history of rock vocab terms

Sound

Vibrations that travel through the air or another medium that can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear

3 main components of tone

Pitch, timbre, and dynamics

Pitch

How high or low a given note sounds, measured as vibrations per second, or frequency

Timbre

The unique quality of the sound produced by a specific instrument or voice, sometimes called tone color

Dynamics

The volume of the music (loud or soft)

Texture

Overall timbre created by a variety of instruments or voices producing musical sounds in a performance

Indefinite pitch

Drums or cymbal crash

Interval

“Distance” in pitch between any two notes

Successful interval

Two notes played in a melody one after the other

Simultaneous interval

Two or more notes played at the same time in a chord

Dynamics

Degrees of loudness or softness in music

Melody

A linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. A melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm

Rhythm

Arrangement of pitches and silences (rests) through time. Greek word meaning “to flow”

Beat

Underlying pulse of the rhythm

Tempo

Speed of the beat

Measure

Consistent grouping of beats in time

Meter

The way beats are grouped, or number of beats per measure

Syncopation

Rhythms that place the accent pff the expected (strong beat)

Placement of rhythmic emphasis on the weaker part of a beat

Backbeat

A sharp attack on beats two and four of a 4/4 measure

Clave

A syncopated rhythmic pattern that functions as an underlying unifier, connecting the polyrhythms of Afro-Cuban music. Influential to other rock beats

The second line

A New Orleans based rhythm similar to 3-2 clave

The Bo Diddley beat

Another version of the 3/2 Clave beat. (Be able to aurally identify because it is commonly used in rock)

Harmony

Two or more musical notes produced or sounded at the same time

Chord

Three or more pitches played simultaneously

Triad

The most basic of all chords. It’s made up of three notes

Lyrics

Words or vocal sounds in musical compositions that might include: grunts and moans, nonsense words, scat singing, spoken words

Improvisation

Spontaneous creation of musical ideas; music that is composed “on the spot”

Form

The organizational structure of a musical composition

Hybridity

The blending of different cultures or cultural forms in music, art, etc. (a new musical style that results from the blending together of two or more styles)

Cross-over

When a musician, associated with one style, achieves popularity in two or more genres by “crossing over” into the genre they are note associated with