Music 101 Terms Flashcards

To learn the terms

1
Q

Crescendo

A

Gradually growing louder

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2
Q

Melody

A

A lline, or the tune, in music

a succession of pitches

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3
Q

Contour

A

How it makes up and down

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4
Q

Range

A

Span of pitches

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5
Q

interval

A

distance between any two pitches

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6
Q

conjunct

A

melody that moves in small connected intervals

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7
Q

disjunct

A

melody that moves in “leaps” or large intervals

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8
Q

phrases

A

units that make up a melody (like a sentence)

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9
Q

cadences

A

the resting place or end of a phrase (like punctuation)

Makes it sound complete

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10
Q

Countermelody

A

a secondary melody

“against a melody”

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11
Q

Pitch

A

the highness or lowness of a sound
determined by frequency
represented by notes

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12
Q

frequency

A

the number of vibrations per second

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13
Q

Duration

A

length of time

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14
Q

volume

A

loudness or softness

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15
Q

timbre

A

the character or quality of a musical sound or voice

also known as tone color

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16
Q

Range

A

the distance between the lowest and highest notes

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17
Q

tessitura

A

the range in which most of the melody comfortably lies

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18
Q

contour

A

overall share of the melody as it turns upward, downward, or remains static
use to visual melody

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19
Q

Rhyme Scheme

A

The last syllables in each line rhyme

A B A B is an example

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20
Q

Climax

A

the high pint in a melodic line

peak of intensity

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21
Q

Rhythm

A

the movement of music in time

a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound

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22
Q

meter

A

organizes the beats in music
marked off in measures (or bars)
contains fixed number of beats

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23
Q

simple meters

A

each beat divided into 2

Duple, triple, and quadruple

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24
Q

Compound meters

A

each beat divided into 3

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25
Q

Non-metric

A

Obscured beat

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26
Q

Beat

A

the basic unit of rhythm

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27
Q

accented beats

A

stronger beat

28
Q

Downbeat

A

the first accented beat of a pattern

first down stroke for a conductor

29
Q

Duple meter

A

alternates a strong downbeat with a weak beat
most basic
ONE two ONE two

30
Q

triple meter

A

three beats to a measure
one strong two weak
also basic
ONE two three ONE two three

31
Q

Quadruple meter

A

four beats to a measure
primary accent on first beat, secondary accent on third
can be difficult to distinguish from duple

32
Q

Sextuple meter

A

six beats to a measure
two main beats that divide into three
ONE and a TWO and a
used in nursery rhymes

33
Q

Upbeat

A

when the first beat is not the accented beat

34
Q

Syncopation

A

the deliberate upsetting of the normal pattern of accents
keeps things interesting
accent shifted to the beat

35
Q

offbeat

A

the beat in-between the strong beat

36
Q

Polyrhythm

A

many rhythms

ex; your left hand playing a different beat on the piano than your right hand

37
Q

Additive rhythms

A

large patterns are built from combinations of smaller patterns

38
Q

Harmony

A
the simultaneous combination of sounds, the vertical aspect of music
how pitches (notes) sounds together
39
Q

chord

A

the simultaneous sound of three or more pitches

40
Q

scale

A

sequence of pitches

41
Q

triad

A

three alternate pitches of a scale

42
Q

Tonic

A

the central pitch around which a melody and it harmonies are built

43
Q

tonality

A

the principle of this organization

44
Q

dissonance

A

created by unstable, or discordant, combination of pitches

45
Q

consonance

A

occurs with a resolution of dissonance, producing a stable sound

46
Q

Intervals

A

the distance between any two notes

can occur successively or simultaneously

47
Q

octave

A

interval spanning 8 notes

48
Q

Drone

A

single sustained pitch

49
Q

Chromatic scale

A

made up of all twelve half steps

50
Q

Diatonic scale

A

consists of seven whole and half steps whose patterns from major or minor scales

51
Q

sharp

A

symbol that raises the pitch by a step a half step

52
Q

flat

A

symbol that lowers the pitch by a half step

53
Q

microtones

A

intervals smaller than half steps

54
Q

tonic chord

A

built on the first scale note, the home base which active chords need to resolve

55
Q

key

A

pitch level

56
Q

transposition

A

changing the key of an entire work

57
Q

modulation

A

changing the key during a work

58
Q

half steps

A

twelve equal semitones

59
Q

major scale

A

most familiar sequence of pitches

60
Q

pentatonic

A

five note scale

61
Q

tritonic

A

three note scale

62
Q

The tonic (I) or rest chord

A

the three note chord or triad built on the first scale step

63
Q

active chord

A

seek to be complete or resolved in the rest chord
dominant (V)
subdominant (IV)

64
Q

Dominant (V)

A

the fifth scale step that forms the chief active chord which brings a feeling or restlessness and seeks to resolve the tonic

65
Q

Subdominant (IV)

A

the triad built on the fourth scale up