National 4 concepts Flashcards
A tempo
The music returns to the main tempo after there has been a change.
ABA
Three-part form - music in three sections: section A, then B, then back to A.
Accelerando
The music gets faster
African music
Much African music features voices and/or African drums.
Alto
The low female voice.
Anacrusis
An upbeat, the music doesn’t start on the first beat of the bar.
Andante
A tempo at a walking pace.
Arpeggio
A broken chord, notes of the chord played one at a time.
Backing vocals
Singers who support the lead singer(s), usually by singing in harmony in the background.
Baroque
The name given to the style of music composed during the 1600’s using the harpsichord.
Bass
A low male voice
Bass drum
This instrument belongs to the percussion family.
Bass guitar
An electric string instrument and has only four strings, two fewer than an electric guitar.
Brass band
A band of brass instruments and percussion
Broken chord
The notes of a chord are played one at a time.
Cadenza
The soloist shows off during an concerto.
Canon
Similar to a round- ‘Frére Jaques’ - one group starts playing/singing a melody and then a second group imitates the melody.
Cello
A big violin but smaller than a double bass.
Change of key
A modulation- the melody moves to a different pitch.
Chord progressions
Moving from one chord to another.
Clarinet
Woodwind instrument using a single reed.
Compound time
The beat is divided into groups of three. (sausages)
Concerto
A solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra.
Cymbals
A percussion instrument, round in shape and made of metal.
Distortion
An effect used on an electric instrument, doesn’t sound nice, sounds distorted.
Dotted rhythm
A long note followed by a shorter one or a short note followed by a longer one, as in a scotch snap.
Double bass
The largest and lowest instrument of the string family.
Drone
A long held sound- similar to what you hear on the bagpipes.
Flute
A woodwind instrument made of metal. It differs from other woodwind instruments as it does not have a reed.
Glockenspiel
A tuned percussion instrument.
Grouped semiquavers
A group of semiquavers which are joined together.
Güiro
A wooden percussion instrument. You use a wooden stick to scrape along the ridges to produce the sound.
Harp
String instrument with 4 strings.
Harpsichord
The keyboard instrument from the baroque period.
Jig
A fast dance in compound time. Usually 2 beats in a bar, with each beat dividing into 3 quarters. (sausages/jiggity)
Major
Sounds happy, but not always fast.
Mezzo Forte
Medium loud.
Mezzo Piano
Medium quite.
Middle eight
In popular music, a section which provides a contrast to the opening section. It is often eight bars long.
Minor
Sounds sad, but not always slow.
Mouth music
Scottish unaccompanied songs with Gaelic or nonsense words, normally sung to dance to.
Muted
Added to an instrument to reduce the volume or alter the sound.
Opera
A drama set to music with soloists, chorus, acting and orchestral accompaniment.
Ornament
Added to the music to make it sound more intresting.
Paired quaver
Two quavers (1/2 beat notes) joined together.
Pan pipes
From South America. The sound is made by blowing across the top of the pipes.
Pentatonic
A 5 note scale. Often heard in traditional Scottish/folk music.
Quaver
A note that lasts half a beat.
Ragtime
Usually played on a piano. A style of dance music which became popular at the end of the 19th century and which helped to influence jazz. Scott Joplin.
Rallentando
To slow down.
RAP
Rhyming At Pace.
Recorder
There are four main types of recorder; descant, treble, tenor and bass.
Reggae
Reggae music was developed in the late 1960’s in Jamaica with a syncopated bass line- Bob Marley.
Repeat sign
A sign which indicates a section of music should be repeated.
Romantic
In music, the period 1800’s, which followed the classical era, uses Rubato.
Saxophone
This instrument belongs to the woodwind family. It uses a single reed.
Scale
A sequence of notes moving by step in an ascending or descending order. E.g. Major or Minor scale.
Scat singing
Nonsense words made up by the singer.
Scotch snap
A very short accented note before a longer note. A feature of a strathspey- a Scottish dance.
Scots ballad
A Scottish song which tells a story. Examples of Scots ballads are ‘Flower of Scotland’ and ‘Loch Lomond’. Sometimes uses words by Robert Burns.
Semiquaver
A note that lasts for a quarter (1/4) of a beat.
Simple time
The music has two, three or four beats in each bar.
Snare drum
This instrument belongs to the percussion family and is played with sticks or brushes.
Soprano
A high female voice.
Strathspey
A Scottish dance with four beats in a bar and usually featuring the Scotch snap. (porridge oats)
Swing
A jazz style which started in the 1930’s and was performed by a big band.
Syncopation
An off beat rhythm.
Tambourine
This instrument belongs to the percussion family. A wooden or plastic frame has pairs of metal jingles attached and is mostly played by the hand striking or shaking the instrument.
Tenor
High male voice.
Ternary
A B A- a type of form: Section A, followed by s B section which is different melody, than a return to the A section.
Them and variation
The structure of a piece where the melody is heard (the theme), and then changed/varied.
Timpani
A tuned percussion instrument.
Triangle
This is a piece of metal in the shape of a triangle. It is an untuned percussion instrument, as it cannot play a range of notes.
Trombone
This is the only brass instrument that has a slide instead of valves.
Trumpet
The trumpet is the smallest and highest brass instrument in the brass family.
Vamp
Usually played on piano or guitar. - oom cha cha
Verse and chorus
A structure/form popular in many songs.
Violin
The highest string instrument.
Wind band
A band with woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
Xylophone
A tuned percussion with wooden bars.
