Monophonic

A single melody line/tune played by many

Polyphonic
Many melody lines/tunes, many rhythms
played by many people
 Homophonic
Many melody lines/pitches but only ONE
rhythm played together

Ostinato
a musical phrase (tune or rhythm) repeated
over and over during a composition
 Imitation
copying the tune or melody of another
instrument or vocal part

Sequence
several repetitions of a melodic phrase in
different pitches - moving up or down by step
 Ternary Form
A - B - A (3 sections with the first and last the
same)

Binary Form
a musical form consisting of two units (A and B)
constructed to balance and complement each
other
 Rondo Form
Structure takes the form of A B A C A etc
 Strophic Form
a song form in which the music composed for
the initial stanza of text is repeated for each
additional stanza (often with a chorus in
between)
 Variation Form
Structure consisting of an initial theme (A) and
a series of variations placed after it. Usually A,
A', A'', A''' etc. Each variation varies one of the
Elements of music slightly.
 Major
a key whose harmony is based on the major
scale which sounds happy

Minor
a key based on the minor scale which sounds
sad or depressing
 Sonata Form
The form most often used for the 1st
movement of large works like symphonies and
concertos. It is a large 3-part form, usually with
an Introduction, Exposition (A), Development
(B), and Recapitulation (A), with a coda to end.
 Chromatic
motion by half steps; also describes harmony
or melody that employs some of the sequential
12 pitches (semi-tones) in an octave -
Chromatic nates are notes not in the key
 Timbre
quality of a musical tone produced by a musical
instrument (which distinguishes it from others
of the same pitch)

Tempo
the speed at which a composition is to be
played
 Texture
the interweaving of melodic and harmonic
elements in the musical "fabric". It can be
transparent, dense, thin, thick, heavy, light -
Polyphonic, Homophonic, Monophonic etc
 Structure
The way different sections a placed one after
another - Binary Form, Ternary Form etc

Silence
Rests placed in music
 Dynamics
how loud or soft the music is

Duration
The note lengths placed together to produce
different rhythms - dotted rhythms,
syncopated rhythms, repetitive rhythms,
regular rhythms
 Pitch
High and Lowness in music

Pulse
The regular or irregular BEAT in the music -
relates to time signatures - 3 time, 4 time etc
 Pentatonic
Music that only uses a scale with five-pitches -
most Chinese music is Pentatonic and some
African music

Cadence
the notes or chords ending a section of music
with a feeling of conclusiveness
 Plagal Cadence
a IV - I cadence (frequently ending church
music - sounlds like 'Amen') - (a fullstop
cadence)
 Perfect Cadence
the chordal progression of dominant to tonic
i.e. V-I (a fullstop cadence)

Pedal
A long note held in the bass part
 Diminuendo
Getting quieter

Cresendo
Getting louder

Atonal
No Key
 Reverb
Electronically making the instrument or voice
sound like it is in a large room - reverberating

Delay
Electronically making a sound repeat and die
away (like in a cave or valley)
 EQ
Electronically making the bass sounds or treble
sounds louder or softer

Distortion
Electronically distorting the sound
 Drum Loop
Using a drum machine to repeat or loop a drum
beat

Sampler
A machine that digitally records a live sound
and plays it back
 Oritorio
Bible Story that is sang with an orchestra -
religious opera

Sympyhony
A large piece for orchestra with 4 movements
 Prelude
a short musical piece played as an introduction
to a larger piece of music

SATB
The abbreviation for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and
Bass
 Hexachord
series of six adjacent tones with a half step
occuring between the third and fourth degree

Motif
A short musical idea
 Syncopation
A rhythmic idea not on the beat

Compound Time
The beat is divided into groups of three
quavers - The time signature has an 8 on the
bottom i.e. 6/8 or 9/8 or 12/8
 Ascending pattern
A tune that goes up

Decending pattern
A tune that goes down

Scalic passage
a tune that moves up or down by step
 Improvisation
process of simultaneously composing and
performing music (make up music) on the spot

Accompany
to sing or play a musical instrument for or with
other people
 Muted
To muffle of dampen (quieten) the sound of an
instrument

