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MU6 Music > Glossary of Terms > Flashcards

Glossary of Terms Flashcards

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1
Q

a capella

A

unaccompanied

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2
Q

accelerando

A

to increase speed

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3
Q

acciacatura

A

Crushed note linked to a note of a certain duration

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4
Q

Absolute music

A

Instrumental music that exists for it’s own sake

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5
Q

Alberti Bass

A

Broken chords which form an accompaniment to a melody; a series of chords treated as arpeggios

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6
Q

Aleatoric

A

Music that depends on chance

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7
Q

Allagrando

A

Becoming slower and “broader” often with accompanying crescendo

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8
Q

antiphony

A

Music performed by two separate groups interacting with each other, often singing alternate musical phrases

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9
Q

Appogatura

A

A dissonant note-usually a step above or below-that “leans” on a harmony note taking part of it’s time value

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10
Q

Arco

A

Playing with the bow

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11
Q

Aria

A

A self-contained song for solo voice, usually part of an opera

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12
Q

Arpeggio

A

Chord where notes are played or sung in succession rather than simultaneously.

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13
Q

Atonality

A

No adherence to any system of key or mode

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14
Q

Augmented Interval

A

A major, or perfect interval, raised by a semitone

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15
Q

Auxiliary Note

A

A passing note that, instead of proceeding to another note, returns to the one it has just left.

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16
Q

Bitonality

A

The use of two different keys at the same time

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17
Q

Broken Chords

A

Playing a chord as individual notes rather than simultaneously, usually an accompaniment

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18
Q

Cadence

A

Melodic or Harmonic motion usually at the end of a phrase, section or movement

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19
Q

Cadenza

A

A decorated or embellished section, usually towards the end of a solo concerto

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20
Q

Canon

A

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

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21
Q

Chanting

A

Simple melody, usually unaccompanied, for singing unmetrical texts

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22
Q

Close Harmony

A

Where notes of the chord are all fairly closely spaced, not extending beyond the interval of about a 12th

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23
Q

Chromatic

A

The use of sharps and flats, music containing many notes from outside the given key

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24
Q

Coda

A

An addition, played after the main structure of a piece or melody has ended

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25
Q

Codetta

A

a short coda: a passage added to the end of a composition to give a greater sense of finality

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26
Q

Concertino

A

Small group of instruments in a concerto grosso

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27
Q

Contrary Motion

A

When two “voices” or “parts” diverge and move in different directions

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28
Q

Countermelody

A

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

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29
Q

Diatonic

A

The exclusive use of notes belonging to one key in the major minor tonal system

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30
Q

Diminished interval

A

A major or perfect interval decreased by a semitone

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31
Q

Discordant

A

Dissonant chord or interval

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32
Q

Dissonance

A

A clash between adjacent notes of the scale, creating the expectation of a resolution

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33
Q

da capo

A

Repeat from the beginning

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34
Q

Dominant

A

5th degree of the major/minor scale

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35
Q

Drone

A

A steady or constantly reiterated note or notes, usually on the tonic or dominant

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36
Q

Dynamic

A

Varying degrees of loudness and softness

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37
Q

Ensemble

A

A group of singers or instrumentalists of any size

38
Q

Episode

A

A section of music heard between main subject entries in fugal writing or between main themes (e.g. in rondo form)

39
Q

False Relation

A

Simultaneous appearance in different voices of two modally conflicting notes with the same letter name. Often major and minor 3rds of the same triads

40
Q

Fanfare

A

Flourish of brass instruments

41
Q

Finale

A

Last movement of a symphony, concerto or sonata or the closing act of an opera

42
Q

Fugue

A

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

43
Q

Glissando

A

Sliding movement from one note to another

44
Q

Harmonic (In string instruments)

A

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

45
Q

Hemiola

A

When two bars in triple metre are performed as if they were in duple metre or vice versa. Disguised time signature.

