Year 9 Advanced Vocabulary

Question 1

Timbre

Answer 1

The quality or colour of sound that makes one voice or instrument different from another.

Question 2

Keyboard

Answer 2

A musical instrument such as a piano, organ or synthesiser.

Question 3

Djembe

Answer 3

A drum of West African origin.

Question 4

Duration

Answer 4

How long or short notes are.

Question 5

Pulse

Answer 5

The beat / heartbeat of the music.

Question 6

Rhythm

Answer 6

Musical patterns made up of notes of different durations / lengths.

Can be played on a pitched or unpitched instrument.

Question 7

Ostinato

Answer 7

A musical pattern that repeats (can be pitched or unpitched).

Question 8

Pitch

Answer 8

How high or low a musical sound is.

Question 9

Melody

Answer 9

Another word for tune, created by playing notes one after another.

Question 10

Staff/ Stave

Answer 10

The five lines that music is written down on.

Question 11

Sharp

Answer 11

A symbol (#) which raises a note by a half step (or semitone) when put in front of it.

Question 12

Flat

Answer 12

A symbol (b) which lowers a note by a half step (or semitone) when put in front of it.

Question 13

Dynamics

Answer 13

How loudly or quietly to play a piece of music.

Question 14

Forte

Answer 14

Italian word for “loud” (shortened to f).

Question 15

Piano

Answer 15

Italian word for “quiet” (shortened to p).

Question 16

Tempo

Answer 16

The speed of a piece of music.

Question 17

Adagio

Answer 17

Italian word for “slowly”.

Question 18

Allegro

Answer 18

Italian word for “fast”.

Question 19

Structure

Answer 19

The way a piece of music is built by combining different sections

(eg. intro-verse-chorus in a pop song).

Question 20

Call and Response

Answer 20

A question and answer phrase.

e.g. “Have you got a Djembe? Yes I have”.

Question 21

Texture

Answer 21

Thick or thin. How many layers of music there are.

Question 22

Thick and Thin Textures

Answer 22

Music can be described as having a thin texture (only one or two musical layers) or a thick texture (many musical layers).

Question 23

Tonality

Answer 23

The tonality of a piece of music is often either major or minor.

Question 24

Musical Mood

Answer 24

Different pieces of music can be described as having a different mood, often depending on whether the tonality is major or minor.

Question 25

Music Technology

Answer 25

The use of computers or other hardware/software to create and edit musical sounds.

Question 26

Audio

Answer 26

Sound that has been recorded. Eg, “I have recorded my vocal part as an audio track”.

Question 27

Orchestra

Answer 27

Name given to a musical group / ensemble made up four families: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

Question 28

Quaver

Answer 28

A note that lasts half a beat. They are often found in pairs to make up a whole beat.​

Question 29

Crotchet

Answer 29

A note that lasts for one beat.

Question 30

Minim

Answer 30

A note that lasts for two beats.

Question 31

Semibreve

Answer 31

A note which lasts for four beats.

Question 32

Scale

Answer 32

A group of notes in a particular order. e.g. C Major Scale: C D E F G A B C

Question 33

Treble Clef

Answer 33

A clef used in sheet music for notes higher in pitch than middle C.​

Question 34

Bass Clef

Answer 34

A clef used in sheet music for notes lower in pitch than middle C.​

Question 35

Crescendo

Answer 35

Italian word for “getting louder”.​

Question 36

Diminuendo

Answer 36

Italian word for “getting quieter”.​

Question 37

Accelerando

Answer 37

Italian word for “getting faster”.​

Question 38

Ritenuto

Answer 38

Italian word for “slowing down”.​

Question 39

Binary Form

Answer 39

A piece of music with two contrasting sections, often called A and B.

Question 40

Major Keys

Answer 40

Music is usually either major or minor. Music in a major key is based around major scales and tends to sound happier.​

Question 41

Primary Triads

Answer 41

The three most commonly used chords in any given key. In C Major these are C, F and G. They are also known as chords I, IV and V (or 1, 4 and 5).​

Question 42

Mash-up

Answer 42

A piece of music created electronically (using software such as Audacity) where different pieces are cut and pasted together.​

Question 43

Remix

Answer 43

An arrangement or new version of an existing song or piece of music, created using technology.

