2025-2026 Music Resource Guide

Jazz Age

The period in the 1920s marked by the widespread popularity of jazz music and its influence on culture.

Twelve-bar Blues

A musical form featuring a repeated 12-measure chord progression, commonly used in blues music.

Swing Rhythm

A rhythmic feeling characterized by a long-short pattern for equal pairs of eighth notes, often used in jazz.

Call-and-Response

A musical technique where a soloist sings or plays a phrase that is answered by a group.

Blue Notes

Pitches that are sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than the standard major or minor scale, often to create expressive effects.

Heterophony

A musical texture where multiple musicians perform variations of the same melody simultaneously.

Dissonance

A quality of sound that creates a sense of tension or instability, often resolved by consonance.

Consonance

A quality of sound that is stable and harmonious, providing a sense of resolution.

Fugue

A technique where a theme is introduced and then developed through interwoven melodic lines.

Rondo Form

A musical structure characterized by a recurring theme alternated with contrasting sections, often labeled A-B-A-C-A.

Sonata Form

A standard form in music comprising three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Block Voicing

Jazz Age

The period in the 1920s marked by the widespread popularity of jazz music and its influence on culture.

Twelve-bar Blues

A musical form featuring a repeated 12-measure chord progression, commonly used in blues music.

Swing Rhythm

A rhythmic feeling characterized by a long-short pattern for equal pairs of eighth notes, often used in jazz.

Call-and-Response

A musical technique where a soloist sings or plays a phrase that is answered by a group.

Blue Notes

Pitches that are sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than the standard major or minor scale, often to create expressive effects.

Heterophony

A musical texture where multiple musicians perform variations of the same melody simultaneously.

Dissonance

A quality of sound that creates a sense of tension or instability, often resolved by consonance.

Consonance

A quality of sound that is stable and harmonious, providing a sense of resolution.

Fugue

A technique where a theme is introduced and then developed through interwoven melodic lines.

Rondo Form

A musical structure characterized by a recurring theme alternated with contrasting sections, often labeled A-B-A-C-A.

Sonata Form

A standard form in music comprising three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Block Voicing

A harmonic technique where multiple notes move in parallel motion, often with the melody in the top voice and the other voices moving together, creating a thick, chordal sound.

Improvisation

The creation of music spontaneously during a performance, often based on a pre-determined chord progression or melodic framework.

Jazz Age

The period in the 1920s marked by the widespread popularity of jazz music and its influence on culture.

Twelve-bar Blues

A musical form featuring a repeated 12-measure chord progression, commonly used in blues music.

Swing Rhythm

A rhythmic feeling characterized by a long-short pattern for equal pairs of eighth notes, often used in jazz.

Call-and-Response

A musical technique where a soloist sings or plays a phrase that is answered by a group.

Blue Notes

Pitches that are sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than the standard major or minor scale, often to create expressive effects.

Heterophony

A musical texture where multiple musicians perform variations of the same melody simultaneously.

Dissonance

A quality of sound that creates a sense of tension or instability, often resolved by consonance.

Consonance

A quality of sound that is stable and harmonious, providing a sense of resolution.

Fugue

A technique where a theme is introduced and then developed through interwoven melodic lines.

Rondo Form

A musical structure characterized by a recurring theme alternated with contrasting sections, often labeled A-B-A-C-A.

Sonata Form

A standard form in music comprising three main sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Block Voicing

A harmonic technique where multiple notes move in parallel motion, often with the melody in the top voice and the other voices moving together, creating a thick, chordal sound.

Improvisation

The creation of music spontaneously during a performance, often based on a pre-determined chord progression or melodic framework.

Syncopation

A rhythmic device where accents are placed on normally weak beats or off-beats, creating rhythmic tension and drive, common in jazz.

Scat Singing

A vocal jazz technique where singers improvise melodies and rhythms using nonsense syllables instead of words.

Walking Bass

A bass line that moves mostly by step, outlining the chord changes and providing a steady rhythmic foundation, often found in jazz and blues.

Counterpoint

The art of combining two or more independent melodic lines in a harmonious and interdependent way, prominent in Baroque music like fugues.

Comping