SQA Higher Music Concepts Revision

Words and Definitions for SQA Higher Music Concepts

Chamber music

Music written for a small instrumental ensemble with one player to a part.

Impressionist

A 20th century style where brief musical ideas merge and change to create a rather blurred and vague outline.

Jazz funk

A combination of jazz improvisation and the amplified instruments and character of rock.

Lied

A German song from the Romantic period for voice and piano in which both parts are important.

Mass

A large scale, sacred work sung in Latin for solo singers, chorus and orchestra. The five main sections are Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei.

Musique concrète

20th century style of composition using pre-recorded live sounds, for example, a creaking door.  These sounds are then edited by simple editing techniques such as cutting and re-assembling, playing backwards, slowing down and speeding up.

Oratorio

A large scale work without acting or stage design.  It is usually based on a story from the Bible set to music for solo singers, chorus and orchestra.  Often include recitatives, arias and choruses and is sung in English.

Plainchant

Unaccompanied melody set to the Latin words of the Roman Catholic liturgy.  Modal with no regular metre. Sung by men and is often melismatic.

Recitative

A type of vocal writing where the music follows the rhythm of speech (syllabic). Often followed by an aria, and has a simple accompaniment.

Sonata

A work for solo piano, or solo instrument and piano, often in three or four movements.

Soul music

A style of Afro-American popular music including elements of blues and gospel and conveying strong emotions.

Acciaccatura

An ornament which sounds like a crushed note played very quickly on the beat or just before it.

Added 6th

A chord which is often found in Jazz, musicals and other styles, and often sounds discordant.

For example: C  E  G  A 

Diminished 7th

A chord made up of four consecutive minor intervals

For example: C Eb F# A

Dominant 7th

Sounds primari;y major but requires resolution and is used to modulate different keys as well as creating strong perfect cadences.

For example: C E G Bb

Harmonic minor scale

Scale in minor tonality. 7th notes are sharpened. Can sound a little Arabic

Example:
C D Eb F G Ab B C

Interrupted cadence

Chords V – VI at the end of a phrase.  In a major key, chord VI is minor.
It sounds unfinished.

Interval

The distance between 2 notes.

Melodic minor scale

A scale in minor tonality this is different on the way up and down, and is more common in the Romantic period.

For example:
C D Eb F G A B C
C Bb Ab G F Eb D C

Mode / Modal

Usually this refers to any of the early scales e.g. Dorian mode (white notes D to D on a keyboard).

Mordent

An ornament consisting of the main note, the note above, the main note. Short trill, like a grace note.

Obbligato

A prominent solo instrument part in a piece of vocal music. Often plays countermelody above singers.

Plagal cadence

Chords IV to I at the end of a phrase.
It sounds finished.

Relative major

The major key with the same key signature as one minor key.

Relative minor

The minor key with the same key signature as one major key.

Tierce de Picardie

The final chord of a piece in a minor key is changed to major.

3 against 2

The effect of three notes played against two.

Augmentation

An increase in the length of notes.

Diminution

A decrease in the length of notes.

Irregular time signatures

The time signatures change or there are an unusual number of beats in a bar.

Time changes

Groupings of notes change, but the underlying pulse remains constant.

Triplets

A group of three notes played in the time of two.

Basso continuo

In the Baroque period, consists of a single bass line often played by harpsichord and cello. Supports one or more melody lines.

Concerto grosso

A small group of soloists (concertino) contrasts with a larger group of instrumentalists (ripieno).  Developed in the Baroque period.

Da capo aria

An song for solo voice in ternary form used in opera and oratorio. The 3rd section was not written out and was often ornamented.

Exposition

The first section of a movement in sonata form.

Passacaglia

Variations over a ground bass.

Ritornello

A theme which returns frequently throughout a piece, and is played by the ripieno.

Sonata form

A form used for the first movement of a sonata or symphony.

Subject

The main theme in a composition, the main themes in sonata form, or the main theme on which a fugue is based.

Through-composed

A vocal piece in which there is little or no repetition of the music.

Coloratura

High, florid singing involving elaborate ornamentation of a melody. Performed by a soprano and sounds difficult to perform.

Harmonics

The high eerie sounds produced on a string instrument by lightly touching the string at certain points.  Can be played on any instrument with strings for example, violin, guitar and harp.

Ripieno

The main group of ensemble instruments in a concerto grosso.

String quartet

Two violins, a viola and a cello.

Tremolando

Literally ‘trembling’.  Rapid repetition of a note (string instrument) or rapid alternation of two notes (any instrument).

Baroque Sonata

A work for solo instrument accompanied by harpsichord. Bassline often played by Cello.

Bridge

A section that joins one part of the music to another

Recapitulation

A return to the original section and its themes.

Tonic

The 1st note

Dominant

The 5th Note

Sub-Dominant

The 4th Note