Music terms

The quality of sound that the instruments make. Also known as tone colour.

How the different layers of music are put together

The character of the song , related to one note e.g. Major , minor , atonal, tonal

Sounds bright and cheery, tone , tone , semi tone, tone , tone , tone ,semi tone

Sounds Sad and mournful tone , semitone, tone , tone, semitone, tone , tone

Two steps up e.g. E -F#

One step up e.g. E- F

When the lines of music move at the same time , a melody with an accompaniment is an example of homophonic music

When there's no harmony at all , just one line of tune

More than one tune being played at once , it's sometimes called contrapuntal music.

Repeated phrase with slight changes

Each part plays the same melody , but they come in separately and at regular intervals.

Playing a string instrument with a bow

Plucking the strings

When two strings are pressed at the same time , so two notes are played at once

Sounds like trembling - bow is moved back and fourth very quickly

Making the pitch wobble

Record in an instrument and put it in your music

Used to alter the timbre of an instrument or voice e.g. An electric guitar using pedals(wah-wah)

Distorts the sound

Adds echo to the sound

Melody - Ornament: A very short ornamental note played just before a main melodic note. Often called a 'grace note'.

Texture/Instrumentation: A part (or parts) which supports the melody.

Timbre - Technique: On a stringed instrument, when a bow is used to play the notes.

Harmony/Texture: A chord in which the notes are played one after the other, rather than at the same time.

Melody: Phrases of the same length paired together, so that the first sounds like a question that is answered by the second phrase.

Background - AOS 2 Concerto Through Time: Music composed around 1600-1750

Structure: A musical structure. A piece of music in two sections which are related (AB).

Harmony/Texture: A chord that has all the notes played at the same time.

Harmony/Texture: A chord in which the notes are played one after the other rather than at the same time.

Harmony: A chord progression that forms an ending of a phrase, or section or piece of music.

Structure - AOS 2 Concerto Through Time: An unaccompanied showpiece for the soloist in a concerto.

Harmony: Two or more notes played together.

A note that does not belong to the scale of the key the music is currently in. For example, F# is a chromatic note in the key of C major.

Background - AOS 2 The concerto Through Time: Music that was composed from around 1750-1820.

Structure: A section of music added at the end to bring the piece to a conclusion.

Rhythm/Metre: A metre in which the main beat is sub-divided into three equal portions (eg. dotted crotchet beat divided into three quavers). Opposite to simple time.

Instrumentation: A piece of music for a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra.

Background - Genre: A piece of music for a group of solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra (found only in Baroque era).

Background/Instrumentation: The smaller group of instruments in a concerto grosso

Harmony/Texture: An accompanying part in instrumental music of the Baroque period. The continuo is played by a bass instrument (such as the cello) and a harmony instrument (such as the harpsichord).

Texture: A musical texture that uses counterpoint

Melody: A second melody in a piece that is heard at the same time as the main melody, to provide contrast.

Melody: Two or more melodic lines, heard at the same time, that fit together harmonically. A device used in Renaissance and Baroque music.

Dynamics: A gradual increase in dynamics. Getting louder. Opposite of diminuendo.

Melody/Harmonic: Notes that belong to the scale of the key the music is currently in. For example, C and F# are diatonic notes in the key of G major (G A B C D E F# G). Opposite of Chromatic.

Dynamics: A gradual decrease in dynamic. Getting quieter. The opposite of Crescendo.

Harmony/Melody: Notes that produce a clashing sound when played together. Opposite of consonance.

Harmony/Melody: The fifth note of a scale. E.G in C major, the dominant note is G (C1 - D2 - E3 - F4 - G5 - A6 - B7)

Dynamics: How loudly or quietly the music is played. the volume of the music.

Dynamics: A loud dynamic marking.

Texture/Structure: A musical form in which the main theme is taken up and developed by each of the parts in turn.

Harmony: Chord progressions - a series of related chords.

Harmony: The rate at which the chords change.

Texture: A texture in which all parts play or sing the same rhythm at the same time in harmony.

Melody: A melodic idea in one part which is immediately copied by another part, often at a different pitch, while the first part continues with other music.

Melody: The process, most common in jazz, of spontaneously creating new music as you perform.

Melody: The distance between two notes. for example, the interval between the notes F and A is a 3rd.

Harmony/Melody: The key indicates the scale that a section or piece of music is absed on. For example, music in the key of G major uses the notes from the G major scale (G A B C D E F#)

Melody: A tune

Metre: The metre refers to the pulse of music and is indicated by the time signature.

Harmony: A change of key

Texture: A texture that consists of only one melodic line.

Melody: A short but distinctive musical idea that can be changed and developed in various ways throughout a piece of music.

Melody: An interval formed between two notes that are 12 semitones apart. Both notes have the same name.

Instrumentation: A large ensemble of instruments. The size of this ensemble varied in different time periods.

Melody: Small musical addition that decorate a melody. see acciaccatura, turn, mordent and trill.

Rhythm/Melody/Harmony: A repeating melodic/rhythmic/harmonic motif, heard continuously throughout part or the whole piece.

Melodic/Harmonic: A scale made up of five notes

Dynamic: a quiet dynamic marking

Melody/Timbre: Plucked notes on a string instrument.

Texture: A musical texture with two or more lines of overlapping melody.

Harmony: Chords built upon notes 1, 4 & 5 of the scale. these are known as tonic, sub-dominant & dominant chords. The most commonly used chords.

Melody: The notes that a singer or instrumentalist can sing or play.

Background/Instruments: The larger group of instruments in a concerto grosso.

Background - AOS 2 The Concerto Through Time: Music that was composed from around 1820-1900

Melody: A sequence of notes that move by step either upwards or downwards. Different types of scales have different patterns of intervals.

Melody: The smallest interval between two notes in Western tonal music E.G: F - F# is a semitone

Melody: A musical idea that is immediately repeated at a higher or lower pitch

Melody/Timbre: Detached. refers to notes that are held for less time than their value indicates, so they are shortened and separated from each other.

Harmony: The correct name for the fourth note of a major/minor scale. E.G in C major, the IV is F (C1 - D2 - E3 - F4 - G5 - A6 - B7)

Melody: A song or passage of music that has one note to each syllable.

Rhythm: Placing the accents in parts of the bar that are not normally emphasises, such as on the weak beats or between beats.

Tempo: The speed of the music.

Structure: A musical structure. A piece of music in three sections which are related (ABA)

Dynamics: Dynamics that change suddenly rather than gradually.

Texture: A term given to the density of music. It can be described as 'thin' or 'thick'. It depends upon the number of parts and layers of sound and how they work together.

Instrumentation: The element of music concerned with the actual sound quality, or tone colour, of the music

Metre: Two numbers, E.G 2|4 or 6|8. at the start of a stave that indicate the metre of the music. the bottom number indicates the type of beat (such as a crotchet or quaver) and the top number shows how many of those beats are in each bar.

Melody: An interval of two semitones

Harmony/Melody: The first note of a major/minor scale, and the note from which the key takes its name. E.G C is the tonic of C major

Melody - Ornament: An ornament consisting of a rapid alternation of two adjacent pitches.

Rhythm: A group of three equal notes played in the time normally taken by two of the same type.

Melody/Texture: Simultaneous performance of the same pitch or pitches by more than one person.

Melody/Timbre: A vibration effect given to a note to make it sound more expressive.

Melody/Background: A highly skilled singer/instrumentalist, capable of performing technically difficult music.