Music theory vocab

pulse

a regularly recurring feeling of stress in music

primary pulse

a pulse that regularly contains greater stress

secondary pulse

a pulse that regularly contains less stress

Meter

the organization of pulses into primary and secondary levels

beat

the duration between successive pulses

measure

the duration between successive primary pulses

duple meter

there are two beats per measure

Rhythm

duration of music

Inctus

the point in each beat of a conducting pattern at which the pulse occurs

downbeat

the first beat of the measure

upbeat

the last beat of a measure

triple meter

there are three beats per measure

pitch

the characteristic of sound we perceive as being higher or lower

Melodic contour

the relative up and down motion of pitches in a melody

tonic

the pitch to which all others seem to want to resolve. First and last note of the scale

sequential

an exercise on which a pitch pattern is repeated

simple meters

the beat is regularly divided in halves

Takadimi

a system of rhythm syllables

quadruple meter

there are four four beats per measure

rest

a duration of silence in music

anacrusis/pickup

any incomplete measure of music before the first downbeat