Music
Sound in time
Rhythm
the arrangement of long and short notes in a musical passage
Beat
the unit of measurement for time in music- the “strong” pulses
Accent
a beat more emphatic than other beats
meter
a strong and weak beat pattern repeated again and again
syncopation
a displacement of the accented beats to change the emphasis
tempo
the rate at which the beats follow one another
metronome
a mechanical/electrical device that clicks the tempo
pitch
what is audible from different frequencies of sound. ie. low pitches=low frequencies, high pitches=high frequencies
frequency
rate of sound vibration
amplitude
the level of strength of sound vibrations (the volume)
dynamics
the level of sound’s volume- how musicians measure and hear the amplitude of the sound vibrations
tone color
the quality of the sound, determined by instruments that produce them – determined by the overtones (same as timbre)
timbre
the quality of the sound, determined by instruments that produce them – determined by the overtones (same as tone quality)
nonmetric
no underlying pattern of strong and weak beats
scale
a series of pitches in an octave going up and down in steps
interval
the distance between 2 pitches
octave
a pitch that duplicates another pitch but at a higher or lower level- the vibration twice as fast or slow as the original
diatonic scale
do re mi fa so la ti do – scale with the intervals whole whole half whole whole whole half (W W H W W W H)
chromatic scale
a scale moving in half steps- 12 notes per octave
half step
interval between the closest adjacent notes on a keyboard, and 2 notes in the chromatic scale
whole step
2 half steps – D to E, etc
melody
organized series of pitches
motive
distinct fragment of a melody that is easily recognized. can be as short as 2 notes
theme
“topic” the main idea of a piece of music- can also be a motive that is vital to the piece
cadence
a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution
art music
classical, old, etc. 1000 years of music practiced by the high society in Europe and America
otherness
the difference between them and us, in this case the people and music of history and us in modern times and modern music.
bourgeoise
the ruling class in capitalist societies, the big wigs, etc.
overtones
vibrations not of the total length of vibrating surface, but also half and quarter and eighth vibrations.
sequence
the duplication of a phrase at two or more pitch levels
phrase
the smaller sections of a melody or tune that separate naturally