Articulation
Accent
Stress or emphasis on a note
Legato
Musical notes performed smoothly and connected
Staccato
Musical notes performed short and separated
Tenuto
Musical notes that are emphasized and/or sustained for their full length
Col Legno
Striking the string of a string instrument with the wood side of the bow
Pizzicato
Playing technique which involves plucking the strings of a string instrument
Ricochet
When the bow is thrown onto the string and naturally rebounds to play extra notes
Spiccato
A bowing technique where the bow appears to bounce lightly on the string
Tremolo - Articulation
A performance technique in which a performer plays an individual note or two alternating notes as fast as possible.
Trill - Articulation
A musical ornament where two notes, often a step apart from each other, rapidly alternate
Composition Technique
Arpeggio - Composition Technique
Notes of a chord played separately in ascending or descending motion
Arrangement
A musical adaptation of an existing composition
Contrast
When an aspect of a piece of music develops in a different way, most often heard with extremes (loud and soft, short and long, slow and fast)
Dynamics - Composition Technique
The spectrum of loudness and softness in a piece of music
Extended Technique - Composition Technique
Singing and/or playing techniques that are typically unconventional
Harmonic Progression - Composition Technique
A group of chords played one after the other, often ending with a cadence
Imitation - Composition Technique
When a musical idea is echoed in another voice
Inversion - Composition Technique
When a musical passage is turned upside-down, turning its ascending intervals into descending intervals and vice versa
Modulation - Composition Technique
The change from one key to another
Motif
A short pattern of 3-5 notes that is repeated and/or varied during a piece of music
Ornamentation - Composition Technique
The embellishment of a musical passage by adding notes or modifying rhythms
Ostinato - Composition Technique
A short musical pattern that is repeated usually as an accompanying part
Range - Composition Technique
1. The distance between the lowest and highest note of a piece of music or musical instrument 2. The placing of each musical element of a composition in a specific pitch class, often for clarity's sake
Rhythmic Pattern - Composition Technique
A succession of rhythms performed in repetition, often used to establish beat
Sequence - Composition Technique
A specific pattern of notes that is repeated at a higher or lower level of pitch
Terraced Dynamics - Composition Technique
A sudden change from one dynamic to another making abrupt shifts from loud to soft or soft to loud
Theme and Variation - Composition Technique
A melody is stated and then developed in different ways several times to create more interest and variety
Timbre - Composition Technique
The quality given to a note when played on a particular musical instrument
Counterpoint
Bass Line
A line of music played by a low-range instrument, serving as foundation for the melody and harmony played above
Conjunct Motion - Counterpoint
Moving by steps
Disjunct Motion - Counterpoint
Moving by skips and leaps
Contrary Motion
Two voices moving in opposite direction
Oblique Motion
One melodic line remains on one pitch sustained or repeated while the second melodic line ascends or descends
Parallel Motion
Two melodic lines moving in the same direction
Imitation - Counterpoint
When a musical idea is echoed in another voice
Ensemble Size / Type
Solo
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer
Solo - Piano
A piece played by a solo pianist
Solo and Ensemble
A musical group that plays with a featured soloist
Duo / Duet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring two performers
Trio
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring three performers
Quartet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring four performers
Quintet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring five performers
Sextet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring six performers
Septet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring seven performers
Octet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring eight performers
Nonet
A piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring nine performers
Chamber Group
A musical ensemble modest in size
Band
A large ensemble of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments that often plays for marching or open-air performances
Cello Ensemble
A musical group comprised entirely or primarily by cello players
Chorus
An ensemble of singers
Guitar Ensemble
A musical group comprised entirely or primarily by guitar players
Percussion Ensemble
A musical group comprised entirely or primarily by percussionists
String Orchestra
A musical group comprised entirely or primarily by string players
Symphony Orchestra
A large ensemble composed of wind, string, brass and percussion instruments, organized to perform classical music
Live Instruments with Electronics
When an acoustic instrument plays alongside another digital component, such as a recording or audio program
Mixed Ensemble
A musical group comprised of non-conventional instrumentation, with any size and mix of instruments
Wind Ensemble
A performance group made up of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments that often plays indoor classical performances
Expressive Elements
Avant-Garde / Experimental
Music favoring unusual or experimental ideas
Dynamics - Expressive Elements
The spectrum of loudness and softness in a piece of music
Extended Technique - Expressive Elements
Singing and/or playing techniques that are typically unconventional
Glissando
A continuous slide upward or downward between two notes
Improvisation - Expressive Elements
Created or performed spontaneously, or without preparation
Ornamentation - Expressive Elements
The embellishment of a musical passage by adding notes or modifying rhythms
Phrase - Expressive Elements
A substantial musical thought, which ends with a musical punctuation called a cadence
Range - Expressive Elements
The use of high, middle, and low range musical placement, especially in contrast, to create musical expression
Ritardando - Expressive Elements
Gradual slowing in tempo
Rubato - Expressive Elements
The freedom or flexibility to choose your own tempo for a section or a phrase of music
Terraced Dynamics - Expressive Elements
A sudden change from one dynamic to another making abrupt shifts from loud to soft or soft to loud
Text Painting - Expressive Elements
When music reflects the meaning of words or lyrics
Tremolo - Expressive Elements
A performance technique in which a performer plays an individual note or two alternating notes as fast as possible.
