Comprehensive Music Theory and Performance Study Guide

Al fine: Used as a direction in music to return to the start of a section and repeat it up to the point marked "fine."
fine: Indicates when a piece should end; translated as "the end of."
De Capo (D.C.): A direction meaning "From the beginning, repeat."

A tempo: A direction to return to the original tempo.
Adagio: Played at a slow tempo, specifically between $55-65$ beats per minute.
Andante: Played in a slow and stately manner (at ease), specifically between $66-76$ beats per minute.
Moderato: A moderate tempo between $108-120$ beats per minute.
Allegretto: Moderately fast, specifically between $98-109$ beats per minute.
Allegro: Fast, quickly, and bright; specifically between $109-132$ beats per minute.
Vivace: Very quick, upbeat tempo, described as "lively"; specifically between $132-176$ beats per minute.
Presto: Very fast, specifically between $168-200$ beats per minute.
Accelerando: Indicates a gradual tempo increase.
Rallentando: Indicates a gradual slowdown of the tempo.
Ritardando: Indicates an abrupt holding back of the tempo.

Accent: A momentary emphasis placed on a particular rhythmic or melodic detail.
Marcato: A specific type of accent that is characterized by being staccato.
Tenuto: Musical instruction to hold a tone or chord firmly to its full value.
Tie: The technique of playing through the same note without tonguing.
Slur: The technique of playing through different notes without tonguing.
Staccato: A detached or disconnected playing style.
Legato: A technique of playing a fluid, continuous motion of notes.
Cantabile: Played in a singing manner.
Dolce: Played in a soft, smooth manner.
Espressivo: Played in an expressive manner.

Contrary Motion: Occurs when two voices move in opposite directions to each other, either by step or by leap.
Enharmonic: Refers to when two notes sound the same but are written differently.
Interval: Defined as a difference in pitch between two sounds.
Phrase: A unit of musical meter that possesses a complete musical sense of its own. It is built from figures, motifs, and cells, and combines with others to form melodies, periods, and larger sections.
Diatonic: Any stepwise arrangement of the seven "natural" pitches (scale degrees) forming an octave without altering the established pattern of a key or mode. It consists of $5$ whole steps and $2$ half steps (usually $2-3$ notes apart).
Dominant: The fifth tone or degree of a diatonic scale.
Tonic: The first note or degree of any diatonic scale.

Major Scale Construction: Follows the pattern $W - W - H - W - W - W - H$ .
Minor Scale: Natural: Follows the pattern $W - H - W - W - H - W - W$ .
Minor Scale: Harmonic: Follows the pattern $W - H - W - W - H - W - 1.5W$ .
Minor Scale: Melodic: The $6\text{th}$ and $7\text{th}$ notes are raised $1$ semitone when ascending, but are not raised when descending.
Relative Minor Scale: If a scale has the same key signature as a relative major scale, go down a minor $3\text{rd}$ to find the relative minor scale. - Example: $C$ major $\rightarrow$ $A$ minor scale ( $A$ , $B\flat$ , $B$ , $C$ ).

Major Chord: Constructed using a Root, a major $3\text{rd}$ ( $4$ semitones above the root), and the major $5\text{th}$ ( $7$ semitones above the root).
Minor Chord: Constructed using a Root, a minor $3\text{rd}$ ( $3$ semitones above the root), and the major $5\text{th}$ ( $7$ semitones above the root).

Major (sharp): The order is $FCGDAEB$ . To identify the key, go one up from the last sharp.
Major (flat): The order is $BEADGCF$ . To identify the key, look at the second to last flat.