Music Basic Guide

Front 1

A cappella

Back 1

choral music without insturmental accompaniment

Front 2

Accidental

Back 2

a sharp flat or natural symbol before a note indicates pitch from outside the specified scale

Front 3

Adagio

Back 3

slow tempo

Front 4

Aerophone

Back 4

an insturmentthat creates sound by the vibration of a colum of air

Front 5

Allegro

Back 5

fast tempo

Front 6

Alto

Back 6

a female voice with a lower range than soprano or a high male voice

Front 7

Andante

Back 7

moderate, walking tempo

Front 8

Ballet

Back 8

musical form written to coincide with a story to be danced

Front 9

Bar

Back 9

see measure

Front 10

Baritone

Back 10

a male voice with a renge between tenor and bass

Front 11

Bass clef

Back 11

a symbol that indicates that the fourth line from the bottom of a staff represents the pitch of F below middle C; also called F clef

Front 12

Bass

Back 12

a male voice with the lowest range

Front 13

Beat

Back 13

the underlying pulse in music

Front 14

Binary form

Back 14

the form of a piece that hastwo sections,AB

Front 15

Bridge

Back 15

1)a linking passage in a piece of music
2) the part of a string insturment overwhich the strings pass

Front 16

refers to combinations of sounds that are rough and inharmonious

Back 16

dissonance

Front 17

the fifth step or degree of a scale

Back 17

dominant

Front 18

the accented beat at the beginning of a downmeasure

Back 18

downbeat

Front 19

the gradations of loudness in music

Back 19

dynamics

Front 20

an instrument that produces sound by electronic means

Back 20

electrophone

Front 21

a system of tuning based on a scale whose "steps" or degrees have logarithmically equal intervals between them, in contrast to the differently spaced degrees of "just intonation tuning"

Back 21

equal temperament tuning

Front 22

the structure of organization of a piece of music

Back 22

form

Front 23

loud

Back 23

forte

Front 24

very loud

Back 24

fortissimo

Front 25

refers to the number of vibrations per second that create a sound; the frequency of a sound determines its pitch

Back 25

frequency

Front 26

a type of composition or technique in which a melodic theme is subjected to melodic imitation

Back 26

fugue

Front 27

a lively court dance in triple meter that was popular in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and which was early paired with the pavane

Back 27

pavane

Front 28

liturgical chants to latin text used since the middle ages

Back 28

gregorian chants

Front 29

the sounds heard together when a sound is produced by a vibrating string or air column, through its vibration in parts; the tones in the harmonicseries of overtones produced by a fundamental tone

Back 29

harmonics

Front 30

the combination of more than one musical pitch at a time and the subsequent relationships between intervals and chords

Back 30

harmony

Front 31

Cadence

Back 31

a progression of notes or chords that gives the effect of closing a passage of music

Front 32

Chanson

Back 32

the french word for song used specifically in reference to french polyphonicsongs in the medieval times and rennissance

Front 33

Chorale

Back 33

a traditional german hymn

Front 34

Chord

Back 34

a combonation of 3 or more pitches played at once

Front 35

Chordophone

Back 35

an insturment that produces sound Via the vibration of a stretched string that is bowed plucked or struck

Front 36

Chromatic scale

Back 36

a scale based upon an octave of twelve semitonesas opposed to diatomic scale

Front 37

Clef

Back 37

a symbol that designates a pitch range to be displayed in the staff

Front 38

Coda

Back 38

a passage at the end of a movement or composition that brings it to a formal close

Front 39

Concerto

Back 39

originally refered to a work that features effects of contrast, but now refers to a work in whicha solo instturment is contrasted with a larger ensamble or orchestra

Front 40

Consonance

Back 40

refers to a combontation of sounds that is somooth and harmonious

Front 41

Continuo

Back 41

a bass accompaniment, usually played on a keyboard or plucked insturment, inwhich neumerals written underneath the notes indicate the kind of harmony to be played:the group of insturments playing the contiouo part

Front 42

Crescendo

Back 42

gradually increasing in loudness

Front 43

Decrecendo

Back 43

gradually decreasing in loudness

Front 44

Diatonic scale

Back 44

a scale using only the eight tones of a standard major or minor scale without chromatic variations

Front 45

Cadence

Back 45

a progression of notes or chords that gives the effect of closing a passage of music

Front 46

Chanson

Back 46

the french word for song used specifically in reference to french polyphonicsongs in the medieval times and rennissance

Front 47

Chorale

Back 47

a traditional german hymn

Front 48

Chord

Back 48

a combonation of 3 or more pitches played at once

Front 49

Chordophone

Back 49

an insturment that produces sound Via the vibration of a stretched string that is bowed plucked or struck

Front 50

Chromatic scale

Back 50

a scale based upon an octave of twelve semitonesas opposed to diatomic scale

Front 51

Clef

Back 51

a symbol that designates a pitch range to be displayed in the staff

Front 52

Coda

Back 52

a passage at the end of a movement or composition that brings it to a formal close

Front 53

Concerto

Back 53

originally refered to a work that features effects of contrast, but now refers to a work in whicha solo instturment is contrasted with a larger ensamble or orchestra

Front 54

Consonance

Back 54

refers to a combontation of sounds that is somooth and harmonious

Front 55

Continuo

Back 55

a bass accompaniment, usually played on a keyboard or plucked insturment, inwhich neumerals written underneath the notes indicate the kind of harmony to be played:the group of insturments playing the contiouo part

Front 56

Crescendo

Back 56

gradually increasing in loudness

Front 57

Decrecendo

Back 57

gradually decreasing in loudness

Front 58

Diatonic scale

Back 58

a scale using only the eight tones of a standard major or minor scale without chromatic variations

Front 59

the unit of measure and frequency; the number of cycles per second

Back 59

hertz

Front 60

a texture in which several different versions of the same melody are played simultaneously

Back 60

heterophony

Front 61

a texture with one melody and varied supporting accompaniment; a texture in which these parts generally move together

Back 61

homophony

Front 62

a texture in which the melody and the supporting parts perform similar rhythms

Back 62

homorythmic

Front 63

an instrument that produces sound by being struck, plucked, rubbed, or bowed

Back 63

idiophone

Front 64

the distance between two pitches

Back 64

interval

Front 65

the tonality and major or minor scale of a piece of music; the key is labeled according to the note to which the piece gravitates

Back 65

key

Front 66

the group of flats or sharps placed on the staff at the beginning of a piece that indicates the tonality of the scale used

Back 66

key signature

Front 67

very slow

Back 67

largo

Front 68

the seventh degree of a scale, a semitone below the tonic, which gives music a sense of leading back to the tonic

Back 68

ledaing tone

Front 69

a recognizable theme or musical ideathat represents a character or concept in a dramatic work

Back 69

leitmotif

Front 70

the text of an opera or oratorio

Back 70

ilbretto

Front 71

a secular renassaince composition of poetic text for several unaccompanied vocal parts; usually has a ritornello

Back 71

madrigal

Front 72

a scale in which the distance from the first to the third note is four semitones

Back 72

major scale

Front 73

a metrical division of music, marked by vertical lines through the staff called bar lines

Back 73

measure

Front 74

a succession of notes sung on one syllable

Back 74

melisma

Front 75

a sequence of musical pitches with a recognizable shape or tune

Back 75

melody