Music Appreciation Test #3

Half Steps

Smallest interval used in the Western system; the octave divides into twelve such intervals; on the piano, the distance between any two adjacent keys, whether black or white. Also semitone

Chromatic Scale

Consists of an ascending or descending sequence of semitones

Sharp

Music notation system originating in the nineteenth century American church music in which the shape of the note heads determines the pitch; created to aid music reading. The symbol (#) that indicates raising a pitch by a semitone

Flat Sign

Musical symbol (b) that indicates lowering a pitch by a semitone

Key

Defines the relationship of tones with a common center or tonic. Also a lever on a keyboard or woodwind instrument

Mode

Scale or sequence of notes used as the basis for a composition; major and minor are examples

Chromatic

Melody or harmony built from many if not all twelve semitones of the octave

Diatonic

Melody or harmony built from the seven tones of a major or minor scale. Encompasses patterns of seven whole tones and semitones

Pentatonic Scale

Five-note pattern used in some African, Far Eastern, and Native American musics; can also be found in Western music as an example of exoticism

Tritonic Scale

Three-note scale patterns, used in the music of some sub-Saharan African cultures

Heptatonic Scale

Seven-note scale; non-Western musics, often fashioned from a different combination of intervals than major and minor scales

Microtones

Musical interval smaller than a semitone, prevalent in some non-Western musics and in some twentieth-century art music

Ragas

Melodic pattern used in music of India; prescribes pitches, patterns, ornamentation, and extramusical associations such as time of performance and emotion character

Triad

Common chord type, consisting of three pitches built on alternate tones of the scale (e.g., steps 1-3-5, or do-mi-sol)

Tonic

the first note of the scale or key, do. Also Keynote

Dominant

Dominant, the fifth scale, sol. Dominant chord, Chord built on the fifth scale step, the V chord

Subdominant

Fourth scale step, fa. Chord built on the fourth scale step, the IV chord

Thematic Development

Musical expansion of a theme by varying its melodic outline, harmony, or rhythm,. Also thematic transformation

Ostinato

A short melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic pattern that is repeated throughout a work or a section of one

Absolute Music

Music that has no literary, dramatic, or pictorial program. Also pure music

Multi-Movement Cycle

A three - or four- movement structure used in classical-era instrumental music- especially the symphony, sonata, concerto- and in chamber music; each movement is in a prescribed tempo and form; sometimes called sonata cycle

Sonata-Allegro Form

The opening movement of the multi movement cycle, consisting of themes that are stated in the first section (exposition), developed in the second section (development), and restated in the third section (recapitulation). Also sonata form or first-movement form

Exposition

Opening section. In the fugue, the first section in which the voices enter in turn with the subject. In sonata-allegro form, the first section in which the major thematic material is stated. Also a statement

Development

Structural reshaping of thematic material. Second section of sonata-allegro form; it moves through a series of foreign keys while themes from the exposition are manipulated

Recapitulation

Third section of sonata-allegro form, in which the thematic material of the exposition is restated, generally in the tonic. Also restatement

Coda

The last part of a piece, usually added to a standard form to bring it to a close

Theme and Variations

Compositional procedure in which a theme is stated and then altered in successive statements; occurs as an independent piece or as a movement of a multimovement cycle

Minuet and Trio

An A-B-A form (A= minuet; B= trio) in a moderate triple meter; often the third movement of the Classical multimovement cycle

Rounded Binary Form

Compositional form with two sections, in which the second ends with a return to material from the first; each section is usually repeated

Scherzo

Composition in A-B-A form, usually in triple meter; replaced the minuet and trio in the nineteenth century

Rondo

Musical form in which the first section recurs, usually in the tonic. In the classical multimovement cycle, it appears as the last movement in various forms including, A-B-A-B-A, A-B-A-C-A, and A-B-A-C-A-B-A

Cyclical Structure

Structure in which musical material, such as theme, presented in one movement returns in a later movement