USAD Music Theory and History Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering basic music theory elements, structural terms, and musical concepts from the USAD Music Resource Guide.

Music

Sound organized in time.

Amplitude

The property of a sound wave that determines its decibel level, or how loud or soft a tone is.

Frequency

The rate of oscillation of a sound wave, measured in cycles per second ($\text{Hz}$), which determines its pitch.

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of a sound, referring to a single tone whose oscillating frequency remains steady.

Chordophones

A Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification for instruments with one or more strings whose vibration creates sound waves, such as violins, harps, and guitars.

Aerophones

A Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification for instruments featuring a vibrating column of air, including wind and brass instruments.

Membranophones

A Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification for instruments with a skin or membrane stretched across a frame that vibrates when struck, such as timpani and drums.

Idiophones

A Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification for instruments whose solid body itself vibrates when struck, such as bells, woodblocks, xylophones, and cymbals.

Electrophones

A Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification for instruments that produce sound waves electronically using a mechanical device known as an oscillator and requiring electricity.

Musique concrète

An electroacoustic composition technique developed in Paris where live or live-recorded sounds on tape are edited, manipulated, looped, and spliced into acoustic collages.

Fundamental

The lowest, loudest, and primary frequency produced when a musical sound wave oscillates.

Partials (overtones)

The fainter, higher frequencies present above a fundamental frequency that give a musical sound its unique timbre or tone color.

Octave

The musical distance or interval between two pitches where one pitch vibrates at twice or half the frequency of the other.

Half step (semitone)

The smallest interval normally used in Western music, representing the distance between any two adjacent keys on a standard piano keyboard.

Whole step

An interval equal to the distance between every other key on a piano keyboard, comprising two half steps.

Equal temperament

A Western tuning system dominant since about 1750 that mathematically divides the octave into twelve equal semitones.

Chromatic scale

A scale containing all twelve available pitches in ascending order within an octave, separated entirely by half steps.

Enharmonic pitches

Two different musical note names or labels that refer to the exact same pitch or piano key.

Diatonic scale

A set of seven pitches arranged in ascending or descending order following a specific sequence of whole steps and half steps.

Tonic pitch

The home note, resting tone, or primary gravitational center of a scale or key ($\hat{1}$).

Dominant pitch

The fifth degree of a scale ($\hat{5}$), serving as a secondary center of gravity pulling away from or resolving to the tonic.

Leading tone

The seventh degree of a scale ($\hat{7}$), located a half step below the upper tonic in major and harmonic minor scales, which strongly pulls upward to resolve to the tonic.

Relative major and minor

Major and minor scales that share the exact same key signature and collection of pitches but start on different tonic notes.

Parallel major and minor

Major and minor scales that share the same starting tonic pitch but utilize different sequences of pitches.

Melody

A coherent series of successive musical pitches perceived by the ear to form a unified whole.

Conjunct melody

A melody that moves smoothly in stepwise motion, consisting primarily of half steps and whole steps.

Disjunct melody

A melody characterized by proportionally large leaps across intervals greater than a major second.

Tessitura

An Italian term referring to the specific portion of a singer's or instrument's total compass where most pitches of a melody lie.

Beat

The steady, regular underlying pulse present in most music.

Tempo

The speed or pace of the underlying beat in a piece of music.

Rubato

An expressive performance practice in which the beat subtly speeds up and slows down for artistic effect rather than maintaining a strict tempo.

Meter

The recurring pattern of strong and weak beats that organizes music into measures, categorized as duple, triple, quadruple, or irregular.

Anacrusis (pickup)

A note or sequence of notes occurring before the first downbeat of a measure.

Simple subdivision

A rhythmic organization in which each main beat is divided into two equal parts.

Compound subdivision

A rhythmic organization in which each main beat is divided into three equal parts.

Syncopation

A rhythmic accentuation occurring when emphasis or stress is placed on weak beats or between beats.

