rhythm
the surface activity of music, based upon duration of musical sounds
beat
the underlying pulse of music
metronome
a mechanical device used to give percise speeds of beats
tempo
refers to the rad of speed of beats
meter
the organization of beats into groups or patterns
measure
the length of a pattern of beats
bar lines
the vertical lines that show where beat patterns begin and end
nonmetric
refers to music that has no strong sense of beat or meter
syncopation
the stressing of normally unstressed beats
melody
the succession of single pitches set of rhythm
interval
the distance between two pitches
phrase
a more or less incomplete melodic idea that ends with a cadence
cadence
a resting point in music that occurs at the ends of phrases
incomplete cadence
a resting point where the music feels like it must continue on
complete cadence
a resting point that gives the listener a feeling of completion
musical sentence
a complete musical thought (made of two or more phrases) that ends with a complete cadence
sequence
refers to repeating a melodic fragment at different pitch levels
harmony
the sounding together of two or more notes
chord
three or more notes sounded together; the basic building block of harmony
broken chord
refers to playing the notes of a chord separately
progression
the movement from one chord to another chord
scale
a series of pitches arranged in order
tonic
the first and more important note of a scale, often referred to as the key or keynote
mode
generally refers to major and minor scales
modulation
the movement from one key to another
consonance
refers to combinations of pitches that sound pleasing
dissonance
refers to combinations of pitches that sound harsh or unpleasant
musical texture
refers to how musical layers are heard at once and how they relate to each other
monophonic texture
created by a single, unaccompanied melodic line
polyphonic texture
created by the layering of melodies
imitation
a type of polyphonic texture where a melodic idea is presented in one part and is then restated in other parts
counterpoint
another word commonly used to refer to polyphonic texture
homophonic texture
created by a primary melody accompanied by secondary harmony (chords)
contrapuntal devices
ways in which composers explored all possibilities of melodic idea
inversion
a melody upside down
retrograde
a melody backwards
retrograde-inversion
a melody backwards and upside down
augmentation
making note values shorter
diminution
making note values shorter
musical form
refers to the arrangement of music ideas, based upon the concepts of repetition, contrast and variations
repetition
the restatement of a musical idea or section
contrast
change in the music; provides a sense of variety
variation
a modified or changed version of something that was heard before; combines both repetition and contrast
binary form
A-B
ternary form
A-B-A
theme
a melodic idea that serves as a building block of a composition
motive
the smallest building block of music; takes on significance through repetition
movement
a complete music unit in a multi-movement work
dynamics
refers to levels of loudness or softness
pizzicato
plucking the string with a finger
double stop
playing two strings at a time
vibrato
rocking the finger one the string to produce slight changes in pitch
tremolo
the rapid bowing of the same note
harmonics
delicate high pitches produced by lightly touching the string when playing
mute
a device that softens the tone
articulation
the manner in which notes are played
legato
notes smoothly connected
staccato
notes are separated/detached
genre
a term used to define a broad category of works
medium
refers to the instrument or group that performs a piece
secular music
a non religious music
sacred music
music used in worship or other activities of religious ritual
gregorian chant
the official liturgical music of the roman catholic church
syllabic
a text with one syllable per note
old church modes
scales used in the medieval and renaissance periods; having different arrangements of half and whole steps than the scales we use today
the mass
the official liturgical ride of the roman catholic church
organum
refers to the first examples of polyphonic music , originating around 1000 AD
motet
a sacred vocal composotion in polyphonic texture with a latin text sung a cappella
troubadours/ trouveres
higher-class poet-singer-composers
jongleurs
rather seedy, despicable characters of lover social order
machaut
the most important compose of 14th century
chanson
song
a cappella
without instruments
word painting
refers to the use of musical gesture to depict particular
josquin
the most significant composer of the renaissance, who flourished about 1500
ordinary of the mass
kyrie, gloria, credo, sanctus, angus dei
palestrina