Music vocabulary Flashcards
pitch
refers to how high or low sounds are
arpeggio
notes of a chord played in succession rather than together, strictly in continuously ascending or descending order
synonym of arpeggio
broken chord
cadence
chords that conclude a musical phrase
4 types of cadence
- perfect
- plagal
- imperfect
- interrupted
perfect cadence
V-I
imperfect cadence
I (or other non-dominant chord) and V
plagal cadence
IV - I
interrupted cadence
V-VI
bass line
lowest part in musical texture which determines/generates the harmony
examples of a bass line
- baroque figured bass - numerals underneath to indicate the chords to be realised by the continuo keyboard player
- a murky bass has a pattern of broken octaves (as in parts of the Pathetique sonata)
chord
the simultaneous sounding together of two or more notes and is often used to refer to triads in major and minor keys
murky bass
- pattern of broken octaves
synonym for stepwise
conjunct
disjunct
opposite of conjunct
dissonance
- a note that does not belong to its common chord or triad
- strict rules usually govern its approach and its resolution back to a non-dissonant note
chord sequence
a series of chords, usually repeated
example of a chord sequence
- 12 bar blues
drone
the extended sustaining or repeating
of a note or a harmonic interval (notably a perfect 5th)
fanfare
a flourish for brass instruments (frequently with percussion) for ceremonial or celebratory effect, or simply any short passage for brass
in an orchestral work
ground bass
a repeating phrase in the bass (a type of ‘ostinato’), especially in some
Baroque pieces, notably by Purcell
harmony
successions of chords
interval
distance between two neighbouring notes or two heard simultaneously
leap
a melodic movement to a note further than a tone or a semitone away from the previous note
melody
- a melody (or ‘melodic line’) is a succession of single sounds – most frequently an individual strand or part within a fuller musical texture.
- a melody is usually ‘tuneful’ or otherwise prominent or memorable
melodic device
a compositional method applying to a single melodic line rather than to the complete texture
monotone
use of the same pitch repeatedly in a melodic part
ornamentation
the process of elaborating or decorating musical material and includes conventional ornamentation such as trills and turns
ostinato
a short musical pattern repeated throughout a section or complete piece
pedal
a note (usually in the bass, and generally either the tonic or dominant of the key) which is sustained or repeated while chords change, often resulting in dissonance
riff
similar to ostinato but applied to popular styles of music
scale
a succession of pitches in stepwise order usually extending for an octave
sequence
repetition of a melody or a harmonic progression but at different pitch levels rather than at the same pitch
stepwise
where a melody moves by steps (by tones and/or semitones) and not by leaps (of a third or more)
theme
a melody (or occasionally some other form of musical material) on which part or all of a piece is based
tonality
- the relationship of notes within a scale or mode to a principal note (the tonic or final)
- a wider term than key but often used synonymously with it
atonal
absence of tonality or key
chromatic
chromatic notes are those progressing by semitones, especially to a tone having the same letter name, e.g C to C sharp
dominant (key)
- the key a perfect 5th higher than the tonic (home) key of a piece
key
a form of tonality based on major and minor scales
major
based on major scales, with a major 3rd between scale degrees one and three
modal
tonality based on modes
modes
precursors of modern scales, of several types, each with a different series of tones and semitones
modulation
change of key
pentatonic
based on a five-note scale (often equivalent to scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 of a major scale, or 1,3, 4, 5, (flat) 7 of a minor scale)
relative minor/major
- major keys and their relative minors have the same key signature (F major and D minor)
- minor keys and their relative majors have the same key signature (E minor and G major)
form, structure
the overall shape of a composition (e.g. binary, ternary, rondo)
binary form/structure
- a form with two sections (often referred to A and B)
- the A section usually modulates from the tonic to the dominant or a relative major
- the B section returns to the tonic, usually via other keys
introduction
an opening passage or section which clearly prepares for, or introduces, the first main idea
phrase
- a short passage of music to some extent comparable to a phrase in speaking or writing
- many phrases are two or four bars long
rondo
- a form comprising of several statements of a main section interspersed with contrasting episodes
- the simplest rondo structure was ABACA,
where A is the recurring section, and B and C are the episodes
sonata form
a large-scale form which evolved in the classical period and combines elements of binary form and ternary form (in having exposition, development and recapitulation)
ternary
a form with three sections, often referred to as ABA and the opening section is repeated (exactly or varied), with section B providing pronounced contrast
strophic
a strophic song has the same (or similar) music for each stanza of the poem being set
sonority
the nature and quality of musical sounds
articulation
the degree to which a note is separated from the note that follows it
timbre
the particular tone colour of an instrument or voice
texture
the number of parts in a piece of music and how they relate to one another
types of texture
- accompaniment
- continuo
- heterophony
- homophony
- monophony
- polyphony
- two-part
- imitation
accompaniment
- musical background to a principal part or parts
continuo
- the bass line in many Baroque orchestral, choral and chamber works.
