Music
The rational organization of sounds and silences passing through time
Popular music
The music of all the people
classical music

“old music”, written by “dead white men”

 

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often referred to as “art” because a particular set of skills is needed to perform and appreciate it

acoustic instruments
sounds are not electronically altered (trumpet, violin, piano)
lyrics
vocal music that makes use of text, from which the listener abstracts the meaning of the music
encore
after an exceptionally pleasing performance, listeners demand that the piece be repeated immediately in an encore
symphony
a genre or type of music for orchestra
movements
symphony divided into several independent pieces, each possessing its own tempo and mood
orchestra
a large ensemble of acoustic instruments such as violins, trumpets, and flutes that play a symphony
symphony orchestra
an orchestra that has played more symphonies than anything else
motive

the brevity of the opening rhythm 

 

short, distinctive musical figure that can stand by itself

tone poem/symphonic poem
one-movement work for orchestra that tries to capture in music the emotions and events associated with a story, play, or personal experience
rhythm
the organization of time in music

divides time into long and short spans

beat
even pulse that divides the passing of time into equal units
quarter note
basic duration in music
measure/bar
group of beats
meter
the gathering of beats into regular groups
duple meter
ONE two, ONE two, ONE two

two beats per measure

triple meter
ONE two three, ONE two three

emphasize every third beat

quadruple meter
ONE two three four, ONE two three four

four beats per measure

meter signature/time signature
two numbers placed at the beginning of the music to tell the performer how the beats of the music are to be grouped
downbeat
first beat is indicated by a downward movement of the hand

represents the strongest beat in any given measure

upbeat
the beat signaled by an upward motion, comes before the downbeat
pickup
a note or two that gives a little momentum or the extra push into the first downbeat
accent
musical emphasis that falls directly on the beat

downbeat gets the greatest accent of all

syncopation
places the accent either on a weak beat or between beats
tempo
speed at which the beats progress
ritard
slowing down of the music
rap
vocal line delivered more like speech than like a song
hip hop
features a wide variety of rhythmic devices
melody
tune
pitch
the relative position, hight or low, of a musical sound
octave
melody reaches a tone that sounds like a duplication of an earlier pitch
staff
gridwork of lines and spaces
clef
sign that indicates the range of pitch in which the melody is to be played or sung
treble clef
designates the upper range and is appropriate for high instruments like the trumpet and violin
bass clef
covers the lower range and is used for instruments like the tuba and cello
great staff/grand staff
combination of clefs
sharp
raises the note to the piano key immediately above (usually a black one)
flat
lowers the note to the next key below
natural
cancels either of the two previous signs
scale
a fixed pattern of tones within the octave that ascends and descends
interval
distance between two pitches in music
major scale
follows a seven note pattern moving upwards 1-1-1/2-1-1-1-1/2
minor scale
1-1/2-1-1-1/2-1-1
key signature
provides a “key” or guide, telling the musician which sharps or flats are to be applied throughout the piece
tonic
the first of the seven notes of the scale, and the eighth
tonality
the organization of music around a central pitch
key
“gravitational field” that embodies both the scale of the melody and the strong pull of its tonic pitch
modulation
the change from one key to another
mode
changing from major to minor, or minor to major
chromatic scale
makes use of all 12 pitches, equally divided, within the octave
antecedent phrase
opening phrase
consequent phrase
closing phrase