Key Terms Flashcards
Alap
The opening, unmetered and improvised section of a raga
Anacrusis
A note or sequence of notes prior to the first strong beat
Arpeggio
A type of broken chord, usually played in a rising/falling movement
Atonal
Not in a key, or having any kind of tonal centre
Binary form
A musical form consisting of two units (A and B)
Cadence
A sequence of chords that ends a piece of music
Cadenza
The virtuosic solo section of a concerto
Chaal
The fundamental rhythm in bhangra music, often played on the dhol
Chromatic
Using notes from outside the relevant chord or key as well as from inside
Concertino
The group of soloists in a concerto grosso
Concerto
A three movement work written for the soloist and orchestra
Concerto grosso
An early form of the concerto which involved a group of soloists
Consonance
Sounding good together - opposite of dissonance
Countermelody
A second melody that supports the main melody
Counterpoint/contrapuntal
Same as polyphonic
Cross rhythms
A complex type of polyrhythm
Dhol
A double headed barrel drum used in Bhangra
Diatonic
Using notes from within the key
Diminished chords
A chord made entirely of minor 3rd intervals
Dissonance
Notes that clash - opposite of consonance
Dominant
The 5th degree of a scale
Drone
A note of chord that is continuously played throughout a section of music
Often used in folk and Indian classical music
Ensemble
Group of performers
Feedback
When an instruments out[it is fed into its input, creating a drone (common effect in electric guitars)
Fill
A short passage that helps link two sections together
Glissando
A slide up or down in pitch
Gat
The main, middle section of a piece of Indian classical music. It is a fixed composition
Harmonium
Portable pump organ. Smaller hand pump organs are used in Indian classical music
Hetrophony
A texture that includes multiple variations of the same melody simultaneously
Homophonic/chordal
Instruments moving together in rhythm
Hook
A short, catchy melody or riff
Imitation
A melody or phrase copied from one instrument to another
Improvisation
Making up music during the performance
Jhala
The fast climax piece of Indian classical music
Legato
Smooth playing
Leitmotif
A recurring musical phrase that refers to a specific character or emotion
Lick
A short melody, often played on guitar
Microtones
Intervals smaller than ha;f steps, created with bends
Modulation
A key change
Monophonic
Single line texture, or melody without accompaniment
Mordents
A type of ornamentation, like a short trill
Ornamentation
An embellishment of a melody or musical sound
Ostinato
A musical phrase repeated over and over during a composition
Overdrive
Turning the input so high on a guitar amplifier that it distorts the sound
Pan
The use of stereo space in recording
Passing note
A note placed between two chords which results in a stepwise movement
Pedal note
A sustained note, held whilst the harmony changes
Pentatonic scale
A five note scale found often in folk music
Phrase
A section of a melody often marked with a slur
Pizzicato
Plucked
Polyphonic
Multi melodic, fits together harmonically
Primary chords
Chords I, IV and V
Raga
a musical scale that forms the basis of a composition in Indian classical
Rallentado
Same as rit
Ripieno
The accompanying (not solo) instruments in a concerto grosso
Rit
A direction to slow down a piece of music
Ritornello
A recurring passage in a piece of baroque music
Rondo
Main theme alternates with one or more contrasting theme - a development on ritornello
Rubato
A fluid approach to tempo in response to how the performer feels
Sarod
A lute used in Indian classical music
Sequence
A melody or phrase repeated at a different pitch
Sitar
An Indian stringed instrument, used in Indian classical music
Stab
An accented staccato chord
Staccato
Detached notes
Stepwise
Movement in short steps (up or down a scale)
Strophic
The fancy way of saying verse-chorus structure, same music for different lyrics
Subdominant
The 4th note of a scale