Melismatic
Singing a word or syllable over MANY notes
 Accent
A slightly emphasised or louder note

Harpsichord
A plucked keyboard instrument from the
Baroque period of music
 Djembe
an African single skinned drum

Talking Drum or Donno

TENOR
High male voice
 SOPRANO
High female voice

ALTO
Low female voice
 Largo
Slowly

Moderato
Medium tempo
 Allegro
Fast and Lively tempo

Presto
Very Fast Tempo
 sForzando
a sudden, sharp accent

Forte
Loud
 Piano
Soft or Quiet

Pianissimo
Very Soft or Quiet
 Dissonat
Clashing notes played together

Consonant
Nice sounding notes played together
 Libretto
The words of a musical or opera

BPM
Beats Per Minute
 Comping
syncopated chording which provides
improvised accompaniment for other player's
solos

Oral Tradition
Music passed down by generations by word of
mouth (i.e. not written down)
 Polyrhythm
More than one rhythm played at the same time

Cross-rhythm
A 2 or 4 time rhythm played against a 3 time
rhythm
 Lead Drummer
The leader of African Drumming - bringing
people in, changing the tempo and leading the
'call and response'

Melodic
Tune or Tuneful
 Aria
Solo song in an Opera or Oratorio

Augmentation
Doubling the length of the note values
 Diminution
Halving the length of the note values

Solo
One instrument playing or a voice singing a
tune
 Coda
End section to a piece of music

Staccato
Playing the notes short and detached
 Legato
Long and smooth notes

Virtuoso
A very skilful musician
 Arpeggio
A broken chord

Cantabile
In a singing style
 Rubato
The performer pulling the tempo about

Modulation
The changing of key/tonality within a piece of
music
 Tonic
First note in a scale (key note)

Dominant
5th note in a scale
 Inversion
Turning a melody upsidedown

Retrograde
Playing the melody backwards
 Retrograde Inversion
Playing the melody backwards and upside
down

Prime Row or Series

Sustained
A held note
 Pizzicato
Plucked notes on a string instrument

Arco
Bowed notes on a string instrument
 Tremolo
The moving backwards and forward on a string
instrument with the bow - creates a trembling
effect

Riff
A repeated short tune/motif in jazz or popular
music
 Dissonance
A clashing sound between notes

Accompaniment
The part played under the tune
 Phasing
When the parts in a minimalist piece go out of
time with one another

Note Addition
Adding notes to a minimalist tune
 Note Substraction
Removing notes from a minimalist tune

Loop
The electronic repeating of a short tune or
rhythm
 Layering
Parts/tunes placed over one another in a
minimalist composition

Metamorphosis
When a tune grows/changes slowly throughout
a piece of minimalist music
 Drone
A long, sustained note in the bass part

Head
The main tune in a Jazz or Blues piece
 Comping
The syncopated chordal accompaniment in a
Jazz or Blues piece

Trill
an ornament in which the written note is
alternated with the note above
 Vibrato
The slight vibrating of a note by a musician

Overdub
additional tracks being added by monitoring
the previously recorded tracks while
simultaneously recording a new track
 Power Chord
a loud chord consisting of the only root note of
the chord and the fifth, usually played on
electric guitar

Acoustic
music played not using electronic means
 Glissando
the sliding between two notes - hitting the
notes in between

Outro
the end section in piece of popular music (a
popular music coda)
 Call and Response
a musical statement by a singer or
instrumentalist that is answered by other
singers or instrumentalists.

Countermelody
a melody over the top of another melody
 Heterophonic
music in which two or more versions or
variations of the same melody are performed
simultaneously

Fusion
the combining of two or more music styles or
genres
 Counterpoint
a musical form involving the simultaneous
sound of two or more melodies (polyphonic)

Lilting
singing with a light, graceful rhythm
 Nonsense syllables (scat singing)
made up syllables or words in a folk or jazz
piece to add rhythmic effect

Vocables
sound effects made by the voice: e.g. 'eh', 'ah',
'oh'
 Membranophones
instruments with a 'skin' e.g. drums