Question 44

Time Signature

Answer 44

The numbers at the beginning of a piece music that tell us how many beats there are in a bar.​

Question 45

Simple Time Signatures

Answer 45

A time signature where the main beats in the bar are usually either crochets or minims and can be divided by two.​

Question 46

Sequence

Answer 46

A melodic pattern which repeats either up or down in pitch from the original.​

Question 47

Mezzo-Forte

Answer 47

Italian word for “medium-loud” (shortened to *mf*).​

Question 48

Mezzo-Piano

Answer 48

Italian word for “medium-quiet” (shortened to *mp*).​

Question 49

Andante

Answer 49

Italian word for “at a walking pace” (tempo of the music).​

Question 50

Moderato

Answer 50

Italian word for “medium” (tempo of the music).​

Question 51

Ternary Form

Answer 51

A piece of music with three sections, where the first one repeats at the end (labelled A B A¹).​

Question 52

Melody and Accompaniment

Answer 52

A type of texture where there is a clear melody (tune) with distinct accompaniment (the music in the background: the ‘backing’).​

Question 53

Minor Keys

Answer 53

Music is usually either major or minor. Music in a minor key is based around minor scales and tends to sound sad.​

Question 54

Secondary Triads

Answer 54

Minor chords ii and vi, which make a chord sequence more interesting than just using chords I, IV & V.

Question 55

Multi-tracking

Answer 55

The process of recoding more than one track on top of each other so they play back simultaneously.

Question 56

Mixing

Answer 56

In music technology; the producer controls the dynamic levels (volume) of each track to get an even mix.

Question 57

Soprano

Answer 57

A high female voice.

Question 58

Alto

Answer 58

A low female voice.

Question 59

Tenor

Answer 59

A high male voice.

Question 60

Bass

Answer 60

A low male voice.

Question 61

Compound Time Signatures

Answer 61

A time signature where the main beats in the bar are often dotted crochets and/or can be divided by three.​

Question 62

Chromatic Scale

Answer 62

A scale which contains all 12 musical notes. eg: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C.

Question 63

Fortissimo

Answer 63

Italian word for “very loud” (shortened to *ff*).

Question 64

Pianissimo

Answer 64

Italian word for “very quiet” (shortened to *pp*).

Question 65

Staccato

Answer 65

Italian word for notes played in a short and detached way (shown on sheet music as a dot above/below a note).

Question 66

Legato

Answer 66

Italian word for notes played smoothly (shown on sheet music as a line or phrase mark over a group of notes).

Question 67

Lento

Answer 67

Italian word for “very slow” (tempo of the music).

Question 68

Presto

Answer 68

Italian word for “very quick” (tempo of the music).

Question 69

Strophic Song Structure

Answer 69

A song which has distinct sections which often repeat. Songs may include the following sections: Intro, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Middle 8, Outro.

Question 70

Monophonic

Answer 70

A thin musical texture with only one musical layer. eg. a single melody line without an accompaniment.

Question 71

Homophonic

Answer 71

A musical texture with two parts that move together. eg. a melody with an accompaniment of chords.

Question 72

Polyphonic

Answer 72

A thick/complex musical texture which contains several musical layers which intertwine. It is not always possible to say which line is the most important, or which is the melody.

Question 73

Tonic

Answer 73

The most important note in a scale. The first degree of a scale. eg **_C_** D E F G A B.

Question 74

Subdominant

Answer 74

The third most important note in a scale. The fourth degree of the scale. eg C D E **_F_** G A B

Question 75

Dominant

Answer 75

The second most important note in a scale. The fifth degree of the scale.eg C D E F **_G_** A B.

Question 76

Atonal Atonality

Answer 76

Music where there is no obvious tonality; The music cannot be described as being either major or minor.

Question 77

Cluster CHords

Answer 77

A dissonant (‘clashy’) chord whose notes are very close together. Often sounds horrible and tense and so is used to create this kind of musical mood.​

Question 78

Digital Audio Effects

Answer 78

These are electronic processes you can add to audio tracks, to alter or enhance certain characteristics.​