AP Music Theory Vocabulary List

Parallel Keys

major and minor scales which share the same first scale degree

Homophonic texture

lines of music all move together to new pitches at roughly the same time

Polyphonic texture

two or more lines of music that are free and independent of each other, often entering at different times

Relative Keys

major and minor keys which share the same key signature

Monophonic texture

a single line of music with no harmony

Basso continuo

continuous bass; a small ensemble of at least two instrumentalists who provide a foundation for the melody or melodies above; heard almost exclusively in Baroque music

Walking bass

a bass line that moves at a moderate pace, mostly in equal note values, and often stepwise up or down the scale

Alberti bass

An accompaniment derived from broken chords, typically in the pattern of root-5th-3rd-5th

Pedal point

a sustained note over which harmonies change

Terrace dynamics

Expressive style typical of some early music in which dynamic levels shift abruptly from soft to loud and back without gradual crescendos and decrescendos.

Accelerando

gradually getting faster

Ritardando

gradually getting slower

Imitation

the repetition of a melodic pattern that occurs between two or more voices

Augmentation

Statement of a melody in longer note values, often twice as slow as the original.

Canon

a melody that is performed identically by different voices with staggered entrances

Hemiola

a shift in the rhythmic pulse from a division of 2 to a division of 3, or vice versa

Anacrusis

pick up note

Imitative polyphony

technique in which similar melodic material is passed from part to part

Largo/Lento

tempo-very slow

Phrygian half cadence

cadence moving from iv6 to V in minor

Syncopation

accented notes that fall off the beat

Allegro

rapid; lively tempo

Adagio

a slow tempo (between andante and largo)

Andante

walking pace tempo

Melisma

Use of many notes on one syllable of text

Cross rhythm (polyrhythm)

simultaneous combination of contrasting rhythms

Phrase group

consists of at least two phrases whose melodies begin similarly and has the final phrase ending in a half cadence

Retrograde

a group of notes played backwards from a previous statement of a similar pattern

Octatonic Scale

a scale that alternates between whole and half steps or half and whole steps

Tessitura

the range within which most notes lie

Articulation

characteristics of the attack, duration, and decay of a given note (ex. staccato, legato, marcato, etc.)

Fragmentation

Breaking a melodic idea down into smaller parts

Diminution

the shortening of the time values of the notes of a melody

Embellishment/Ornamentation

Decorative notes not essential to the harmony

Motivic transformation

subtle changes in rhythm or pitch to a melodic idea

Ostinato

a continually repeated pattern either tonal, rhythmic, or both

Conjuct Motion

Stepwise melodic motion

Disjunct motion

motion by leaps, especially large leaps

Simliar motion

voices move in the same direction but not by the same interval

Syllabic

melodic style of one note set to each text syllable

Conjunct

smooth, connected melody that moves principally by small intervals

Disjunct

disjointed or disconnected melody with many leaps

Grave

very slow, solemn

Half cadence

A cadence which ends with the V chord

Perfect Authentic Cadence (PAC)

V-I or V7-I cadence with both chords in root

position and final soprano note on tonic

Imperfect Authentic Cadence (IAC)

V - I, but with either an inverted chord, or soprano not finishing on the tonic.

Deceptive Cadence

V to anything but I (usually vi)

Plagal Cadence

IV-I

Compound meter

Meter in which each beat is subdivided into three rather than two.

Simple Meter

Meter in which each beat is subdivided into two

Inverted melody

A variation of a melody where every interval is kept the same but now moves in the opposite direction (e.g. a rising 3rd becomes a falling 3rd)

Appoggiatura

approached by leap, left by step

Escape tone

approached by step, left by leap in opposite direction

Suspension

A non chord tone that has been held from the previous chord and resolved downward by step

Sequence

repetition of a melodic pattern at a higher or lower pitch

Heterophonic

Texture in which two or more voices (or parts) elaborate the same melody simultaneously

Pizzicato

plucking the strings instead of using a bow

Cross relation

Occurs when a pitch in one voice is followed by a chromatic alteration of the same pitch in another voice

Voice exchange

the repetition of a contrapuntal passage with the voices' parts exchanged.

EX:

Voice 1: a b

voice 2: b a

Rubato

Flexible tempo