46
Q

Imitation

A

The repetition of a motif or an idea in other voices

47
Q

Improvisatory

A

To compose, play or sing on the spur of the moment; prominent in jazz and folk music in particular

48
Q

Interval

A

The distance in pitch between two notes

49
Q

Inversion

A

Turning a chord, interval, counterpoint or theme upside down. A chord is inverted if it is not in root position

50
Q

Juxtaposition

A

Side by side

51
Q

Melisma

A

A section of a song in which one syllable flowers out into a passage of several notes; sometimes called a slur

52
Q

minimalism

A

Work which is stripped down to its most fundamental features and which often involve repetition

53
Q

Minuet & Trio

A

Originally a stately dance in 3 and in ternary form often used in Baroque suite and Classical Symphony, sonata and string quartet

54
Q

Modal Scale

A

Scales based on modes

55
Q

Modulation

A

Changing Key

56
Q

Monodic

A

Solo Song/Instrumental piece or unison chant; one line of texture

57
Q

Monotonic

A

Single, unvaried tone

58
Q

Motif

A

A melodic, rhythmic musical unit which brings unity to a composition; often repeated during the piece

59
Q

Mute

A

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

60
Q

Obligato

A

Prominent instrumental counter-melodies e.g . an orchestral instrument with a semisolo role accompanying a voice

61
Q

Orchestration

A

The art of combining instruments when composing for the orchestra, or scoring an existing work for orchestra

62
Q

Ostinato

A

A fairly short melodic, rhythmic or chordal phase repeated continuously throughout a piece or section

63
Q

Parallel chords

A

Chords moving in parallel motion

64
Q

Pedal Note

A

One long sustaining note or a repetition of one note, usually in the bass

65
Q

Pentatonic

A

A scale of five notes

66
Q

Pivot note

A

A note belonging to more than one chord or key, often used to modulate

67
Q

Pizzicato

A

Plucked rather than bowed

68
Q

Polyrhythms

A

Use of different rhythms at the same time in separate parts of the music

69
Q

Polytonality

A

The use of more than one key at the same time

70
Q

Programmatic Music

A

Music expressing mood, a narrative or pictorial image, the opposite of absolute music

71
Q

Recitative

A

Solo singing which sounds like the spoken word, free in rhythm with very little structured melody; sometimes imitated in instrumental music

72
Q

Rhapsody

A

An instrumental piece in one movement, often based on popular, national or folk melodies, often having an improvisatory element

73
Q

Ripeno

A

A passage of music played by the whole orchestra rather than a solo performer or a group of solo performers

74
Q

Rondo Form

A

A form used in the classical period where the main melody returns between sections of music called “episodes”

75
Q

Scherzo

A

A bright and lively passage of music, sometimes an independent piece but originally a movement in a sonata or symphony

76
Q

Scotch Snap

A

A short note, on the beat, followed by a long one, occupying the rest of the bar

77
Q

Sequences

A

The repetition of a melody at another level, higher or lowe

78
Q

Sonata

A

A composition for solo instrument (with accompaniment)

79
Q

Stretto

A

A fugal device where entries follow closely in succession, each entry overlapping the next

80
Q

Superimposition

A

A compositional technique where on melody or motif is placed and played simultaneously with another

81
Q

Suspension

A

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

82
Q

Symphonic Poem

A

A piece of music, usually in one movement, which includes literary, dramatic and pictorial elements

83
Q

Syncopation

A

The displacement of the normal musical accent from a strong beat to a weak one; important in jazz, ragtime and other popular music cultures

84
Q

Tierce de picardie

A

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

85
Q

Timbre

A

The very essence of a sound; the characteristics that differentiates one instrumental sound or voice from another

86
Q

Tonal

A

An adherence to a certain key or mode

87
Q

Tonal centre

A

A pull towards one note, usually pivotal, rather than a set of notes which form a scale or key

88
Q

Triad

A

A chord of three notes, usually a “root” with the 3rd and 5th above it

89
Q

Tritone

A

An interval of three whole tones (augmented 4th/diminished 5th)

90
Q

Tutti

A

Whole orchestra

91
Q

Whole tone scale

A

A scale of six whole tones

MU6 Music (4 decks)

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