Music

Melody

The tune, voice, or line of a music work, with pitches performed one at a time.

Phrase

Smaller phrases in music that combine to form longer, complete melodies, similar to complete sentences in spoken language.

Theme

The main melody of a music composition, often unifying sections of the entire work.

Motivic melody or motive

A very short melodic fragment that establishes a unified character for an entire music composition.

Leitmotif

A short, recurring melodic phrase connected to an opera’s character, place, or idea, established by composer Richard Wagner.

Ostinato

A defined melody that is persistently repeated in immediate succession throughout a musical composition.

Lyrical melody

A longer melodic statement comprised of connected phrases that often convey emotion.

Conjunct melody

A melody that moves mostly by smaller stepwise intervals.

Disjunct melody

A melody that moves mostly by wider intervals, wider than a whole step.

Interval

The distance between two pitches.

Half step

The smallest musical interval used in Western tonal music.

Whole step

The distance of two half-steps.

Scale

A collection of intervals that ascend upward and downward, serving as source material for melodies and harmonies.

Harmony

The sound of two or more pitches performed at the same time.

Chord

Harmony that has three or more pitches performed simultaneously.

Key

The 'main key' centers around the tonic triad, built on scale degree I.

Modulation

The change of key to another key within a tonal music work.

Consonant harmony

Gives the impression of stability, with examples including perfect 4ths, 5ths, and octaves.

Dissonant harmony

Gives the impression of instability, with examples including seconds or sevenths.

Atonal music

Does not center around a stable tonic triad and often sounds dissonant.

Beat or Pulse

A fixed measurement of time that recurs, observable in both music and outside of music.

Rhythm

Durations of sound that are written and performed in relation to the beat.

Tempo

The speed of the beat, ranging from very slow to very fast.

Meter

The pattern or grouping of beats.

Syncopation

Rhythms performed between the beats.

Polyrhythm

The performance of two or more rhythms at the same time.

Accent

The emphasis of one note or chord by performing it louder or longer.

Music texture

Musical layer, classified into monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures.

Timbre

The unique quality of sound of an instrument or voice.

Instrumentation

A listing of what instruments are involved in a music composition.

Orchestration

A composer’s choices for combining timbres in a music composition.

Range

The lowest to highest pitch of an instrumentalist or singer.

Form

The organization and design of a piece of music.

Strophic Form

Consecutive stanzas set to the same section of music.

Ternary Form

A 3-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B), and then a repetition of the first section (A).

Program music

A piece of instrumental music that seeks to recreate in sound a story or emotion.

Romantic Era

19th-century era characterized by emotions and expression.

Neo-Classical

A trend in the twentieth century that returned to classical aesthetic precepts of order and balance.

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

A transitional work combining vocal and instrumental music in a symphony.

Lied

German word for art song, often for solo voice and piano accompaniment.

Berlioz’s idee fixe

A recurring theme that represents an obsessive music theme.

Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring

Ballet music showcasing modernism characteristics with irregular accents and polychords.

Holst's The Planets

A programmatic work inspired astrologically with harmonic dissonances.

Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd

Musical exploring differences between musicals and operas with highly dissonant harmony.