Terms from The Elements of Music

a cappella

Sung without instrumental accompaniment of any kind.

aerophone

A musical instrument that produces sound by setting a column of air in vibration

alto

A voice range between soprano (the highest) and tenor; the lower range of the female voice.

bass

lowest of vocal ranges

beat

regular pulsation heard in western music

binary form

A musical structure consisting of two repeated halves (AABB = |:A:|:B:|)

brass instruments

A family of aerophones made of brass that produces sound by the vibration of the player’s lips in a cup-like metal mouthpiece.

cadence

A point of arrival signaling the end of a musical unit.

chamber music

Instrumental music for a small ensemble (from 2 to about 11 players), with one player to a part.

choral music

Vocal music with more than one singer to a part.

chord

Three or more notes played or sung at the same moment.

chordophone

A musical instrument that produces sound from a vibrating string.

chorus

An ensemble with multiple singers to a part; “chorus” is also the name for the musical number or movement sung by this ensemble.

conductor

The director of any musical ensemble; responsible for keeping the musicians together in time and for shaping the interpretation of the music being performed.

conjunct motion

Melodic motion of pitches by step.

consonance

The sound of notes together that our ear finds naturally right. Like dissonance, consonance is a relative concept that can change over long periods of time.

contour

The general shape of a melody: up, down, up-and-down, down-and-up, etc.

counterpoint

A style of writing in which every voice is a melody and all voices work together; from the Latin word contrapunctum, “note-against-note.” Basic to polyphonic texture.

crescendo

the gradual swelling of the volume of music.

diatonic scale

A scale consisting of whole and half steps.

disjunct motion

Melodic motion of pitches by leap.

dissonance

The sound of notes that clash, either harmonically or melodically, and do not seem to belong together. Dissonance is a relative concept: what was dissonant in one era is later perceived as consonant.

double

To play or sing the same musical line in multiple voices or on multiple instruments; most often used to describe an instrument playing the same line being sung by a voice.

downbeat

The first note of a measure, usually emphasized relative to the notes on other beats of the measure.

drone bass

A single long note held underneath the melodic line.

duple meter

An underlying pattern of rhythm in which each unit (measure) consists of one accented (strong) beat followed by one unaccented (weak) beat (1 2 | 1 2 | 1 2 | etc.) or some multiple of two (such as four or eight). A unit of four beats per measure, for example, in which the first is the strongest and the third is the next-strongest (1-2-3-4 | 1-2-3-4 | 1-2-3-4 | etc.) is quadruple meter.

dynamics

The volume of sound, determined by the size (amplitude) of each sound wave

form

The structure of a musical work; the way in which its individual units are put together.

forte

The commonly used Italian term for “loud.

full cadence

A musical point of arrival that creates a strong sense of closure.

gamelan

An Indonesian musical ensemble consisting primarily of a variety of pitched gongs and xylophones. The conductor or leader of the ensemble often plays a double-headed drum.

genre

The category of a work, determined by a combination of its performance medium and its social function.

half cadence

A point of musical arrival that is not yet closure. If thought of as punctuation, a half cadence is like a comma, whereas a full cadence is like a period.

half step

The smallest distance between two adjacent notes on a piano (white or black), such as C–C#.

harmony

The sound created by multiple voices playing or singing together.

heterophony

Heterophonic texture. The simultaneous playing or singing of two or more slightly different versions of a melody.

homophony

Homophonic texture. A musical texture in which a principal melody is performed with supporting accompaniment. This is the texture of most contemporary popular songs

idiophone

A musical instrument that produces sound by shaking, scraping, or striking the instrument itself

imitation

A shortened form of the term “imitative counterpoint”: the same theme introduced by different instruments or voices in succession.

improvisation

Embellishing or elaborating on a melody on the spot, spontaneously, and unrehearsed.

interval

The distance between two pitches

key

The central note and mode on which a melody or piece is based.

measure

A rhythmic unit, indicated by bar lines in notated music, that presents one complete statement of the meter.

melisma

A single syllable of text sung to many notes.

melodic motion

The movement of pitches within a melody up or down, either by step (conjunct motion) or by leap (disjunct motion).

