Chapters 7-10 Terms

Timbre

The quality of a sound that distinguishes one voice or instrument from another - also tone color

Instrument

Mechanism/thing that generates musical vibrations and transmits them into the air

Register

Specific area in the range of an instrument or voice

Vocal Ranges

Range of singers, Soprano is high, Bass is low, (Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Alto, Tener, Baritone, Bass)

Aerophones

Instruments such as a flute, whistle, or horn that produce sound by using air as the primary vibrating means

Chordophones

Instruments that produce sound from a vibrating string stretched between 2 points; the string may be set in motion by bowing, striking, or plucking

Idiophones

Instruments that produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself by being struck, blown, shaken, scraped, or rubbed. Examples include bells, rattles, xylophones, and cymbals

Membranophones

Any instrument that produces sound from tightly stretched membranes that can be struck, plucked, rubbed, or sung into (setting the skin in vibration).

Violin

Soprano, or highest-ranged, member of the bowed-string instrument family

Violincello

Bowed-string instrument with a middle-to-low range and dark, rich sonority; lower than a viola -also called cello

Double Bass

Largest and lowest-pitched member of the bowed string family - also called contrabass or bass viol

Special Effects

An illusion created to make a sound thats not organic.  Often electronic effects. Commonly used in movies

Guitar

Plucked-string instrument originally made of wood with a hollow resonating body and a fretted fingerboard; types include electric and acoustic

Piccolo

The smallest woodwind instrument, similar to the flute but sounds an octave higher

Oboe

Soprano-range, double-reed woodwind instrument

English Horn

Double-reed woodwind instrument, larger and lower in range than the oboe

Clarinet

Single-reed woodwind instrument with a wide range of sizes

Bass Clarinet

Woodwind instrument or the clarinet family with the lowest range

Bassoon

Double-reed woodwind instrument with a low range

Contrabassoon

Double-reed woodwind instrument with the lowest range in the woodwind family. Also double bassoon

Saxophone

Family of single-reed woodwind instruments commonly used in the concert and jazz band

Trombone

Tenor-range brass instrument that changes pitch by means of a movable double slide; there is also a bass version

Tuba

Bass-range brass instrument that changes pitch by means of valves

Pitched Percussion Instruments

An Instrument that you hit that has a pitch, often hit with a mallet, like Xylophone, Marimba, and Bells/Chimes

Unpitched Percussion Instruments

An Instrument that you hit and there is no pitch.  It just makes sound.  Snare drum, cow bell, and wood block

Piano

Keyboard instrument whose strings are struck with hammers controlled by a keyboard mechanism; pedals control dampers in the strings that stop the sound when the finger releases the key

Organ

Wind instrument in which air is fed to the pipes by mechanical means; the pipes are controlled by 2 or more keyboards and a set of pedals

Chorus

Fairly large group of singers who perform together, usually with several on each part. Also a choral movement of a large-scale work. In jazz, a single statement of the melodic-harmonic pattern

Concert Band

Instrumental ensemble ranging from forty to eighty members or more, consisting of wind and percussion instruments. Also wind ensemble

Marching Band

Instrumental ensemble for entertainment at sports events and parades, consisting of wind and percussion instruments, drum majors/majorettes, and baton twirlers

Genres

General term describing the standard category and overall character of a work

Sacred Music

Religious or spiritual music, for church or devotional use

Secular Music

Nonreligious music; when texted, usually in the vernacular

Medium

Performing forces employed in a certain musical work

Oral Transmission

Preservation of music without the aid of written notation

Historical Periods

Historical ages like Middle, Early Chirstian, Gregorian Chant, Romanseque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist, twentieth century periods