| A | B |
|---|
| accelerando | gradual increase in tempo |
| accent | emphasis on a particular note (types include: agogic, tonic, dynamic, rhythmic) |
| Aeolian | mode beginning on the 6th note of a major scale |
| agogic accent | emphasis created through length/duration |
| Alberti bass | accompanying figure common in the Classical period. Usually alternating 1-5-3-5 of whatever harmony is being used. |
| alla breve | cut time or half time. Two beats, half note gets the beat. |
| anacrusis | any musical gesture that belongs to the following measure. pick-up notes |
| answer | the second entrance of the subject in a fugue. Up a 5th from the subject. |
| antecedent | first phrase in a period, ends on a weak cadence. |
| anticipation | unaccented NHT approached by step and resolves by common tone |
| antiphonal | music with alternating voices or choirs of voices |
| appoggiatura | accented NHT, approached by leap and resolves down a step |
| arpeggio | broken triad |
| augmentation | compositional technique of doubling the rhythmic values |
| augmented triad | stacked major thirds (e.g. C, E, G#) |
| auxillary tone | NHT approached by step and resolves by step. (aka neighbor tone) |
| basso continuo | bass accompaniment common in Baroque music; consists of a bass line with Arabic numerals that indicate the chords to be added above; also figured bass |
| beat | main division of a measure; steady division of time |
| binary | AB form. Characterized usually by |:I - V:||:V - I:| |
| borrowed division | using three pulses per beat in simple meter, or two pulses in compound meter |
| cadence | a musical point of rest or arrival found at the end of phrases |
| cadential extension | added section to the end of a phrase |
| canon | voices enter with the same material at different times |
| chaccone | style of music characterized by a repeated harmonic progression |
| changing tone | unaccented NHTs that surround a note (e.g. A - B - G - A) |
| chord | more than two notes played simultaneously. Usually based on thirds. |
| circle of fifths | progressions in which the roots are a 4th or 5th from each other |
| clef | symbol added to the left of the staff that identifies the notes |
| cluster | more than two notes played simultaneously. Usually based on seconds. |
| coda | concluding section of music meant to create a greater sense of finality |
| compound meter | beats are based on subdivisions of three |
| consequent | the second phrase in a period. ends on a strong cadence |
| consonance | interval that has a pleasing sound and few beats (P5,P4,P8,3rds,6ths) |
| contour | general shape of a melodic line |
| contrary motion | voices that go in opposite directions |
| countermelody | voice that is independent of, yet related to the main melody |
| counterpoint | the technique of writing two independent lines |
| crescendo | gradual increase in volume |
| cross relation | simultaneous or successive appearance of a note and one of its enharmonic equivalents (e.g. d and d-flat) in different voices |
| D.C. | da capo; from the top/beginning |
| D.S. | dal segno; from the sign |
| deceptive cadence | V to anything other than I |
| development | second section of a sonata in which the themes introduced in the exposition are developed |
| diminished triad | stacked minor thirds (e.g. B - D - F) |
| diminuendo | gradual decrease in volume |
| diminution | compositional technique of (usually) halving the rhythmic values |
| dissonance | interval of a many beats (TT, 7ths, 2nds) |
| divisi | section splits into two or more parts |
| dominant | 5th scale degree, or harmony based on that pitch |
| dominant 7th | chord comprised of a major triad and minor 7th (e.g. G,B,D,F) |
| dorian | mode beginning on the 2nd scale degree of a major scale |
| double period | four phrases; the cadence structure for each phrase is weak - half - weak - strong |
| duple meter | two beats per measure |
| duplet | two note grouping |
| dynamic accent | emphasis based on relative pitch (high note amongst low notes) |
| enharmonic | different name for the same pitch |
| episode | section in a fugue in which the subject is not presented in its entirety |
| escape tone | unaccented NHT; approached by step up and resolves by leap down |
| exposition | first section of a sonata in which main themes are introduced. |
| false entry | the technique of beginning a fugal subject but not finishing it |
| fermata | suspension of time |
| figured bass | the Arabic numerals below a bass line that identify the harmonies |
| fine | end of a piece |
| flat | lowers a pitch a half step |
| fragmentation | breaking a melody or motive into smaller chunks |
| frequency | the number of vibrations per second that determine a specific pitch A = 440 |
| fugue | contrapuntal form common in the Baroque |
| fully diminished 7th | diminished triad with a diminished 7th (stacked minor thirds) |
| glissando | going from one note to another and playing all notes in between |
| half cadence | cadence ending on IV or V (except V - IV) |
| half diminished 7th | diminished triad and minor 7th |
| harmonic minor scale | minor scale with a raised 7th degree |
| harmonic rhythm | the rate at which the harmony changes |
| harmony | the vertical aspect of music, how notes are put together to create chords and how those chords are put together to form progressions |
| hemiola | the creation of a different meter using rhythm |
| hertz | vibrations per second (frequency is described by the number of hertz) |
| heterophony | one melodic idea being played simultaneously by different voices in different rhythms |
| homophony | a texture in which a melody is supported by chordal accompaniment |
| imitation | repetition of a melodic idea by another voice |
| imperfect authentic cadence | V to I or vii to I in which one of the chords is in inversion or the soprano voice does not go scale degree 7 or 2 to 1. |
| interval | the distance between two pitches |
| invention | contrapuntal composition style common in the Baroque, often using imitation |
| inversion | the interval created by moving the lower note to the top; the compositional technique of rewriting a melody’s intervals in the opposite direction |
| invertible counterpoint | melodic content from one voice can be used in the other |
| Ionian | major scale |
| key signature | defines the main pitch set for a composition |
