Fundamentals of Music and Sound Terminology

Critical listening

Listening closely to music as it is, imagining other possibilities, determining what it means and why, and understanding that other listeners may come to a different conclusion.

Power

Ability to control people or events.

Hegemony

The dominance of one group over another, often supported by legitimating norms and ideas.

Intersectionality

Interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Musical form

Large-scale musical structure; how music is broken down into sections.

Verse-chorus

Most common song form since the 1960s; predictable, flexible, can be individualized.

Verse

Tells the story.

Pre-chorus

Energy increases, tension builds.

Chorus

Repeated part, often catchy & high-energy.

Bridge

Something different, preparing us to return to chorus.

Melody

Most prominent/important line in a musical texture; consists of a memorable series of pitches performed over time.

Harmony

Combination of simultaneously sounding pitches; usually supports the melody.

Consonant

Pleasant, harmonious pitches.

Dissonant

Clashing pitches.

Chord

Two or more simultaneously sounding pitches.

Chord progression

Series of chords played one after the other.

Volume

The relative loudness of sound; measured in decibels.

Pitch/frequency

How often a sound wave repeats in a unit of time (high/low); measured in frequency-hertz or cents.

Timbre

Quality of sound that relates to production of overtones by a specific instrument, voice, or acoustic.

Texture

Density or thickness of music; how many layers a song has.

Beat

Basic unit of time in music; the regular pulse.

Tempo

Speed of the music.

Rhythm

Duration of musical notes and their organization.

Syncopation

When rhythms are offbeat (a type of rhythm); creates a tension or pull.

4/4 Rhythm

4 beats per measure; (common time).

3/4 or 6/8 Rhythm

3 beats per measure; (waltz time).

Subdivision

Putting notes in between beats to make the music sound like it's moving faster.

Score

Soundtrack with organized/composed musical and sonic elements guided by organizing stylistic and structural principles.

Diegetic Sound

Sound and music that originates in the world of the video; characters can hear the sound.

Non-Diegetic Sound/Soundtrack

Sound and music originating outside of the world of the video; characters cannot hear it, but audiences can.

Trans-Diegetic Sound

Passes from one plane of reality to another; diegetic → non-diegetic or non-diegetic → diegetic.

Meta-Diegetic Sound

Sound that can only be heard by one character and the audience.