Musical Parameters Flashcards
melody
succession of pitches/intervals with rhythms to form a musical line (conjunct/disjunct/syllabic/melismatic)
harmony
multiple pitches played simultaneously (constant/dissonant)
texture
relationship of simultaneous musical lines
timbre
character of tone color of sound
form
way in which portions of music (movements/sections/phrases) are put together to make a piece
articulation
additional info about nature of performance that cannot be conveyed in pitches/rhythms alone
genre
name for distinctive class or category of composition
(broad) rhythm
temporal organization of music relating to duration
(specific) rhythm
relative long/short durations of specific passages of music
meter
pattern of accented beats (organized nature)
Melody takes place within…
a scale.
scale
pitch pattern within an octave to travel from pitch to pitch
octave
doubling of pitch frequency
conjunct
no/very few leaps; stepwise
disjunct
wide leaps
syllabic
one note per syllable
melismatic
multiple notes per syllable
homophony
musical lines that enter at same time and have about same rhythm, creating successive chords
Homophony can also be thought of as….
melody and accompaniment.
decorated homophony
contains melodic and rhythmic embellishments of basic chordal structure
non-imitative polyphony
independent musical lines that are unrelated
imitative polyphony
each successive voice repeats if not literally, than recognizably; melodic figure stated by first voice
Form is related to…
genre (still distinct).
Form involves…
repetition and contrast.
