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170 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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A cappella
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One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment
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Accelerando
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A symbol that means to gradually quicken tempo.
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Adagio
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slow tempo; restful and at ease
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Allegro
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Direction; play lively and fast.
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Atonal
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Music that does not have any regard to any specific key
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Baroque
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Time in music history- from middle of 16th to mid 17th century; emotional, flowery; strict form.
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Beat
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Unit of musical rhythm
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Cadence
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Sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase
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Cadenza
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Originally improvised cadence by a soloist. Became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.
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Canon
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musical form; melody or tune imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. Does not necessarily mean note by note imitation.
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Cantabile
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Singing style characterized by easy and flowing tone.
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Cantata
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Music written for choir and orchestra; mostly religious.
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Carol
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Song or hymn celebrating Christmas
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Chamber music
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Written for 2 to 10 solo parts. Each part bears same importance.
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think polyphonic.
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Chant
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Singing in unison, texts in a free rhythm. Sort of like the rhythm of speech.
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Choir
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Group of singers in a chorus
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Chorale
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Hymn sung by the choir or congregation often in unison.
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Chord
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3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.
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Chord Progression
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String of chords played in succession.
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Chorus
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A group singing in unison
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Chromatic scale
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Includes all twelve notes of an octave.
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Classical
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period of music; mid 1700s to mid 1800s; music was spare and emotionally reserved.
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Classicism
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Period of music; mid 1800s for sixty years; obsession with order and balance.
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Clef
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a symbol found at the beginning of the staff defining pitch of notes on the staff.
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Coda
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Closing section of a mvmt.
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Concert master
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First chair violin 1 in an orchestra
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Concerto
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A composition written for a solo instrument. Soloist plays melody as orchestra or piano plays accompaniment.
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Conductor
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The one who waves the baton around, gives tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and style gestures. Also facial expressions. ^_^
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Consonance
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Group of tones that are harmonious when together in a chord
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Contralto
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Lowest female singing voice
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Counterpoint
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Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.
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Courante
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Piece of music written in triple time; Also an old french dance.
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Da Capo
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instruction to go to and repeat the beginning of piece until final chord.
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Deceptive Cadence
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A chord that seems to resolve itself to a final chord but does not.
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a I-iv chord
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Development
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Where the musical themes and melodies are developed
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Dissonance
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Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Chord that sounds incomplete.
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Drone
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Dull, monotonous undertone
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Duet
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A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists
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Dynamics
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Softness and loudness of a musical composition. Can also be symbols that indicate volume.
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Energico
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Symbol; play energetically
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Enharmonic Interval
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Two notes that differ in name only. Same note, different name.
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Ensemble
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Performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.
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Expressivo
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symbol; play expressively
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Exposition
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The first section of a mvmt. written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes.
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Expressionism
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Atonal and violent style to evoke heightened emotions and states of mind.
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Falsetto
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Style of male singing where by partial use of vocal chords, can reach female range.
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Fermata
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To hold a tone or rest held beyond written value.
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Fifth
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Interval between two notes. 3 whole notes and one semitone make up the distance.
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Finale
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Mvmt or passage that concludes musical composition.
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Flat
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A symbol indicating that the tone is to be diminished by a half step
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Form
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The structure of a piece.
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Forte
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symbol: Play loudly
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Fourth
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Interval between two notes; two whole steps and one half step make up the distance.
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Fugue
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Composition for three to six voices, each voice enters at a different time to create a counterpoint.
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Galliard
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Music written for the French dance for two performers written in triple time.
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Gavotte
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17th century dance in quadruple time, always beginning on the third beat.
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Glissando
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sliding between two notes
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Grandioso
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Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.
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Grave
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word: very slow and serious
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Gregorian chant
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Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Popular among psalms and other parts of the church service.
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Grazioso
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Word: gracefully
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Harmony
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Pleasing combination of two or three noted played together in the background while melody is played. Also referred to study of chord progressions
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Homophony
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Written to be sung or played in unison with more than one part.
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Impromptu
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Short piano piece often improvisational and intimate in character.
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Instrumentation
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Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.
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Interlude
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Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera
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Interpretation
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The expression performer brings when playing his instrument.
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Interval
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The distance between two notes
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Intonation
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Manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.
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Key
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System of notes or tones based on and named after key note.
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Key signature
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Flats or sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating key
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Leading note
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The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve.
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Legato
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Word to indicate that the movmt. or entire composition is to be played smoothly.
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Libretto
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book of text containing the words of an opera.
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Madrigal
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A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices. No accompaniment.
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Maestro
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Refers to any great composer, conductor, or teacher of music.
