Introduction to Music Appreciation Review

Vocabulary review covering key fundamentals of music appreciation, including musical parameters, branches of musicology, acoustics, auditory anatomy, and music notation.

Motive

A short musical idea that is developed through variation techniques.

Theme

A musical idea that is slightly longer and generally more melodic than a motive.

Symphony Orchestra Sections

The four main sections of the symphony orchestra: strings, winds, brass, and percussion.

Orchestration

How a composer uses the instrument colors of the orchestral sections in different combinations.

Musical Parameters

The three main elements to listen for in a piece of music: tempo, dynamics, and articulation.

Tempo

The speed of the beat in a piece of music (for example, allegro means the beat passes quickly).

Dynamics

The measurement of musical volume (for example, $p$ or $f$).

Articulation

The measurement of how individual notes are played (for example, staccato or legato).

Music History

The branch of musicology that emphasizes the study of Western art music.

Ethnomusicology

The branch of musicology that stresses music study across many cultural contexts.

Music Theory

The branch of musicology where theorists analyze music from a historical perspective and develop new techniques for analyzing current trends in music composition.

Systematic Musicology

The branch of musicology comprising disciplines that approach music from a nonhistorical perspective, such as musical acoustics.

Tonality

A musical system that creates a hierarchy between notes in which one note serves as the center tone.

Twelve-Tone System

A system created by Arnold Schoenberg in the early twentieth century where each note is given equal importance, initiating the breakdown of tonality in modern music.

Program Music

Music that tells a story, which became very popular in the later nineteenth century as advocated by Hector Berlioz.

Absolute Music

Music that has no descriptive purpose.

Compression

An area of high pressure formed when molecules of air are pushed together.

Rarefaction

An area of low pressure formed when molecules of air are pulled apart.

Frequency

How many sound waves occur in a certain amount of time, perceived as high or low pitch.

Amplitude

The distance from the top or bottom of a sound wave to the middle of the wave, perceived as loud or soft volume.

Wavelength

The distance between identical points on sound waves.

Fundamental Frequency

The lowest frequency of a sound spectrum.

Overtones

Acoustic frequencies produced when a vibrating object vibrates in segments (half, thirds, fourths, fifths, etc.).

Timbre

The unique sound quality of different instruments and voices produced by the spectrum of sound and the relative prominence of each overtone.

Outer Ear

The anatomical part of the ear that collects and focuses incoming sound waves.

Middle Ear

The anatomical part of the ear that converts sound waves into mechanical waves.

Inner Ear

The anatomical part of the ear that converts mechanical waves into electrical waves transmitted to the brain.

Human Audible Frequency Range

The span of frequencies audible to human ears, extending from $20\,\text{Hz}$ to approximately $20{,}000\,\text{Hz}$.

Threshold of Hearing

The softest sound that human ears can hear, measuring $0\,\text{dB}$.

Sound Pain Threshold

The volume range at which sound causes physical pain to the ear, spanning $120\text{-}135\,\text{dB}$.

Music Staff

A musical framework made up of five lines and four spaces that follows an alternating pattern of line, space, line, space from note to note.

Clefs (Highest to Lowest)

Treble, alto, and bass; high-range instruments like the violin use the treble clef, while middle-range instruments like the viola use the alto clef.

Grand Staff

A musical staff combining the treble and bass clefs into one, commonly read by pianists.

Quarter Note

A rhythmic note that receives one beat in a four-beat pattern.

Eighth Note

A rhythmic note that receives only half of a beat.