A
accent – an emphasis or prominence given to one note or chord over another; a notation mark designating that one note or chord be emphasized over another;
arpeggio – the occurrence of a triad played one note at a time; scale degrees 1, 3, and 5 from a major scale played melodically, one at a time; a chord that is broken up so that the notes are played one at a time;
B
bar – a measure; the metric unit between two bar lines on the staff; the unit of any given meter or time signature; a segment of time defined by a group of beats
beat – regular, recurrent pulsation in most music; also known as pulse;
binary form – a musical structure or form consisting of two parts usually diagrammed as AB; the sections of a binary form may or may not be repeated;
C
cadence – a resting point or place of resolution at the end of a phrase or melody; a series of chords progressing to a harmonic close; a chord progression that concludes a section, phrase, or piece of music;
canon – a music structure where one voice repeats the part of another throughout the whole piece; a composition where a melody is imitated by one or more voices at fixed intervals and time; an imitative polyphonic texture where two (2) or more voices play the same melody all the way through without variation;
chords – a group of three (3) or more pitches sounding together at the same time to produce a harmony; the simplest chord is called a triad;
chord progression – a series of chords sounding in succession; chord changes; a shift in harmony from one simultaneity to another;
chromatic scale – a scale produced by playing the white and black keys on the piano in order; the most basic scale comprised of a series of half steps or semitones; a twelve (12) note scale using all the half steps within an octave;
consonance – a combination of pitches (harmony or melody) that are considered stable and without tension; the opposite of consonance is dissonance;
contrasting
counterpoint
crescendo – music getting louder; an increase in volume; opposite of decrescendo;
D
decrescendo – music getting softer; a decrease in volume; also known as diminuendo; opposite of crescendo;
diminuendo
dissonance – a combination of pitches (harmony or melody) that are considered unstable and tense; the opposite of dissonance is consonance;
downbeat – the first beat of each measure (the downbeat); any beat that directly aligns with the pulse (a downbeat);
duple meter
dynamics
F
fermata – music notation symbol that tells the performer to hold a note longer than its normal value which temporarily suspends the beat;
form
forte
fortissimo
H
half note
hammer on
harmony – the vertical aspect of pitch with two or more sounding at the same time; the occurrence of simultaneous pitches represented by a chord; a combination of pitches sounding together;
homophony
I
imitation –
interval – the distance between two pitches in a melody or harmony; examples of an interval are unison, octave, and half step among others; another word that describes an interval between two notes is dyad;
K
key
key signature
L
legatto
M
major scale – seven (7) note scale produced by playing the white keys on the piano from C up or down to C; scale generated by placing seven consecutive perfect fifths within one octave; scale comprised of whole steps (W) and half steps (H) with an interval pattern of WWHWWWH;
measure – a bar; the metric unit between two bar lines on the staff; the unit of any given meter or time signature; a segment of time defined by a group of beats
melody – rhythm + pitch; the horizontal aspect of pitch with multiple pitches sounding one at a time in succession;
meter – the organization of beats into regular groups;
mezzo forte
mezzo piano
minor scale
modulation
monophony
N
note
O
octave – an interval of twelve (12) half steps between two notes of the same name; the eighth (8) note in a major scale;
offbeat
onbeat
ostinato
P
phrases
piano
pianissimo
pitch
pitch range
polyphony
polyrhythm
pull off
pulse – regular, recurrent beat in most music; also known as beat;
Q
quadruple meter
quarter note
quintuple meter
R
repetition
rhythm – the ordered flow of music through time; the way the music flows between the beats;
round
rubato
S
semitone
septuple meter
sequence
sextuple meter
staccato
staff
syncopation – an emphasis of a part of the beat other than the downbeat; a rhythmic stress on a normally unstressed part of the beat; a shift in accept from the downbeat to the upbeat; also known as counterpoint rhythm; an inversion of the rhythmic accent;
T
tempo – the speed, pace, or rate of the beat of the music;
ternary form
texture
theme
theme and variations
third
timbre – tone; sound quality; tonal color; the quality of sound of an instrument or voice;
tonality
tone
tonic
triad – the simplest chord comprised of three (3) notes; a major triad is built using scale degrees 1, 3, and 5 from a major scale;
triple meter
U
unison – an interval of zero (0) between two notes of the same name; two identical pitches produced by two different voices sound sources; two pitches of the same frequency played at the same time; the smallest interval;
upbeat
V
variation
W
whole tone
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