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Major
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tonal system; positive
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March
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a form of music written for marching in two step time. made for military processions.
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Measure
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Unit of measure; bears in the lines of the staff are decided into two, three, four beats to a measure.
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Medley
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Often used in overtones, a composition that uses passages from other mvmt of the composition in its entirety.
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Mezzo
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voice between alto and soprano or a direction to play at a medium speed.
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Minor
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tonal system; minor mode can be identified by the dark melancholic mood.
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Minuet
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Slow and stately dance music written in triple time
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Modes
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Either of the two octave arrangement in modern music. major or minor.
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Modulation
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to shift to another key.
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Motif
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recurring theme or subject
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Movement
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Separate section of a larger composition
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Musette
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Baroque dance with a drone bass.
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Natural
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symbol; return to original pitch of a note
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Nocturne
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A musical composition that's romantic and dreamy
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Obbligato
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An extended solo, accompanying the vocal part of an aria
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Octave
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Eight whole steps above the key note where the scale begins and ends
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Octet
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a composition made for eight
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Opera
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Drama. words sung not spoken
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Operetta
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a short opera
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Opus
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a way to number composer's works
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Oratorio
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extended sacred cantata
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Orchestra
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Large group of instruments playing together.
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Orchestration
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a piece written for orchestra or the study of music
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Ornaments
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embellishment
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Ostinato
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repeated phrase
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Overture
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Intro to opera
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Parody
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composition based on another work
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Part
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part of an individual in a counter puntal work
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Pastoral
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composition; simple and idyllic
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Pentatonic scale
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A musical scale having five notes.
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Phrase
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musical sentence
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Piano
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"play softly"
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Pizzicato
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pluck strings
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Polyphony.
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combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies
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Polytonality
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two keys playing simultaneously
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Portamento
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mild glissando
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Prelude
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the smaller piece of music to sorta introduce a larger piece.
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Presto
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"to be very fast"
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Quartet
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a piece for four
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Quintet
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a piece for 5
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Recapitulation
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a reprise
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recitative
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writing for vocals that is close to speech
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Refrain
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a repeating phrase played at the end of each verse
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register
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a portion of a range of an instrument
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relative major or minor
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keys that share same key signature
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Renaissance
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14th and 16th century. rebirth if music, art, and lit
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Reprise
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to repeat a previous part of a composition
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Requiem
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a piece for the dead
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Rhythm
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The element of music pertaining to time
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Romantic
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18th and mid 19th century, neoclassical to emotional, expressive, and imaginative.
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Rondo
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principal theme repeated a lot
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Root
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principal note of a triad
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Round
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a Canon where melody is song by two or more voices. they play one after another.
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Rubato
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Romantic period, strict tempo is abandoned
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Scale
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successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.
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Scherzo
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Pertaining to the sonata form, fast mvmt in triple time.
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Sequence
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successive transportation and repetition of a phrase of different things pitches
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Serenade
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lighthearted peace written in several mvmts.
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sharp
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symbol; note is raised by a half step
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Slide
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a glissando or portamento.
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slur
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a curve that signifies to play legato
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sonata
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particular form consisting of 4 mvmts
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sonata form
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a complex piece of music. 1st mvmt. is exposition, development,recapitulation.
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Sonatina
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small sonata
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soprano
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highest female voice
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staccato
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short, detached notes
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staff
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Made up of 5 horizontal parallel lines where you put notes.
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Suite
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loose collection of instrumental comp
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Symphony
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3 to 4 mvmt. orchestral piece.
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system
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combination of two or more staves
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Tempo
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indicating speed
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tessitura
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the range of an instrumental or a vocal part.
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theme
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a melodic or harmonic idea presented in a musical form
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Timbre
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Tone color
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Time signature
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a numeric symbol in sheet music determining the beats to a measure
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tonal
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pertains to tone or tones
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tonality
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the tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.
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tone
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the intonation, etc. of a comp. expressing the meaning ,feeling of the music.
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tonic
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first tone of a scale
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treble
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playing or singing of the upper half of the vocal range.
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tremolo
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quick repetition of the same note or rapid alternation between two notes
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triad
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three notes that make a chord
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trill
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you know it.
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triple time
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3 beats to a measure
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triplet
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a note
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tritone
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chord with d5 or A4
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tune
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a rhythmic succession of musical tones.
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tuning
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the raising and lowering if a note to make the pitch correct.
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tutti
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all together now
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twelve tone music
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Music composed to make it where each note is played same number of times.
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unison
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two or more voices or instruments playing the same note at the same time.
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vibrato
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creating variation of pitch on a note by alternating between notes
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vivace
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direction to play lively
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Waltz
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Dance written in triple time
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