Sound Flashcards
Pitch
how high or low a sound is
Dynamics
how loud or soft a sound is
Interval
Distance in pitch between any two tones
Pitch range
The distance between lowest and highest tones
Seven tones
Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, to, do
Piano range
Over 7 octaves
Average untrained range
1.5 octaves
Accent
Emphasizing a tone
Tone
Sound that has a definite pitch - regular, meet the ear at regular intervals
Indefinite pitch
Produced by irregular vibrations
Very soft
Pianissimo (pp)
Soft
Piano (p)
Moderately soft
Mezzo piano (mp)
Mezzo forte
Moderately loud
Loud
forte (f)
Fortissimo
very loud (ff)
Gradually softer
Decrescendo, diminuendo
Crescendo
Gradually louder
Timbre
Tone colour - quality that distinguishes music
Timbre terms
Bright, dark, brilliant, mellow, rich
Rhythm
Ordered flow of music through time; patterned durations of sounds and silences
Beat
Regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time
Downbeat
First or stressed beat of the measure
Syncopation
When an offbeat note is accented
Tempo
Speed of the beat, basic pace of the music
Allegretto
Tempo indication: moderately fast
Allegro
Tempo indication: fast
Tempo indication: very fast
Presto
Tempo indication: moderately slow, walking pace
Andante
Adagio
Tempo indication for slow
Gradual quickening of tempo
Accelerando
Gradual slowing of tempo
Ritardando
Allegro molto
Very fast
Melody
A series of single notes that add up to a recognisable whole
Step
The interval between two adjacent tones in the doremifasollatido scale (from do to re, re to mi)
Leap
Any interval in the scale larger than a step. doremifasollatido (do to mi)
Range
Distance between lowest and highest tones
Climax
Emotional focal point
Legato
Melody played in a smooth and connected style
Staccato
Melody played in a short, detached manne r
Phrase
Musical segment that can be sung in one breath, ends at the point of full or partial rest
Cadence
Resting place at the end of a phrase, point of arrival
use of lowercase letters in representing piece sections
used to represent phrases and other relatively short segments
Use of uppercase letters to represent sections of a piece
Used for longer sections
aa
If two sections repeat each other
a, b
If two sections differ significantly
a a`
Use prime part if a section is a varied repetition of a previous section
Main melody
(A)
Contrasting melody
Bridge (B)
Popular song form
A A B A
Sequence
Repetition of a melodic pattern on a higher or lower pitch
Expresses the meaning and emotion of the words
Melody
Word painting
Musical representation of specific posting images
Harmony
The way chords are constructed and how they follow reach other
Adding support, depth, richness to the melody
Harmonizing
Chord
A combination of three or more times sounded at once
Melody
Series of individual tones heard one after another
Progression
Series of chords
Consonance
Stable tone combination - points of arrival, rest, resolution
Dissonance
Tone combination that is unstable
Triad
Three-tone chord
Tonic chord
Triad built on the first, tonic, note of the scale
Subdominant chord
Triad based on fourth note of the scale
Dominant chord
Built on fifth note of the scale