Aural Skills Vocab #1

Pulse

Regularly recurring feeling of stress in music

Primary pulse

Pulse that regularly contains greater stress

Secondary pulse

Pulse that regularly contains less stress

Meter

Organization of pulses into primary and secondary levels

Measure

Duration between successive primary pulses

Rhythm

Duration in music

Downbeat

The first beat of a measure

Melodic Contour

Relative up and down motion of a melody

Scale

List of pitches in ascending and descending order

Scale degrees

Are the unique pitches in a scale, usually referred to by number

Tonic

The pitch to which all others want to resolve. First and last note of a scale

Time Signature

For simple meter - top number indicates the number of beats in a measure, lower number indicates the note value equal to 1 beat

Beat unit

Note value equal to one beat

Anacrusis

Pickup note