Music - USAD 2025-2026 The Roaring Twenties (Need Proofread)

What is the name for the process where composition and performance happen simultaneously?

improvisation

What is the most general definition of music?

sound organized in time

What is the pitch of a sound?

the highness or lowness of it

What are the two types of musical sound?

pitched and non-pitched

Which type of instruments provide most of the non-pitched sounds in music?

percussion

What does a pure sine wave at 440 Hz sound like?

the A above middle C

What are the four categories of instruments created by Curt Sachs and Erich Von Hornbostel?

aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, and membranophones 6-7, Table 1-1

What fifth category was later added to Sachs and Hornbostel's original instrument categories?

electrophones

What are the five "families" of instruments?

strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, and keyboard

How is a theremin played?

The performer regulates frequency with one hand and amplitude with the other by disturbing the electrical fields surrounding a pair of protruding bars.

What four properties does a single isolated sound have?

pitch, duration, volume, and timbre

When musicians refer to pitch, how many tones are they referring to?

One

What is an interval?

the distance between two pitches

What has the lower pitch, a kitten's meow or a tomcat's yowl?

a tomcat's yowl

What is the musical term for the distance between the A and the next highest A?

an octave

By what factor does pitch increase if you decrease the string length by half on a guitar?

twice as high

Which instrument provides an excellent visual aid for understanding pitch and harmony?

a keyboard

What is a semitone?

the distance between any two adjacent keys on a keyboard

What is a whole step?

the distance between every other key on a keyboard, regardless of color

What do sharps and flats mean?

Raising or lowering, respectively, any given pitch by a half step, or semitone

Where does the term "clef" come from?

from the French word for "key"

What are the three main clefs?

G-clef, F-clef, C-clef

What is another name for the G-clef?

the treble clef

What is another name for the F-clef?

the bass clef

What are the two most common positions of the C-clef?

the alto and tenor clefs

What is indicated by the treble clef?

that the second line from the bottom of the staff is the pitch "g"

What is indicated by the bass clef?

That the fourth line from the bottom of the staff is the pitch "F" 10,

What is indicated by the C-clef?

The given line should be read as "middle C".

What is the grand staff?

two bracketed staves used in piano music

What is the convention for sharp and flat notation for prose and musical notation?

The sign follows the letter in prose but precedes the notehead in musical notation.

What are partials, or overtones?

higher pitches that "color" a note's fundamental

When did equal temperament tuning become dominant in Western tradition?

after about 1750

How does equal temperament tuning divide an octave?

into twelve equal parts

What is the chromatic scale?

The twelve different pitches of equal temperament tuning organized in ascending order

What do we call it when there are two names for the same piano key?

enharmonic pitches

What is a diatonic scale?

The set of seven pitches in Western Tradition organized in ascending order that serve as the basis for a piece of music

What is the 7th scale degree called?

the leading tone

What is the dominant pitch?

the fifth scale degree

What tone begs to resolve upward to the note above it in the scale?

the leading tone

What is the tonic pitch?

the first and last scale degrees

What pitch acts as the anchor and point of repose and completion?

the tonic pitch

What is the dominant pitch in the key of C?

G

What pitch functions as the second gravitational center, and may appear more frequently than the tonic?

the dominant pitch

What is the interval that spans from C natural to E natural called?

a major third

What is a harmonic interval?

when two pitches occur simultaneously

What is a melodic interval?

when two pitches occur in succession

Which two intervals exceed an octave?

the major and minor versions of the ninth and tenth intervals

What can a major tenth be thought of?

an octave plus a major third

What is the interval pattern for a major scale?

W-W-H-W-W-W-H

What is a scale?

a succession of whole and half steps

What are the three types of minor scales?

the natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales

What is common to all minor scales?

a lowered third scale degree, meaning a minor third 14,

What do the harmonic and melodic minor scales attempt to recreate?

the pull and sense of finality created from a major scale

What is a harmonic minor scale?

a natural minor scale with the seventh scale degree raised by one half step

What is a melodic minor scale?

a natural minor scale with sixth and seventh scale degrees raised when ascending only

In which scale do the alterations encourage a pull up to the tonic and downward to the fifth scale degree?

melodic minor

What can be said of the C natural minor and Eb major scales?

They are the relative major and minor to each other.

What does it mean for two scales to be relative?

They share the same pitches but different tonics.

What does it mean for two scales to be parallel?

They share the same tonic pitch.

What can be said of relative major and minor scales?

They are perceived as being more closely related to each other than parallel scales.

What is characteristic of a blues scale?

The third and seventh scale degrees can be played in major or minor.

What is a melody?

a series of successive pitches perceived by the ear to form a whole

What is created when two pitches occur together?

harmony or counterpoint

What does it mean to transpose a melody?

to change its key

What is the profile of a melody called?

the contour

Which type of melody moves smoothly, and in a stepwise motion?

a conjunct melody

How would you describe a disjunct melody?

having intervals larger than whole and half steps

What is a common contour shape for melodies?

an arch—ascending at the beginning, reaching a high point, and descending toward the end

What three movement types can be used to describe a melody's contour?

ascending, descending, or in a wavelike manner

What is a low-register male voice called?

Bass

What does a melody with a high tessitura call for?

more pitches in the performer's high register

What is the register of an instrument referring to?

whether an instrument is playing in its high, middle, or low frequency pitches

What type of music is the term "tessitura" most often applied to?

vocal music

What is a female voice that performs most comfortably at a high tessitura called?

Soprano

What is rhythm?

the way music is organized in time

What is the beat?

the steady pulse that underlies most music

What is the speed of the beat called?

tempo

What does "allegro" mean?

cheerful, lively, or fast

What is a ritardando?

to slow down the tempo

What is the term for an increase in tempo?

accelerando

When there is a perceived beat, but a musician slows down and speeds up for expressive effect, this is called what?

rubato

What is music with no discernible beat called?

unmetered

Which beat is usually the strongest?

the first beat, or downbeat

What are the four types of meter?

duple, triple, quadruple, and irregular

What type of meter is the song "Happy Birthday" in?

triple meter

What separates music into measures?

bar lines

What is the term for when the first word falls before the downbeat?

an anacrusis, or "pickup"

What is the function of the dot in rhythmic notation?

A dot adds half the original value of a note.

What is the alternate notation for multiple flagged notes called?

Beams

What is a whole note?

A clear oval symbol that represents the longest note used today. It is twice as long as a half note, four times as long as a quarter note.

What is syncopation?

when emphasized notes fall on weak beats, or in between beats

What is another name for polyrhythm?

cross-rhythm

What is a chord?

three or more pitches sounding simultaneously

What is a triad?

a three-note chord consisting of two thirds

How does one construct a major triad?

A major third interval over the lower two pitches and a minor third between the higher two

What are chromatic pitches?

pitches that occur outside a specified key

What is a key signature?

A set of sharps or flats at the beginning of every staff that indicates the key of the music

Which scale is at the top of the circle of fifths for major scales?

C major 24,

Which are the most consonant sounding chords?

The ones that stress the lower partials on the overtone series

What is the tonic triad?

a diatonic triad built on the tonic pitch