Music terms

Timbre

The quality of sound that the instruments make. Also known as tone colour.

Texture

How the different layers of music are put together

Tonality

The character of the song , related to one note e.g. Major , minor , atonal, tonal

Major

Sounds bright and cheery, tone , tone , semi tone, tone , tone , tone ,semi tone

Minor

Sounds Sad and mournful tone , semitone, tone , tone, semitone, tone , tone

Tone

Two steps up e.g. E -F#

Semitone

One step up e.g. E- F

Homophonic

When the lines of music move at the same time , a melody with an accompaniment is an example of homophonic music

Monophonic

When there's no harmony at all , just one line of tune

Polyphonic

More than one tune being played at once , it's sometimes called contrapuntal music.

Imitation

Repeated phrase with slight changes

Canon

Each part plays the same melody , but they come in separately and at regular intervals.

Arco

Playing a string instrument with a bow

Pizzicato

Plucking the strings

Double stopping

When two strings are pressed at the same time , so two notes are played at once

Tremolo

Sounds like trembling - bow is moved back and fourth very quickly

Vibrato

Making the pitch wobble

Sampling

Record in an instrument and put it in your music

Electronic effects

Used to alter the timbre of an instrument or voice e.g. An electric guitar using pedals(wah-wah)

Distortion

Distorts the sound

Reverb

Adds echo to the sound

Acciaccatura

Melody - Ornament: A very short ornamental note played just before a main melodic note. Often called a 'grace note'.

Accompaniment

Texture/Instrumentation: A part (or parts) which supports the melody.

Arco

Timbre - Technique: On a stringed instrument, when a bow is used to play the notes.

Arpeggio

Harmony/Texture: A chord in which the notes are played one after the other, rather than at the same time.

Balanced Phrases

Melody: Phrases of the same length paired together, so that the first sounds like a question that is answered by the second phrase.

Baroque

Background - AOS 2 Concerto Through Time: Music composed around 1600-1750

Binary form

Structure: A musical structure. A piece of music in two sections which are related (AB).

Block chord

Harmony/Texture: A chord that has all the notes played at the same time.

Broken chord

Harmony/Texture: A chord in which the notes are played one after the other rather than at the same time.

Cadence

Harmony: A chord progression that forms an ending of a phrase, or section or piece of music.

Cadenza

Structure - AOS 2 Concerto Through Time: An unaccompanied showpiece for the soloist in a concerto.

Chord

Harmony: Two or more notes played together.

Chromatic

A note that does not belong to the scale of the key the music is currently in. For example, F# is a chromatic note in the key of C major.

Classical

Background - AOS 2 The concerto Through Time: Music that was composed from around 1750-1820.

Coda

Structure: A section of music added at the end to bring the piece to a conclusion.

Compound time

Rhythm/Metre: A metre in which the main beat is sub-divided into three equal portions (eg. dotted crotchet beat divided into three quavers). Opposite to simple time.

Concerto

Instrumentation: A piece of music for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra.

Concerto Grosso

Background - Genre: A piece of music for a group of solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra (found only in Baroque era).

Concertino

Background/Instrumentation: The smaller group of instruments in a concerto grosso

Continuo

Harmony/Texture: An accompanying part in instrumental music of the Baroque period. The continuo is played by a bass instrument (such as the cello) and a harmony instrument (such as the harpsichord).

Contrapuntal

Texture: A musical texture that uses counterpoint

Countermelody

Melody: A second melody in a piece that is heard at the same time as the main melody, to provide contrast.

Counterpoint

Melody: Two or more melodic lines, heard at the same time, that fit together harmonically. A device used in Renaissance and Baroque music.

Crescendo

Dynamics: A gradual increase in dynamics. Getting louder. Opposite of diminuendo.

Diatonic

Melody/Harmonic: Notes that belong to the scale of the key the music is currently in. For example, C and F# are diatonic notes in the key of G major (G A B C D E F# G). Opposite of Chromatic.

Diminuendo

Dynamics: A gradual decrease in dynamic. Getting quieter. The opposite of Crescendo.

Dissonance

Harmony/Melody: Notes that produce a clashing sound when played together. Opposite of consonance.

Dominant

Harmony/Melody: The fifth note of a scale. E.G in C major, the dominant note is G (C1 - D2 - E3 - F4 - G5 - A6 - B7)

Dynamics

Dynamics: How loudly or quietly the music is played. the volume of the music.

