midterm 1 Flashcards
Melody
The aspect of music having to do with the succession of pitches
Feeling
Rhythm
The aspect of music having to do with the duration of notes in time
Harmony
simultaneous sounding of different pitches, or chords
Texture
blend of the various sounds and melodic lines occurring simultaneously in a piece of music
Tone Color
sonorous quality of a particular instrument, voice, or combination of instruments or voices
Form
“shape” of a piece of music
organization of the rhythm, dynamics, tone color, melody, harmony, and texture
Dynamics
volume of sound, loudness or softness of a musical passage
Crescendo
getting louder (dynamics)
Diminuendo
getting softer (dynamics)
Meter
a background of stressed and unstressed beats in a simple, regular, repeating pattern
Tempo
the speed of music, i.e., the rate at which the accented and unaccented beats of the meter follow one another
Accent
the stressing of a note - for example by playing it somewhat louder than the surrounding notes
Scale
selection of ordered pitches that provides the pitch material for music
Chord
grouping of pitchesplayed and heard simultaneously
Major
one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around c as the tonic;
Minor
one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around A as the tonic
Cadence
the notes or chords ending a section of music with a feeling of conclusiveness
Consonance
intervals or chords that sound relatively stable and free of tension as opposed to dissonance
Dissonance
intervals or chords that sounds relatively tense and unstable, in opposition to consonance
Monophony
musical TEXTURE involving a single melodic line, as in Gregorian chant
Polyphony
musical TEXTURE in which two or more melodic lines are played or sung simultaneously
Homophony
musical TEXTURE that involves only one melody of real interest, combined with chords or other subsidiary sounds.
Melisma
in vocal music, a passage of many notes sung to a single syllable
Gregorian Chant
type of chant used in the early Roman Catholic Church, Middle Ages
Mass
the main Roman Catholic service, or the music written for it. consists of five large sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei
Motet
usually a sacred vocal composition. early motets were based on fragments of Gregorian chant
Madrigal
main secular vocal genre of the Renaissance
Word Painting
musical illustration of the meaning of a word or a short verbal phrase
Basso continuo
1) set of chords continuously underlying the melody in a piece of Baroque music 2) instruments playing the continuo, usually cello plus harpsichord or organ
Recitative
a half-singing, half-reciting style of presenting words in opera, cantata, etc. following speech accents and speech rhythms closely.
Aria
a vocal number for solo singer and orchestra, generally in an opera, cantata, or oratorio
Coloratura
an ornate style of singing with many notes for each syllable of the text
Ritornello Form
A Baroque musical form based on recurrences of a ritornello
Cadenza
an improvised passage for the soloist in a concerto, or sometimes in other works. Concerto cadenza usually come near the ends of movements.
Concerto
large composition for orchestra and solo instrument
Fugue
a composition written systematically in imitative polyphony, usually with a single main theme.
Sequence
1) in a melody, a series of fragments identical except for their placement at successively higher or lower pitch levels 2) in the Middle Ages, a type of plainchant in which successive phrases of text receive nearly identical melodic treatment
Symphony
large orchestral piece in several movements
String Quartet
and instrumental group consisting of two violins, viola, and cello
Sonata
a chamber-music piece in several movements, typically for three main instruments plus continuo in the Baroque period, and for only one or two instruments since then
Sonata Form
a form developed by the Classical composers and used in almost all the first movements of their symphonies, sonatas, etc.
Rondo
a musical form consisting of one main theme or tune alternating with other themes or sections. ABA
Theme and Variations
a form consisting of a tune (the theme) plus a number of variations on it
Minuet
1) a popular seventeenth and eighteenth century dance in moderate triple meter 2) a movement in a sonata, symphony, etc, based on this dance
Opera Seria
term for the serious, heroic opera of the Baroque period in Italy.
Opera Buffa
Italian comic opera
Oratorio
long semi dramatic piece on a religious subject for soloists, chorus, and orchestra
Patter
