McGarry 1st music vocab

Pitch

The exact name of a note, for example 'C'.

Timbre

The type or quality of a sound, such as a piano sounding different from another piano.

Beat

An individual unit of rhythm.

Melody

A sequence of pitches forming a complete musical thought, often the part you sing along with.

Interval

The distance between two pitches.

Harmony

Many pitches sounding at once.

Consonance

When pitches sound pleasant together.

Dissonance

When pitches sound harsh together.

Monophony

Music made up of only one melody.

Homophony

Music made of harmony and melody.

Polyphony

Music made of many melodies happening at once.

Solo Music

Music written for one performer.

Chamber Music

Music written for a small group of musicians.

Orchestral Music

Music written for a large group of musicians.

Choral Music

Music written for a group of singers.

Musical Alphabet

C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C; does not include an 'H'.

Direction of Notes

Left is lower notes, right is higher notes.

Instrument Groups

Strings, Woodwinds, Percussion, Brass.

Extra Credit*

The fifth instrument group is keyboards.

String instruments

Guitar, cello, violin, harp

woodwind instruments

saxophone, clarinet, flute, oboue

percussion instruments

drums, tambourine, xylophone, triangle.

brass instruments

trumpet, trombone, tuba, french horn.