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| a technique used by string players to produce a staccato articulation; involves plucking the strings of an instrument with the fingertip or nail rather than using the bow |
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| unaccompanied sacred song in free rhythm with no harmony |
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| a compositional device in which a melody is accompanied by a chord or interval that moves parallel to the melodic contour |
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| Italian: “little by little” |
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| more than one chord played or sung at once |
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| music that implies a feeling of several meters being played or sung simultaneously |
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| a musical texture in which two melodies are sung or played simultaneously |
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| music in which several rhythmic patterns are played or sung simultaneously |
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| music intended to precede and introduce a longer composition or an event such as a church service |
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| tempo marking meaning “very fast” |
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| instrumental music based on or inspired by extramusical events or ideas |
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| a book containing metrical paraphrases of the Psalms |
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| the steady, underlying beat in a composition |
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| the gamut of pitches a voice or instrument is capable of producing |
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| the third section in sonata form, the section in which the main themes are restated |
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| a vocal solo in speechlike, narrative character with sparse or simple accompaniment; usually in an opera or oratorio |
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| the relative highness or lowness of the pitches in the range of a voice or instrument |
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| the minor key having the same key signature as a major key (e.g. C major and A minor) |
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| Italian: “in a devotional manner” |
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| period of musical style from 1400 to 1600 |
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| a compositional device in which a motive, phrase, or section is repeated |
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| a defined period of silence within a composition |
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| the process or inverting the intervals in a melody; primarily used in theme and variations form and in serial music |
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| a written composition that sounds as if it were being improvised |
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| the way movement is is organized in a composition; a regular time pattern formed by different note values and metric accents |
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| the larger instrumental group in a concerto grosso |
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ritardando
(abbr. rit. or ritard.) |
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| a gradual slowing of the tempo of a composition |
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| the period of musical style from 1800 to 1900 |
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| the musical form in which the A section alternates with contrasting sections |
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| a melody sung or played by two or more voices beginning at different times, creating harmony |
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| a stately dance, in triple meter, of the 17th and 18th centuries |
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| a set of pitches in a specific order with a given tonic |
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| lively music in triple meter; often the third movement of a symphony |
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| a unusual tuning of a stringed instrument |
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1. a part of a composition, often labeled with an uppercase letter
2. in a performing group, a group of similar instruments or voices that perform the same music |
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| a melodic pattern repeated within a composition, beginning on different pitches |
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| a trend in musical composition in which the composer uses all twelve tones of the chromatic scale equally, also called twelve-tone music |
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| a four-note chord built on a root with the pitches a third, fifth, and seventh above it |
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| a sudden, strong accent on a note |
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| the symbol indicating that a pitch is raised one half step |
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| to sing or play an unfamiliar composition or part in a composition at first sight |
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