National 3 concepts Flashcards
Accented
Notes which sound louder than other.
Accompanied
Other instrument(s) or voice(s) playing/singing along.
Accordion
A Scottish instrument with a keyboard played with the right hand and buttons (which play chords) pressed by the left hand.
Acoustic guitar
A guitar which doesn’t use electricity which is played by plucking or strumming the strings with fingers, or using a plectrum.
Adagio
A slow tempo.
Allegro
A fast tempo.
Answer
A short musical phrase that follows on from a ‘question’ phrase.
Ascending
Notes getting higher.
Bagpipes
A Scottish instrument made up of a chanter and pipes which play the drone.
Beat
The basic pulse you hear in music.
Blowing
The sound produced by blowing into or across the mouthpiece of the instrument, e.g. brass, woodwind and recorders.
Blues
Developed by Black American slaves, slow, sad music.
Bowing
The sound produced by drawing the bow across the strings of a stringed instrument, e.g. violin or cello.
Brass
A family of instruments made from metal with a mouthpiece, e.g. trumpet and trombone.
Choir
A group of singers who perform together.
Chord
Two or more notes sounding together
Crescendo
The music gradually becomes louder.
Crotchet
A note that lasts for 1 beat.
Descending
Notes getting lower.
Diminuendo
The music gradually becomes quieter.
Discord
A chord in which certain notes clash. It doesn’t sound nice.
Dotted minim
A note which lasts for 3 beats.
Drum fill
Played on a drum kit.
Drum kit
A set of drums and cymbals often used in rock music and pop music.
Electric guitar
A guitar that uses electricity.
Faster
The tempo (speed) increases.
Fiddle
A Scottish violin.
Folk groups
A group of two or more musicians who perform music in a traditional style, usually accompanied by guitars.
Forte
Forte means loud volume.
Harmony
The sound of two or more notes made at the same time.
Improvisation
The performer makes up music during the actual performance, they don’t have the melody written down to help, although there may be suggested chords as a guide.
Jazz
At first this was music created by black Americans in the early 20th century.
Latin American music
Dance music from South America.
Leap/leaping
Jumping between notes which are not next to each other.
Legato
The notes are played or sung smoothly.
Lines and spaces of the treble clef
The system for writing music uses five lines, each with a different letter name- find out more about the lines and spaces.
March
Music with a strong steady pulse with two or four beats in a bar.
Minim
A note that lasts for 2 beats.
Musical
A musical play which has speaking, singing and dancing and is performed on a stage.
Octave
The distance of 8 notes e.g. for C up to C.
Off the beat
Notes played on the weaker beats, e.g. beats 2 and 4 in a 4/4 bar.
On the beat
Notes played on the stronger beats, e.g. 1 and 3 in a 4/4 bar.
Orchestra
There are four main sections to an orchestra: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Organ
A keyboard instrument usually found in churches. It usually has more than one keyboard, plus pedals that are played with the feet.
Ostinato
A short musical pattern repeated many times.
Pause
A note or rest that is held longer than written. The pause sign (looks like an eye and an eyebrow) is written above the note or rest that is to be held as a pause.
Percussion
Instruments that are played by hitting, striking, shaking or scraping.
Piano (dynamics)
Quiet volume, abbreviated to ‘p’.
Piano (instrument)
A keyboard instrument which produces sounds by hammers hitting strings.
Plucking
Sounds made when you pluck the strings of a stringed instrument with a finger or fingers.
Pop
A style of popular music played by a group of musicians.
Pulse
The basic beat in music. The pulse may be in groups of two, three or four with a stress on the first in each group.
Question
An opening phrase which is often followed by an answer.
Reel
A Scottish dance written in simple time with two or four beats in a bar.
Repetition
An exact repeat of a musical idea.
Riff
A repeated phrase usually found in jazz and popular music.
Rock
A style of popular music with a heavy, driving beat. Usually features electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit.
Rock ‘n’ roll
1950s American music which grew from the combined styles of jazz, blues, gospel and country.
Round
Each part sings or plays the same melody, entering one after the other. When they reach the end they start again.
Scottish
Music of Scotland.
Scottish dance band
A band which plays Scottish music for people to dance to.
Semibreve
A note that lasts for 4 beats.
Sequence
A melodic phrase which is immediately repeated at a higher or lower pitch.
Slower
The tempo (speed) decreases.
Solo
One instrument or voice. A prominent instrument or voice can be solo even when part of a larger ensemble.
Staccato
The notes are short and detached.
Steel band
A West Indian band whose instruments are made out of oil drums called pans. The top of each drum is hammered into panels to make different pitches.
Step/stepwise
Moving up or down between notes which are next to each other.
Striking
The sound is produced by hitting the instrument.
Strings
The family of instruments which have strings. The sound is produced by dragging a bow across the strings or by plucking them with the fingers.
Strumming
A finger, fingers or plectrum are drawn across the strings of an instrument, usually guitar.
Unaccompanied
There are no instruments playing in the background.
Unison
Singing or playing the same notes at the same time.
Voice
The human instrument6 used to speak and sing.
Waltz
A dance with three beats in a bar in simple time.
Woodwind
Instruments which produce sounds by blowing across a hole, against an edge or through a single or double reed, e.g. flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe and bassoon. They need not be made of wood.
