music midterm

Acoustics

the science of the production, propagation, & perception of sound.

Treble

higher frequencies (high-pitched sounds)

Bass

lower frequencies (low-pitched sounds)

Timbre

the character or quality of a sound; tone color

Aerophone

an instrument in which a column of air is the primary vibrating system

Idiophone

an instrument which produces sound by the vibration of its own primary material (i.e., without the vibrations of a string, membrane, or column of air)

Membranophone

an instrument in which sound is produced by the vibration of a membrane 

Chordophone

an instrument in which sound is produced by the vibration of a string

Legato

a succession of notes played smoothly, with no separation between notes

Staccato

a succession of notes played detached, with separation between notes 

Trill

an ornament consisting of the alternation of a note with the note above it 

Glissando

a sliding movement from one note to another, typically spanning many notes

Arpeggio

the notes of a chord played in succession, rather than simultaneously 

Bend

a slight variation in pitch, sliding from one note to another; similar to gliss

Riff

a short, repeated phrase (e.g., guitar riff )

Drone

a note held continuously; often in the low register

Tacet

an indication instructing performers to be silent

Vibrato

a slight and continuous fluctuation of pitch used by performers to enrich or intensify the sound

Mouthpiece

the part of a musical instrument placed against the lips

Key

the small discs that open and close sound holes on the instrument; typically made of metal

Valve

a mechanism used to change the length of tubing in a brass instrument; the performer presses the valves to activate them

Bell

the flared opening at the end of the instrument’s tubing; the mouthpiece is at one end of the instrument, the bell is at the other end

Mutes

a typically cone-shaped plug that is inserted into the bell of a brass instrument to alter the timbre

Roll

the rapid, even repetition of beats to produce the effect of a single sustained sound (ex. Drum roll) 

Mallet

a wooden or plastic stick with a rounded head used to strike a percussion instrument  

Drum set 

a set of drums and cymbals used with drumsticks; used extensively across popular music 

Bow

a curved wooden rod with horsehair stretched across its length used to play bowed string instruments (ex. violin) 

Fingerboard

a flat piece of wood on the neck of a string instrument, against which the strings are pressed 

Fretboard ​

​same as a fingerboard, but with frets (metal bars stretching horizontally across the fretboard)

Strings

flexible cords stretched across an instrument that produce sound when they vibrate 

Arco

bowed notes; the technique of bowing the strings of the instrument 

Pizzicato

plucked notes; the technique of plucking the strings with the fingers

Walking bass

a bassline in which one note is played on each beat; typically moves stepwise ascending and descending common in jazz

Strumming

playing a guitar (or similar string instrument) by sweeping the fingers / pick up and down across the strings 

Rubato

The tempo can also be flexible, at the discretion of the performer. Eg. becoming faster/slower 

Beat

a metrical pulse

Note:

a single tone of definite pitch; a notational symbol specifying a pitch of some duration

Rest:

a span of time in which there is silence; a notational symbol specifying a silence of

some duration

Phrase:

a group of notes forming a distinct unit within a larger section 

Swing rhythm:

a rhythmic feel in which eighth notes are intentionally played unevenly to

create both a feeling of ease and a sense of tension in the music

Arhythmic:

music which lacks any clearly discernible rhythms

Metre:

the pattern in which a steady succession of rhythmic pulses is organized 

Bar:

a unit of musical time consisting of a fixed number of note-values of a given type, as determined by the prevailing metre; delineated in music notation with bar lines

Common time:

4/4 is the common metre

Accent:

emphasis or stress placed on a musical note, chord, or other sound; notes on the downbeat are often played with an accent

Downbeat:

the first and thus metrically strongest beat of a bar

Upbeat:

one or several notes that occur before the downbeat of a piece or phrase 

Backbeat:

a sharp attack on beats 2 and 4 of a four-beat measure (i.e., in 4/4)

