jongleurs
a medievil secular musician
liturgy
the systems of prayers and worship of a particular religion
plainchant
unaccompanied,monophonic music, without fixed rhythm or meter such as gregorian chant
medieval modes
types of tonality-major mode and minor
reciting tone
especially in chant, the single note used for musical “resitation”, with brief melodic formulas for beginning and ending.
gregorian chant
the type of chant used in the early roman catholic church
antiphon
A genre of plain chant usually in a simple melodic style with very few melismas
meslismas
in vocal music, a passage of many notes sung to a single syllable
sequence
in a melody, a series of fragments identical except for their placement at succesively higher or lower pitch levels.
troubadours
aristocratic, poet-musicians of the middle ages.
minnesingers
poet-composers of the middle ages in germany
Alba
troubadour song about a knight leaving his lady at dawn
estampies
an instrumental dance of the middle ages
organum
the earliest genre of medieval polyphonic music
motet
a sacred vocal composition. early motets were based on fragments of gregorian chant.
isorhythm
in 14th ventury music, the technique of repeating the identical rhythm for each section of a composition, while the pitches are altered
chansons
French for song; a genre of french secular vocal music.
paraphrase
the modification and decoration of plainchant melodies in early renaissance music.
hymn
A simple religous song in several stanzas, for congregational singing in church.
mass
the main roman catholic service; or the music written for it. the musical mass consists of five large sections, kyrie,gloria,credo,sanctus,and agnus dei
point of imitation
A short passage of imitative polyphony based on a single theme, or on two used together.
declamation
the way words are set to music, in terms of rhythm, accent,etc.
word painting
musical illustration of the meaning of a word or a short verbal phrase.
madrigal
the main secular vocal genre of the renaissance
pavan
A slow, 16th-century court dance in duple meter
galliard
A reinassance court dance in triple meter
Basso continuo
The instrument playing the continuo, usually cello plus harpsicord or organ
ground bass
an ostinato in the bass
functional harmony
from the baroque period on, the system whereby all chords hav a specifix interrelation and function in relation to the tonic
opera
drama presented in music, with the characters singing instead of speaking
reciatative
a half-singing, half reciting style of presenting words in opera,cantata,oratorio,etc., following speech accents and speech rhythms closely. secco recitative is accompanied only by continuo; accompanied recitative is accompanied by orchestra
aria
a vocal n umber for solo singer and orchestra, generally in an opera,cantana,or oratorio
suites
A Piece consisting of a series of dances.
fugue
A composition written systematically in imitative polyphony,usually witha  single main theme,the fugue subject.
variations
sectional pieces in which each section repeats certain musical elements while others change around them.
toccatas
especiallyin baroque music,a written-outcomposition in improvisational style, generally for organ or harpsichord.
canzonas
A lively,fugue-like composition, one of severaly sixteenth=and seventeenth-century genres of instrumental music
passacaglia
A set of veriations on a short theme in the bass