Intro To American Music

Front 1

the musical element that organizes movement in time; refers to the length, or duration, of individual notes

Back 1

rhythm

Front 2

the regular pulsation heard in most music

Back 2

beat

Front 3

beats which are emphasized more than others

Back 3

accented (strong beats)

Front 4

measurement of musical time; organizes the beats in music

Back 4

meter

Front 5

a grouping which contains a specific number of beats

Back 5

measure

Front 6

the first beat of a measure; usually the most emphasized beat

Back 6

downbeat

Front 7

duple, triple, quadruple; beats are usually subdivided into two or four subbeats

Back 7

simple meter

Front 8

upsetting of the normal pattern of accentuation; accents (or stresses) fall on weak beats or offbeats (between the regular beats)

Back 8

syncopation

Front 9

the use of two or more different rhythm pattersn simultaneously

Back 9

polyrhythm

Front 10

grouping of irregular numbers of beats that add up to a larger overall pattern (as in 2 + 3 +2 + 3)

Back 10

additive meter

Front 11

lacks any strong sense of beat or meter

Back 11

nonmetric

Front 12

a coherent succession of single pitches

Back 12

melody (tune)

Front 13

highness or lowness of a sound

Back 13

pitch

Front 14

distance between two pitches (notes)

Back 14

interval

Front 15

distance between the melody's lowest and highest tones

Back 15

range

Front 16

melodies that move primarily in close intervals (My Country 'tis of Thee)

Back 16

conjunct shape

Front 17

melodies that move primarily in disjointed intervals (Star Spangled Banner)

Back 17

disjunct shape

Front 18

a musical sentence; a unit of measuring within a larger structure

Back 18

phrase

Front 19

a resting place which punctuates the music

Back 19

cadence

Front 20

simultaneous sounds

Back 20

harmony

Front 21

simultaneous sounding of three or more pitches

Back 21

chord

Front 22

a three-note chord, built on alternate notes of a scale (the most common type of chord)

Back 22

triad

Front 23

a grouping of ntoes with an octave

Back 23

scale

Front 24

the most common type of scale (has two whole steps between the first and third notes)

Back 24

major scale

Front 25

have 1 1/2 whole steps between the first and third notes

Back 25

minor scales

Front 26

central tone around which a melody and its harmonies are built

Back 26

tonic

Front 27

notes belonging to a major or minor scale

Back 27

diatonic pitches

Front 28

all twelve notes within an octave

Back 28

chromatic pitches

Front 29

results from an unstable, or discordant, harmony

Back 29

dissonance

Front 30

occurs with the resolution of dissonance, producing a concordant sound

Back 30

consonance

Front 31

a sustained tone against which melodic and rhythmic complexities unfold

Back 31

drone

Front 32

single-voiced music

Back 32

monophony

Front 33

many voices (or lines) of equal importance happening simultaneously

Back 33

polyphony

Front 34

all the voices (or lines) move in the same rhythm

Back 34

homorhythm

Front 35

a melodic voice with accompaniment

Back 35

homophony

Front 36

when a melodic idea is presented in one voice, and then is restated in another

Back 36

imitation

Front 37

the organizing principle in music, its basic elements are repetition, contrast, and variation

Back 37

form

Front 38

music created spontaneously in performance

Back 38

improvisation

Front 39

melodic idea used as a building block in a music composition

Back 39

theme

Front 40

some aspects of the music are altered, but otheres remain the same

Back 40

variation

Front 41

the rate of speed of the music

Back 41

tempo

Front 42

describes the volume of the music

Back 42

dynamics