harmony

Harmony

The vertical aspect of music concerned with pitches sounding at the same moment.

Chord

The simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches.

Consonance

A sound combination that conveys stability and is generally perceived as pleasing.

Dissonance

A sound combination that conveys tension or instability and is generally perceived as harsh.

Triad

A chord made of three pitches: a root, a pitch a third above the root, and another pitch a third above that.

Arpeggio

A broken chord whose pitches are played sequentially one after another rather than simultaneously.

Key

A group of pitches governed by their relationship to a central foundational note.

Tonic

The first note of a scale, serving as the central, most important pitch of a key.

Key Signature

The set of sharps or flats written at the start of a musical staff indicating pitch modifications throughout a piece.

Modulation

The movement or shift from one musical key to another.

Major scale interval pattern

The ascending sequence of whole steps (W) and half steps (H): W-W-H-W-W-W-H.

Pentatonic scale

A ubiquitous five-note scale used extensively across global folk and traditional music styles.