Chapter Three

Front 1

Less Common Tempo Indications (6)

Back 1

Largo, linto, grave = slow, very slow
Larghetto = somewhat faster than largo
Andantino = somewhat faster than andante
vivace, vivo = lively
molto allegro = faster than allegro
prestissimo = very fast indeed

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melody

Back 2

the aspect of music having to do with the succession of pitches

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tune

Back 3

a simple, easily singable melody that is coherent and complete

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phrases

Back 4

a section of a melody or tune

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cadence

Back 5

the notes or chords ending a section of music with a feeling of conclusiveness

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sequence

Back 6

in a melody, a series of fragments identical except for their placement at successively higher or lower pitch levels.

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climax

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the high point of a melody or of a section of music

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motive

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a short fragment of melody or rhythm used in constructing a long section of music

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theme

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the basic subject matter of a piece of music. A theme can be a phrase, a short motive, a full tune, etc

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harmony

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having to do with chords, or the vertical aspect of musical texture

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chords

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a grouping of pitches played and heard simultaneously

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harmonize

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to provide each note of a melody with a chord

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consonance

Back 13

intervals or chords that sound relatively stable and free of tension

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dissonance

Back 14

intervals or chords that sound relatively tense and unstable

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resolve

Back 15

to proceed from dissonant harmony to consonance

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texture

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the blend of the various sounds and melodic lines occurring simultaneously in a piece of music

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monophonic

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a musical texture involving a single melodic line, as in Gregorian chant

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heterophony

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monophonic texture in which subtly different versions of a single melody are presented simultaneously

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homophonic

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a musical texture that involves only one melody of real interest, combined with chords or other subsidiary sounds

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polyphonic

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musical texture in which two or more melodic lines are played or sung simultaneously

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counterpoint

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the technique of writing polyphonic music

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imitative polyphony

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a polyphonic musica ltexture in whic hte various melodic lines use approximately the same themes

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non-imitative polyphony

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a polyphonic musical texture in whic the melodic lines are essentially different from one another

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tonality

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the feeling of centrality of one note (and its chord) to a passage of music

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tonic

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in tonal music, the central-sounding note

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modality

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in music since the Renaissance, one of the two types of tonality; major mode or minor mode

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major mode

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one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around C as the tonic; characterized by the interval between the first and third notes containing 4 semitones, as opposed to 3 in the minor mode

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minor mode

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one of the modes of the diatonic scale, oriented around A as the tonic; characterized by the interal etween the first and third notes containing 3 semitones as opposed to 4 in the major mode

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keys

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one of the twelve positions for the major- and minor-mode scales made possible by using all the notes of the chromatic scale

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modulations

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changing key within a piece