Key terms Flashcards
Cadences: what chords are needed?
Perfect
Plagal
Imperfect
Interrupted
Phrygian
Musical Punctuation:
V - I
IV - I
? – V
V – VI
Vib – V in a minor key
Imitation
The statement of a subject or motive in one voice followed by a restatement of it in one or more other voices.
Recapitulation
The final section of Sonata Form in which the first & second subjects return in the tonic
Ornamentation
Decorative additions to a simple melody.
Dominant major 9th chord
A dominant 7th chord with the addition of the note a major 9th above the root.
Consonance & dissonance
A Consonance is an interval that is stable and does not require change (or resolution). Such as a third, perfect fifth, sixth or octave.
Atonality
No sense of tonic. Not in a key.
Enharmonic modulation
A modulation involving a change of key signature from flats to sharps and vice versa where one or more notes of the same pitch are notated differently.
False relation
The simultaneous or adjacent occurrence in different parts of two notes a semitone apart.
Cadential 6/4
A second inversion chord (ie Ic) in the progression Ic – V: (imperfect), Ic-V-I (Perfect)
Tremolo
A rapid repetition of the same pitch(es)
Programme music
Music which sets out to evoke pictorial images or tell a story.
Subject
A theme or group of themes in the same key in the exposition of a sonata form movement
A motive or theme upon which a canon, fugue or passage of imitation is built.
Tonic chord
A triad constructed on the 1st degree of the scale
Arco
With the bow
Anticipation
A weak dissonance which is of the same pitch as the harmony note it precedes.
Accented passing-note
A passing note that occurs on the beat (see Passing Note).
Resolution
The point at which a melody moves from a dissonant note to a consonant note (usually by step)
Accidental
A sharp or flat adjusting a note outside of the key
Angular Melody
The outline of a disjunct melody
Sturm und Drang
Literally “Storm & Stress”. A tempestuous style associated with Haydn’s minor key symphonies of the decade beginning about 1765
Homophony
A texture in which one part has all the melodic interest to which all the other parts are subordinate. Melody with accompaniment is Melody Dominated Homophony. Moving in block chords is Chordal Homophony.
Coda
The final section of a movement which, in tonal music, confirms the tonic key.
Galant style (Style galant)
A light textured, elegant homophonic style of the pre-classical period which contrasted with the more serious contrapuntal styles of the late Baroque.
Texture
The number of musical lines performed at the same time.
Auxiliary note
A dissonant note in-between two consonant notes that are the same. If it is higher than these two notes, the term ‘upper’ auxiliary note is used. If it is lower than these two notes, the term ‘lower’ auxiliary note is used.
Whole-tone scale
A scale of 6 pitches in which the interval between any two adjacent notes is a whole-tone.
Circle of fifths
A series of notes, each a 5th apart which return to original pitch (e.g. A D G C F B E)
Tritone
Any interval encompassing 3 tones.
Syllabic word setting
One note per syllable
Relative major, relative minor
A major or minor key which are related by the same key signature. The relative minor is pitched a minor 3rd below its major key.
Pizzicato
A performance direction indicating plucked strings.
Word painting
The musical illustration of the meaning or emotive association of particular words or phrases.
Antecedent & consequent
Question & Answer phrasing
Unison
2 or more instruments or voices performing the same melody at the same time. Sometimes applied to music played in octaves.
Ostinato
A repeating melodic or rhythmic pattern heard throughout a movement.
Third inversion chord
A chord of the 7th in which the 7th is in the bass
Answer
A fugal subject transposed up a 5th or down a 4th
Hemiola
Two in the time of three and vice versa.
Second inversion chord
A triad or 7th chord with the 5th in the bass
Periodic phrasing
Balanced phrases consisting of antecedent and consequent.
Passing note
A dissonant note filling the gap between two consonant notes a 3rd apart.
Root position chord
A triad or 7th chord in which the root is sounded in the bass.
Pivot chord
A chord common to the two keys involved in a modulation.
Development
Middle section of a piece in Sonata Form
Modulation
To change key
Dominant minor 9th chord
A dominant 7th chord with addition of a note a minor 9th above the root.
Related keys
For a major key these will be the relative minor, subdominant and its relative minor, and the dominant and its relative minor. For minor keys: relative major, the dominant minor and its relative major, and the subdominant minor and its relative major.
Plagal Cadence
Chords IV-I
Augmentation & Diminution
The lengthening or shortening of the durations of notes in a previously-heard melody
Sonata Form
The characteristic structure of allegro movements in sonatas, symphonies, concertos and chamber works of the classical period. It comprise three main sections:
1) Exposition: with 1st subject in tonic and 2nd subject in dominant
2) Development: Beginning in the dominant and moving through many keys
3) Recapitulation: A return to the first & second subjects in the tonic.
Prime order
The original order of a tone row in serial music
Phrygian cadence
Chords Ivb-V in a minor key.
Polytonality
The simultaneous use of 3 or more keys.
Ternary form
Three sections with one repeated: A B A
Mixolydian mode
G-G using all the white notes on the piano
Phrygian mode
E-E using all the white notes on the piano
Sequence
Melodic: immediate repetition of motive or phrase in the same part but at a different pitch.
Harmonic: immediate repetition of a harmonic progression at a different pitch.
It is possible for both melody and harmony to be sequential.
Polyphony
Many independent lines.
Monophony
A single unaccompanied melody
Primary triads
Chords I, IV, V
Tutti
The full instrumental and/or vocal resources.
Form
The structure of a piece. Ie how it is constructed in terms of sections
Lombardic rhythm
Reversed dotting (short-long).