Polyrhythm (cross-rhythm)

The simultaneous performance of two or more conflicting rhythmic patterns within the same meter.

Harmony

The musical sound created when two or more tones are sounded simultaneously.

Chord

A combination of three or more musical pitches sounding at the same time.

Triad

A three-note chord constructed from two stacked intervals of a third.

Root

The fundamental lowest pitch of a triad when structured in root position.

Inversion

A rearrangement of a chord where a note other than its root serves as the lowest-sounding pitch.

Key signature

A group of sharp or flat symbols displayed at the beginning of a musical staff indicating the prevailing key and scale.

Circle of fifths

A circular diagram mapping the relationships among the fifteen major and fifteen minor keys, where clockwise movement advances by perfect fifths adding sharps and counterclockwise movement advances downward by fifths adding flats.

Dissonance

The quality of an interval or chord that sounds tense, unstable, or demanding resolution.

Consonance

The quality of an interval or chord that sounds stable, restful, and resolved.

Tritone

A highly unstable interval spanning three whole steps (six half steps), such as an augmented fourth or diminished fifth.

Modulation

The process of transitioning from one key center to another within a musical work.

Monophony

A musical texture consisting of a single, unaccompanied melodic line performed alone or in unison.

Homophony

A musical texture featuring a prominent primary melody supported by a subordinate harmonic accompaniment.

Polyphony

A musical texture comprising two or more independent melodic lines unfolding simultaneously.

Counterpoint

A complex form of polyphony where separate melodic lines in different registers are coordinated on a note-by-note basis within a shared harmonic framework.

Heterophony

A musical texture in which two or more performers simultaneously play slightly different variants of the exact same melody.

Timbre (tone color)

The distinct quality or acoustic character of a sound wave produced by a specific instrument or voice, governed by its overtone profile.

Dynamics

The volume level—relative loudness or softness—of musical sound.

Staccato

An articulation marking indicating that notes should be played short and detached, leaving silent space before the next pitch.

Legato

An articulation marking indicating that notes should be played smoothly and continuously connected.

Motive (motif)

The smallest identifiable, recurring musical unit characterized by a distinctive melodic and rhythmic profile.

Ostinato

A short, obstinately repeated melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic motif that continues throughout a section or piece.

Phrase

A cohesive musical unit or thought ending in a brief pause or cadence.

Cadence

A harmonic resting point or pause at the conclusion of a musical phrase, section, or complete work.

Coda

A concluding section (meaning "tail" in Italian) appended to the end of a movement or piece to provide final closure.

Fugue

A polyphonic compositional procedure based on imitative counterpoint, built on a single central theme called a subject.

Sonata form

A three-part movement structure consisting of an exposition, development, and recapitulation.

Hocket

A vocal or instrumental technique in which two or more performers rapidly alternate single notes or short phrases so that one sounds while others rest.

Idée fixe

A term coined by Hector Berlioz for a recurring melodic theme symbolizing his "Beloved" across all movements of the Symphonie fantastique.

Word-painting

A compositional device where musical gestures directly imitate or reflect the literal meaning of individual words in the text.

Melisma

A passage of multiple musical notes sung to a single syllable of text.

Break-strain (dog-fight)

A loud, aggressive, call-and-response section in a march that creates dramatic contrast between softer melodic strains.

Grandioso

A broad, stately, and grandiose performance style or section near the end of a march or movement.

Stinger

A single, sudden, loud, staccato chord played by the full ensemble at the very end of a march.

Gating

A technique in electronic music and modern composition where multiple pitches or harmonies are abruptly switched simultaneously.

Block voicing (sectional writing)

A big-band jazz arranging technique where instruments within the same section play in rhythmic unison to produce harmonized chords.

Hemiola

A metric effect in which an established duple or quadruple meter temporarily feels like a triple meter, or vice versa, through shifted accentuation.

A cappella

Vocal music performed without any instrumental accompaniment.