Forte

Dynamics: A loud dynamic marking.

Fugue

Texture/Structure: A musical form in which the main theme is taken up and developed by each of the parts in turn.

Harmony

Harmony: Chord progressions - a series of related chords.

Harmonic rhythm

Harmony: The rate at which the chords change.

Homophonic

Texture: A texture in which all parts play or sing the same rhythm at the same time in harmony.

Imitation

Melody: A melodic idea in one part which is immediately copied by another part, often at a different pitch, while the first part continues with other music.

Improvisation

Melody: The process, most common in jazz, of spontaneously creating new music as you perform.

Interval

Melody: The distance between two notes. for example, the interval between the notes F and A is a 3rd.

Key Signature

Harmony/Melody: The key indicates the scale that a section or piece of music is absed on. For example, music in the key of G major uses the notes from the G major scale (G A B C D E F#)

Melody

Melody: A tune

Metre

Metre: The metre refers to the pulse of music and is indicated by the time signature.

Modulation

Harmony: A change of key

Monophonic

Texture: A texture that consists of only one melodic line.

Motif

Melody: A short but distinctive musical idea that can be changed and developed in various ways throughout a piece of music.

Octave

Melody: An interval formed between two notes that are 12 semitones apart. Both notes have the same name.

Orchestra

Instrumentation: A large ensemble of instruments. The size of this ensemble varied in different time periods.

Ornament

Melody: Small musical addition that decorate a melody. see acciaccatura, turn, mordent and trill.

Ostinato

Rhythm/Melody/Harmony: A repeating melodic/rhythmic/harmonic motif, heard continuously throughout part or the whole piece.

Pentatonic

Melodic/Harmonic: A scale made up of five notes

Piano

Dynamic: a quiet dynamic marking

Pizzicato

Melody/Timbre: Plucked notes on a string instrument.

Polyphonic

Texture: A musical texture with two or more lines of overlapping melody.

Primary Chords

Harmony: Chords built upon notes 1, 4 & 5 of the scale. these are known as tonic, sub-dominant & dominant chords. The most commonly used chords.

Range

Melody: The notes that a singer or instrumentalist can sing or play.

Ripieno

Background/Instruments: The larger group of instruments in a concerto grosso.

Romantic

Background - AOS 2 The Concerto Through Time: Music that was composed from around 1820-1900

Scale

Melody: A sequence of notes that move by step either upwards or downwards. Different types of scales have different patterns of intervals.

Semitone

Melody: The smallest interval between two notes in Western tonal music E.G: F - F# is a semitone

Sequence

Melody: A musical idea that is immediately repeated at a higher or lower pitch

Staccato

Melody/Timbre: Detached. refers to notes that are held for less time than their value indicates, so they are shortened and separated from each other.

Subdominant

Harmony: The correct name for the fourth note of a major/minor scale. E.G in C major, the IV is F (C1 - D2 - E3 - F4 - G5 - A6 - B7)

Syllabic

Melody: A song or passage of music that has one note to each syllable.

Syncopation

Rhythm: Placing the accents in parts of the bar that are not normally emphasises, such as on the weak beats or between beats.

Tempo

Tempo: The speed of the music.

Ternary form

Structure: A musical structure. A piece of music in three sections which are related (ABA)

Terraced dynamics

Dynamics: Dynamics that change suddenly rather than gradually.

Texture

Texture: A term given to the density of music. It can be described as 'thin' or 'thick'. It depends upon the number of parts and layers of sound and how they work together.

Timbre

Instrumentation: The element of music concerned with the actual sound quality, or tone colour, of the music

Time signature

Metre: Two numbers, E.G 2|4 or 6|8. at the start of a stave that indicate the metre of the music. the bottom number indicates the type of beat (such as a crotchet or quaver) and the top number shows how many of those beats are in each bar.

Major second

Melody: An interval of two semitones

Tonic

Harmony/Melody: The first note of a major/minor scale, and the note from which the key takes its name. E.G C is the tonic of C major

Trill

Melody - Ornament: An ornament consisting of a rapid alternation of two adjacent pitches.

Triplet

Rhythm: A group of three equal notes played in the time normally taken by two of the same type.

Unison

Melody/Texture: Simultaneous performance of the same pitch or pitches by more than one person.

Vibrato

Melody/Timbre: A vibration effect given to a note to make it sound more expressive.

Virtuoso

Melody/Background: A highly skilled singer/instrumentalist, capable of performing technically difficult music.