OCR GCSE Music Vocabulary

Staccato

Detached, short notes

Tongued

Woodwind instruments using their tongue to define individual notes

Legato

Smooth style of playing

Pizzicato

When string instruments are plucked

Arco

When string instruments are played with a bow

Tremolo

Fast repeated notes

Accent / Sforzando

A note louder than those surrounding it / suddenly loud

Pianissimo (pp)

Very quiet

Piano (p)

Quiet

Mezzo-Piano (mp)

Medium-Quiet

Mezzo-Forte (mf)

Medium-Loud

Forte (f)

Loud

Fortissimo (ff)

Very Loud

Crescendo (<)

Gradually getting louder

Diminuendo (>)

Gradually getting quieter

Diatonic

All notes belonging to the given key

Dissonant

Using notes from outside the triads, clashing harmonies

Atonal

Not major, minor, or another mode

Chromatic

Using notes from outside the key or series of notes from the chromatic scale

Microtonal

Notes between semitones

Blue Note

Flattened note in blues / jazz / rock and roll music to give expression

Perfect Cadence

Chords V-I at the end of a phrase (sounds finished)

Imperfect Cadence

Chords ?-V at the end of a phrase usually I-V (sounds unfinished)

Plagal Cadence

Chords IV - I at the end of the phrase (sounds finished - Amen cadence)

Interrupted Cadence

Chords V-vi at the end of the phrase (sounds interrupted)

Chordal

All notes of chord are played together

Arpeggio / Broken Chord

Notes of chord are played one after the other

Triad

Three note chord

Comping

Pianist accompanying in a piece of jazz music, improvising around the chords

Primary Chords

Chords I, IV, V

Simple Harmony

Mostly chords I, IV and V, perhaps chords vi and ii as well

Harmonic Progression

Chord sequence

Harmonic Rhythm

The rhythm of the chord changes e.g. every bar or half bar

Modulation to Tonic

Change key to the home key

Modulation to Sub-dominant

Change key to the key based on the fourth note of the scale (e.g. from C to F)

Modulation to Dominant

Change key to the key based on the fifth note of the scale (e.g. from C to G)

Modulation to Relative Minor

Change key to the minor key based on the sixth note of the scale (e.g. from C to Am)

Modulation to Relative Major

Change key to the key based on the third note of the scale (e.g. from Am to C)

Drone

Accompaniment based on one or two notes

12 bar blues

12 bar long Chord sequence (I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, IV, I, I)

Strings

Viola, Violin, Cello, Double Bass

Woodwind

Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Saxophone, Bassoon

Brass

Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Tuba

Percussion

Timpani, Xylophone, Marimba, Glockenspiel, Drum Kit

Duet

Two performers

Trio

Three performers

Quartet

Four performers

Tampura