All-State Terms

Dolce

sweetly, usually also softly

Meter

indicated by a time signature, can be simple or compound

Part song

an unaccompanied homophonic choral composition for three or more voices

Rubato

Making the established pulse felxible by accelrating and slowing down the tempo; an expressive device

Tessitura

most widely used range of pitches in a piece of music

A tempo

return to the original tempo after some deviation

Accelerando

becoming gradually faster

Allargando

slowing of tempo, usually with increasing volume; most frequently occurs toward the end of a piece

Allegro con spirito

fast tempo with spirit

Anacrusis

upbeat or pickupA

Andante

rather slow, at a moderate walking speed

Arpeggio

the notes of the chord played in succession to one another, rather than simultaneously; a broken chord

Bel canto

“beautiful singing”; an Italian Opera term

Binary form

(AB) form of a composition that has two distinct sectoinsC

antabile

in a singing style; singable

Chromatic

motion by half steps; also describes harmony or melody that empolys some of the sequential 12 pitches (semi-tones) in an octave

D.C. or Da Capo

repeat from the beginning of the compostion

Descant

a high obligato part above the melody

Divisi

performers singing the same part are divided to sing different parts

Espressivo

to play or sing with expression

Falsetto

type of vocal phonation that enables the singer to sing notes beyond the normal vocal range

Fermata

a pause or holdFo

Form

the organizatoin and sturcutre of a composition

Grandioso

grand, majestic

Improvisation

music that is created sponaeously

Interval

the relationship between two pitches, the distance between an upper and a lower pitch

Largo

very slow and broad

Ledger lines

short horizontal lines used to extend a staff either higher or lowerLe

Legato

to play or sing in a smooth, connected manner

L’istesso

the beat remains constant when the meter changes

Meno mosso

less motion

Mezzo forte

medium loudMo

Modulation

to change key within a compositionM

Motif

a short musical idea or melodic them, usually shorter than a musical phraseN

Niente

dying away to nothing

Opera

a major vocal work that involves theatrical elements

Oratorio

large scale musical composition on a sacred subject

Poco piu mosso

a little more motion

Presto

very fast; faster than allegro

Rallentando

gradually slowing down

Senza

withoutS

Sforzando

strongly accented; forced

Solfege

a system used for teaching sight-singing (Do-Re-Mi)

Sotto voce

Softly; with subdued sound performed in an undertone

Strophic

describes a sont where the stanza is sung to the same music

Subito

suddenly; quickly

Tranquillo

to perfrom in a relaxed tempo

Triad

three note chord consisting of the root, thirt, and fifth

Vibrato

a rapid fluctuation of pitch slightly higher or lower than the main pitch

Vivace

lively; briskly