AP music theory terms

Cadence: Ending of a musical phrase

Cadential extension: Extension of a cadence using the same chords

Coda: Closing musical material, not included in the main idea

Codetta: A small coda

Contour: Shape of a melody

Countermelody: Melody that is equally important to the main melody; usually provides consonance

Elision: One phrase connecting to the other

Fragment: Part of a motive

Introduction: A preparatory movement, usually in a slow tempo, to introduce a larger composition. Often associated with Classical and Romantic music but not exclusive to these eras.

Bridge: Connects the B and A sections

Chorus: A group of people singing a song, usually with multiple parts, together; the main tune

Song Form (AABA, ABA, ABA', etc.): The structure of a song

Turnaround: Gets you back to the beginning

Twelve-bar blues: I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, V, IV, IV, I

Augmentation: When the notes in a melody are increased in value, generally by half. Opposite is diminution

Conjunct: Stepwise melodic motion

Diminution: When a melody is played in such a way that the time value of every note is shortened, generally halved. Opposite is augmentation

Disjunct: Melodic motion in intervals larger than a second

Extended version: Wat

Fragmentation: When part of the song is broken into parts

Internal expansion: Expands beyond the expected phrase length

Inversion, melodic inversion: When you take one of the upper notes of a chord or interval and place the notes below it on top

Literal repetition: When sequences are repeated exactly

Motivic repetition: When the rhythmic theme is changed

Octave displacement: Taking a melodic line and moving the notes to a different octave

Retrograde: Backwards modulation

Rhythmic transformation: Rhythm changes

Sequence: A pitch and rhythmic pattern repeated at different pitch levels

Sequential repetition: A sequence that repeats

Shortened version: When a song is shortened

Transposition: Change of key in the entire work

Truncation: To shorten; fragment

Motive: Smallest musical idea

Antecedent: The "call" in a call and response

Consequent: The "response" in a call and response

Contrasting period: When two phrases begin differently

Double period: Two periods put together

Parallel period: When two phrases begin the same

Repeated period: Exact repetition

Phrase group: Group of phrases that seem to belong together without forming a period

Refrain: Similar to a chorus; the main tune

Binary small form: Movement with two main sections (AB)

Rounded binary small form: A B 1/2 A

Ternary: Statement, contrast, return (ABA)

Solo, soli: Group of soloists

Stanza: Different verses

Strophic: Music repeats, lyrics change

Theme: Main idea of the song; what it's about

Thematic transformation: When the theme changes in the song

Through-composed: No form

Tutti: All; everyone

Variation: Material is altered during repetition

Capital Roman numerals: Indicate major triads

Lowercase Roman numerals: Indicate minor triads

Capital Roman numeral with *: Augmented triad

Lowercase Roman numeral with °: Diminished triad

Arabic numerals or figured bass numerals: Denote intervals above the bass and hence indirectly indicate chord inversion. May indicate voice leading and/or nonharmonic tones

Figured bass 6: Indicates first-inversion triad (third on bottom)

Figured bass 6/4: Indicates second-inversion triad (5th on bottom)

Figured bass 7: Indicates root-position seventh chord (root on bottom)

Figured bass °7: Fully diminished seventh chord (diminished triad with minor third on top)

Figured bass ø7: Half-diminished seventh chord (diminished triad with major third on top)

Figured bass 6/5: First-inversion seventh chord (3rd on the bottom)

Figured bass 4/3: Second-inversion seventh chord (5th on the bottom)

Figured bass 4/2: Third-inversion seventh chord (7th on the bottom)

Figured bass 8-7: Suspension where the 8 moves to the 7

9-8, 7-6, 4-3 figured bass: All indicate suspension and a melodic resolution

Accidental before Arabic numeral: Alteration of an interval

A slash through one of the Arabic numerals or a plus after the Arabic numeral: Indicates that the note creating the interval in question is raised a half step

