All-State Music Vocabulary List (Pages 1–2)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key musical terms from the 9-12 All-State Music Vocabulary List.

A tempo

Return to the original tempo after deviation.

Accelerando

Gradually becoming faster.

Allargando

Slowing of tempo, usually with increasing volume; usually toward the end.

Allegro con spirito

Fast tempo with spirit.

Anacrusis

Upbeat or pickup notes at the start of a piece.

Andante

Moderately slow tempo, at a walking pace.

Arpeggio

Notes of a chord played in succession rather than simultaneously; a broken chord.

Bel canto

Beautiful singing; an Italian opera term.

Binary form

AB form of a composition with two distinct sections.

Cantabile

In a singing style; singable.

Chromatic motion

Movement by half steps; describes harmony or melody using semitones within an octave.

Da Capo (D.C.)

Repeat from the beginning of the composition.

Descant

A high obligato part above the melody.

Divisi

Singers on the same part are divided to sing different parts.

Dolce

Sweetly, usually also softly.

Espressivo

To play or sing with expression.

Falsetto

Vocal phonation enabling singing notes beyond the normal vocal range.

Fermata

A pause or hold.

Form

The organization and structure of a composition.

Grandioso

Grand, majestic.

Improvisation

Music created spontaneously.

Interval

The distance between two pitches; the relationship between an upper and a lower pitch.

Largo

Very slow and broad.

Ledger lines

Short horizontal lines used to extend a staff higher or lower.

Legato

To play or sing in a smooth, connected manner.

L'istesso

The beat remains constant when the meter changes.

Meno mosso

Less motion.

Meter

Indicated by a time signature; can be simple or compound.

Mezzo forte

Medium loud.

Modulation

To change key within a composition.

Motif

A short musical idea or melodic theme, usually shorter than a musical phrase.

Niente

Dying away to nothing.

Opera

A major vocal work that involves theatrical elements.

Oratorio

A large-scale musical composition on a sacred subject.

Part song

An unaccompanied homophonic choral composition for three or more voices.

Poco piu mosso

A little more motion.

Presto

Very fast; faster than allegro.

Rallentando

Gradually slowing down.

Rubato

Flexibility of tempo; speeding up and slowing down for expressive effect.

Senza

Without.

Sforzando

Strongly accented; forced.

Solfege

A system for teaching sight-singing (Do-Re-Mi).

Sotto voce

Softly; undertone or subdued voice.

Strophic

Describes a song where the stanzas are sung to the same music.

Subito

Suddenly; quickly.

Tessitura

The most widely used range of pitches in a piece.

Tranquillo

To perform in a relaxed tempo.

Triad

A three-note chord consisting of the root, third, and fifth.

Vibrato

A rapid fluctuation of pitch slightly higher or lower than the main pitch.

Vivace

Lively; briskly.