Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
acoustics
the study of how sound behaves in physical spaces
beat
the basic unit of time in music
brass
instruments traditionally made of brass or another metal (and thus often producing a “bright” or “brassy” tone) whose sound is generated by blowing into a mouthpiece that is attached to a coiled tube
chromatic
musical pitches which move up or down by successive half-steps
composition
the process whereby a musician notates musical ideas using a system of symbols or using some other form of recording
conjunct
a melody that moves mostly by step, in a smooth manner
disjunct
a melody with wide leaps and rapid changes in direction
dissonant
intervals and chords that tend to sound harsh to our ears; dissonance (noun) is often used to create tension and instability, and the interplay between dissonance and consonance provides a sense of harmonic and melodic motion in music
dynamic
the variation in the volume of musical sound (the amplitude of the sound waves)
form
the structure of the phrases and sections within a musical composition (Does it repeat?)
Guide of Arezzo
a medieval music theorist who developed a system of lines and spaces that enabled musicians to notate the specific notes in a melody
improvisation
the process whereby musicians create music spontaneously using the elements of music as building blocks
instrumentation
the instruments comprising a musical group (including the human voice)
interval
the distance in pitch between any two notes
harmony
any simultaneous combination of tones and the rules governing those combinations (the way a melody is accompanied is also another way to define harmony)
homophonic
musical texture comprised of one melodic line accompanied by chords
key
the set of pitches on which a composition is based
keyboard
instruments that are characterized by keyboards, such as the piano, organ, vibraphone, and accordion
measure
a unit of time that contains a specific number of beats defined by the meter/ time signature
melody
a succession of single tones in musical compositions
meter
the way in which the beats are grouped together in a piece
monophonic
musical texture comprised of one melodic line; a melodic line may be sung by one person or 100 people
motive
the smallest musical unit of a melody, generally a single rhythm of two or three pitches
noise
a disorganized sound with no observable pitch
polyphony
musical texture that simultaneously features two or more relatively independent and important melodic lines
range
the number of pitches, expressed as an intervallic distance
register
the low, medium, and high sections of an instrument or vocal range
rhythm
the way the music is organized in respect to time
scale
a series of pitches, ordered by the interval between its notes
sequence
a repetition of a motive or phrase at a different pitch level
strings
instruments whose sound is produced by setting strings in motion
syncopation
the act of shifting the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented weak beats or placing the accent between the beats themselves
synthesizers
electronic instruments (often in keyboard form) that create sounds using basic wave forms in different combinations
tempo
the speed at which the beat is played
texture
the ways in which musical lines of a musical piece interact
timbre
the tone color or tone quality of a sound
time signature
the numeric notation at the beginning of a line of music where the top number indicates how many beats are in each measure and the bottom number indicates which type of note will represent that beat
tonic
the most important pitch of a key; the note from which the other pitches are derived
triad
a chord that has three pitches stacked in intervals of thirds
Twelve-Bar blues
a twelve-bar musical form commonly found in American music
woodwinds
instruments traditionally made of wood whose sound is generated by forcing air through a tube, thus creating a vibrating air column