Imperfect authentic cadence: Must end on I chord

Perfect authentic cadence: V to I; in root position; melody ends on tonic

Conclusive cadence: Cadence ends on tonic triad

Deceptive cadence: V to vi

Half cadence: Ends on V

Phrygian half cadence: iv6 to V/V7

Inconclusive cadence: Ends in something other than the tonic chord

Plagal: IV to I

Augmented triad (*): Two major thirds make up the triad

Diminished triad (°): Two minor thirds make up the triad

Major triad (M): A major third, then a minor third, makes up the triad

Minor triad (m): A minor third, then a major third, makes up the triad

Major seventh chord: Major triad with major third on top

Dominant seventh chord: A major triad with a minor third on top

Minor seventh chord: Minor triad with minor third on top

Half-diminished seventh chord: Diminished triad with major third on top

Fully diminished seventh chord: Diminished triad with minor third on top

Tonic: First scale degree

Supertonic: Second scale degree

Mediant: Third scale degree

Subdominant: Fourth scale degree

Dominant: Fifth scale degree

Submediant: Sixth scale degree

Subtonic: Whole step below the tonic

Leading tone: Half step below tonic

Tonic function:

Dominant function: Leads to tonic; sets up half cadence

Predominant function: Sets up dominant-tonic tonalities

Circle of fifths: Keys or tonalities ordered by ascending (for sharp keys) or descending (for flat keys) intervals of a fifth

Deceptive progression: The root of a secondary dominant can move up stepwise in its own deceptive progression

Harmonic rhythm: The rate of chord change, or the series of durational patterns formed by the chord changes in a musical work

Modulation: Change of tone within a piece

Common-tone modulation: Using one or more tones that are common to both keys as an intersection between them

Phrase modulation: Modulations without common chords or tones

Pivot-chord modulation: Using one or more chords that are common to both keys as an intersection between them

Neighboring chord: Lol

Retrogression: Series of chords that weaken tonality

Secondary dominant: The V, or dominant, of a key other than tonic

Secondary leading-tone chord: A leading-tone chord that functions as an applied, or secondary, dominant; usually a fully diminished seventh chord

Tonicization: A chord other than tonic that seems to the ear to be a temporary tonic

Arpeggiating 6/4 chord: A 6/4 created by arpeggiation of the triad in the bass

Cadential 6/4 chord: A I 6/4 preceding the dominant, often at a cadence. Although it contains the notes of the tonic triad, it doesn't exercise a tonic function but rather serves as an embellishment of the dominant. It occurs in a metrically stronger position than the dominant, and the upper voices most often move by step to the tones of the dominant. May also be written as V6/4-5/3, including the resolution of the cadential 6/4 to the dominant

Neighboring or pedal 6/4 chord (embellishing 6/4, auxiliary 6/4): Occurs when the third and the fifth of a root-position triad are embellished by their respective upper neighboring tones while the bass is stationary, usually occurring on a weak beat

Passing 6/4 chord: Harmonizes the second note of a three-note ascending or descending scale fragment in the bass; that is, it harmonizes a bass passing tone. The usual metric placement is on an unaccented beat, and the motion of the upper voices is ordinarily by step

Anticipation: Approached by step or leap; same tone as the following note

Appoggiatura: Approached by leap, resolved by step

Escape tone: Approached by step, resolved by leap

Embellishment: Melodic decoration

Neighboring tone: Also known as Auxiliary tone, embellishing tone, neighbor note

Double neighboring tone: Involves one note on top of the other

Lower neighbor: Approached by step down, resolved by step to the original note

Upper neighbor: Approached by step up, resolved by step down to the original note

Neighbor group (cambiata, changing tones, changing notes): Oh

Ornament: Nonharmonic tones

Passing tone: Approached by step, resolved by step, moving in the same direction

Pedal point: Suspension of the same note throughout

Preparation: Tone preceding suspension

Resolution: When the dissonant note is changed to a consonant one

Retardation: Opposite of a suspension; resolves up instead of down

Suspension: A tone held from one chord into another, and then resolved down to the chordal note

Closed position: Notes placed as close as possible on the staff

Doubling: To duplicate a note into another octave

Open position: Wide intervals between parts

Root: The note a chord is built on

Root position: Root is in the bass

Common tone: A tone that is common in two chords

Contrary motion: When two parts move in opposite directions

Cross relation: When a note sounds with its altered equivalent

Crossed voices: When an upper voice goes below a note used previously in a lower voice, and vice versa

Direct fifths/direct octaves: When the outside voices move in the same direction

Oblique motion: The relative motion of two melodic parts in which one remains in place or moves relatively little while the other moves more actively

Overlapping voices: When an upper voice is lower than a voice below it, and vice versa

