Melody
a coherent set of single pitches in succession
conject v. disjunct movement, range, shape, structure (phrases)
melody
harmony
the relationship of tones considered as they sound simultaneously and the way such relationships are organized in time
chord, harmonic progression, tonality, consonance/dissonance
harmony
rhythm
the pattern of movement in time; the arrangement of particular note lengths in a piece of music
motive, rhythmic patterns
rhythm
beat
the regular, recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time
pulse, tempo
beat
meter
the organization of beats into regular groups
duple v. triple. hierarchy, subdivision, measure, time signature, upbeat, downbeat, syncopation
meter
phrase
a unit of musical syntax; the product, in varying degrees, of the interaction of melody, harmony and rhythm, concluding with a moment of relative tonal and/or rhythmic stability such as is produced by a cadence. A musical sentence.
cadence, question/answer, antecedent/consequence, period
phrase
cadence
a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution
phrase, harmony, tonality types of cadences
cadence
motive
a short rhythmic and/or melodic idea that is sufficiently well defined to retain its identity when elaborated or transformed and combined with other materiel and that thus lends itself to serving as the basic element from which a complex, texture or composition is created. A small musical building block.
phrase (often comprised of motives)
motive
consonance
the perceived stability of a complex of two or more sounds
harmony, chord, tonality
consonance
dissonance
the perceived instability of a complex of two or more sounds
harmony, chord, tonality, atonality
dissonance
texture (musical)
the number and arrangement of simultaneous musical layers
monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, counterpoint, imitation
texture