Melody/Harmony Concepts Flashcards
What is meant by Atonal?
No feeling of key.
What is meant by Chromatic?
Notes which move by the interval of a semitone.
What is meant by a Cluster?
A chord made of consecutive notes which clash.
What is meant by Contrary Motion?
Two parts which move in opposite directions.
What is meant by a Countermelody?
A melody played against the main melody.
What is meant by Descant (Voice)?
A melody which is sung above the main melody.
What is meant by a Glissando?
Sliding from one note to another.
What is meant by a Grace Note?
A type of ornament played as a quick, crushed note before the main note of a melody
What is meant by an Imperfect Cadence?
The last chord at the end of a phrase sounds unfinished.
What is meant by an Inverted Pedal.
A note held or repeated in an upper part.
What is meant by the term Melismatic.
Vocal music where several notes are sung to each syllable.
What is meant by Modulation?
A change of key.
What is meant by a Perfect Cadence?
Chords at the end of a phrase sounds finished.
What is meant by a Pitch Bend?
Changing the pitch of a note, for example, by pushing a guitar string upwards.
What is meant by a Semitone?
The smallest distance between two notes.
What is meant by Syllabic?
Vocal music where each note is given one syllable.
What is a Tone?
Two semitones.
What is meant by a Trill?
Moving quickly and repeatedly between adjacent notes.
What is meant by a Whole Tone Scale?
A scale where every interval is a tone. it sounds vague and dreamy.
What is meant by an Arpeggio?
The notes of a chord are played separately.
What is meant by a Broken Chord?
The notes of a chord are played separately.
What is meant by a Drone?
A note held on or repeated in the bass?
What is meant by a Major Tonality?
The music sounds in a major key, often described as having a happy feel to it.
What is meant by an Octave?
The distance of 8 notes.
What is meant by an Ornament?
Decorating a melody by adding short notes.
What is meant by a Pedal?
A held note or repeated notes in the bass beneath upper changing parts.
What is meant by Pentatonic?
A five note scale that consists of the black notes on a keyboard.
What is meant by a Scale?
A set of notes moving by step.
What is meant by Scat Singing.
Nonsense words and sounds are made up by the singer. used mainly in Jazz.
What is meant by a Vamp?
A rhythmic accompaniment with a bass note on the beat and a chord off the beat. Usually played on piano or guitar.
What is meant by Ascending?
Notes which rise in pitch.
What is meant by a Chord?
Two or more notes sounding together.
What is meant by Descending?
Notes which fall in pitch.
What is meant by Discord?
A chord in which certain notes clash.
What is meant by Improvisation?
Making it up during a performance.
What is meant by a Leap?
The notes are not next to each other.
What is meant by Question and Answer?
A musical phrase which is followed by another. The phrases usually balance each other.
What is meant by a Sequence?
A melodic phrase which is repeated at a higher or lower pitch.