Parallel motion: When two voice parts move in the same direction

Objectionable parallels: No

Parallel fifths: When two parts move in the same direction, staying in fifths

Parallel octaves: When two parts move in the same direction, staying in octaves

Similar motion: In part-writing, when two voices of the composition move in the same direction, either ascending or descending, but they do not necessarily cover the same interval

Tendency tone: Note that tends to move in one direction or another

Unresolved leading tone: When the leading tone isn't resolved up to the tonic

Unresolved seventh: When the seventh in a chord isn't resolved down by step

Voice exchange: The repetition of a contrapuntal passage with the parts exchanged. Ex: Voice 1: a b; Voice 2: b a

Arpeggio: Broken chord

Chromatic: Not in the key; a scale that moves by half steps

Common-practice style: Obeys two different kinds of musical norms: first, it uses conventionalized sequences of chords, such as I-IV-V-I. Second, it obeys specific contrapuntal norms, such as the avoidance of parallel fifths and octaves

Consonance: Pleasing to the ear

Diatonic: In the key

Dissonance: Not pleasing to the ear

Figured bass: Arabic numerals that tell where the notes in the chord are placed

Flattened fifth: Flattened fifth note

Lead sheet: Sheet containing words and melody for a song written in simple form

Picardy third: Major third in tonic chord of a minor key

Resolution: Do I really need to define this?

Compound interval: Distance between two notes that exceeds an octave

Half step: When you move from one note directly to the next

Interval: Distance between two notes

Inversion of an interval: To turn an interval upside down

Perfect interval: Unison, fourth, fifth

Major interval: Second, third, sixth, seventh

Minor interval: Second, third, sixth, seventh; lowers them by one half step

Diminished interval: Second, third, sixth, and seventh are lowered another half step from minor. Unison, fourth, and fifth are lowered from their perfect form

Augmented interval: When any interval is raised from its original form

Tritone: Augmented fourth, or diminished fifth

Unison: One note is played/sung

Whole step: Two half steps

Antiphonal: Responsive

Articulation: The style in which an individual note is played

Arco: With the bow

Legato: Smoothly

Marcato: Marked

Pizzicato: Plucking the strings

Slur: To sing to a single syllable or play without a break (two or more tones of different pitch)

Staccato: Short, detached

Tenuto: Hold

Call and response: What the name says?

Dynamics: Marks the volume of the song

Crescendo: Gradually louder

Diminuendo/decrescendo: Gradually softer

Terraced dynamics: Volume levels shift quickly

Pianissimo (pp): Very soft

Piano (p): Soft

Mezzo piano (mp): Medium soft

Mezzo forte (mf): Medium loud

Forte (f): Loud

Fortissimo (ff): Very loud

Phrasing: A division of a composition, commonly a passage of four or eight measures, forming part of a period

Tempo: The speed of the piece

Adagio: Slow and stately

Allegro: Fast and bright

Andante: Walking speed

Andantino: Slightly faster than andante

Grave: Slow and solemn

Largo: Very slow

Lento: Very, very slow

Moderato: Moderately

Presto: Very fast

Vivace: Lively and fast

Accelerando: Gradually speed up

Ritardando: Gradually slower

Ritenuto: Gradually decreasing tempo

Rubato: To be played with a flexible tempo

Accent: Stress

Agogic accent: Stress given to a note through prolonged duration

Dynamic accent: Occurs when a performer emphasizes a tone by playing it more loudly than the tones around it

Metrical accent: The pattern of strong and weak beats based on the weight of the downbeat and the lift of the upbeat

Anacrusis: Pickup note or figure

Asymmetrical meter: A compound meter with beat units of unequal duration; typically created by five- or seven-beat divisions, grouped into lengths such as 2 + 3 or 2 + 3 + 2

Bar line: The line that shows where one measure stops and another begins

Beat: The pulse in a song

Compound beat: A beat that subdivides into three parts

Simple beat: A beat that subdivides into two parts

Changing meter: A common trait in 20th-century music; time signature changes frequently and unpredictably; a rejection of standard metrical patterns in favor of nonsymmetrical groupings (Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra)

Cross rhythm (polyrhythm): Two conflicting rhythms used at the same time; also known as polyrhythm