- most commonly played by low string instruments (with or without bassoons) and with a chord-playing instrument (notably harpsichord, organ or lute) to complete the harmony by realising the figured bass
heterophony
- where two or more parts play the same melodic line simultaneously, but there are small variations between them
homophony
- a widely used type of texture consisting of a melody part and other subsidiary (accompanying parts)
monophony
- music in which only one note is heard at a time - a single melodic line
polyphony
- any texture with two or more parts
- commonly used as a synonym for counterpoint where there are two or more simultaneous and largely independent melody lines
two-part
- music for two parts
imitation
two or more parts share the same melodic idea where each new part enters separately, the preceding one continuing with shared or new material
tempo
the speed of the music
metre
- often indicated by a time signature
- concerns the pattern and number of strong and weak beats
rhythm
refers more broadly to the relationship between sounds and the passage of time and often concerns conventional groupings
dotted rhythm
- usually applied to a pair of notes consisting of a dotted note and a shorter note or to several successive such pairs of notes
duration
the length of a note
shuffle
a rhythm based on the shuffle dance step, characteristically featuring alternatively long and short notes (with triplet grouping)
swing
a jazz style which incorporates swung rhythms
swung rhythm
two notes of the same value (usually quavers) are played with the first lengthened and second correspondingly shortened (as often in jazz)
syncopation
a strong or stressed note occurs on a part of a bar or beat that would usually be weak or unstressed
triplets
three notes of equal value taking the time normally occupied by two notes of the same written value (or by one undotted note of the next highest value)
dynamics
the volume of musical sounds and also the symbols used in a score to indicate volume
accent
notes may be given special prominence by the addition of accent marks
solo
a complete piece or section for one player or singer with no accompaniment or for one player or singer with accompaniment
tone
the quality of a performer’s sound
performing forces
the instruments and/or voices that perform the music
double (verb)
- doubling occurs where one performer consistently plays or sings the same notes as another – strictly speaking at the same octave, but duplication at the octave may be involved
double stopping
where two (or more) notes are played together on an orchestral string instrument (two or more strings being stopped simultaneously)
glissando
- a slide between adjacent notes of a chromatic or diatonic scale.
- the terms glissando and portamento are to some extent interchangeable, but a portamento involves movements smaller than a semitone (such as a singer can achieve but a pianist cannot)
hammer on
a guitar technique used to facilitate fast playing by avoiding the need to pick every note
harmonics
- each sound combines a fundamental and a series of much less clearly heard higher pitches called harmonics
- with stringed instruments these can be sounded by lightly touching a string at particular points
improvisation
a piece composed as it is performed, although frequently based on a pre-conceived ‘stimulus’ such as a melodic theme or chord scheme
melismatic
- melisma is a group of notes used to set just one syllable of text
syllabic
- each syllable has one note
pull off
a guitar technique: a string is plucked by pulling the string off the fingerboard with a finger used to fret the note
range
the distance between the lowest and highest notes in a single melodic part
tessitura
the most widely used part of a vocal or instrument part’s range
wah wah
- or harmon mute
- as used with trumpets and trombones
- name is onomatopoeic and the resulting sound can be rather like a ‘wah wah’
- same result can be obtained via music technology such as a studio effect
phrasing
the correct observance of divisions between whole phrases and sometimes shorter groups of notes
pizzicato
- where the stings of a stringed instrument are plucked rather than bowed
- cancelled by arco
sequenced compositions
compositions produced mainly or entirely via electronic sequencing software
tremolo
rapid repetition of a single note or of notes a 3rd apart
word painting
occurs when a composer deliberately illustrates a word or a phrase with matching musical image
baroque
music in the western classical tradition from c1600 to c1750
cantata
- a work (sacred or secular, and particularly associated with the Baroque period) in several movements for singer(s) and instruments
solo concerto
a work for soloist and orchestra, usually in three movements
concerto grosso
a type of concerto favoured in the baroque period, commonly with three soloists and orchestra
fusion
the blending of one or more musical style or culture to create a new ‘fused’ sound
gigue
baroque dance
jazz
fusion of african and north american styles
march
originally a march was for soldiers to march to – usually in 4/4 time, with regular and often repetitive rhythms.
- now used for any piece of similar character designed, for example, for ceremonial or processional use
musical theatre
integrates song, spoken dialogue, acting and dance within a popular idiom
suite
a group of pieces, all or some of which are usually in baroque or classical dance styles
chorus effect
- effect used to stimulate small variations of pitch and timing experienced when several performers play or sing the same part
flanger
- an effects unit that creates flanging, an audio effect which involves mixing together 2 identical signals, one of them delayed by a small, gradually changing amount
multi-track recording
- recording different audio channels to separate ‘tracks’ (one by one or simultaneously) for greater ease and effectiveness of processing them when all information is stored on a single track
overdubbing
adding more recorded sounds to a previously-made recording, with the intention of enhancing it
pitch shift
where the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered, often by means of an effects unit called a ‘pitch shifter’
studio effects
methods of artificially creating sounds, or of modifying or enhancing recorded sounds, through the se of music technology
