Instrumental Music
Music that lacks vocals.
Melody
The sequential arrangement of the notes of the scale into a coherent pattern.
(The primary/lead/front-line notes played, not part of the background/rhythm section).
Texture
Texture arises out of the sum total of all the different sounds you hear – the number and kind of instruments playing and the manner in which they are being played.
Chord
Three or more notes being played simultaneously as one. Chords are the basic unit of harmony.
Beat
A steady pulse (like a heartbeat) in music.

Also could refer to, a single instance of rhythm.

Rhythm
The experience of music through time (vague much?).

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Paraphrased definition: The flow of music, its characteristics, and its patterns as time passes.

Alternative definition (to help better get a grasp on what rhythm is): the pattern of regular or irregular pulses caused in music by the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats.

Tempo
The speed of the music’s beat, ordinarily ranging from forty to two-hundred beats per minute.
Meter
The organization of music into regular groups of beats representing strong and weak pulses.

A group of beats.

Duple Meter is when music alternates between two types of pulses; strong and weak (such as ONE!-two, ONE!-two). Or, in one common form of duple meter, music features four pulses with the first and pulse receiving the strongest accent and third pulse receiving a strong pulse than that of two and four (i.e. – ONE!-two-THREE-four).

Triple meter is when two weak pulses separate a single strong pulse (i.e. ONE-two-three).

Most music has meter.

Bar (also called a Measure)
Single instance of the meter.
Form
Defined by the way in which larger sections of music are organized.

For example: 32-bar AABA form has four sections: A, A, B, and A. Each section is 8 of the 32 total bars. The A sections are musically similar or identical, while the B section is performed differently.

Section
Comprised of a large set of measures and can be divided further into smaller sets/groups of measures called phrases.
Phrase
A small set of measures/bars that often correlates to a complete single line of music on a page.
Cadence
Notes or chords played at the end of a section or phrase which are played with the intention of instilling a feeling of closure for that section or phrase.

Also can refer to a common closing chord progression.

Introduction
The very beginning of a piece of music which sets up an entrance into the melody and first section.
32-bar AABA Song Form
Presents the melody in four sections labelled A,A,B, and A; each section is eight bars long, totaling 32 bars.
Head
Describes the A section or principal melody of a song.
Bridge
Describes the B-section of a song (as opposed to the Head or A-section of a song).
Prime
(Represented on music sheets by the ‘ character.)
Is added to a section’s letter and indicates that the repeated section will be modified in its form.

For example: in 32-bar AABA form, if it is written as AA’BA”; this indicates that the first repeating of the A section (represented by A’) is modified in some way and the second repeating of section A (represented by A”) indicates that it will be repeated in yet another separate modified way.

Piano Trio
A performance group mode up of piano, bass, and drums.

An alternative is piano, bass, and guitar.

Harmony
Is what defines a chord, generally a group of three or four notes played simultaneously.

Additional Definition: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect.

Improvisation (also called an Improvised Solo)
A performance technique in which the improviser/soloist spontaneously creates a melody that fits the form and harmony of the piece.