Music

Ethnomusicology

The study of how music lives in the lives of people who make and experience it.

Musicultural Phenomenon

A phenomenon where music as sound and music as culture are mutually reinforcing and inseparable.

Four Basic Properties of Tones

Duration (rhythm), frequency (pitch), amplitude (dynamics), and timbre (tone color).

Beat

The underlying, steady pulse in a piece of music.

Meter

The grouping of beats together to form larger units called measures or bars.

Syncopation

An accented note that falls between main beats.

Free Rhythm

Music in which there is no discernible beat or meter.

Melody

The sequence of pitches that unfolds as a song progresses.

Determinate vs. Indeterminate Pitch

Determinate pitches produce a clear single tone; indeterminate pitches generate many competing pitches simultaneously.

Harmony

A chord built in the scaler context of a piece, produced by two or more different pitches sounding simultaneously.

Dynamics

The loudness or softness of a musical sound, which can be absolute or relative.

Timbre

The character or quality of a musical sound—what it sounds like (tone color).

Hornbostel-Sachs Classification System

A global system classifying instruments into chordophones, aerophones, membranophones, idiophones, and electronophones.

Chordophones

Instruments where sound is activated by the vibration of one or more strings.

Aerophones

Instruments where sounds emerge from air passing through a tube or resonator.

Membranophones

Instruments where sound is produced by a vibrating membrane stretched tightly across a frame. Example: Drums

Idiophones

Instruments where the vibration of the body of the instrument itself produces the sound.

Monophonic Texture

A single-line texture where all parts play or sing the exact same thing.

Call-and-Response

A musical texture featuring a back-and-forth alternation between different instrument or voice parts.

HIP Approach

Human Intention and Perception approach; treating a sound as music if it is intended or perceived as music.

Subdivision

The internal division of individual beats into smaller units (typically duple [divided into 2] or triple [divided into 3])

Tempo

The rate at which the beats pass in a piece of music (ranging from very slow to very fast).

Melodic Range

The physical distance between the lowest and highest pitches in a melody (narrow vs. wide).

Melodic Direction

The immediate, note-to-note trajectory of pitches (ascending, descending, or static).

Melodic Contour

The overall shape or profile of a melodic phrase over time (e.g., arch contour / rising-and-falling).

Arch Contour (Rising and Falling)

The melody starts at a lower pitch level, ascends toward a melodic peak or climax, and then descends back downward to resolve. Example: "Danny Boy"

Inverted Arch Contour / Valley (Falling and Rising)

The mirror opposite of an arch; the melody begins higher, dips downward into a lower register through the middle of the phrase, and climbs back up at the end.

Ascending Contour

The general trajectory of the entire phrase or section moves progressively upward from lower pitches to higher pitches.

Descending Contour

The overall shape slopes downward from higher pitches to lower pitches across the phrase or section. Example: Common in traditional Native American vocal styles

Undulating / Wave Contour

The melody continuously fluctuates up and down in gentle, alternating crests and troughs rather than committing to a single overarching peak.

Flat / Level Contour

The melody remains predominantly horizontal with little to no vertical pitch change. Example: Traditional Japanese shakuhachi flute playing or monotone reciting tones/chants.

Polyphonic Texture

A musical texture consisting of two or more distinct, simultaneous musical parts.

Melody-plus-Drone

A polyphonic texture where a melody unfolds over a continuous, sustained tone.

Harmonized Texture:

A texture where different pitches occur together to form chords; includes homophony (parts moving together in the same rhythm) and melody and harmonized accompaniment (lead melody over chord backing).

Multiple-Melody Texture

Two or more independent, competing melodies performed simultaneously.

Polyrhythmic Texture:

A texture with multiple distinct rhythmic layers performed at once.

Interlocking:

A single melodic or rhythmic line divided among two or more instruments or voices.

Form

The large-scale dimensions of musical organization; how a work develops phrase by phrase and section by section.

Ostinato / Ostinato-Based Form

A short melodic, rhythmic, or chordal figure repeated over and over continuously as a formal foundation.

Cyclic Form:

Extended repeating musical cycles (e.g., 12-bar blues, gamelan gongs).

Binary Form (A\ B)

A two-part form consisting of two distinct, contrasting sections.

Verse-Chorus Form

A formal pop structure alternating between storytelling verses and recurring chorus hooks, often with a contrasting bridge.

Musical Meaning

Meaning generated (1) relatively between tones within a musical work, and (2) culturally in relation to things beyond sound (memory, emotion, identity)

Harmonics / Overtones:

Higher frequencies that sound along with a fundamental pitch; the relative balance and strength of overtones determine an instrument's unique timbre.

Absolute Dynamics

Measurable acoustic decibel levels.

Relative dynamics

Dynamics understood in relation to context (e.g., piano vs. forte).