Glossary of Terms Flashcards
a capella
unaccompanied
accelerando
to increase speed
acciacatura
Crushed note linked to a note of a certain duration
Absolute music
Instrumental music that exists for it’s own sake
Alberti Bass
Broken chords which form an accompaniment to a melody; a series of chords treated as arpeggios
Aleatoric
Music that depends on chance
Allagrando
Becoming slower and “broader” often with accompanying crescendo
antiphony
Music performed by two separate groups interacting with each other, often singing alternate musical phrases
Appogatura
A dissonant note-usually a step above or below-that “leans” on a harmony note taking part of it’s time value
Arco
Playing with the bow
Aria
A self-contained song for solo voice, usually part of an opera
Arpeggio
Chord where notes are played or sung in succession rather than simultaneously.
Atonality
No adherence to any system of key or mode
Augmented Interval
A major, or perfect interval, raised by a semitone
Auxiliary Note
A passing note that, instead of proceeding to another note, returns to the one it has just left.
Bitonality
The use of two different keys at the same time
Broken Chords
Playing a chord as individual notes rather than simultaneously, usually an accompaniment
Cadence
Melodic or Harmonic motion usually at the end of a phrase, section or movement
Cadenza
A decorated or embellished section, usually towards the end of a solo concerto
Canon
A device in counterpoint where a melody in one voice or part is imitated note by note by other voices or instruments, often overlapping the original
Chanting
Simple melody, usually unaccompanied, for singing unmetrical texts
Close Harmony
Where notes of the chord are all fairly closely spaced, not extending beyond the interval of about a 12th
Chromatic
The use of sharps and flats, music containing many notes from outside the given key
Coda
An addition, played after the main structure of a piece or melody has ended
Codetta
a short coda: a passage added to the end of a composition to give a greater sense of finality
Concertino
Small group of instruments in a concerto grosso
Contrary Motion
When two “voices” or “parts” diverge and move in different directions
Countermelody
A sequence of notes to be played simultaneously with a more prominent melody. It is usually in a subordinate role and is heard in a texture consisting of a melody, plus accompaniment
Diatonic
The exclusive use of notes belonging to one key in the major minor tonal system
Diminished interval
A major or perfect interval decreased by a semitone
Discordant
Dissonant chord or interval
Dissonance
A clash between adjacent notes of the scale, creating the expectation of a resolution
da capo
Repeat from the beginning
Dominant
5th degree of the major/minor scale
Drone
A steady or constantly reiterated note or notes, usually on the tonic or dominant
Dynamic
Varying degrees of loudness and softness
Ensemble
A group of singers or instrumentalists of any size
Episode
A section of music heard between main subject entries in fugal writing or between main themes (e.g. in rondo form)
False Relation
Simultaneous appearance in different voices of two modally conflicting notes with the same letter name. Often major and minor 3rds of the same triads
Fanfare
Flourish of brass instruments
Finale
Last movement of a symphony, concerto or sonata or the closing act of an opera
Fugue
A composition where three or more voices enter one after another as if “chasing” the preceding voice; the first voice is known as the subject; the second as the answer, transposing to the dominant
Glissando
Sliding movement from one note to another
Harmonic (In string instruments)
Touching the string very lightly at it’s centre or a third of its length, inhibiting the formation of the basic note, but creating an octave or a 12th higher
Hemiola
When two bars in triple metre are performed as if they were in duple metre or vice versa. Disguised time signature.
Imitation
The repetition of a motif or an idea in other voices
Improvisatory
To compose, play or sing on the spur of the moment; prominent in jazz and folk music in particular
Interval
The distance in pitch between two notes
Inversion
Turning a chord, interval, counterpoint or theme upside down. A chord is inverted if it is not in root position
Juxtaposition
Side by side
Melisma
A section of a song in which one syllable flowers out into a passage of several notes; sometimes called a slur
minimalism
Work which is stripped down to its most fundamental features and which often involve repetition
Minuet & Trio
Originally a stately dance in 3 and in ternary form often used in Baroque suite and Classical Symphony, sonata and string quartet
Modal Scale
Scales based on modes
Modulation
Changing Key
Monodic
Solo Song/Instrumental piece or unison chant; one line of texture
Monotonic
Single, unvaried tone
Motif
A melodic, rhythmic musical unit which brings unity to a composition; often repeated during the piece
Mute
A device for muffling the sound of an instrument; placed on the bridge of a string instrument or into the bell of a brass instrument
Obligato
Prominent instrumental counter-melodies e.g . an orchestral instrument with a semisolo role accompanying a voice
Orchestration
The art of combining instruments when composing for the orchestra, or scoring an existing work for orchestra
Ostinato
A fairly short melodic, rhythmic or chordal phase repeated continuously throughout a piece or section
Parallel chords
Chords moving in parallel motion
Pedal Note
One long sustaining note or a repetition of one note, usually in the bass
Pentatonic
A scale of five notes
Pivot note
A note belonging to more than one chord or key, often used to modulate
Pizzicato
Plucked rather than bowed
Polyrhythms
Use of different rhythms at the same time in separate parts of the music
Polytonality
The use of more than one key at the same time
Programmatic Music
Music expressing mood, a narrative or pictorial image, the opposite of absolute music
Recitative
Solo singing which sounds like the spoken word, free in rhythm with very little structured melody; sometimes imitated in instrumental music
Rhapsody
An instrumental piece in one movement, often based on popular, national or folk melodies, often having an improvisatory element
Ripeno
A passage of music played by the whole orchestra rather than a solo performer or a group of solo performers
Rondo Form
A form used in the classical period where the main melody returns between sections of music called “episodes”
Scherzo
A bright and lively passage of music, sometimes an independent piece but originally a movement in a sonata or symphony
Scotch Snap
A short note, on the beat, followed by a long one, occupying the rest of the bar
Sequences
The repetition of a melody at another level, higher or lowe
Sonata
A composition for solo instrument (with accompaniment)
Stretto
A fugal device where entries follow closely in succession, each entry overlapping the next
Superimposition
A compositional technique where on melody or motif is placed and played simultaneously with another
Suspension
A form of discord when a note in one chord is held over as a momentary part of the chord which follows, resolving by falling a degree to a note which is part of the second chord
Symphonic Poem
A piece of music, usually in one movement, which includes literary, dramatic and pictorial elements
Syncopation
The displacement of the normal musical accent from a strong beat to a weak one; important in jazz, ragtime and other popular music cultures
Tierce de picardie
A major 3rd in a tonic chord and the end of a piece which is otherwise in a minor key, changing the expected minor chord into a major one
Timbre
The very essence of a sound; the characteristics that differentiates one instrumental sound or voice from another
Tonal
An adherence to a certain key or mode
Tonal centre
A pull towards one note, usually pivotal, rather than a set of notes which form a scale or key
Triad
A chord of three notes, usually a “root” with the 3rd and 5th above it
Tritone
An interval of three whole tones (augmented 4th/diminished 5th)
Tutti
Whole orchestra
Whole tone scale
A scale of six whole tones
