beat
even pulse that divides the passing of time into equal segments
rhythm
organization of time in music
meter
gathering of beats into regular groups
time signature
two numbers, one on top of the other, placed at the beginning of music to tell the performer how the beats of the music are to be grouped
downbeat/pickup
first and strongest beat in the measure/second beat is accented
syncopation
accent placed on weak or between beats
tempo
speed at which beats occur
adagio
slow
andante
moving
allegro
moderately fast
accelerando
getting faster
ritardando
getting slower
rubato
robbing, steal additional time by slowing down
pitch
relative position of a musical sound
octave
pitch that sounds like a previous pitch but at a level up
staff
gridwork of lines and spaces
grand staff
combination of clefs to list wide range of instrument
ledger lines
space between two clefs marked temporarily
clef
indicates range of pitch melody is to be played or sung
bass
covers lower range used for lower instruments: trombone, cello, man’s voice
treble
covers upper range and is appropriate for high instruments: trumpet, violin
tonality
organization of music around the central tone or tonic
scale
arrangement of pitches that ascends and descends in a fixed and unvarying pattern
tonic
central pitch melodies gravitate around and end
major
succession of whole and half steps that proceeds 1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2, happy sounding
minor
goes 1-1/2-1-1-1/2-1-1, sad sounding
key signature
preplaced sharps or flats, show key piece is written, show scale employed
diatonic
written in either major or minor scale using only 7 notes of each
chromatic
all 12 pitches half step apart
conjunct/disjunct
melodies moving in step/out of step
range
[ difference between lowest and highest note covered in piece ]
melodic shape
[ shape of notes on staff ]
ascending/descend
[ upwards/downwards ]
wave
[ balancing notes resembling wave pattern ]
phrase
dependent idea within a melody -one line of music-
antecedent
[ question ]
consequent
[ answer ]
cadence
concluding part of a musical phrase
triads
basic chord in music consists of three pitches arranged in a specific way
dominant
fifth note of scale, wants to return to tonic
subdominant
fourth note of scale, wants to carry forward to dominant
arpeggio
broken traid with notes entering staggered, part of melody harmony or supports it
modulation
change from one key to another
consonance/diss
pitches sounding agreeable and stable/disagreeable and unstable
timbre
tone quality of musical sound
voice
highly expressive because of its range for sound
soprano/alto
higher/lower women’s voices
tenor/bass
higher/lower men’s voices
mezzo soprano
between soprano/alto
baritone
between tenor/bass
violin
chief string instrument, high range, most similar to human voice
viola
6 inches longer than violin, lower sound,
cello
low bass, singing melody
double bass
largest lowest sounding string instrument
pizzicato
plukcs strings
vibrato
wobbling hand to mix pitches adding richness
tremolo
rapidly repeating same pitch with quick up and down strokes of the bow
double stop
cut bow certain way to play two notes at one time
flute
rich in lower range, light airy on top
clarinet
single reed, mellower than flute
oboe
double reed, first non string instrument to be added to the orchestra, everyone tunes to it because it’s so hard to tune
bassoon
bass
contrabassoon
even lower than bassoon, lowest of all orchestral instruments
trumpet
high, bright, cutting sound
french horn
first brass instrument to join the orchestra, rich, mellow sound, hunting horn
trombone
middle range of brass, large and full, no vents but slide to produce sounds
tuba
largest lowest sounding brass, full, muffled sounds,
percussion
pitched or or unpitched instruments
timpani
drum like in appearance, thunder like in sound
xylophone
wooden bars struck by mallets