Music Features Flashcards
DR P SMITH
Dynamics
Rhythm
Pitch
Structure
Melody
Instruments
Tempo/tonality/texture
Harmony
Dynamics
-forte/piano
-any changes (gradual crescendo/diminuendo or sudden)
-accents
Rhythm+metre
-time signatures (simple/compound)
-note values (long/short)
-dotted notes
-syncopation
-triplets
-ostinato
Pitch
-high/low
-range of notes
Structure
-binary (AB)
-ternary (ABA)
-rondo(ABACA)
-strophic
-theme and variation
-introduction
-verse/chorus
Melody
-contour (ascending/descending)
-conjunct - scaled (major/minor/chromatic)
-disjunct (broken chord?)
-repeated notes
-balanced phrases
-significant intervals (octave, 5ths, 4ths)
-legato/staccato
-syllabic/melismatic
-sequence
-repetition
-ornamentation
Instrumentation
-who is playing/singing
-technical devices
-role of each instrument
Tempo
-allegro/adagio
-rallentando/accelerando/sudden change
-rubato (pulling rhythm around)
-pauses
Tonality
-major/minor
-modulation
Texture
-monophonic
-octaves
-homophonic/melody + accompaniment
-polyphonic
-antiphonal
-counter-melody
Harmony
-dissonant
-diatonic
-major/minor/diminished/augmented
-chromatic harmony — diminished 7ths
-pedal notes
Theme and variation
Theme is presented which is then followed by a number of sections which transform and develop the theme in different ways
Strophic
AAA
Repetition
The exact repeat of a musical idea
Contrast
A change in musical content
Anacrusis (upbeat)
A note before the first strong beat
Imitation
When a musical idea is copied in another part
Sequence
The repetition of a motif in the same part but at a different pitch
Ostinato
A musical pattern repeated many times, also known as a riff in
Syncopation
‘Off beat’
Dotted rhythm
A dot placed after a note increases its value by half
Drone
Repeated note or notes held throughout a passage of music
Pedal note
Held note/repeated note against which changing melodies are heard
Canon
Melody is repeated exactly in another part while the initial melody is still being played
Conjunct movement
When melody moves mainly by step
Disjunct movement
When the melody leaps from one notes to another
Broken chord
A chord played as separate notes. When the notes of a chord are played in succession either up or down
Alberti bass
A type of broken chord accompaniment
Regular/balanced phrasing
The balanced parts of a melody exactly like phrases in a sentence
Motifs
A short melodic or rhythmic idea that has a distinctive character
Modulation
The process of changing key
Chord progressions
A series of chords related to each other in a particular key
