music: melody key words

Arpeggiated

A type of broken chord where the notes are played one after another,

either going up or down.

articulation

the manor in which the notes are played

legato

notes played smoothly

staccato

short and detached from the last and next

slur

curved line over a passage of music, indicating smooth playing

sforzando

sudden strong accent (sf, sfz or fz)

blue notes

notes altered/flattened in blues music, often the 3rd 5th or 7th

broken chords

where the notes of the chords are split and played sequentially

chromatic

using notes not in the scale, (eg black notes in c maj)

conjunct

notes moving mainly by step

diatonic

using only the seven tones of a standard scale

disjunct

notes moving mainly by leap

glissando/portamento/slide

sliding notes very fast

hook

short musical or lyrical phrase used to catch the ear of the listener 

improvisation

the invention of new ideas on the spot during a performance using chord sequences key rhythms and melodic phrases

interval

the distance in pitch between two different notes

melisma

singing multiple notes in one movement, like a trombone slide or pitch bend)

motif

a short musical idea that repeats and is important to the piece of music to make it recognizable or give off themes from the music

ornamentation

small artistic touches used to make the extract more interesting

Acciaccatura:

played a tone or semitone above the melody note it is decorating

appoggiatura

written similar to an acciaccatura but without the line through it meaning its given its full value

ostinato

short rhythmic or melodic phrase or pattern which is repeated a number of times in succession

passing note

a note in the melody connecting two notes that are part of the harmony (c to e smoothed with d)

phrasing

the expressive shaping of music and relates to the shaping of notes in time, tone colour, dynamics and other variables

pitch bend

when a note pitch is raised or lowered slightly , often in guitar vocals and strings

riff

ostinato but modern word for it

scalic

notes that follow the order of the scale

scat

a vocal improvisation without words often with nonsense syllables and associated with

triadic

begins with the notes belonging to the triad often the tonic triad of the piece