Music 101 Terms Flashcards
To learn the terms
Crescendo
Gradually growing louder
Melody
A lline, or the tune, in music
a succession of pitches
Contour
How it makes up and down
Range
Span of pitches
interval
distance between any two pitches
conjunct
melody that moves in small connected intervals
disjunct
melody that moves in “leaps” or large intervals
phrases
units that make up a melody (like a sentence)
cadences
the resting place or end of a phrase (like punctuation)
Makes it sound complete
Countermelody
a secondary melody
“against a melody”
Pitch
the highness or lowness of a sound
determined by frequency
represented by notes
frequency
the number of vibrations per second
Duration
length of time
volume
loudness or softness
timbre
the character or quality of a musical sound or voice
also known as tone color
Range
the distance between the lowest and highest notes
tessitura
the range in which most of the melody comfortably lies
contour
overall share of the melody as it turns upward, downward, or remains static
use to visual melody
Rhyme Scheme
The last syllables in each line rhyme
A B A B is an example
Climax
the high pint in a melodic line
peak of intensity
Rhythm
the movement of music in time
a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound
meter
organizes the beats in music
marked off in measures (or bars)
contains fixed number of beats
simple meters
each beat divided into 2
Duple, triple, and quadruple
Compound meters
each beat divided into 3
Non-metric
Obscured beat
Beat
the basic unit of rhythm
accented beats
stronger beat
Downbeat
the first accented beat of a pattern
first down stroke for a conductor
Duple meter
alternates a strong downbeat with a weak beat
most basic
ONE two ONE two
triple meter
three beats to a measure
one strong two weak
also basic
ONE two three ONE two three
Quadruple meter
four beats to a measure
primary accent on first beat, secondary accent on third
can be difficult to distinguish from duple
Sextuple meter
six beats to a measure
two main beats that divide into three
ONE and a TWO and a
used in nursery rhymes
Upbeat
when the first beat is not the accented beat
Syncopation
the deliberate upsetting of the normal pattern of accents
keeps things interesting
accent shifted to the beat
offbeat
the beat in-between the strong beat
Polyrhythm
many rhythms
ex; your left hand playing a different beat on the piano than your right hand
Additive rhythms
large patterns are built from combinations of smaller patterns
Harmony
the simultaneous combination of sounds, the vertical aspect of music how pitches (notes) sounds together
chord
the simultaneous sound of three or more pitches
scale
sequence of pitches
triad
three alternate pitches of a scale
Tonic
the central pitch around which a melody and it harmonies are built
tonality
the principle of this organization
dissonance
created by unstable, or discordant, combination of pitches
consonance
occurs with a resolution of dissonance, producing a stable sound
Intervals
the distance between any two notes
can occur successively or simultaneously
octave
interval spanning 8 notes
Drone
single sustained pitch
Chromatic scale
made up of all twelve half steps
Diatonic scale
consists of seven whole and half steps whose patterns from major or minor scales
sharp
symbol that raises the pitch by a step a half step
flat
symbol that lowers the pitch by a half step
microtones
intervals smaller than half steps
tonic chord
built on the first scale note, the home base which active chords need to resolve
key
pitch level
transposition
changing the key of an entire work
modulation
changing the key during a work
half steps
twelve equal semitones
major scale
most familiar sequence of pitches
pentatonic
five note scale
tritonic
three note scale
The tonic (I) or rest chord
the three note chord or triad built on the first scale step
active chord
seek to be complete or resolved in the rest chord
dominant (V)
subdominant (IV)
Dominant (V)
the fifth scale step that forms the chief active chord which brings a feeling or restlessness and seeks to resolve the tonic
Subdominant (IV)
the triad built on the fourth scale up
