melodic, rhythmic and harmonic devices

what is decoration (melodic)

ornamentation or the adding of extra notes to a melody

what is sequence (melodic)

a phrase of a melody which is immediately repeated at a slightly higher or lower pitch

what is imitation (melodic)

when one part of the music sets off with a snatch melody which is then imitated by another part of the music

what is inversion (melodic)

when the melody is ‘turned upside down’ so the rising pitch of the original melody becomes the fall

what is augmentation (all)

when the melody is drawn out by using longer note values

what is diminution (all)

when the melody is shortened using shorter note values

what is ostinatio (all)

a melodic or rhythmic fragment that is repeated over and over again

what is motif (all)

a leading phrase or figure that is reproduced and varied through the course of a composition or movement

what is diatonic transposition (harmonic)

when a melody is transposed through the tonic key’s scale or diatonically

what is chromatic transposition (harmonic)

when a melody is transposed through use of chromaticism

what is retrograde (melodic)

a melodic line that is the reverse of the original melodic line

what is retrograde inversion (melodic)

when a melodic line is reversed and inverted or flipped upside down

what is change of mode (harmonic)

when the mode of a melody is changed

what is intervallic contraction and expansion (melodic)

when the shape of a melody stays the same but the intervals can be larger or smaller

what is passing notes (melodic)

when an atonal /foreign note connects two tonal notes in the existing melody

what are neighbour notes (melodic)

an auxiliary note or a non-chord tone a step above or below a chord note that resolves or moves back to it

what are chordal skips (melodic)

an extended broken chord or arpeggio

what is acciacatura (melodic)

a type of ornament in which a grace note is added to the front of another note but only for a brief moment before moving on to the main note

what is appoggiatura (melodic)

a type of ornament in which a grace note is added to the front of another note taking up half of the main note’s value

what is scalic movement and how else can it be phrased (melodic)

when a melody moves in the same direction as its key’s scale it is also called conjunct or stepwise movement

what is a dotted rhythm (rhythmic)

when dotted notes are added to a rhythm

what are intervals in melodic development (melodic)

when there is a significant interval or the same interval keeps occurring in the same motion

what is syncopation (rhythmic and melodic)

when the off-beats of a bar are emphasised by the melody

what are shifting accents (rhythmic)

when the accented beat in a bar is shifted across the other beats

what does it mean when a melody is doubled (melodic and harmonic)

when two sections of an orchestra play the same line

what is a rhythmic ostinato (rhythmic)

when the rhythm of a musical phrase is repeated for a while

what are auxiliery notes (melodic)

a non-chord note that is either played above or below a chord depending if it is upper or lower

what is triadic movement (melodic)

when a melody moves in thirds but not necessarily a whole arpeggio

what is a drone (harmonic)

it is a note which is sustained for quite a long time throughout a passage but is not played more than once

what is a blue note (melodic)

a note that is played for expressive purposes often being accented to cause tension or interest coming from blues and jazz

what are mordents (melodic)

a type of ornament similar to a turn where the primary note dips down to the note below or above it and then returns to itself again in fast succession

what are turns (melodic)

this is a type of ornament that puts the note below and after a primary note in a rapid motion often with the primary note being repeated

what is the beguine rhythm (rhythmic)

a type of latin American dance or rhythm similar to a rhumba

what is phrasing (melodic)

the shape in which music is written, a piece could have equal phrasing with 4 bar phrases

what is melisma (melodic)

when a single syllable of text is sung over many different notes

what is a triplet (melodic and rhythmic)

when 3 notes are played in the space of 2, they will have a little 3 and a bracket above them

what is a changing metre (rhythmic and melodic)

when the metre of a piece changes sometimes indicating a new section or used as a technique to create chaos

what is a pedal (harmonic)

a note that is held through changing harmonies and it can be from any point in the scale e.g. tonic or dominant

what is a trill (melodic)

a form of ornamentation that alters rapidly between a note and an auxiliary note

what is a swung rhythm (rhythmic)

the opposite of a straight rhythm which feeds more into triplets

what is a tritone (melodic and harmonic)

an interval that spans 3 whole tones and often results in unnatural relations

what is whole tone (harmonic and melodic)

a scale with only whole tone intervals between notes, melodies can also have whole tome movement

what is pentatonic (harmonic and melodic)

any scale with only 5 notes in it, melodies can also have pentatonic movement

what is anacrusis (rhythmic and melodic)

an ‘upbeat’ bar at the start of a piece or phrase that doesn’t last the full length of a bar to created an excited and upbeat feel

what is a double dotted rhythm (rhythmic)

a dotted rhythm that uses double dotted notes instead of single dotted notes

what is a suspension (harmonic)

when one note from a chord stays while the others change to a new one

what is transposition (harmonic)

when the melody in a piece is restated in a new key

what is modulation (harmonic)

when the key of a piece changes

what is the circle of 5ths (harmonic)

when the harmony of a piece follows the pattern of the circle of 5ths

what is an inverted and inner pedal (harmonic)

when inverted it means that the pedal note occurs in the highest or higher parts of an orchestra and when inner is when the pedal point occurs in the mid ranges

what is a tierce di picardie (harmonic)

generally when a piece with in a minor key has a cadence that ends in a major chord but can also be visa versa

what is false relation (harmonic)

a form of chromaticism where the chromatic counterpart is played in close proximity to another in the form of a chord