AP Music Theory Melodic Composition Vocabulary

Phrase

Melodies are single thoughts that move toward a goal, the cadence.

Antecedent

The most common phrase that ends in a half cadence

Consequent

The most common second phrase that ends in a perfect authentic cadence

Parallel Period

Two phrases begin identically or the second is the variation of the first

Contrasting Period

Two phrases that are different from each other

Repeated Parallel Period

two phrases that form an exactly repeated period

Repetition

The most critical aspect of musical structure to balance the music. Familiar and then to the unfamiliar

motive or motif

a short group of notes is repeated throughout the melody to establish identity and theme. can be associated with a person, place or idea

motif fragmentation

a portion of the melody is used, either repeated or varied

melody sequence

a form of repeating the melody starting on a different pitch

melody inversion

the imitation of the melody performed upside-down from the original melody

Mirror inversion

Melody intervals are exactly up a specific interval or inverted down an exact interval

Retrograde melody

the melody is backwards and inverted

Ornamentation

technique of adding or decorating the melody with non-chord tones

Octave Displacement

moving one or more notes of the melody to a different octave

Mode Mixture

Combining chords from parallel major or minor mode to provide more harmonic choices to increase the variation choices

Rhythmic Transformation

change the order of the motive or theme's rhythm

Rhythmic Augmentation

Rhythmic variation where pitches remain the same but rhythms are equally lengthened, notes are made longer

Rhythmic Diminution

Rhythmic variation where the pitches remain the same but the rhythms are equally shortened

Rhythmic Displacement

The rhythmic structure is mostly the same but starts on a different beat

Non-Chord Tones Types

Appoggiatura, escape tones, passing tones, suspension and neighbor tones

Non-Chord Tones

These embellished or ornamented notes are not part of the harmonic structure, meaning the chord, and create temporary dissonance against the other members of the chord