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music terminology
exam prep
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| AB form | two-part form |
| ABA form | three-part form with repeated first section |
| absolute music | instrumental music having no intended association with a story, poem, idea, or scene |
| a cappella | choral music without instrumental accompaniment |
| accelerando | becoming faster |
| accent | emphasis of a note |
| adagio | slow |
| aerophone | any instrument whose sound is generated by a vibrating column of air |
| Alberti bass | broken or arpeggiated chord where the notes are sounded lowest to highest and pattern is repeated |
| aleatoric music | chance music |
| alto | female voice of a low range |
| antecedent phrase | first part of a period (question); followed by the consequent phrase (answer) |
| appoggiatura | a grace note performed before a note of the melody and falling on the beat. |
| aria | Song for solo voice found in operas, oratorios, cantatas |
| arpeggio | Broken chord |
| articulation | In music notation articulation marks include the slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato. |
| art song | Setting of a poem for voice and piano, common in Romantic period |
| atonality | Absence of tonality or key |
| augmentation | Variation of a fugue subject where time values are lengthened |
| baritone | Male voice lower than tenor, higher than bass |
| bass | Lowest male voice |
| basso continuo | Baroque accompaniment made up of bass part, usually keyboard and low string |
| bebop | Complex jazz style meant for listening instead of dancing |
| bitonality | Using two keys at one time |
| blue note | Usually the flattened third and seventh |
| blues | Threè line stanza, using blues notes, and chord progression (1,1,1,1,4,4,1,1,5,4,1,1) |
| bridge | Transition |
| cadence | End of a phrase resting place (perfect authentic, imperfect authentic, half, plagal, deceptive) |
| cadenza | Unaccompanied section for virtuosic solo display near the end (usually in a concerto) |
| call and response | One voice answered by another, either repetition or question and answer |
| canon | A Round |
| cantata | Several movement piece, usually chorus, soloists, and orchestra |
| cantus firmus | Melody- usually gregorian chant, used as basis for polyphonic piece |
| chamber music | Music for small group of musicians |
| chance music | Aleatoric music, happening by chance |
| chorale | Hymn tune, four parts |
| chord | Combination of three or more pitches at once |
| chordophone | Instrument played by vibrating a string |
| chromatic scale | Scale including all 12 pitches, each only a half step away |
| Church modes | Scales using different whole and half step combinations |
| circle of fifths | a visual representation of the relationships among the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys |
| coda | concluding section |
| concerto | extended composition for instrumental soloist and orchestra, usually three movements (fast, slow, fast) |
| concerto grosso | composition for several instrumental soloists and small orchestra (late Baroque) |
| consequent phrase | second part of a period (answer); preceded by the antecendent phrase (question) |
| consonance | the combination of notes that are in harmony with each other due to the relationship between their frequencies. |
| countermelody | melodic idea that accompanies a main theme |
| counterpoint | technique of combining two or more melodic lines into a meaningful whole |
| countersubject | in a fugue, a melodic idea that accompanies the subject fairly constantly |
| crescendo | Increase in volume |
| da capo | From the beginning |
| decrescendo | Decrease in volume |
| development | Second section of sonata form in which the exposition theme is developed and moves through different keys |
| diminution | Variation of fugue subject where original time values are shortened |
| dissonance | The combination of notes that are not in harmony with each other |
| dominant chord | Triad built on fifth note of the scale - usually resolves to the tonic chord |
| downbeat | First or stressed beat of a measure |
| drone | Long sustained tone |
| dynamics | Degrees of loudness or softness |
| episode | Transitional section in a fugue between subjects, usually new material |
| etude | A study piece that helps musician study a particular technique |
| exoticism | Use of melodies, rhythms, or instruments that suggest foreign lands |
| exposition | First section of sonata form |
| expressionism | Musical style stressing intense emotion and dissonance (late romanticism) |
| fanfare | a short and lively sounding of trumpets. : a showy outward display. |
| fantasy | A free composition structured according to the composer's fancy. |
| fermata | Sign for to hold |
| figured bass | Bass part of Baraoque accompaniment with figures above it indicating chords |
| form | Organization of a piece |
| fortspinnung | a motif is developed into an entire musical structure by using sequences, intervallic changes or simple repetitions (found in Baroque music) |
| Free jazz | jazz style which departs from traditional jazz |
| french overture | common opening in Baroque suites, oratorios, and operas: first section is slow with dotted rhythms and second section is lighter and quicker |
