Dynamics
signs that indicate how loud or how soft you will play. Degrees of intensity, Examples p=piano=soft; f=forte=loud, etc
Tempo
how fast or how slow, indicated by terms such as: Andante=walking Tempo; presto=fast; allegro= animated, moving forward, kind of fast
Slur
curve line over different kinds of notes, indicates legato playing and also indicates phrasing.
Triad
a three note chord comprised of two thirds
interval
distance between sounds , i.e. thirds, seconds, fourths, etc
Meter
numbers at the beginning of the score, looks like a fraction. The top number indicates amount of beats per measure, the lower number indicates what notes gets one beat.
Simple meters:
are the ones that have 2,3 or four numerator
Compound meters
have 6,9 or 12 for numerator
irregular meters
have 1,5,7,8,10,11 or other numbers
actual names of pitches
do, re, mi , fa, so , la, si/ti
source for the names of sounds
a hymn in Latin to Saint John. Guido D’Arezzo an Italian monk, took the first opening syllables of each sentence of this hymn to come up with the names for the seven sounds
Legato playing
indicated by a slur, means smoothly connected
rest
indicates momentary absence od sounds, there are seven , one for each note
Whole step
a major second or two half steps i.e. C to D
half step
shortest distance between two sounds of the same kind, on the same line on in the same space i.e. G to G, C to C, Bb to Bb, etc.
Notes
figures , symbols, that are used to write sounds, represent sounds. There are seven kinds. Whole note (4); half note (2), quarter note (1), Eighth note (1/2), sixteenth note (1/4), thirty second (1/8), and sixty fourth (1/16)
Sharp
raises the sound half step up
Flat
lowers the sound half step down
key signature
set of flats or sharps at the beginning of the score indication the name of the key or tonality of the piece
Ritardando
slow down at the end
Staccato
short, light touch indicated by dots over or under the notes
Major Scale
follows the formula WWHWWWH
Dotted rhythms
dot adds half the value to the note
i.e. dotted half note = 3 beats
fermata
a sign indicating hold the note under the fermata longer than its value
Damper pedal
pedal to the right of the piano, holds, sustains the sounds. It is also called a sustain pedal