music vocab

Texture

A term in music referring to the way the different strands or layers of music relate to each other.

Homophony

A musical texture where all the parts move together at the same rate, with primacy given to the highest part.

Chordal homophony

Also known as homorhythmic, this is a stricter type of homophony where the different parts move together, forming effectively a sequence of chords.

Melody-dominated homophony

Also called melody-and-accompaniment, a looser form of homophony in which there is a clear focus on the main melody, with the other parts in a secondary, accompanimental role.

Monophony/monody

A musical texture where there is a single line of music without accompanying harmony.

Unison

When two or more musical parts play the same music as each other – can be specified as octave unison if the parts are in different octaves.

Polyphony/counterpoint

A musical texture in which different and independent melodic lines are heard at the same time.

Cadence

A pair of chords that marks the completion of a phrase or section of music, often used as a way of emphasising the sense of key.

Perfect cadence

A V-I cadence that has a sense of completion or finality.

Imperfect cadence

A cadence ending on V that has a sense of incompleteness.

Plagal cadence

A IV-I cadence that has a sense of finality.

Interrupted cadence

A cadence with a sense of incompleteness, moving from V to a chord that isn’t chord I – usually VI.

Melody

A sequence of notes and pitches that listeners hear as a distinct line of music.

Harmony

The effect of combining different pitches simultaneously to form chords and chord progressions.

Rhythm

A sequence of note durations that listeners hear as a distinct pattern.

Motif

A short melodic or rhythmic phrase that is repeated and subjected to change and transformation in a passage of music.

Ostinato

A distinctive motif or rhythmic phrase that is repeated through a passage of music.

Countermelody

A secondary melody heard at the same time as the main tune, which complements it.

Modulation

The process of changing from one key to another in tonal music.

Basso continuo

A bassline played by a single-line instrument, accompanied by a chordal instrument improvising a harmony part.

Soprano

A high (commonly female) voice category.

Alto

A lower (commonly female) voice category.

Tenor

A high (commonly male) voice category.

Bass

The lowest (male) voice category.

Dynamics

Musical loudness or softness.

Major key

A tonal centre that uses the major scale and triad.

Minor key

A tonal centre that uses the minor scale and triad.

Natural minor scale

T-S-T-T-S-T-T.

Harmonic minor scale

T-S-T-T-S-aug2nd-S.

Melodic minor scale

Ascending: T-S-T-T-T-T-S; Descending: T-T-S-T-T-S-T.

Diatonic

Music that uses the pitches of the home key.

Chromatic

Music that uses pitches from outside the home key.

Modal

A scale or pitch collection that occurred before tonal music emerged.

Atonal/non-tonal

Music that doesn’t follow the tonal or modal system.

Metre

The time signature or beat grouping of a piece of music.

Simple time

Music with a 4 at the bottom of the time signature.

Compound time

Music with an 8 at the bottom of the time signature.

Irregular metre

Either a time signature where the divisions of the bar are not all the same length or a passage of music with changing time signatures.

Swung quavers/semis

A jazz technique of playing quavers in a long-short pattern.

Dotted rhythm

Pairs of notes in a long-short rhythm.

Triplet

Three notes in the time usually occupied by two.

Tessitura

The main pitch range of an instrumental or vocal part.

Articulation

The technical or characteristic way a note is sounded.

Staccato

Notes articulated separately with a space in between.

Legato

Notes articulated smoothly, without a gap in between.

Melisma

The singing of more than one note to a single syllable of text.

Syllabic word setting

A way of setting words so that each syllable has a single note.

Secondary dominant

A chord which functions as the dominant of a chord other than the tonic.

Binary form

A two-part structure AB.

Ternary form

A three-part structure, usually ABA.

Sonata form

A principle of music construction prevalent in the Classical period.

Exposition

The opening section of a sonata form.

Development

The section of a sonata form where musical ideas are explored.

Recapitulation

The concluding section of a sonata form.

Rondo form

A musical structure based on the repetition of a theme.

Symphony

A large-scale work for orchestra, usually in 4 movements.

Sonata

A multi-movement work for a single player or a player plus piano accompaniment.

Concerto

A piece for solo performer accompanied by an orchestra.

Chamber music

Music for a small number of players.

Song without words

A short Romantic piece for solo piano with song-like qualities.

Imitation

Where one line of music copies the melody of another.

Canon

Repeating a melody but starting after a time delay.

Hemiola

The rhythmic phrasing of two bars of triple time music as if they were three bars of duple time.

A cappella

Choral music performed without instrumental accompaniment.

Choir

A group of singers singing together.

Backing vocals

Supporting singers in pop music.

Strings

A family of musical instruments characterized by vibrating strings.

Brass

A family of musical instruments made of brass.

Woodwind

A family of musical instruments producing sound by air.

Percussion

A family of musical instruments producing sound by being struck.

Keyboard

A family of musical instruments producing sound via a player striking a key.

Rubato

The varying of strict tempo for expression.

Clef

A symbol placed at the start of a line of music.

Key signature

A symbol indicating which notes should always be played as sharps or flats.

Ornaments

Musical embellishments that decorate the line for variety.

Consonance/dissonance

Consonance denotes pleasantness, dissonance denotes harshness.

Transposition

Moving a passage of music up or down to be in a different key.

Pedal point/pedal note

A sustained or repeated bass note over which the harmony changes.

Arpeggio

Spreading the notes of a triadic chord so they are heard sequentially.

Circle of fifths

A harmonic progression where the bass moves progressively by the interval of a fifth.

Verse / pre-chorus / chorus / middle-eight / intro / outro

Names given to sections of a pop song.

Full score/reduction

A score in which all instruments appear in full / a simplified score.

Sequence

A melodic phrase that is repeated, getting progressively higher or lower.

Conjunct

When a melody moves up or down to the next nearest note.

Disjunct

When a melody moves up or down by a larger interval than a step.