Music Appreciation Terms

frontal lobe

emotions, personality

parietal lobe

touch, pain

temporal lobe

language comprehension

occipital lobe

visual stimuli

Broca’s area

production of speech

Wernicke’s area

understanding of language

Syntax

how words are formed

music therapy

the clinical and evidence-based use of music to accomplish individualized goals

aptitude

the ease and speed with which your brain processes certain kinds of information

achievement

what an individual does with their aptitude

rhythm

the temporal aspect of sound; the controlled movement of music in time

pulse/beat

divides music into equal units of time

tempo

how fast pulses follow one another

meter

organization of rhythm in time

measure

groups of beats into larger, regular patterns

bar

a unit determined by meter that contains the basic grouping of pulses

syncopation

rhythmic effect that deliberately upsets the pulse through a temporary shift to offbeat

pitch

the highness or lowness of a sound

frequency

variation in pitch

overtone

a higher pitch frequency that is produced when pitch is produced

timbre

unique sound quality of an instrument

aerophone

sound produced by air (ex. flute)

chordophone

sounds produced from vibrating strings (ex. cello)

idiophone

sound produced from the instrument itself (ex. triangle)

membranophone

sound produced from tightly stretched membranes (ex. drums)

melody

succession of single pitches perceived by the ear as unity

range

distance between the lowest and highest pitch

contour

overall shape of sound

conjunct

melody primarily moves up or down a scale

disjunct

melody contains larger intervals and leaps

phrase

short, distinct musical ideas

cadence

natural resting points in music

register

the use of high and low pitches

interval

distance between two pitches

consonance

pleasing combination of pitches

dissonance

displeasing sound; notes played closely together

octave

interval of with a span of eight notes

scale

collection of pitches ranged in ascending or descending motion

major

bright

minor

sad

chromatic

12 half steps of the octave

half-step

the smallest European interval

whole step

largest possible distance between two notes

diatonic

melody or harmony built from the seven pitches of a major/minor scale

key

centering of melody or harmony around a central note

tonic

a triad built on the first scale note

harmony

simultaneous combination of sounds

chord

three or more notes being played at the same time

triad

the simplest chord; made up of root, 3rd, and 5th

modulation

the process of moving from one key to another

transposition

the shifting of a piece of music to a higher or lower pitch level

dynamic

how loud of soft music is

crescendo

growing louder

decrescendo

growing softer

repetition

restarting musical ideas

contrast

avoiding monotony with new ideas

variation

reworking ideas to make them new

simple meter

the beat divides into two equal parts

compound meter

the beat divides into three equal parts

motive

small fragment of theme

theme

main melodic idea used

musical texture

the layers of sound

monophonic

single voice

homophonic

melody with harmonies 

polyphonic

multiple melodies

heterophonic

melody combined with an ornamented version of itself

call and response

singing leader answered by chorus/followers

ostinato

short repeated musical pattern; unifying technique

strophic

repeated musical ideas

through-composed

no repeated musical ideas

sequence

musical ideas restated at a higher or lower pitch

binary

two-part form (statement and departure), AB

ternary

three-part form (statement, departure, return to original statement), ABA

rondo

the first section recurs several times, ABACA

dynamics (softest to loudest)

pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo

strings (chordophone)

violin, viola, cello, double bass

woodwinds (aerophone)

flute, oboe, clarinet

brass (aerophone)

trombone, trumpet, French horn

percussion (idiophone and membranophone)

xylophone, glockenspiel, kettle drums