APMT Unit 2 Terms + Rhythm, Scales, Meters, and Melody

Tonal

using notes from a designated key/scale and functional harmony

Tonality

informs the harmonic home base of a piece, major or minor

Asymmetrical meter

aka irregular meter, containing beats of different lengths (eg. 5/8 or 7/8)

Beat unit

the note that gets the beat (eg 1/4, 1/8th, 1/16th, etc)

Duplet

indicates that the beat should be subdivided in two, marked with a littler two over notes beamed or bracketed together

Swing rhythm

rhythmic pattern where the beat unevenly emphasized (LONG-short)

Triplet

indicates that beat should be subdivided in three, marked with a liPle 3 over notes beamed or bracketed together

Pentatonic

a 5-tone scale using degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 of the major scale, can be major or minor

Whole Tone

a hexatonic (6-tone) scale using all whole steps

Improvisation

the practice of composing music while performing it based on intuition and common musical patterns/techniques

Tremolo

the process of rapidly changing the loudness or pitch a note is performed at in order to create a wavering effect

Chordal accompaniment

main melody is supported by chords played simultaneously or in rhythmic patterns rather than a countermelody

Chordal homophony

multiple voices or instruments move together in the same rhythm

Contrapuntal

a composition style that uses counterpoint

Countermelody

a secondary melody that plays simultaneously to the main melody, adding richness and complexity to the musical texture

Counterpoint

the texture and practice of composing polyphonic music oGen according to certain historical conven_ons

Doubling

the practice of playing the same note or musical part in the multiple ways or on multiple instruments

Heterophony (heterophonic)

multiple performers perform one melody but with slight individual variations creating a unique sound

Homophony (homophonic)

one main melody that is supported by other musical line(s) that provide harmony

Melody with accompaniment

when one performer or sec_on performs a specific melody line while supported by harmony or counterpoint from other performers

Imitation/Imitative Polyphony

two or more equally prominent simultaneous melodic lines which are of similar shape and sound

Brass

trumpet, French horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba

Basso Continuo

Baroque accompaniment style involving chordal (oGen improvised) part over a written bassline, oGen using figured bass

Percussion

instruments that are hit or struck-drums, cymbals, marimba, etc.

Rhythm section

the core instrumenta_on of a jazz ensemble, usually containing a harmony instrument (ie piano or guitar), a bass instrument and usually a drum set

Strings

instruments that use a vibrating string to make sound, violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, guitar

Timbre

tone quality, based on a how a sound is produced

Winds

instruments that use air to make sound, including woodwinds, brass, pipe organs

Woodwinds

instruments that blow air across a sharp edge to make sound, including flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon

Melody

a succession of pitches and rhythms used to express a musical statement

Monophony (monophonic)

a single melody performed with no accompanying harmony or counterpoint

Ostinato

a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm

Polyphony (polyphonic)

multiple melodically and rhythmically independent but interconnected musical parts performed by multiple performers or sections

Register

the part of an instrumental or vocal range that is used

Solo (soli)

one performer or section

Tessitura

the most comfortable register for a given instrument or voice

Tutti

“total”, everyone, including all performers in ensemble

Walking bass

playing a continuous line of quarter tones (or similar values) to outline the chord progression and provide driving pulse

Agogic Accent

a note that naturally receives more emphasis due to its extended duration

Alberti bass

arpeggiated accompaniment, bass plays chord tones with the pattern lowest, highest, middle, highest

Borrowed divisions

occur when compound divisions (3 per beat) subs_tute for division values in simple meter (2 per beat) and vice versa

Canon (canonic)

a composing technique where a melody is imitated by one or more performers, creating a layered or interwoven texture

Call and response

a musical pattern where a “call” phrase is performed then followed by a second phrase “response” that is either a direct answer, musical echo, or variation of the call

Changing Meter (Mixed Meter)

music where the meter is oGen changing (ie 3⁄4 interspersed with 4/4)

Common Practice Style

following the rules of the Common Prac_ce Period (CPP or CPE)- Western music from 1650-1900

Conjunct

melodic stepwise motion

Contour

melodic shape created by rising and falling pitches

Cross-rhythm

a piece of music based in the use of polyrhythm

Disjunct

melodic motion by leap

Fermata

indicates a note is to be held longer than its normal duration, marked by a dot with a liPle curved line over i

Hemiola

syncopation in triple meter where the beat is temporarily grouped into twos or duple meter where the beat is temporarily grouped into threes, a redistribution of accents in a measure

Irregular meter

aka asymmetrical meter, containing beats of different lengths (eg. 5/8 or 7/8)

Melismatic

when a syllable of text is sung across two or more pitches

Polymeter

using multiple types of subdivision at the bar level

Polyrhythm

a simultaneous occurrence of two or more rhythmic patterns at the beat level that do not derive from one another and are not rooted in the same meter (ie 3 against 2, 4 against 3)

Range

the overall distance from a piece’s lowest to highest pitch

Syllabic

a composition style where each syllable of text gets a single pitch

Syncopation

rhythm that is placed on weak beats or subdivisions (using dots, rests, ties, accents, etc)

Transposition

the act of performing or notating a piece of music using the same patterns in a different key to suit the needs of the performer/ensemble (many brass instruments must transpose by reading in different keys in order to aurally match other orchestral instruments)