Musical Elements and Key Words Flashcards
Accompaniment
Musical background to the main part
Allegro di molto e con brio (Beethoven)
Very lively and fast
Arpeggiation / arpeggios
Notes of the chords are spread out from bottom to top and played quickly
Break
Where most instruments stop playing for a short time with one instrument or singer continuing alone
Cantabile (Brandenburg)
In a singing style
Bossa Nova (SeP)
Brazilian music derived from Samba, but slower and more subdued, placing more emphasis on melody and less on percussion
Chord
Simultaneous sounding of two or more notes
Classical period (Beethoven)
1750-1820ish
Colla voce (Defying Gravity)
Following the solo voice (defying gravity)
Baroque period (Purcell, Bach)
1600-1750 ish
Chorus (structure)
The refrain, where the title is often sung. Often the catchiest and loudest part of the song.
Lament
Sad song
Compound time
3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 - where the quavers are counted in the bar, not the crotchet (6/8 is 6 quavers in a bar) and they are grouped in threes, as opposed to twos.
Concertino (Bach)
Group of soloists in a concerto grosso
Concerto grosso (Brandenburg)
Popular during the Baroque period, a set of works written for a group of solo instruments (concertino) and a larger ensemble accompaniment (ripieno)
Concerto
Large scale composition for orchestra plus a soloist
Continuo (Bach)
Continuous - the group of instruments (usually harpsichord or organ, plus a cello, double bass, bass viol or bassoon etc.) used to provide the bass or the notated bass line (basso continuo)
Counterpoint
Two or more largely independent melodic lines are combined (TEXTURE)
Contrapuntal
Two or more largely independent melodic lines
Development (Beethoven)
Second section in sonata form, where the material from the exposition is transformed, going through several modulations.
Cue
Each piece of music in a film score
Dissonant
Dissonant chords sound and feel unstable, clashing.
Drone
Notes held or repeated through a passage of music
Dynamics
Volume - pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff etc.
Exposition (Beethoven)
The first section in sonata form where the musical material is first heard. First subject is in the tonic key and the second subject is usually in a different key, such as the dominant
Extended Chord
Chords with added notes such as 7th or 9ths
Fanfare (Star Wars)
A loud flourish usually played by brass
Gigue
A lively type of dance
Grave (Beethoven)
Very slow and solemn
Ground Bass (Purcell)
A repeating bass line
Harpsichord (Purcell, Brandenburg)
Early keyboard instrument where the strings are plucked instead of hammered.
Instrumentation
The instruments or voices used in the piece
Key
A piece tends to be in a major or minor key… _Major or _Minor (tonality)