| fugue | polyphonic composition based on one main theme or subject |
| fusion | jazz rock or other combination |
| gamelan | a traditional instrumental ensemble of Indonesia, typically including many bronze percussion instruments. |
| gavotte | a medium-paced French dance, popular in the 18th century. a piece of music accompanying or in the rhythm of a gavotte, composed in common time beginning on the third beat of the bar. |
| glissando | rapid slide up or down a scale |
| harmonic rhythm | also known as harmonic tempo is the rate at which the chords change (or progress) in a musical composition, in relation to the rate of notes |
| hemiola | a musical figure in which, typically, two groups of three beats are replaced by three groups of two beats, giving the effect of a shift between triple and duple meter. |
| heterophony | type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line |
| homophony | one main melody accompanied by chords |
| idee fixe | single melody used in several movements of a long work to represent a recurring idea |
| idiophone | instrument played by hitting or shaking (no membrane) |
| imitation | presentation of a melodic idea by one voice/instrument that is followed by another voice/instrument |
| impressionism | musical style which stresses tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity (Debussy) |
| improvisation | creation of music on the spot |
| incidental music | music intended to be performed before and during a play, setting the mood for the drama |
| incomplete cadence | inconclusive resing point at the end of a phrase which sets up expectations for phrases to follow |
| interval | distance between two notes |
| inversion | variation fugue subject in which each note is reversed in direction; could also refer to notes in a chord not in root position |
| koto | Japanese string instrument |
| lied | German art song |
| leitmotif | short musical idea associated with a person, object (Darth Vader in Star Wars) |
| libretto | text of an opera |
| lute | plucked string instrument used in Renaissance and Baroque music |
| madrigal | composition for several voices to short secular poem (Renaissance) |
| mass | sacred choral composition made up of five sections generally (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) Rossini!!! |
| melisma | one syllable of a word stretch out over many notes in succession |
| membranophone | instrument with a membrane (drum) |
| meter | organization of beats into groups |
| minimalism | steady pulse, clear tonality, insistent repetition of short melodic pattern- trancelike |
| minuet and trio | compositional form in three parts (minuet, trio, minuet) often third movement of symphony, in 3/4 |
| modulation | shift from one key to another |
| monophony | single melodic line without accompaniment |
| motet | polyphonic choral work set to Latin text (Renaissance) |
| motive | fragment of a theme or short musical idea developed within a composition |
| movement | piece that sounds complete but is one part of a larger work |
| nationalism | inclusion of folk songs, dances, legends in a composition to associate with specific homeland |
| neoclassicism | musical style marked by emotional restraint, balance, clarity, inspired by 18th century music (mostly during 1920-1950) |
| nocturne | a night piece; usually a slow composition, lyrical, intimate, for piano |
| octave | interval between two tones an 8th apart |
| offbeat | not on the beat |
| opera | drama sung to orchestra accompaniment, featuring recitatives, arias, choruses |
| oratorio | large piece for chorus, soloists, orchestra; several movements, sacred in nature |
| organum | medieval polyphony that consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional lines; usually parallel in motion |
| ostinato | motive or phrase that is repeated persistently at the same pitch |
| overture | short orchestra composition opens an opera or musical theater show and sets the overall mood |
| parallel motion | melodic lines that move in the same direction at the same time |
| passacaglia | ground bass, chaconne; bass line that forms a complete musical idea that is repeated over and over again through the piece |
| pedal point | single tone held throughout a long section which other parts move independently over top |
| pentatonic scale | five note scale (do, re, mi, so, la) typical in Asian music (black notes of the piano) |
| period | grouping of two phrases that are question and answer |
| phrase | part of melody |
| Picardy third | in the last chord of a piece in minor, this third is raised to make the chord major |
| pick-up | one or more unstressed notes before the first bar line of a piece or passage (anacrusis is the fancy name for a pick-up) |
| pivot chord | moves from the original key to the destination key (usually a closely related key) by way of a chord both keys share. For example, G major and D major share 4 chords in common: G, Bm, D, Em. |
| pizzicato | means of playing stringed instrument where strings are plucked |
| polychord | combination of two chords sounded at the same time (e.g. Cmajor chord and A major chord) (20th century music) |
| polyphonic | two or more melodic lines happening at the same time |