| leading tone | the half step below the tonic (I) |
| Locrian | mode based on the 7th scale degree of a major scale |
| Lydian | mode based on the 4th scale degree of a major scale |
| major 7th | the interval from scale degree 1 to 7 in a major scale |
| measure | the main unit of a meter |
| mediant | the third scale degree of a major or minor scale |
| melodic fragment | smaller segment of a larger melody but still larger than a motive |
| melodic minor scale | minor scale with raised 6th and 7th scale degrees ascending and lowered 6th and 7th scale degrees descending |
| melody | the main theme or idea of a piece or section of music |
| meter | the defined segmenting of time and rhythm into regular beats and pulses |
| minor 7th | the interval from scale degree 1 to 7 in a minor scale |
| Mixolydian | mode based on the 5th scale degree of a major scale |
| monophony | type of texture characterized by one voice or one main voice |
| monothematic | piece with only one main melodic idea |
| monotone | piece or section of music with only one pitch used for the melody |
| motive | smallest musical idea |
| motivic development | taking a small musical idea and expanding or varying compositionally |
| natural | returns a pitch to its diatonic |
| neighbor tone | accented or unaccented NHT that is approached by step and returns to the same note |
| octave displacement | moving a note either up or down one octave from where it would be expected to be |
| ostinato | accompanying gesture in which a small motive is repeated numerous times |
| overtone series/ harmonics | the notes that sound with the vibration of any object. Order of harmonics is: Root,1,5,1,3,5,b7,2,4… |
| parallel minor/major | modes that share the same name (e.g. C major, c minor) |
| parallel motion | when two voices move in the same direction the same amount |
| passacaglia | composition based on a repeated bass line |
| passing tone | accented or unaccented NHT that is approached by step and resolves by step in the same direction |
| pedal point | accented NHT that is approached by common tone and resolves by common tone |
| pentatonic scale | any five note scale, most common one is the major scale without scale degrees 4 and 7 |
| perfect authentic cadence | V to I cadence where both chords are in root position and the soprano voice resolves 7 to 1 or 2 to 1. |
| period | the product of two, complementary phrases where the first phrase ends with a weak cadence and the second phrase ends on a strong cadence |
| phrase | complete musical thought, i.e. has direction and a cadence |
| Phrygian | mode based on the 3rd scale degree of a major scale |
| phrygian cadence | iv6 to V |
| Picardy Third | the major third of a final chord in a minor piece |
| pitch | the note name assigned to a specific frequency |
| plagal cadence | IV to I, also know as the “Amen” cadence |
| polyphony | texture of music characterized by numerous, independent voices playing simultaneously |
| polyrhythm | multiple rhythms, often with different meters played at the same time |
| recapitulation | the third and final section of a standard sonata form. Is usually an exact repetition of the exposition with the transition keeping the melody in tonic |
| relative minor/major | modes that share the same key signature but begin on different notes (e.g. C major, a minor) |
| reprise | return of melody from earlier in the piece |
| retardation | accented NHT that is approached by common tone and resolves by step up |
| retrograde | composition technique in which a melody is written backwards |
| retrograde inversion | composition technique in which a melody is written backwards and each interval is inverted |
| rondo | ABACA; main thematic section returns following sections of different material |
| scale | sequence of half and/or whole steps between an octave |
| senza | without |
| sequence | most common compositional technique: the repetition of a motive up or down a step (usu.) |
| sharp | raises a pitch one half step |
| similar motion | when voices move in the same direction but at different intervals |
| simple meter | the beat is divisible by two pulses |
| sonata | form associated mostly with Classical period. exposition – development – recapitulation. Where the exposition introduces themes and moves to the dominant, the development develops those themes and returns back to tonic, and the recapitulation restates the exposition but stays in the tonic. |
| staff | set of five lines on which music is written |
| stretto | the compositional technique found frequently in fugal episodes where the subject, or portions of the subject enter immediately after one another. used to create heightened dramatic effect |
| strophic | AAAAA; compositional style where the main section of music repeats numerous times, usually to accompany lyrics of a song |
| subdominant | 4th scale degree, or chord built on the 4th scale degree of a major or minor scale |
| subject | the main theme of a fugue |
| submediant | 6th scale degree, or chord built on the 6th scale degree of a major or minor scale |
| supertonic | 2nd scale degree, or chord built on the 2nd scale degree of a major or minor scale |
| suspension | accented NHT that is approached by common tone and resolves by step down |
| tempo | the rate of beats |
| ternary | ABA; most common in minuet/trio pieces |
| tessitura | the range of an instrument or composition |
| texture | the overall trait of a piece as defined by the relationship of voices to one another; basic textures are monophony, polyphony and heterophony |
| theme | the main melody of a piece |
| through-composed | setting of a strophic text in which new music is set to each new line |
| timbre | the quality of sound created by the ratio of overtones that defines an instrument; tone color |
| time signature | defines the meter for a piece of music or section |
| tonic | the main note, or chord of a piece; the first note of a scale |
| tonic accent | accent created by change of pitch, or relation of pitch to others around it |
| transposition | playing notes in one key in a different key |
| triple meter | when each measure is divided into three beats |
| tritone | the interval that is equi-distant from the octave (scale degree 4 to 7) |
| variation | development of a theme |
| whole tone scale | scale built on whole tones |
