3rds (or their enharmonic equivalents). for example E-G-Bb-Db.
Disjunct.
A melody that moves mainly in leaps between adjacent notes: the opposite of conjunct.
Dissonant.
Music whose notes mainly seem to clash harshly when sounded together.
Distortion.
An effect that can make the sound of an electric guitar harsher and more gritty.
Djembe.
A goblet-shaped drum from West Africa, played with the hands.
Dominant.
The fifth note of a major or minor scale (e.g. G is the dominant of C major). A triad on the dominant can be described with the Roman numeral V.
Dominant preparation.
A passage that creates expectation for the return of the tonic key, typically at the end of the development in a sonata form movement, by extended use of dominant harmony and by chords that lean onto the dominant. There is also often a dominant pedal.
Dominant 7th chord.
A triad on the dominant plus a diatonic 7th above its root. In the key of C the dominant chord is G-B-D and the dominant 7th chord is G-B-D-F.
Dotted rhythms.
Successive pairs of notes in which the first is a dotted note and the second is a short note, the two together making a complete beat or complete division of a beat.
Double stopping.
Playing two notes at the same time on a string instrument such as the violin.
Double tracking.
A recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance in order to produce a thicker sound.
Doubling.
- The performance of the same melody, in unison or in octaves, by two or more musicians at the same time.
- Playing two different instruments in a work such as a musical. For example, a saxophone player may be required to double on the flute in some sections.
Drone.
The term preferred in folk music for a continuous pedal note.
Drum kit.
A set of percussion instruments played by one person in a rock group. Usually includes a bass drum (played with a foot- operated beater), hi-hat cymbals (also played with a foot pedal), a snare drum, a suspended cymbal, and one or more tom-toms.
Dynamics.
The levels of loudness or softness in music and the symbols used to indicate those levels, such as f (loud) and p (soft).
Effects.
Methods of modifying sounds through the use of music technology.
End title.
In film music, the music heard during the ‘end credits’ (or ‘end crawl’) of a film.
Enharmonic.
Notes or keys that sound the same but are notated differently, such as C# and Db
Ensemble.
A small group of musicians who perform together.
Episode.
A passage of music linking two appearances of the same or similar material.
Exposition.
The first section of a fugue, the first section of a movement in sonata form.
Extended chords.
Chords in which further notes a 3rd apart are added to 7th chords to produce chords of the 9th, 11th and 13th above the root.
False relation.
The effect produced when the natural and chromatically altered versions of a note (such as G and G#) in different parts occur either simultaneously or in close proximity.
Falsetto.
A technique of singing notes higher than the normal top register by using only the edges of the vocal cords.
Fanfare.
A short and lively flourish for trumpets or a group of brass instruments, typically used to introduce something or someone.
Figured bass.
A basso continuo part with figures and other symbols beneath the notes to indicate the harmonies of the music.
Fill.
In pop music and jazz, a brief improvised flourish (often on drums) to fill the gap between the end of one phrase and the beginning of the next.
Film score.
The complete set of original music to accompany a film.
Form.
The structure of a musical composition, often symbolised by capital letters. For example, an ABA structure (known as ternary form) has three sections, the outer of which (A) contrast with the middle section (B).
Free time.
Music in which the rhythm does not have to fit a regular pulse.
Fugato.
A passage of music like the opening section of a fugue.
Fugue.
A contrapuntal piece or texture that begins with a single voice (vocal or instrumental) announcing an unaccompanied tune called the subject. Other voices enter with the subject, one at a time and sometimes at different pitches, while the previous voices continue. There is no set structure after this opening section, called the exposition, although the voices continue to interweave material (mainly from the subject), using much imitation and passing through related keys before the fugue ends in the tonic key. At some point there is often a stretto (a tightening’) where the voices enter in turn with the subject but at closer time intervals than before.
Full score.
A score showing the individual parts for all the instruments required.
Genre
A type of music, such as the concerto. sonata or pop ballad.
Gigue.
A fast dance in compound time (or based on triplet rhythms in simple time). Developed from the jig, it was often used as the last movement of a suite in the Baroque period.
Glissando.
A slide from one pitch to another. Sometimes a distinction is made between glissando and portamento, although the two terms are now often used interchangeably.
Ground bass.
Also called a ground. A bass ostinato or constantly repeating bass pattern above which a melody unfolds. A popular genre of the early- and mid-Baroque period.
Harmonic.
On string instruments (including the harp and guitar), a very high and pure sound produced by placing a finger on a string very lightly before plucking or bowing.
Harmonic pace.
The rate at which chords change. Also known as harmonic rhythm. This could be on every beat, every other beat, every bar, every two bars - there are many possibilities and often the harmonic pace varies throughout a piece.
Harmony.
The sound produced by a chord or succession of chords.
