Test 1 Flashcards
Vibrations that are transmitted, usually through air, to the eardrum, which sends impulses to the brain.
Sound
Relative highness or lowness of a sound.
Pitch
Sound that has a definite pitch, or frequency
Tone
“Distance” in pitch between any two tones.
Interval
Interval between two tones in which the higher tone has twice the frequency of the lower tone.
Octave
Distance between the highest and lowest tones that a given voice or instrument can produce.
Range
Quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another.
Tone Color (Timbre)
Melody that serves as the starting point for an extended piece of music.
Theme
Changing some features of a musical idea while retaining others.
Variation
Ordered flow of music through time; the pattern of duration of notes and silences in music.
Rhythm
Regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time.
Beat
Organization of beats into regular groups.
Meter
Rhythmic group set off by bar lines, containing a fixed number of beats.
Measure
Interval larger than that between two adjacent tones in the scale.
Leap
Unaccented pulse preceding the downbeat.
Upbeat
Tone combination that is stable and restful.
Consonance
Accenting of a note at an unexpected time, as between two beats or on a weak beat.
Syncopation
Basic pace of music.
Tempo
Two numbers, one above the other, appearing at the beginning of a staff or the start of a piece, indicating the meter of the piece.
Time Signature (Meter Signature)
Notation showing all the parts of a musical ensemble, with a separate staff for each part, and with simultaneously sounded notes aligned vertically; used by the conductor.
Score
Series of single tones that add up to a recognizable whole.
Melody
Interval between two adjacent tones in the scale.
Step
Technique of combining two or more melodic lines into a meaningful whole.
Counterpoint
Smooth, connected manner of performing a melody
Legato
Short, detached manner of performing a melody.
Staccato
Part of a melody.
Phrase
In a melody, the immediate repetition of a melodic pattern on a higher or lower pitch.
Sequence
Musical representation of specific poetic images - for example, a falling melodic line to accompany the word descending - often found in Renaissance and baroque music.
Word Painting
Vocal form in which the same music is repeated for each stanza of a poem.
Strophic form
How chords are constructed and how they follow each other.
Harmony
Tone combination that is unstable and tense.
Dissonance
Focused on human life and its accomplishments.
Humanism
Literally meaning Rebirth
Renaissance
Official music of the Roman Catholic Church. Consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment. (Monophonic in texture.)
Gregorian Chant
The highlight of the liturgical day, was a ritual reenactment of the Last Supper.
Mass
Like major and minor scales; consist of seven different tones and an eighth tone that duplicates the first an octave higher.
Church Modes (Modes)
One or more long, sustained tones accompanying a melody.
Drone
One of the main poetic and musical forms in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century France.
Rondeau
Meaning having many sounds.
Polyphonic
The technique of combining several melodic lines into a meaningful whole.
Counterpoint
When a melodic idea is presented by one voice or instrument and is then restated immediately by another.
Imitation
Performance of a single melodic line at the same pitch by more than one instrument or voice.
Unison
Meaning literally have one sound.
Monophonic
A polyphonic choral composition made up of fave sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
Mass (Renaissance Mass)
An important kind of secular vocal music during the Renaissance; A piece for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love.
Madrigal
A polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass.
Motet
Rich polyphonic texture; It’s six voice parts constantly imitate each other, yet blend beautifully.
Kyrie
System of writing music so that specific pitches and rhythms can be communicated.
Notation
Short, detached manner of performing a melody.
Staccato
Smooth, connected manner of performing a melody.
Legato
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