Music Exam 1

What is pitch in music?

The highness or lowness of a sound, determined by its frequency (vibrations per second)

What does A 440 Hz mean?

The musical note A vibrates 440 times per second.

How are pitches represented in Western music?

With notes placed on a staff of five parallel lines.

What is a clef?

A symbol at the beginning of the staff that shows the pitch range of the notes.

What is the treble clef (G clef) used for?

Higher pitch ranges, such as female voices, flute, and violin.

What is the bass clef (F clef) used for?

Lower pitch ranges, such as male voices, cello, trombone, and tuba.

Melody

A succession of single pitches we hear as a whole.

Pitch

The quality of sound that determines how high or low a note is.

Phrase

a short, complete musical idea within a melody (Like a sentence in language)

Range

the distance between the lowest and highest notes

Climax

the high point in a melodic line, which usually represents a peak in intensity as well as in range

Interval

the distance between two pitches

Contour

The overall shape of a melody

Conjuct motion

a melody that moves mostly by small steps (notes close together)

Disjunct motion

a melody that moves mostly by leaps.

Rythm

moves music forward in time

Beat

Basic unit of rhythm, it is a recurring regular pulse that divides into equal segments

Accents

when a note or beat is played stronger, louder, or with more emphasis. It makes the beat stand out in the rythm

Meter

the pattern of strong and weak beats in music, grouped into measurements

Measures (Bars)

a small section of music that contains a set number of beats

Bar Line

vertical line drawn on the staff that seperates measures

Double Bar Line

2 vertical lines together that show the end of a section in music

Final Bar Line

A thicker line after a thin line that shows the end of a piece

Simple Meter

When each beat in a measure can be divided into two equal parts

Compound meter

the beats split into three

Sextuple meter

a compound meter with six beats per measure

Syncopation

a deliberate upsetting of the normal pattern of accents

Downbeat

first beat of each measure usually has the strongest accent

Offbeat

weaker beats that fall between strong beats in a measure

Harmony

Simultaneous combination of sounds

Chord

When three or more notes are played at the same time

Major Scale

A sequence of 8 notes (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do) usually sounds bright and happy.

Minor scale

also 8 notes, but darker/dramatic

Triad

Most common chord, a particular combination of three pitches

Consonance

an agreeable-sounding combination of notes that provides a sense of relaxation and fullfilment.