Music Fundamentals Notes - Sound, Silence, Pitch, and Duration

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts from the lecture notes on sound, silence, pitch, duration, and note/rest notation.

Sound

The audible element of music produced by vibrating objects and organized in time.

Silence

The absence of sound, represented in notation by rests.

Note

A symbol that represents both a pitch and a duration within a measure.

Rest

A symbol that represents silence and its duration within a measure.

Pitch

The frequency of sound waves that determines how high or low a note sounds, measured in Hz.

Duration (Value)

The length of time a note lasts, measured in beats within a measure.

Frequency

The rate at which a sound wave vibrates; determines pitch, measured in Hertz (Hz).

Solfège

Syllables such as Do, Re, Mi used to name scale degrees in Western music systems.

A–G Notes

Alphabetic names for pitches in Western music (A through G).

Measure

A segment of time in music containing a set number of beats.

Beat

The basic unit of time within a measure used to count duration.

Whole Note

A note lasting four beats in common time (no stem, hollow head).

Half Note

A note lasting two beats (hollow head with a stem).

Quarter Note

A note lasting one beat (filled head with a stem).

Eighth Note

A note lasting half a beat (filled head with a stem and one flag).

Sixteenth Note

A note lasting a quarter of a beat (filled head with a stem and two flags).

Dotted Note

A note length increased by adding a dot, which adds half of the note’s value to its duration.

Dotted Half Note

A half note extended from 2 beats to 3 beats by a dot.

Whole Rest

Silence for the duration of a whole note (4 beats).

Half Rest

Silence for the duration of a half note (2 beats).

Quarter Rest

Silence for one beat.

Eighth Rest

Silence for half a beat.

Sixteenth Rest

Silence for a quarter of a beat.