AP Music Theory Terms

Basso continuo

An accompanying part in baroque music consisting of bassline and harmonies, typically played on keyboard or low stringed instruments.

Walking bass

A continuous bass line that steps up and down, commonly found in jazz music.

Alberti bass

A keyboard music bass line alternating between the root, fifth, and third of a chord in a 1-5-3-5 pattern.

Bass pedal point

A sustained note used to enhance the sound and harmony.

Figured bass

A bass line with figures or numbers indicating harmonies, allowing for improvisation over the top.

Imitation

Repeating prior melodic material in a different voice, often displacing the original material by a certain interval.

Fugue

A developmental music form using counterpoint between previous and new material.

Rhythm

Time perceived as a sequence of events rather than a single duration.

Metrical rhythm

Dividing time into strong and weak beats based on the time signature.

Free rhythm

Singing or playing in an improvisatory manner without strict meter.

Polyrhythm

Layering multiple rhythms on top of each other, creating a shifting downbeat effect.

Hemiola

Overlaying a duple rhythm on a triple rhythm.

Duple meter

Dividing beats into two.

Triple meter

Dividing beats into three.

Compound meter

Combining different meters to create complex rhythms like 7/8 or 5/8.

Motive/Motif

A fragment of a melody

Leitmotif

A theme that is associated with a character, place, thing, or idea

Pitch

a specific tone which tells us if something is high or low

Note

a combination of pitch and rhythm

Timbre

Tone quality, differentiates one type of instrument from another

Emphasis

How major notes or tones are approached. Encompasses all techniques used to climax in the work

Ornaments

Extra notes that embellish a melody or tone

Scale

An organization of notes going up or down which follows a specific pattern

Major scale

A scale which follows the pattern of WWHWWWH

Interval

The distance between pitches

Harmony

An accompanimental part that doesn’t contain any melodic material

Chords

simultaneously sounding tones

Triads

a chord based on thirds

Dyads

a chord based on seconds

Tessitura

how high or low a melody is for a specific voice or instrument

Texture

Shows how the melody and harmony interact with one another

Types of Harmonic Textures

Monophony, Homophony, Drone, Heterophony, Polyphony, Monody

Monophony

several people singing the same melody in unison

Homophony

A melody with accompaniment underneath where the harmony is all playing at the same rhythmic rate

Polyphony

Several melodies are all playing simultaneously

Monody

A single voice playing a single line

Heterophony

Multiple people sing the same melody, but each performer will add their own embellishments independently from everyone else.

Form

Structure of a work

Phrases

Organization of melodic material into antecedents and consequents

Antecedent

Opening melodic material that ends with a tone that is not on the tonic

Consequent

Closing melodic material that sounds more resolved. Will usually end on the tonic

Types of Forms

Binary, Tertiary, Sonata, Rondo

Binary Form

A piece comprised of two different types of music with contrasting sections; AB

Tertiary

A piece comprised of three different sections of music; ABA/ABC

Sonata

A standard musical form where we are introduced with one type of music which modulates to dominant, move into a developmental section, and then return to the original but remain in tonic.

Rondo

A type of musical form which has a refrain which returns; ABACABA