| polyrhythm | use of two or more contrasting and independent rhythms at the same time (20th century, African, Indian, Indonesian) |
| polytonality | using two or more keys at the same time (20th century) |
| postlude | concluding section; end of an art song where the piano plays an extended part |
| prelude | short piece to introduce a fugue or other composition; short piece for piano |
| primitivism | evocation of primitive power through insistent rhythms and percussive sounds (Rite of Spring) |
| program music | instrumental music association with a story, poem, idea, or scene (Romantic period) |
| progression | series of chords |
| raga | pattern of notes serving as melodic framework for improvisation, in Indian classical music |
| ragtime | composed piano music, duple meter, march tempo, left hand plays oom-pah, right hand melody |
| recapitulation | third section of a sontata-form movement, like the exposition but in a new key |
| recitative | vocal line in an opera, oratorio, or cantata that imitates the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech; leads into an aria |
| resolution | progression from dissonance to consonance |
| retrograde | variation of a fugue subject in which the subject is presented by beginning with the last note and moving backwards to the first (reverses the order of pitches) |
| riff | in jazz, a short repeated phrase |
| ritardando | becoming slower |
| ritornello | Italian for refrain; a repeated section of music played by full orchestra alternating with other material (Baroque) |
| rondo | ABACADAEA... |
| rubato | slight holding back or pressing forward (borrowing or pushing time) (Romantic music) |
| scat singing | improvising a vocal solo line using non-sense syllables |
| scherzo | compositional form in three parts (ABA), sometimes third movement in symphony, triple meter, fast |
| sequence | in a melody, the immediate repetition of a pattern on a higher or lower pitch |
| serialism | method of composing that uses an ordered group of rhythm, dynamics, tone color, and pitch (20th century) |
| sitar | chordophone from North Indian; long-necked lute |
| sonata | in Baroque and Classical music, instrumental composition in several movements |
| sonata form | form of a single movement (exposition, development, recapitulation, coda) |
| song cycle | group of art songs connected in some way (Romantic music) |
| sprechstimme | German speech-voice, halfway between singing and speaking |
| staccato | short and disconnected |
| stretto | in fugues, subject is imitated before it is completed; one voice tries to catch the other |
| strophic | same music for each verse |
| subject | theme of a fugue |
| suite | Baroque music form, dance inspired movements in same key but differing in tempo, meter, and character |
| suspension | appoggiatura (usually 4-3 or fa-mi) |
| swing | jazz style from 1920s, played by big bands |
| syncopation | accenting of a note at an unexpected time; major characteristic of jazz |
| tabla | pair of drums used in Indian music, pitched on the do and the sol |
| tag | brief coda sometimes played at the end of a jazz piece |
| tempo | the speed of music |
| terraced dynamics | abrupt alternation between loud and soft dynamics (Baroque music) |
| text painting | the musical technique of writing music that reflects the literal meaning of a song. For example, ascending scales would accompany lyrics about going up; slow, dark music would accompany lyrics about death. |
| thematic transformation | alteration of the character of a theme by changes in dynamics, orchestration, rhythm (Romantic music) |
| theme | melody that serves as the starting point for an extended piece of music |
| theme and variations | form in which the theme is repeated over and over again but with variations in melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, tone color |
| through-composed | vocal form in which there is new music for each stanza of a poem |
| tie | an arc between two notes of the same pitch indicating that the second note should not be played but added to the first beat |
| timbre | tone color |
| tonality | key |
| tone cluster | chord made up of tones only a half or whole step apart |
| tone poem | symphonic poem; programmatic music in one movement (Romantic) |
| tonic chord | triad built on the first scale degree; main chord of the piece |
| tremolo | rapid repetition of a tone, produced by string instruments playing quick up and down strokes of the bow |
| triad | three note chord |
| trill | ornament consisting of rapid alternation of two tones a half or whole step apart |
| trio sonata | Baroque composition with three melodic lines- two high lines and a basso continuo (four players total- the three refers to the number of lines, not players) |
| tutti | all |
| twelve-tone | method of composing in which all pitches are used once in a pre-determined order, with no tonal center; developed by Schoenberg |
| unison | single melodic line performed by several musicians simultaneously |
| upbeat | unaccented pulse preceding the downbeat |
| virtuoso | performing artist of exceptional technical mastery |
| vivace | lively tempo |
| whole-tone scale | scale made up of six tones, all a whole step apart |
Created by:
dfryling
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