Ground bass
A variation technique in which an unfaltering and repeated bass melody supports an evolving melody in an upper part.
Tierce de Picardie
A major 3rd in the final tonic chord of a movement or passage or phrase in a minor key
Moto perpetuo
The use of continuous rhythm in a single note-value throughout a composition or large chunk of it.
Cross rhythm
I.e. Triplets against quavers
Binary Form
Two contrasting sections: A B
Tonality
Major, Minor, Modal
Preparation
The process by which a dissonant note is held or repeated as a consonant note prior to it becoming dissonant.
Functional harmony
Harmony which clearly defines tonality through a variety of techniques, including regular perfect cadences, use of primary triads in root position and first inversion, pedal notes and modulations to related keys.
Retrograde
A motive, melody or tone row played backwards
Aeolian mode
Renaissance church mode. A-A on the white notes of the keyboard
Tonic
A key note of a tonal scale or the home key of a movement
Codetta
The final section of the exposition of a sonata form structure.
Dorian mode
The 1st of the Renaissance church modes D-D (using just the white notes on a piano)
Motor rhythm
A mechanically repeated rhythm which drives a baroque movement towards a cadence.
Augmented interval
An interval which has been expanded in relation to that interval in its original form
Inversion
Melodic inversion: where every interval remains the same but moves in the opposite direction.
Intervallic: the transposing of the lower note of a melodic interval up an octave, or the transposing of the upper note down an octave. Thus a Perfect 5th becomes a Perfect 4th.
When chords are inverted the root ceases to be the bass note and is replaced by another note from the chord.
Bitonality
The playing of two different keys at once
Transitory modulation
A brief modulation to a key which is not confirmed by a cadence.
Disjunct
A Melodic line moving in leaps.
Added 6th (chord)
A major or minor chord with the addition of a note a major 6th above the root
Terraced dynamics
The contrast of loud & soft passages without cres or dim in baroque music. Often created through texture
Double-stopping
The performance of a two-note chord on a bowed string instrument.
Register
A part of the total range of notes that can be played or sung on a particular instrument or voice.
Motive
A short fragment of music which is repeated and/or developed.
Fugato
A fugal texture within a larger structure
Modes
The system of ordering tones & semitones which pre-dates the tonal scale. Unlike the tonal scale each mode has a different order of tones and semitones.
Neapolitan 6th chord
A major triad on the flat supertonic in 1st inversion.
Counterpoint/contrapuntal
Two or more independent lines of music
Octatonic scale
A collection of 8 pitches which can be laid out as a scale of alternating tones and semitones.
Stretto
The telescoping of imitative parts so that entries come closer together than they originally were.
Fugue
A work in which the contrapuntal properties of a subject are explored.
Pentatonic (Scale)
Music based on 5 pitches (A scale consisting of 5 pitches).
Echappee (escape note)
An unaccented decoration which leaves a harmony note by step and returns to the next harmony note by leap in the opposite direction.
Melisma
Several notes being sung to one syllable.
Antiphony
The alternation of 2 or more spatially separated or contrasted groups of instruments or voices.
Diminished 7th Chord
A chord consisting of superimposed minor 3rds
Conjunct & Disjunct
Conjunct melodies move largely by step while disjunct melody is more angular.
Suspension
A prepared dissonance. This is when a consonant note is repeated or held over a change of harmony so that it becomes dissonant. The suspended note is then usually resolved to a consonant note by falling down by step whilst the supporting harmony remains the same.
Canon
Exact imitation in another part at strict rhythmic intervals.
First Inversion Chord
A triad or 7th chord with the 3rd in the bass
Verticalisation
The performance of consecutive notes of a tone row as a chord.
Secondary Dominant
A chromatic dominant auxiliary chord to a diatonic triad. (ie V/V; III/IV etc)
Diatonic
Melody that uses notes from within the intended key.
Homorhythm
Extreme chordal homophony where multiple parts play the same rhythm but different notes over an extended period of time.
Compound time
A metrical pattern in which the beat is a dotted note.
Harmonic rhythm
The rate of harmonic change
Dissonance
A dissonance is an interval that requires resolution (where resolution is the process by which a dissonant note moves to a consonant note underneath the same harmony). Dissonant intervals include 2nds, 4ths and 7ths.
Exposition
In a fugue, the first section, which ends when all of the contrapuntal voices have stated the subject or answer.
In Sonata form the first section.
German 6th chord
The most common version of the augmented 6th chord.
Compound interval
The distance between two pitches greater than a 8ve.
Transition
A modulating passage linking 2 passages in contrasting keys
Basso continuo
A baroque bass part with numbered figuring which indicates the improvised harmonic filling to be supplied by an instrument or instruments such as the harpsichord, organ or a fretted instrument. Consists of a sustaining instrument (cello, bassoon) which plays the bass line and a keyboard instrument (organ, harpsichord) which fills out the harmonies above.
Arpeggio
A chord with the notes played separately
Diminished interval
A perfect or minor interval made smaller by a semitone.
Syncopation
Accents on weak beats or off-beats
Augmented 6th chord
A major triad on the flat submediant surmounted by a note an augmented 6th above the root.
Dotted rhythms
A two note rhythm consisting of a long followed by a short note (ie Quaver, Semi quaver)
Heterophony
A texture consisting of the simultaneous performance of a melody and a decorated version of it.
A Cappella
Unaccompanied choral music
Appoggiatura
An unprepared dissonant note which resolves by step up or down to a consonant note. (See Preparation and Resolution also).
Pedal
A sustained or repeated note about which the harmonies change.
Doubling
The simultaneous performance of the same melody by two or more instruments or voices.
