Unit 1 - Listen and Describe What You Hear

Vocabulary terms, musical elements, and song examples from Unit 1: Listen and Describe What You Hear.

Melody

Memorizable sequence of notes

Pitch

How high or low a sound is

Phrase

A short musical idea, comparable to a sentence in speech

Riff

A short melodic fragment that repeats itself

Hook

A catchy musical idea that helps make a song memorable

Syncopation

Placing emphasis on unexpected or weaker beats

Stephen Foster - "Old Folks at Home"

An example of a melody helped by the way the music follows the natural rise and fall of the words

Chuck Berry - "Maybellene"

An example that uses short melodic phrases and recognizable riffs, showing that guitar can also play melodic ideas