HIGHER CONCEPT DICTIONARY Flashcards
A Cappella
Unaccompanied choral singing
A B
Two-part form (binary)
A B A
Three-part form (ternary) where the first section is repeated at the end
Accelerando
The music gets gradually faster
Accented
Notes that sound louder than others
Acciaccatura
An ornament that sounds like a crushed note played very quickly (on the beat or just before it) before the main note of the melody
Accompanied
Other instrument(s) or voice(s) support, or play along with, the main melody
Accordion
An instrument with a keyboard in which sounds are produced by the player squeezing a set of bellows with their arms / hands
Acoustic Guitar
A guitar that does not require an electric amplifier to produce sound
Adagio
The tempo (speed) of the music is slow
Added 6th
A chord that is made up of the root, 3rd, 5th and 6th (for example, the notes in the chord of C6 would be CEGA). This chord is used frequently in jazz and popular music. Try playing it to get used to its sound
African Music
Music from Africa which, in the case of SQA exams, features voices and/or African drums
Alberti Bass
Broken chords, most commonly in piano music, played by the left hand outlining harmonies while the right hand plays the melody. Classical composers such as Haydn and Mozart used this technique extensively in their piano music
Allegro
The tempo (speed) of the music is fast
Alto
The lowest female voice
Andante
The music is performed at a walking pace
Anacrusis
The notes that appear before the first strong beat of a musical phrase. It sounds as an upbeat
Answer
A reply to a musical question
Arco
An instruction given to string players to play their instrument using a bow.
Aria
A song in an opera, oratorio or cantata with orchestral accompaniment
Arpeggio
Notes of a chord played one after the one
Ascending
Notes that rise in pitch
A tempo
A direction telling the performer to return to the original speed
Atonal
No feeling of key. Very dissonant (clashing). A feature of some 20th century music