MU 1010 - Harmony, Texture, Form, Timbre

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering core terms related to harmony, scales, texture, form, timbre, and related concepts from the lecture notes.

Harmony

Simultaneous combination of sounds; vertical aspect of music; foundation for chords and chord progressions.

Musical Alphabet

The letters A through G used to name pitches in Western music.

Octave

Interval spanning eight notes in a scale; same pitch class across octaves.

Scale

A collection of pitches arranged in ascending order.

Scale degree

Position of a pitch within a scale (numbers 1–8).

Chord

Three or more notes sounded together.

Triad

A three-note chord.

Chord progression

A sequence of chords that provides unity and direction.

Tonic

First note of a scale; home base of a key.

Dominant

Fifth scale degree; creates tension that resolves to tonic.

Dissonance

Discordant, unstable combination of notes requiring resolution.

Consonance

Concordant, stable combination of notes.

Resolution

Relaxation/fulfillment as harmony moves to consonance.

Chromatic Scale

The twelve half steps within an octave.

Sharp

Raises a pitch by a half step.

Flat

Lowers a pitch by a half step.

Whole step

Two half steps.

Major scale

Pattern W-W-H-W-W-H; bright, cheerful sound.

Minor scale

Pattern W-H-W-W-H-W-W; darker sound; lowered third.

Solfège

Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do system for syllables.

Leading tone

Seventh scale degree; creates tension resolving to tonic.

Diatonic

Music that stays within a major or minor key.

Chromatic

Movement through all semitones; uses all twelve pitches.

Tonality

Organization around a tonic; key-centered structure.

Imitation

Repetition of a melodic idea in another voice.

Canon

A polyphonic form where voices enter with the same melody.

Round

Perpetual canon; staggered entrances of the same tune.

Motive

A short musical idea or fragment.

Theme

The main melodic idea used as a building block.

Thematic development

Expansion or alteration of a theme.

Sequence

Repeating a motif at higher or lower pitch.

Ostinato

A short repeated musical pattern.

Strophic

Same music for each stanza of text.

Through-composed

No main section is repeated; music follows new material.

Improvisation

Spontaneous creation during performance within harmonic framework.

Scat-singing

Jazz vocal improvisation using nonsensical syllables.

Vocalise

Wordless vocal melody; singing on a neutral vowel.

Sacred music

Music for worship; often set in sacred languages.

Secular music

Nonreligious music; sung in vernacular.

Syllabic

One note per syllable.

Melismatic

One syllable stretched over many notes.

Neumatic

A few notes per syllable.

Word-painting

Music that pictorializes or emphasizes the text.

Timbre

Tone color; the quality that distinguishes instruments and voices.

Vibrato

Throbbing variation in pitch for expressiveness.

Aerophone

Instrument producing sound primarily via vibrating air.

Chordophone

Instrument producing sound from vibrating strings.

Idiophone

Instrument producing sound from the material itself.

Membranophone

Instrument producing sound via a vibrating membrane.