Comprehensive Music Vocabulary Review

Eighty vocabulary flashcards summarizing essential terms, ensembles, instruments, genres, and forms from the lecture notes on world, Philippine, and Western music history.

Timbre

The distinctive tone color or quality produced by a voice or instrument.

Chamber Music

Music written for a small ensemble—typically one to eight players—each with an independent part.

String Orchestra

Ensemble of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and basses.

Woodwind Choir

Group consisting of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.

Brass Choir

Ensemble of French horns, trumpets or cornets, trombones, and tuba.

Percussion Ensemble

Two to ten players performing various percussion instruments.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Combined woodwind, brass, and percussion groups performing symphonic literature.

Concert Band

Large wind ensemble with multiple players on each part.

Chamber Orchestra

String orchestra plus a small number of wind, brass, percussion, or keyboard instruments.

Symphony Orchestra

Large ensemble of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion, sometimes with extra instruments.

Women’s Chorus

Large vocal ensemble divided into Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Alto 1, and Alto 2.

Mixed Chorus

Choir combining soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices.

A Capella Choir

Choral group performing without instrumental accompaniment.

Conducting

Art of leading musicians through gestures and facial expressions.

Preparatory Beat

Conductor’s gesture that cues performers to breathe and begin together.

Attack Beat

Conducting movement marking the start of a phrase.

Release Beat

Clear gesture indicating the end of a phrase or section.

Cueing

Conducting signal—often with left hand—used to indicate entrances or changes.

Shomyo

Japanese Buddhist monophonic chanting performed a capella.

Gagaku

Japan’s ancient imperial court music of songs and dances.

Noh

Classical Japanese theater integrating music, dance, and poetry; features yokyoku singing.

Kabuki

All-male Japanese theater noted for melodrama and colorful dance.

Bunraku

Japanese puppet theater combining narration, shamisen music, and puppetry.

Shō

Japanese mouth-organ made of bamboo pipes.

Shakuhachi

End-blown Japanese bamboo flute with four front holes.

Koto

Thirteen-string Japanese zither placed horizontally on the floor.

Shamisen

Three-string Japanese lute with skin-covered belly, played with plectrum.

Biwa

Japanese four-string pear-shaped lute with frets.

Kakko

Small double-headed Japanese drum used in gagaku.

Da-daiko

Huge Japanese frame drum struck with large beaters in gagaku.

Shoko

Small Japanese bronze gong used in gagaku ensembles.

Formative Period (China)

Early era when Chinese music served ancestor festivals using ocarinas and stone chimes.

International Period (China)

Stage marked by influx of foreign musical ideas via trade and contact.

Pentatonic Scale

Five-note scale foundational to much Asian and folk music.

Heptatonic Scale

Seven-note scale employed in northern Chinese folk music.

Sheng

Chinese mouth-organ with 17 bamboo pipes of varying lengths.

P’ipa

Four-string Chinese lute shaped like a pear (loquat).

Erhu

Two-string Chinese fiddle played with a bow.

Temple Clapper

Five-piece redwood idiophone used in Confucian rituals.

Peking Opera

Chinese national theater art blending song, speech, mime, acrobatics, and literature.

Tala

Metric cycle of beats in Indian music.

Raga

Framework of scale and melody in Indian music, each with specific mood.

Drone (India)

Sustained continuous tone underpinning Indian musical performance.

Gamaka

Ornamentation applied to notes in Indian music.

Gamelan

Indonesian ensemble of metallophones, gongs, drums, and flutes arranged ceremonially.

Slendro

Indonesian five-tone (pentatonic) tuning system.

Pelog

Indonesian seven-tone (diatonic) tuning system.

Gong Ageng

Largest and most sacred gong in a gamelan ensemble.

Kayagum

Korean twelve-string zither with movable bridges.

Komungo

Korean six-string zither prized for scholarly expression.

P’iri

Cylindrical Korean double-reed bamboo pipe akin to an oboe.

Changgo

Korean hourglass drum struck on both heads for contrasting tones.

Pi Phat

Thai classical wind-and-percussion orchestra for court ceremonies.

Khruang Saay

Thai string ensemble featuring fiddle and zither instruments.

Mahori

Thai mixed ensemble accompanying vocal music with strings and percussion.

Maracas

Pair of Latin American rattles originally made from gourds.

Habanera

Cuban slow, stately dance rhythm named after Havana.

Rumba

Fast Afro-Cuban dance and musical style with pronounced rhythm.

Tetratonic Scale

Four-note scale common in some African and folk traditions.

Kundiman

Filipino lyrical love song expressing deep emotion.

Rondalla

Philippine string ensemble of bandurrias, guitars, and related instruments.

Gregorian Chant

Monophonic Latin sacred song of the medieval church.

Troubadours

Medieval French poet-musicians composing secular court songs.

Organum

Early polyphony: Gregorian chant with one or more added melodic lines.

Motet

Polyphonic choral work on sacred Latin text other than the Mass Ordinary.

Madrigal

Secular Renaissance vocal piece for several voices, often about love.

Fugue

Polyphonic composition based on imitative treatment of a principal theme (subject).

Suite

Baroque set of dance movements such as allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue.

Sonata Form

Classical movement structure with exposition, development, and recapitulation, usually with coda.

Program Symphony

Multi-movement orchestral work depicting an extramusical narrative.

Symphonic Poem

Single-movement orchestral work with a programmatic theme.

Art Song

Composition for solo voice and piano marrying poetry and music.

Strophic Form

Song structure that repeats the same music for every stanza of text.

Through-Composed

Song structure that provides new music for each stanza to reflect changing moods.

Recitative

Speech-like vocal style in opera or oratorio that advances the plot.

Aria

Expressive solo song with orchestral accompaniment in opera, cantata, or oratorio.

Cantata

Multi-movement vocal work for choir, soloists, and instruments, often on sacred text.

Oratorio

Large-scale sacred vocal work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra without staging.

Sonata da chiesa

Baroque “church sonata” written for solo or small ensemble, serious in character.

Authentic Mode

Medieval church mode spanning an octave above its finalis (e.g., Dorian).

Plagal Mode

Medieval mode spanning a fourth below to a fifth above the finalis (e.g., Hypodorian).