Dot on the side of a note: Takes half the length of the note it's beside

Dotted rhythm: Long-short rhythmic pattern in which a dotted note is followed by a note that is much shorter

Duplet: A group of two notes played in the time usually taken to play three

Hemiola: A shift in the rhythmic pulse from a division of 2 to a division of 3, or vice versa; e.g., changing from 6/8 time to 3/4 time

Irregular meter: Asymmetrical groupings with different numbers of beats per measure

Meter: How the pulse/beat is established

Duple meter: 2 beats per measure

Quadruple meter: 4 beats per measure

Triple meter: 3 beats per measure

Rhythm: The rate at which notes are played

Swing rhythm: Rhythm where notes with equal written time values are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short

Syncopation: The accenting of musical beats not normally accented; notes that aren't played on the beat

Tie: When a note in one measure is held into the next

Time signature: The top number is the number of beats in the measure. The bottom number is the note that gets the beat

Triplet: Three notes played in the space of one or two

Accidental: Alters a note up or down a half step

Major scale: In the key of C (up and down): C D E F G A B C B A G F E D C

Harmonic minor scale: In the key of A (up and down): A B C D E F G# A G# F E D C B A

Melodic minor scale: In the key of A (up and down): A B C D E F# G# A G F E D C B A

Ionian scale: A major scale

Dorian scale: Natural minor with a raised 6

Phrygian scale: Natural minor with a flat 2

Lydian scale: Major scale with raised 4

Mixolydian scale: Major scale with flat 7

Aeolian scale: Natural minor scale

Locrian scale: Natural minor scale with a flat 2 and 5

Modality: The state of being modal

Parallel key: Two keys that share the same tonic but not the same key

Relative key: Two scales that have the same key, but not the same tonic

Tetrachord: Series of four notes having a pattern of whole step, whole step, half step

Tonality, tonal: Principle of organization around a tonic, or home, pitch, based on a major or minor scale

Whole-tone scale: Moving only by whole steps

Melismatic: Notes sung to one syllable

Syllabic: One note per syllable

Alberti bass: 1 5 3 5; broken bass

Canon: A contrapuntal piece of music in which a melody in one part is imitated exactly in other parts, starting at different points

Chordal accompaniment: The underlying harmonic support for a melody; chords may be blocked or broken

Contrapuntal, counterpoint: Voices working against each other

Imitation: A copy that is represented as the original

Imitative polyphony: Technique in which each phrase of a composition is addressed by all the voices, which enter successively in imitation of each other

Nonimitative polyphony: Two or more melodic lines playing distinct melodies

Countermelody: Accompanying melody sounding against the principal melody

Fugal imitation: Imitation of the subject that enters at a different pitch level; almost like a sequence

Heterophony, heterophonic: One melodic line being improvised upon

Homophony, homophonic: Melodic accompaniment

Chordal homophony: Sameness, regarding rhythm and melody

Chordal texture (homorhythmic): A type of homophonic texture, with pitches sounding simultaneously

Brass: The section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments

Continuo: A bass part written out in full and accompanied by numbers to indicate the chords to be played

Percussion: The section of a band or orchestra that plays percussion instruments

Rhythm section: The section within a jazz band, usually consisting of drums, double bass, piano, banjo, and/or guitar, that establishes the harmony and rhythm

Strings: The section of an orchestra that plays stringed instruments

Timbre: The distinguishing quality of a sound

Woodwinds: Wind instruments that include the piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone

Monophony, monophonic: One tone

Obbligato: A part of the score that must be performed without change or omission

Ostinato: A musical phrase repeated over and over during a composition

Polyphony, polyphonic: Many voices/tones

Contrapuntal: Having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together

Tessitura: Most widely used range of pitches in a piece of 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

Aria: A song from a larger work

Art song: A song that stands alone

Concerto: Solo instrument and orchestra

Fugue: A musical form consisting of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below its first statement

Genre: Style, category of music

Opera: Staged vocal work

Prelude: A part of a song before the main section

Postlude: A part of the song after the main section

Sonata: ABA form

String quartet: 2 violins, a viola, and a cello

Symphony: A piece for an orchestra with many movements

Modulation: A change of key within a piece

Pizzicato: Plucked string (tighten or loosen pegs to change pitch)

Changing tone: Approach by step, jump a third, resolve by step to the original note