IB Music Vocab Terms

Amplitude

determines how loud the sound will be

Articulation

ways a note can be attacked and connected to other notes

Beat

the primary pulse in a musical meter (metronome, steady)

enharmonic

pitches that sound the same but are spelled differently

rhythm

the patterns made by the durations of pitch and silence (notes and rests) in a piece

pitch

a tone sounding in a particular octave

harmonic minor

raised 7th (by a 1/2 step, leading tone)

melodic mnor

raised 6th and 7th

subtonic

1 whole step below the tonic (-1)

tonic

the tonal center and most important note of the scale, known as the name of the scale (1)

supertonic

the 2nd degree, 1 whole step above the tonic

mediant

the 3rd degree (between supertonic and subdominant)

subdominant

the 4th degree

dominant

the 5th degree (5)

submediant

the 6th degree, between subdominant and tonic

leading tone

7th degree, 1/2 step below the tonic

creates a strong pull toward the tonic

octave

a musical interval between two notes with the same name, where one has double the frequency of the other (A4 -> A5)

scale

collection of pitches arranged in a particular order of whole and half steps

major seventh

11 half steps (C to B) (Over the rainbow- 2nd note)

major sixth

9 half steps (C to A)

perfect fifth

7 half steps (C to G) (Twinkle twinkle little star)

perfect fourth

5 half steps (C to F) (Wedding song; here comes the bride)

major thrid

4 half steps/2 whole steps (C to E) (Do to Mi)

major second

2 half steps/1 whole step (C to D) (Happy bday song)

interval

the amount of steps between two notes (you count the first note)

unison

zero steps between two notes

natural

cancels an accidental previously in effect

double flat

lowers the pitch of a note two half steps

flat

lowers the pitch of a note 1 half step

double sharp

raises the pitch of a note two half steps (One whole step) above its natural pitch

sharp

raises the pitch of a note 1/2 step

accidental

a sign at the left of a musical note, indicates a change in the note's pitch

major scale

WWhWWWh

minor scale

WhWWhWW

Timbre

musical texture or sound color

Order of flats

BEADGCF

Order of sharps

FCGDAEB

circle of fifths/circle of fourths

up a fifth when you add a sharp (left=fifths, right=fourths)

pulse

repeating beat throughout a song (how it feels)

meter

a hierarchical arrangement of beats and their divisions, strong or weak

simple meter

beat notes divide into 2 parts

compound meter

beat notes divide into 3 parts; dotted notes

time signiture

refers to the structure of each measure

tempo

how fast/slow music is played

Grave

very slow, solemn (20-40 BPM)

Largo

broadly (45 BPM)

Larghetto

rather broadly (50 BPM)

Lento

slow (40-45 BPM)

Adagio

slow, "at ease" (55-65 BPM)

Andante

at a walking pace (73 BPM)

Andantino

a little faster than andante (78 BPM)

Moderato

moderately (86 BPM)

Allegro moderato

moderately quickly (98 BPM)

Allegro

fast, quickly, and bright (109-132 BPM)

Vivace

lively and fast (132-140 BPM)

Presto

very fast (168-177 BPM)

Prestissimo

extremely fast (178+ BPM)

Accelerando

increase the speed

Ritarando

slow down gradually

Ritenuto

slow down abruptly

rubato

borrowed time; general freedom with respect to tempo (some notes longer, some shorter) *expression!

subito (sub.)

suddenly (change in dynamics)

sforzando (sfz)

Sudden strong accent

Solfedge

do re mi fa so la ti do