Terms A to B

Question 0

Ars nova

Answer 0

Fourteenth century French polyphonic musical style whose themes moved increasingly from religious to secular.

Question 1

Ars Antiqua

Answer 1

Polyphonic musical style, usually French, from the period c.1160 - 1320.

Question 2

Art rock

Answer 2

Genre of rock that uses larger forms and more complex harmonies than other popular styles; occasionally quotes examples from classical music. Also called progressive rock.

Question 3

A tempo

Answer 3

Return to the previous tempo.

Question 4

Atonality

Answer 4

Total abandonment of tonality (centering in a key). Atonal music moves from one level of dissonance to another, without areas of relaxation.

Question 5

Attaca

Answer 5

Attack. Proceed without a pause between movements.

Question 6

Augmentation

Answer 6

Statement of a melody in longer values, often twice as slow as the original.

Question 7

Aulos

Answer 7

Double-reed pipe; played for public and religious functions in Ancient Greece.

Question 8

Avant-grade jazz

Answer 8

A free-style jazz that developed in the 1960s; John Coltrane was a major proponent.

Question 9

Backbeat

Answer 9

In rock and roll and related genres, the second and fourth beats of the measure.

Question 10

Bagpipe

Answer 10

Wind instrument popular in eastern and Western Europe that has several tubes, one of which plays the melody while the others sound the drones, or sustained notes; a windbag is filled by either a mouth pipe or a set of bellows.

Question 11

Balalaika

Answer 11

Guitar-like instrument of Russia with a triangular body, fretted neck, and three strings; often used in traditional music and dance.

Question 12

Ballad

Answer 12

A form of English street song, popular from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Ballads are characterized by narrative content and strophic form.

Question 13

Ballade

Answer 13

French poetic form and chanson type of the Middle Ages and renaissance with courtly love texts. Also a romantic genre, especially a lyric piano piece.

Question 14

Ballad opera

Answer 14

English comic opera, usually featuring spoken dialogue alternating with songs set to popular tunes; also called dialogue opera.

Question 15

Ballet

Answer 15

A dance form featuring a staged presentation of group or solo dancing with music, costumes and scenery.

Question 16

Ballet de cour

Answer 16

Courtly French ballet of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Question 17

Balungan

Answer 17

The melodic-structural framework in Javanese music.

Question 18

Banjo

Answer 18

Plucked-string instrument with round body in the form of a single-headed drum and a long fretted neck; brought to the America’s by African slaves.

Question 19

Baritone

Answer 19

Male voice of moderately low range.

Question 20

Bas

Answer 20

Medieval category of soft instruments, used principally for indoor occasions, as distinct from haut, or loud, instruments.

Question 21

Bass

Answer 21

Male voice of low range.

Question 22

Bass clarinet

Answer 22

Woodwind instrument, with the lowest range, of the clarinet family.

Question 23

Bass drum

Answer 23

Percussion instrument played with a large, soft-headed stick; the largest orchestral drum.

Question 24

Basse Danse

Answer 24

Graceful court dance of the early renaissance; an older version of the pavane.

Question 25

Basso continuo

Answer 25

Italian for “continuous bass.” Also refers to performance group with a bass, chordal instrument (harpsichord, organ), and one bass melody instrument (cello, bassoon).