| A | B |
|---|
| Ternary form | A piece with a contrasting middle section. ABA. |
| Rondo form | ABACADAE etc. |
| Theme and variations | A1 A2 A3 A4 etc. |
| Ground bass | A piece of music based on a repeating bass pattern. |
| Minuet and trio | A ternary form piece 3rd movement of a symphony. |
| DC Aria | A song in ternary form. |
| Concerto | A piece for soloist and orchestra often in rondo form |
| Episode | The contrasting sections in a rondo form piece. |
| Coda | A section added to the end of a piece to make it sound finished. |
| Ritornello | A rondo which contrasts a soloist with an orchestra. |
| Step | Moving one note up or down at a time. |
| Leap | Moving several notes up or down at a time. |
| Scalic | Like a scale. |
| Interval | The distance between two notes. |
| Chromatic | Moving in semitone intervals. |
| Glissando | A slide between several notes. |
| Ornamentation | Extra notes, trills etc added to the melody as decoration. |
| Repetition | An idea that is repeated. |
| Imitation | An idea that is immediately copied in another part or voice. |
| Sequence | An idea immediately copied in the same part higher or lower. |
| Note values | Semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiquaver etc. |
| Syncopation | A rhythm that goes across the beat. |
| Triplet | Three notes played in the space of two. |
| Dotted rhythm | An example is a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver. |
| Off beat | A rhythm that accents the weak beats of the bar. |
| Irregular | A rhythm in 5, 7 or 9 beats per bar. |
| Octave | The distance between one note and the next of the same name. |
| Register | The pitch at which an instrument can play. |
| Unison | All playing or singing the same. |
| Tonic | The first note of a scale. |
| Semitone | Smallest interval between two notes. |
| Tone | Two semitones. |
| Fortissimo | Very loud. |
| Forte | Loud. |
| Mezzo forte | Moderately loud. |
| Mezzo piano | Moderately quiet. |
| Piano | Quite. |
| Pianissimo | Very quiet. |
| Subito | Suddenly. |
| Sforzando | Accent. |
| Legato | Smoothly. |
| Staccato | Short. |
| Tremolo | Very fast playing on one note. |
| Pizzicato | Plucking. |
| Arco | With the bow. |
| Col legno | With the wood of the bow. |
| Tutti | All together. |
| Solo | Single instrument. |
| String Quartet | Two violins, viola and cello. |
| Orchestra | Strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. |
| Continuo | A harpsichord that plays through a piece to fill in the harmony. |
| Key | Normally major (happy sounding) or minor. |
| Modulation | Changing key. |
| Adagio | Slow |
| Largo | Very slow. |
| Andante | Fairly slow |
| Moderato | Moderate speed. |
| Allegro | Fast. |
| Vivace | Vigorously. |
| Presto | Very fast. |
| Accelerando | Get faster |
| Ritardando | Getting slower. |
| Rallentando | Getting slower. |
| Rubato | A slight change in tempo. |
