Comprehensive Music Theory and Transportation Study Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core music theory elements and transportation-inspired musical compositions based on the lecture notes.

Dandyhorse

An early bicycle from the 1800s featuring two wheels and no pedals, moved by riders pushing the ground with their feet.

Vélocipède

An early bicycle nicknamed 'boneshaker' that featured pedals and wooden wheels that shook on cobblestone streets.

Penny-farthing

A dangerous early bicycle nicknamed 'widow-maker', featuring a huge front wheel, a tiny back wheel, and a high seating position for the rider.

Rover

An early bicycle introduced in 1885 known as a 'safety bicycle', featuring rubber tires and two wheels of the same size.

Tandem

A bicycle built for two riders, in which the rider in the back steered in early versions.

Short Ride in a Fast Machine

An exuberant orchestral fanfare composed by John Adams in 1986 inspired by a sports car ride, featuring a 'delirando' tempo, minimalist stylings, ostinato patterns, and polymetric passages.

Toccata: O trenzinho do Caipira

A vibrant, programmatic work by Heitor Villa-Lobos depicting a train journey using accelerando, horn glissandos, flute flutter-tongue, clarinet oscillating glissandos, and sul ponticello string playing.

Take the 'A' Train

A bestseller big-band swing tune composed by Billy Strayhorn that references the underground NYC subway line to Harlem and features block voicing, call-and-response patterns, and a whole-tone scale piano intro.

The Padstow Lifeboat

A 1967 march composed by Malcolm Arnold inspired by the lifeboat station in Padstow, England, featuring sudden dynamic shifts and non-diatonic horn blasts.

Sul ponticello

A technique where string players play closer to the bridge than usual to create a thin, scratchy atmospheric sound.

Stinger

An accentuated, staccato chord played by the full ensemble.

Hemiola

A rhythmic device that gives the effect of a meter change during musical transitions.

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of a sound.

Harmony

The sound created when two or more pitches sound simultaneously, categorized as consonant or dissonant.

Triad

A type of chord containing three notes and two intervals of a third, classified into major, minor, diminished, or augmented qualities.

Interval

The distance between any two pitches, categorized as major, minor, perfect, diminished, or augmented.

Scale

A succession of pitches arranged in an ascending or descending order using ordered whole steps and half steps.

Tonic

The 'home' note or first scale degree around which the pitches of a key revolve.

Leading tone

The seventh scale degree that pulls back toward the tonic.

Diatonic

Chords and melodies that occur naturally within a given key without borrowing accidentals.

Chromatic

Music that uses accidentals and borrows pitches from outside the given key.

Texture

The layers of sound in a piece of music and the way they interact with one another.

Monophony

A musical texture consisting of a single, unaccompanied melodic line.

Homophony

A musical texture featuring a single primary melody supported by harmony.

Polyphony

A musical texture consisting of multiple independent melodies sounding simultaneously.

Heterophony

A musical texture in which different versions of the same melody sound simultaneously without lining up exactly.

Rhythm

The specific way music moves through time.

Beat

The steady, underlying pulse found in most music.

Tempo

The speed of the beat in music.

Conjunct

A smooth melodic contour that moves primarily by step.

Disjunct

A melodic contour characterized by frequent leaps between pitches.

Register

The complete pitch range of an instrument or voice.

Tessitura

A specific section or portion within the total pitch range of an instrument or voice.

Dominant

The fifth scale degree in a key.

Aerophone

A category of instruments that produce sound through vibrating air, encompassing both brass and woodwinds.