ALL piano vocab

Staff

A set of 5 horizontal lines and 4 spaces on which musical notation is placed

Grand Staff

The combination of a treble and bass clef staff joined by a bracket

Bar Line

Vertical lines dividing music into measures

Double bar line

Two side-by-side vertical lines with the second thicker, indicating the end

Repeat Marks

Double bar line with two dots in front, indicating to repeat a section of music

Measure

Contains a fixed amount of beats in music, based on the time signature

Incomplete measure—Occurs when the first measure contains part of the beats of a measure and the rest are located at the end of the music.

Clef

Indicates the pitch of the notes on a staff

Fine

Marks the end of a composition

D.C.--Da Capa, meaning from the beginning

D.C. al Fine

go back and play from the beginning to the fine

D.S.--Dal Segno, meaning from the sign

1st and 2nd endings

When performing, the player plays through the 1st ending, repeats back and plays through the section or piece, then skips the first ending to play the 2nd ending.

Sight Reading

Reading and playing a piece of music on sight for the first time

Sustain pedal

Allows the sound to ring out or sustain longer

Score

composition on a set of staves braced and barred together

Penultimate

the next to last of something

8va

To play an octave higher in music

Fermata

the note over which it is placed should be held longer than its natural duration

Beat

Steady repeating pulse

Time Signature

Top number indicates number of beats per measure, and the bottom number indicates which type of note receives the beat

Common Time

Most commonly used time signature, 4/4

Cut Time

Time signature of 2/2 where there are 2 beats per measure and the half note gets the beat

2/4, ¾, 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 2/2 Time Signatures

Examples of time signatures to know

Rhythm

The pattern of sounds and silence in music

Notes

Represent sound in music

Stem

Vertical line connected to notehead

Notehead

part of note placed on a line or space of staff to indicate pitch

Flag

Added to stem of a note to represent an eighth note, sixteenth note, etc.

Beam

Horizontal line connecting multiple notes such as eighth notes or sixteenth notes

Rests

Represent silence in music

Whole note

receives 4 beats in 4/4 time

Dotted half note

receives 3 beats in 4/4 time

Half note

receives 2 beats in 4/4 time

Dotted Quarter note

receives 1 and a half beats in 4/4 time

Quarter note

receives 1 beat in 4/4 time

Eighth note

receives a half beat in 4/4 time

Sixteenth note

receives a fourth of a beat in 4/4 time

Triplet

3 evenly spaced notes played in the place of 2 of the same value

Treble clef/G Clef

Lines: EGBDF (Every Good Boy Does Fine), Spaces: FACE

Bass clef/F Clef

Lines: GBDFA (Good Boys Do Fine Always), Spaces: ACEG (All Cows Eat Grass)

Key Signatures

at the beginning of music represented by sharps or flats indicating a tonal center or key of a piece of music

Intervals

the distance from one note to another (Ex. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th-octave)

Harmonic intervals

the distance between two pitches that are played at the same time

Melodic intervals

the distance between two pitches that are played one after the other

Whole step

the distance between 2 pitches that are 2 half steps apart

Half step

the distance between any 2 adjacent keys, white or black, on a keyboard

octave

An octave is the interval of an 8th or 8 notes apart

Scales

A sequence of whole and half steps

Major Scale

Formula is WWHWWWH (W = Whole step and H = Half step)

Chord

harmonic set of pitches played simultaneously

Arpeggio

a broken chord where each note is played individually

Sharp

raises a pitch by a half step

Flat

lowers a pitch by a half step

Natural

returns a pitch to its natural state

Accidental

a sharp, flat, or natural is placed by a note in a piece that is not in the key signature

Beat

steady repeating pulse

Tempo

the speed of the music

Pianissimo

pp-very soft

Piano

p-soft

Mezzopiano

mp-moderately soft

Mezzoforte

mf-moderately loud

Forte

f-loud

Fortissimo

ff-very loud

Crescendo

to gradually get louder

Decrescendo

to gradually get softer

Diminuendo

to gradually get softer

Slurs

Curved line connecting notes of different pitches meaning to play in a smooth and connected manner

Ties

Curved line connecting notes of the same pitch, indicating to hold for the entire value of both

Accent

an emphasis, stress, or stronger attack on a given note

Legato

to play in a smooth and connected manner

Phrase

a complete musical thought, played in a legato fashion

Staccato

to play in a short, detached manner

Accelerando

to gradually get faster

Ritardando

to gradually slow down the tempo (Rit.)

Presto

very fast

Allegro

fast, quickly, happily

Andante

moderate walking speed

Moderato

moderate speed

Adagio

slow

Largo

slow and solemn