Pitch Flashcards
Pitch
Refers to the highness and lowness of sounds in music.
Three main aspects of pitch
Melody, harmony and tonality
Melody
A horizontal succession of pitches and notes. In simpler terms, when notes are played one after the other.
Harmony
Means to sound two or more notes or pitches at the same time together.
Tonality
Refers to the pitch arrangement used by the composer, often to convey a specific genre of music.
Home/root note
Specific pitch or note that a piece of music is based off. All notes used in the piece have different relationships with the home note depending on how far or near they are to the home note.
Diatonic scale system
Refers to the major and minor scales used in music. These scales are comprised of seven distinct pitch classes.
What does ‘diatonic’ mean in Greek?
Diatonic in Greek means “progressing through tones”
Blues scale
The same as the minor pentatonic scale with the addition of one note, the raised 4th. It is common scale for improvisation.
1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - #4 - 5 - b7
Pentatonic scale
A scale that consists of five notes. Popular for improvisation.
Major Pentatonic: 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6
Minor Pentatonic: 1 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b7
Chromatic scale
A scale that consists of all semitones. Starts at one note and features every note in the musical alphabet up to or down to the starting notes next octave.
Microtones
A musical interval that is smaller than a semitone. Instruments that are able to slide from one note to another are able to create microtones.
Whole tone scale
A scale where notes follow each other in whole steps of equal intervals. Music that uses a whole tone scale can seem to lose the sense of a tonal centre and lack resolution.
Atonality
Music that has no identifiable tonal centre or home key.
Gypsy scale
Refers to one of several musical scales named after their association with Romani or stereotyped ‘gypsy’ music.
Indian Raga
Forms the basis of Indian music and contains microtones, and characteristic ascending and descending passages, as well as much ornamentation and embellishment.
Gamelan
Refers to an Indonesian orchestra made up of many traditional percussion instruments.
Two main systems in Javanese gamelan music
Slendro: Five notes to the octave with varying intervals.
Pelog: Seven notes to the octave, with varying intervals.
Counter melody
A second contrasting melody that is played at the same time as the main melody.
Call and response
Type of melodic construction where there are two sections of a melody where the first section ‘calls’ while the second section ‘responds’ to the first particular phrase or section.
Question and answer
Another melodic construction with two sections where the first section sounds resolved and normally ends with an interrupted or non-resolving tone. The second section then ‘answers’ with that section normally ending with resolution.
Phrasing
A section of an instrumental or vocal line, similar to a musical sentence that contains part or all of a melody.
Symmetrical phrasing
Where a phrase has an equal number of parts.
Asymmetrical phrasing
Where a phrase has an uneven number of bars.
Definite pitch
Tuned sound and distinct sound e.g. Singing voice
Indefinite pitch
Un-tuned sounds e.g. speaking voice
Instruments with definite pitch
Singing voice, trumpet, violin, clarinet, bass guitar.
Instruments with indefinite pitch
Speaking voice, birds, trees, trains, snare drum.
Melodic arrangement
Refers to how melodies are placed in a piece of music.
Melodic movement
Refers to the specific pitch direction in a melody and how it moves.
Melodic contour
Refers to the shape of a melody in a piece of music.
Register
Refers to the ‘height of sound’. Generally described as high, middle and low.
Chalumeau
The lower register of the clarinet.
Tessitura
Refers to the register of the singing voice.
Sounding range
Refers to the pitches (produced by an instrument)
Written range
Refers to the span of notes written in the sheet music.
Designated range
Refers to the set of notes the player should or can achieved while playing.
Duration range
Refers to the difference between the shortest and longest rhythm used.
Dynamic range
Refers to the difference between the quietest and loudest volume of an instrument, part of piece of music.
Melodic features
Features added to a melody that adds interest
Ornamentation
Refers to the decoration of a melody with special features to add interest.
Mordent
Upper: where a note is played, then the one above it, then the first note.
Lower: Where a note is played, then the one below it, then the first note.
Turn
A short figure consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again.
Appoggiatura
Refers to a leaning note. A note that leans into the following note. The leaning note usually takes up half the time of the note value.
Acciaccatura
A crushed note, played at the same time as, and crushed into, the following note, where the value does not change.
Melodic ostinato
A repeated melodic pattern.
Riff
A repeated pattern heard throughout a piece of music and has the effect of unifying it.
Motif
A melodic fragment that is repeated immediately at a different pitch.
Sequence
A melodic fragment that is repeated immediately at a different pitch.
Repetition
Refers to a melody or melodies heard repeatedly.
Melisma
Refers to the singing of several notes to one syllable of text.
