Higher Music Concepts

Question 1

Acciaccatura

Answer 1

An ornament which sounds like a crushed note played very quickly on the beat or just before it.

Question 2

Added 6th

Answer 2

This describes a note ‘added’ to the familiar chord structure (root, 3rd and 5th).

Question 3

Augmentation

Answer 3

A passage of music where the length of the notes used are doubled; for example, where a quaver is replaced by a crotchet.

Question 4

Basso continuo

Answer 4

Basso continuo is a form of musical accompaniment used in the Baroque period. It means ‘continuous bass’.

Question 5

Cadenza

Answer 5

A passage of music which allows soloists to display their technical ability in singing or playing an instrument.

Question 6

Chamber music

Answer 6

Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments - traditionally a group that
could fit in a palace chamber.

Question 7

Coloratura

Answer 7

Term for florid vocal singing involving scales, runs and ornaments where there are a number of notes sung to the one

Question 8

Concertino

Answer 8

In a concerto grosso this is the name given to the small, solo group of instrumentalists as opposed to the main group, the

Question 9

Concerto grosso

Answer 9

A concerto grosso is an important form of music developed throughout the baroque period comprising three main.
elements; concertino, ripieno and basso continuo

Question 10

Da capo aria

Answer 10

The da capo aria is a musical form that was prevalent in the baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of
instruments, often a small orchestra.

Question 11

Diminished 7th

Answer 11

A diminshed 7th chord consists of four notes built one on top of the other.

Question 12

Diminution

Answer 12

A passage of music in which the length of the notes used are halved; where, for example, a crotchet would be replaced by a quaver.

Question 13

Dominant 7th

Answer 13

Chord built on the dominant (5th) note of a key which adds the 7th note above its root.

Question 14

Exposition

Answer 14

This describes the first hearing of the ‘theme’ and is normally associated with compositions structured in sonata form or fugue.

Question 15

Harmonic minor scale

Answer 15

The notes of the harmonic minor scale are the same as the natural minor except that the seventh degree is raised by one
semitone, making an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees.

Question 16

Harmonics

Answer 16

The high eerie sounds produced on a bowed string instrument by lightly touching the string at certain points.

Question 17

Impressionist

Answer 17

Music written in the impressionist style mirrors the style of painting by artists such as Claude Monet, where edges between
objects are often blurred.

Question 18

Interrupted cadence

Answer 18

A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a phrase

Question 19

Interval

Answer 19

The distance in pitch between two notes.

Question 20

Irregular time signatures

Answer 20

Irregular time signatures occur when the music does not naturally fall into equal groupings Jazz .

Question 21

Lied

Answer 21

This term (the German word for song) refers to songs for solo voice, accompanied by piano.

Question 22

Mass

Answer 22

The Mass is a sacred choral work traditionally using the five main sections of the Roman Catholic, Western Orthodox Anglican or Lutheran Church liturgy.

Question 23

Melodic minor scale

Answer 23

The melodic minor scale consists of different notes when ascending/descending.

Question 24

Mode/Modal

Answer 24

Term used to describe music based on a mode. Like a scale, modes can be built on any note.

Question 25

Mordent

Answer 25

An ornament which sounds the main note, the note above and then the main note again.

Question 26

Musique concrete

Answer 26

Recorded natural sounds which are transformed using simple editing techniques such as cutting and reassembling, playing backwards, slowing down and speeding up.

Question 27

Obbligato

Answer 27

A prominent solo instrument part in a piece of vocal music

Question 28

Oratorio

Answer 28

Usually a story from the Bible set to music for soloists, chorus and orchestra.

Question 29

Passacaglia

Answer 29

Variations over a ground bass.

Question 30

Plagal cadence

Answer 30

A plagal cadence is created by a move from the subdominant to a tonic chord

Question 31

Plainchant

Answer 31

Gregorian chant or plainsong was the mainstay of music in the early church.

Question 32

Recitative

Answer 32

A type of vocal writing where the music follows the rhythm of speech, used in operas and oratorios.

Question 33

Ripieno

Answer 33

Ripieno is one of the elements of the Baroque Concerto Grosso. It describes the larger/main group of ensemble instruments.

Question 34

Ritornello

Answer 34

Ritornello is used to describe a theme which returns frequently throughout a piece of music, or a movement within a larger piece.

Question 35

Sonata

Answer 35

Sonata can be exemplified in two ways, either as a composition for solo piano, or a composition for a solo instrument accompanied by piano.

Question 36

Sonata form

Answer 36

This term is used to describe the structure of the first movement of many sonatas, symphonies and often overtures.

Question 37

Soul music

Answer 37

Soul music developed in the southern states of America and grew in popularity throughout the 1960s. It was a combination of gospel, blues and country music, and its gritty sound reflected what was happening socially in America at that time.

Question 38

String quartet

Answer 38

A chamber music ensemble made up from two violins, one viola and one cello.

Question 39

Subject

Answer 39

The main theme in a composition.

Question 40

Through-composed

Answer 40

A vocal/choral composition in which there is little or no repetition in the musical structure i.e. where the composition is not structured as verse/chorus.

Question 41

Tierce de Picardie

Answer 41

The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is changed to major.

Question 42

Time changes

Answer 42

The time signature specify how many beats are to be contained in each bar and which note value is to be given one beat.

Question 43

Tremolando

Answer 43

Term for the rapid up-and-down movement of a bow on a stringed instrument creating an agitated, restless effect.