Music Terms- Test 1

Front 1

Note

Back 1

Written representation of music

Front 2

Tone

Back 2

Specific, continuous frequency or vibration

Front 3

Pitch

Back 3

Highness or lowness of a tone

Front 4

Interval

Back 4

Distance between two pitches on a staff

Front 5

Octave

Back 5

Interval between two notes of the same name (8 keys on a piano)

Front 6

Dynamics

Back 6

Levels of volume, loudness (there are 6)

Front 7

Crescendo

Back 7

Gradually getting louder

Front 8

Accent

Back 8

Hit the note hard at the beginning; labeled as ">"

Front 9

Timbre

Back 9

Pertaining to tone quality/color

Front 10

Melody

Back 10

Tune

Front 11

Phrase

Back 11

Section of the melody; creates, releases tension

Front 12

Legato

Back 12

Smooth, connected

Front 13

Staccato

Back 13

Short, detached

Front 14

Cadence

Back 14

Resting point in a piece of music

Front 15

Sequence

Back 15

Melodic pattern repeated at different pitch levels

Front 16

Rhythm

Back 16

The ordered flow of music through time

Front 17

Beat

Back 17

Regular, recurring pulsation of music

Front 18

Meter

Back 18

Organization of beats into a pattern; duple, triple, quadruple

Front 19

Measure

Back 19

One unit of the organized pattern

Front 20

Time signature

Back 20

Beginning of the piece, tells the fraction of what the meter is in

Front 21

Tempo

Back 21

Pace, speed of the music

Front 22

Adagio

Back 22

Slow

Front 23

Allegro

Back 23

Fast

Front 24

Rubato

Back 24

Freely altering the tempo, done by performer for expressive purposes; non-instructional

Front 25

Fermata

Back 25

Means you can hold the note for as long as you want

Front 26

Syncopation

Back 26

Accenting in unexpected places (in-between the beats)

Front 27

Harmony

Back 27

The notes that sound together to back up the melody; considered "vertical" background. Mainly in Western cultures

Front 28

Chord

Back 28

Simultaneous sounding of 3 OR MORE notes

Front 29

Triad

Back 29

Specific type of chord that is SOLELY 3 notes, usually spread one note apart from the other

Front 30

Consonance

Back 30

Combo of stable notes without tension (eg. triad)

Front 31

Dissonance

Back 31

Combo of notes that are unstable and have tension

Front 32

Arpeggio

Back 32

Broken chord

Front 33

Tonic

Back 33

First note of the scale that's being used

Front 34

Tonality

Back 34

The key that something is in. Also refers to mode (major or minor)

Front 35

Key

Back 35

Specific term that specifies the exact tonic

Front 36

Major

Back 36

Happy bright sounds

Front 37

Minor

Back 37

Sad dark sounds

Front 38

Chromatic scale

Back 38

scale with every single half-step in it; eg. every white and black key being used

Front 39

Modulation

Back 39

Changing the key; a change of tonal center. Increase intensity as you go

Front 40

Texture of music

Back 40

The way in which melody and harmony work together. Dense vs. light textures may arise

Front 41

Binary form

Back 41

AB or AABB (two)

Front 42

Ternary

Back 42

AABBA or ABA (repeats a after b)