A cappella
Choral or vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment
Aesthetic
Concerning or characterized by beauty or good taste; music or a painting that is pleasing
Articulation
Symbols on a musical score that indicate characteristics of the attack and duration of a given note
Cadence
Stylized close in music which divides the music into phrases
Chorus
Group of singers who usually sing in parts with several voices on each part
Circa
meaning approximate
Chromatic
Any music or chord that contains notes not belonging to the diatonic scale. I.E. C sharp in C major
Conductor
Leader of a musical ensemble
Form
Structure in which music is created
I.E. Binary, ternary etc…
Genre
Comes from French word for ‘kind’ or ‘class’ Used for classifying into categories
Impresario
Entertainment promoter, manager or owner who books and stages public music or theatre
Instrumentation
Also called “orchestration”, art of arranging a composition for performance by an instrumental ensemble
Kapellmeister
German for music director
Meter
The beat/time signature
Modulation
When music changes from one key to another.
Opus
Latin word for work. A number, for numbering a composer’s works
Sacred
Refers to music that has a religious purpose and/or text
Secular
In music, refers to non-religious works
Timbre
Distinguishes the quality of tone or volume of one instrument or singer from another. I.E. Tone Colour
Tremolo
Performing/Singing same note over and over very quickly