Syncopation
When a rhythm emphasises the off-betas
Swing rhythm
The first quaver in a pair is lengthened and the second shortened
Tabla
A pair of Indian drums, capable of creating a wide variety of sounds and pitches
Tala
A rhythm cycle in a piece of Indian classical music with a set number of beats
Tempura
A stringed instrument, used to create the drone in Indian classical
Tempo
Speed of music
Ternary form
A three part form that’s runs A BA
Terraced dynamics
Sudden shifts in dynamics
Timbre
The specific quality of an instrument
Tonic
The 1st degree of a scale, home note/chord
Tremolo
The rapid playing of a single repeated note. Usually on stringed instruments
Triad
3 note pattern/chord
Trill
A melodic ornamentation consisting of the rapid alternation of two notes
Punjab
A high pitched, single instrument form Punjab
Tutti
An instruction for the whole ensemble to play
12 bar blues
12 bar sequence based on the chords I-IV-V
Virtuoso
Highly skilled artist
Walking bass
A bass line where a note is played on every crotchet beat and the pitches regularly ascend and descend
Turn
Playing of the note above the note on the score, the note itself, the note below the not on the score and the note itself again
Chaal
8 note, repeated rhythmic pattern with swung quavers
Imperfect cadence
I to V (or any other chord than V)
Plagal cadence
IV - I, used in churches
Interrupted cadence
V - VI - surprise cadence
Comping
Playing the chord sequence to an interesting rhythm
Primary triad
3 most important chords in a key, I, IV, V
Simple harmony
Harmony using only basic chords
Harmonic progression
The sequence of chords in a piece
Harmonic rhythm
The speed of the chord changes
Largo
Very slow
Andante
Walking pace
Moderato
Moderately fast
Allegro
Fast
Vivace
Lively
Presto
Very fast
Accelerando
Getting faster
Allargando
Getting slower and playing more broadly
Pianissimo (pp)
Very quiet
Piano (p)
Quiet
Mezzo piano (mp)
Quite quiet
Mezzo forte (mf)
Quite loud
Forte (f)
Loud
Fortissimo (ff)
Very loud
Crescendo
Gradually getting louder
Diminuendo
Gradually getting quieter
Tongued
The way in which wind instrumentalists sound a note
Arco
Playing string instruments with a bow
Sforzando
Suddenly getting louder
Continuo
Provide rhythmic or harmonic backing and don’t have melodic function
Sitar
Indian music
Plays melody on 7 strings
Remaining 13 create drone
Tanpura
Indian music
Smaller than sitar
Used for backing
Tabla
Pair of drums
Sarod
Indian music, small fret-less sitar
Sarangi
Small bowed string instrument with no frets
Bansuri
Bamboo flute
Sheena I
Double receded instrument like an oboe
Harmonium
Keyboard instrument powered by air pumped by hand
Female voices
Soprano, mezzo soprano, alto
Make voices
Treble, counter tenor,tenor, baritone, bass
Syllabic
Every syllable of text is sung to a single note
Melisa tic
A single syllable sung over a series of different notes
Scat
Jazz nonsense to give the voice more of an instrumental quality
Inversion
A melodic phrase is turned ‘upside down’
Retrograde
Where a musical piece is played backwards to vary and contrast the original phrase
Descant
A harmonising tune sung at the same time as the melody but at a higher pitch
Round
Same tune played by two or more parts, each starting before the previous part has finished
Fugue
Where 2 or more parts develop the same main theme
Coda
Ending that’s different to the rest
Symphony
A large scale work for the orchestra usually in 4 movements sometimes feature a choir
Baroque
1600-1750
Lot of imitation, ornaments and dynamic contrast
Bach and Vivaldi
Romantic
1820-1900
Wider range of instruments and orchestral expansion
Used to tell stories and express emotions
Wider range of harmony
Mahler + Tchaikovsky
Classical
1750-1820
Fewer ornaments and explores more regular and balanced phrases
Beethoven and Mozart
Conjunct
The difference in pitch between two consecutive notes of a scale
Disjunct
A melodic line that moves by leaps and skips rather than in steps
