Edexcel GCSE Music - keywords

conflicting rhythms (e.g. groups of three notes played in one line while groups of two are played simultaneously in another)

music learned by listening and repeating, passed on orally (no traditional notation)

a texture made of many different rhythms

a texture of a single melodic line with no accompaniment

a texture in which several parts play the same melody but with slight differences in pitch

the mood of a piece of music - customary in Baroque period to have a single mood

notes or chords belonging to the key

a texture comprising melody and accompaniment

referring to the melody line

a texture featuring two or more parts, each having a melody line and sounding together

musical setting of Biblical text for chorus, soloists and orchestra, designed for concert performance

the words of a musical work such as an opera or oratorio

two chords at the end of a musical phrase

rhythmic device often used towards cadence point in triple time - notes are grouped into two-beat units

separate parts imitating each other (if parts are identical this is called a canon)

the process of changing key in a piece of music, or a digital effect that makes the pitch fluctuate slightly

a sustained note, usually in the lowest bass part

a sustained note in the middle of a musical texture

a sustained note at the top of a musical texture

chords V-I

chords IV-I

a structure invented in the Classical era - exposition, development, recapitulation

large-scale genre for orchestra in three or four movements

three-part structure in ABA form where the B section provides contrast

a theme followed by a series of variations on it

a linking passage often used to modulate in preparation for the second subject

the first theme or melody

the second theme or melody

the number of parts and how they relate to each other

the doubling (or more) of original note values

moving up or down by semitones

an ornament played as quickly as possible before the main note

Indian music - the opening unmetred and improvised section of a raga

a chord in which one of the notes has been sharpened or flattened to become a chromatic note

the clef used mainly by the viola

a solo vocal piece with instrumental accompaniment

absence of tonality (key)

any chord which contains an augmented interval - where the length of the notes is prolonged by a semitone

made larger by a semitone

the last section of a vocal raga - a 'fixed composition' in the form of a song

Indian music - wooden flute without keys, used in Gorn and Wertheimer's Rag Desh

clef that fixes the note F on the fourth line of the stave

a note (usually the third, fifth or seventh degree of a major scale) performed at a slightly lower pitch than usual for expressive effect (on a keyboard instrument the lowering is a full semitone)

Indian music - independent rhythm parts that go against the main beat of the cycle creating exciting syncopations

a long note of eight crotchets duration

instruction for music to be performed 'in a singing style'

a short musical idea

the chord sequence in a jazz song

replacing one chord with another

the simultaneous sounding together of two or more notes

music in which notes are used that are not in the key of the piece

an abbreviation of 'accompanying'

the six semitones not used in the first hexachord

an interval larger than an octave

a time signature where the beat is dotted and sub-divides into groups of three, as in 6/8 which has two dotted crotchet beats, each of which comprises three quavers

an audio effect that can be electronically added to music to give the effect of an echo

made smaller by a semitone

goblet-shaped drum from West Africa

fifth note of the scale or key - the strongest note after the tonic

chord V with added 13th note

sustained or repeated note on the dominant note of the key

hourglass-shaped 'talking drum', held under the arm and played with the hand

a sustained note held in one part while other parts play or sing melodies against it

double-headed drum (in different sizes) played with sticks

different ways of writing the same pitch, for example Bb and A#

the process of adjusting the relative level of frequencies in an audio signal

a digital effect that combines two copies of the same signal, with the second delayed slightly, to produce a swirling, sweeping effect

a strong reinforcement of a 4/4 beat by a bass drum

the solo instruments in a jazz ensemble

a musical texture involving polyphonic writing structured: exposition-middle entries-final entries

a mingling of more than one musical style or culture to create a new 'fused' sound

the final section of an instrumental raga - a 'fixed composition' with some improvised embellishments

Indian system of master-pupil teaching

relates to the harmony parts

the main melody of a jazz song, generally played at the beginning of the song

a group of six notes selected from the 12 available pitches, used as a musical motif or chord

ending on chord V, sounds incomplete, usually preceded by I, II or IV

most commonly chords V-VI (expected perfect V-I is 'interrupted')

distance between two notes

a method of developing a series by turning all the intervals upside down

the third section of a raga and the climax of the whole piece - a lively tempo and virtuoso display of improvisatory skills

the second section of a raga - a medium tempo with improvisation

'tone colour melody', a word used to describe how timbre contributes to melody in addition to pitch and rhythm

a section of a piece of music which is edited so that it can be repeated seamlessly by electronic means

Western tonal music in bright-sounding keys - a major key has four semitones between notes I and III

individual beats in a rhythmic cycle in Indian music

the sliding or bending effects between notes in Indian music

Western tonal music in solemn-sounding keys - a minor key has three semitones between notes I and III

a ternary form structure, performed as minuet-trio-minuet - the minuet is a stately dance in triple time and the contrasting middle section usually features reduction in instrumental parts - often used as third movement in symphony

a jazz style in which the soloists base their solos on modes instead of the chord changes

precursors of modern scales - there are seven, each with different tones and semitones

ornament in which the written note is played, followed by the note above and the written note again

chord of the flattened supertonic in the first inversion

a method of developing cells in minimalist music by gradually adding notes to the original cell

as for note addition, but taking notes away

interval of eight notes

recording a new part over the top of existing material

a scale built on five notes - the first, second, third, fifth and sixth degrees of the scale

when two or more versions of a sound or musical motif are played simultaneously but slightly out of synchronisation, with the two parts gradually coming back in sync after a number of repetitions

how high or low a note sounds