Syncopation:

a momentary contradiction of the metre or pulse

Mixed metre:

the changing of metres within a piece of music

Ametric:

music which lacks metre

Interval:

the distance between two notes

Octave:

an interval spanning 8 notes, bounded by two notes with the same name

Scale:

a collection of notes arranged in order from lowest to highest or highest to lowest

Chromatic scale:

a scale which uses all 12 notes in the octave, including all natural notes, and sharps/ flats

Major scale:  

often interpreted as sounding happy, used across genres and periods

Minor scale:

the natural minor scale; often interpreted as sounding sad; used across genres and periods 

Range:

the span of notes from highest to lowest  

Contour:

the shape of a melody 

Ascending:

a rising melody, or section of a melody 

Descending:

a falling melody, or section of a melody   

Conjunct melodic motion:

melodic motion primarily proceeding by step, related to scales   

Disjunct melodic motion:

melodic motion primarily proceeding by leap, related to chords  

Amelodic:

music which lacks a melody  

Music-making:

involves the production of music  

Music listening:

involves the reception of music   

Formal music education:

classroom teachers’ practices of teaching music, and students’ experiences of learning music

  

Informal music learning practices:

approaches to acquiring musical skills and knowledge outside formal educational settings  

Learning:

implies the occurrence of some cognitive or psycho-motor shift in the learner  

Education:

implies the notion of causing worthwhile learning to occur

Community music:

an inclusive and participatory musical practice which embraces all types of learning and performing  

• Professional musician:

a person who earns all or part of their income making music  

• Semi-professional musician:

a person who plays music for money on occasion (lower than professional fees), and other times plays for free  

• Amateur musician:

a person who does not get paid to play music, but who still makes music actively  

• Situated learning:

a theory of learning that centres unique community relationships and learning contexts 

Musicking:

“To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing.”  

• Art object:

a work of art  

Sound object:

a work of music  

• Canon:

representing the totality of works that are seen to be of the highest quality, classical genre 

Musical entrainment:

aligning or integrating bodily features with a recurrent feature in the soundscape, especially the beat/ pulse of a piece of music  

• Agency:

a capacity for emotional, embodied, cognitive being  

• Dissociative cognitive strategies:

Participants don’t focus on the task they are doing, but on something else, commonly used by athletes  

• Intrauterine symphony:

Sounds in the uterus include the mother’s heartbeat, the mother’s voice, rhythmic swooshing of blood through placental vessels, and other sounds from the outside world  

Audiovisual:

media using both audio (sound) and visual (sight) elements; most visual media is audiovisual  

• Mickey mousing:

music can emotionally align with the action on-screen; an extreme version  

• Program music:

music which represents a narrative or other extra musical element  

• Film score:

simply the music which accompanies a film, a modern example of program music  

• Main title theme:

the music heard during the opening credits and title sequence of a film, television series, news show, vlog, or other visual media  

• Leitmotif:

a short musical phrase which recurs over the course of a work of visual media in connection with a specific character, event, location, thought, or emotion  

• Underscore:

parts of a score which serve as background music to on-screen dialogue and action  

Source music:

music which is being played by an on-screen or on-stage source, and is heard by the characters in the fictional setting

Medieval Period (500-1400)

Common Instrument: Voice

Renaissance Period (1400-1600)

Common Instrument: Voice, woodwinds, strings

Baroque Period (1600-1750)

Common Ensembles: Orchestra (small), choir

 Classical Period (1750-1825)

• Common Ensembles: Orchestra (mid-sized), string quartet, choir

• Common Form: Sonata allegro

 Romantic Period (1824-1900)

Common Ensembles: Orchestra (large, string quartet, choir

20th and 21st Centuries (1900-Present)

Ensembles & Form: None

Blues  (1860-Present)

• Common Instruments: Voice, guitar

• Common Form: 12-bar blues

Ragtime  (1890-1920+)

Common Instrument: Piano

Swing (1930-1945+)

• Common Ensemble: Jazz big band