Music Theory and Piano Basics Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering introductory music theory concepts, note values, rests, fingerings, piano keys, and treble staff note identification.

Beat

A steady, recurring pulse.

Rest

A period or state of silence in music.

Meter

A pattern of strong and weak beats.

Simple Meter

A meter in which beats are divided into $2$ notes.

Compound Meter

A meter in which beats are divided into $3$ notes.

Time Signature- Notation that shows how many beats are in each measure and which note equals one beat.

Whole Note- A musical note worth $4$ beats.

Half Note- A musical note that gets $2$ beats.

Dotted Half Note- A musical note that gets $3$ beats.

Quarter Note- A musical note that gets $1$ beat.

Dotted Quarter Note- A musical note that gets one and a half ($1\frac{1}{2}$) beats.

Eighth Note- A musical note that is a half ($\frac{1}{2}$) of a beat.

Whole Rest- A musical rest worth $4$ beats.

Half Rest- A musical rest worth $2$ beats.

Quarter Rest- A musical rest worth $1$ beat.

Eighth Rest- A musical rest worth $\frac{1}{2}$ beat.

Finger Numbers

A system of numbering fingers for playing music, where finger $1$ is the thumb and finger $5$ is the pinky for both Left Hand and Right Hand.

Name the musical alphabet.

The seven letters used to name musical pitches: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Pitch

The highness or lowness of a sound.

Moving DOWN on the Piano

Moving toward lower sounds on the piano keyboard, where the musical alphabet goes backward- going to the left on the keyboard.

Moving UP on the Piano

Moving toward higher sounds on the piano keyboard, where the musical alphabet goes forward- going to the right on the piano.

What is a staff?

Five lines on which music is written, with lines and spaces numbered from the bottom to the top.

Treble Clef- A symbol used for higher notes that circles the note G on the second line of the staff. It is usually played with the right hand.

Name the letter names of the treble clef line notes. (Line Notes Mnemonic Device- a mnemonic device is a tool for remembering something)

The memory phrase "Every Good Boy Does Fine" (or "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge"), representing the treble line notes E, G, B, D, F from bottom to top.

Name the letter names of the treble clef space notes.Space Notes Mnemonic Device

The word "FACE", representing the treble space notes F, A, C, E from bottom to top.

Piano Key D

Piano Key E

Piano Key F

Piano Key G

Piano Key A

Piano Key B

Piano Key C