melody

A single line of notes heard in succession as a coherent unit.

membranophone

A musical instrument that produces sound from a tightly stretched membrane.

meter (of music)

An underlying pattern of beats that maintains itself consistently throughout a work, i.e., a regularly recurring pattern of beats. See also “duple meter,” “triple meter,” and “quadruple meter.”

modulate

To move to a different key area. (Noun = Modulation.)

monophony

Monophonic texture. A musical texture consisting of a single melodic line.

movement

A self-contained part of a larger musical work.

note

The smallest unit of musical notation, indicating a specific pitch and duration, or the sounded pitch itself.

octave

The interval between two adjacent pitches of the same name (C to C, G to G, etc.). The frequency of the higher pitch is twice that of the lower pitch.

orchestra

A large ensemble that consists of several different kinds of instruments, usually of different families (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion).

orchestration

The manner in which various instruments are assigned to the musical lines

ostinato

A short pattern of notes repeated over and over.

percussion instruments

A family of idiophones that produce sound when struck. Percussion instruments include timpani, snare drum, cymbals, gong, and the piano.

phrase

A brief musical statement.

piano

The commonly used Italian term for “soft.”

pitch

The highness or lowness of a sound; determined by the frequency of its sound waves.

polyphony

Polyphonic texture. A musical texture consisting of multiple lines of equal importance

quadruple meter

See “duple meter.”

refrain

The same words with the same basic melody recurring at regular intervals over the course of a work.

register

The range of a pitch or series of pitches, usually described as high, middle, or low

rhythm

The ordering of music through time.

scale

A series of notes that provide the essential pitch building blocks of a melody.

sequence

A short musical motive that repeats at successively higher or lower pitches.

soprano

The highest of the voice ranges.

stanza

A verse of poetry, or the music corresponding to that verse (see also “strophe”).

string instruments

A family of chordophones that produces sound when a taut string is plucked or stroked with a bow. String (or stringed) instruments include the violin, viola, cello, and double bass.

string quartet

A chamber ensemble consisting of 2 violins, viola, and cello.

strophe

A verse of poetry, or the music corresponding to that verse

strophic form

A type of form in which every verse (strophe) of text is sung to the same music

syncopation

Syncopated rhythm. A type of rhythm in which the notes run against the regular pulse of the musical meter, with accents on beats other than the ones usually accented.

tempo

The speed of music. In notated music, tempo markings are generally given in Italian

tenor

A voice range between bass (the lowest) and alto; the higher range of the male voice.

ternary form

A form consisting of three parts, labeled ABA or ABA′ (that is, with the return of “A” varied).

texture

The number and general relationship of musical lines or voices to one another

timbre

Tone color. The character or quality of a sound.

tonal

A style of writing that establishes a central note (the tonic) as a harmonic and melodic center of gravity, which in turn creates the potential for a strong sense of resolution and closure

tonality

A system of organizing pitches (both melodies and harmonies) around a central note, as opposed to atonality, a system with no tonal center. See also “tonal.

tonic

The note that establishes a key, based on its distinctive relationship with a particular set of harmonies or other notes in the underlying scale. Also, the chord based on the first scale degree.

triad

A three-note chord built on alternate scale steps; the most common chord-type found in Western music.

triple meter

An underlying pattern of rhythm in which each unit (measure) consists of one accented (strong) beat followed by two unaccented (weak) beats (1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, etc.).

unison

More than one performer playing or singing the same pitch or pitches at the same time.

upbeat

A starting note that falls on a beat before the downbeat. Also called a pickup beat or an anacrusis.

variation

An altered restatement of musical idea.

virtuoso

A performer capable of playing music that is technically extremely demanding; also used as the adjective to describe such music.

vocables

Meaningless sung syllables that take the place of song lyrics

whole step

Two half steps. On the piano, a whole step skips exactly one key, white or black

woodwind instruments

A family of aerophones played by blowing either directly into the instrument (as with a flute) or into a single or double reed (as with an oboe, clarinet, bassoon, or saxophone).

word painting

Music that imitates, describes, or conjures images of the text being sung.

word-music relationships

The way a text influences our hearing of the music, and the way music affects our perception of the words.