Form and Structure
Ostinato - Form
A short musical pattern that is repeated usually as an accompanying part
Round - Form
A melody performed with itself in imitation
Canon
A melody performed with itself in imitation
Refrain
A line or lines of sung music that are repeated in a song, often called “the chorus”
Binary Form
Two-part form where the two main sections are repeated A-B
Ternary Form
A three-part form where the initial music returns after a contrasting section A-B-A
Rondo Form
An instrumental form characterized by the initial statement and subsequent restatement of a particular melody or section, with each statement separated by contrasting material (ABACA)
Sonata Form
A musical form that consists of three main sections: the exposition, the development and the recapitulation
Theme and Variation - Form
A melody is stated and then developed in different ways several times to create more interest and variety
Attacca
An instruction found in between two musical movements, to begin the next movement right away without pause
Cadenza - Form
An often virtuosic solo passage near an important cadence, or near the end of a piece of music
Improvisation - Form
Created or performed spontaneously, or without preparation
Aria / Art Song
A song for a solo voice that is often accompanied.
Ballet
An artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures.
Concerto
A musical composition for a solo instrument or instruments accompanied by an orchestra
Etude
(The French word for "Study") Music designed to train a performer a particular skill on a solo instrument
Fantasy
A composition free in form and inspiration, usually for an instrumental soloist. (Also called Fantasia)
Fugue
A compositional procedure characterized by the systematic imitation of a principal theme or subject in simultaneous melodic lines
Prelude
A short piece of music with little or no particular form, often played before something else.
Overture
The orchestral introduction to a musical work
Scherzo
A light or playful composition
Sonata
Small scale works that typically have a soloist, and sometimes a piano accompaniment
Suite
A set of connecting pieces of music that are typically dances, occasionally preceded by a prelude
Symphony
Large scale classical works featuring a full symphony orchestra. They typically have four movements, one of which is in sonata form
Waltz
Music in triple meter that is often tied to dance
Harmony
Arpeggio - Harmonic
Notes of a chord played separately in ascending or descending motion
Cadence
A short sequence of notes or chords that end a musical phrase
Chords
Three or more single pitches played together in blocked or broken style
Chordal Texture - Harmony
Musical material primarily using chords/harmony with little melodic activity
Dissonance
Two or more notes that create musical tension when played together
Double Stops
The playing of two notes at once on a bowed string instrument
Harmonic Inversion
When a note other than the root of a given harmony is in the bass
Harmonic Motion
When a piece moves from one chord or harmony to another
Harmonic Progression
A group of chords played one after the other, often ending with a cadence
Harmonic Rhythm
How frequently the music moves from one chord or harmony to another
Interval - Harmonic
The distance between two pitches
Modulation - Harmony
The change from one key to another
Instruments
Brass Instruments
An instrument of brass or other metal with a cup-shaped mouthpiece
Percussion Instruments
Any instrument that makes a sound when it is struck, shaken or scraped
String Instruments
Musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings
Woodwind Instruments
A musical instrument on which sound is produced by blowing against an edge or by vibrating a thin piece of wood or metal known as the reed
Timbre - Instruments
The quality given to a note when played on a particular musical instrument
Live Instruments with Electronics
When an acoustic instrument plays alongside another digital component, such as a recording or audio program
Melody
Arpeggio - Melodic
Notes of a chord played separately in ascending or descending motion
Cadenza - Melodic
An often virtuosic solo passage near an important cadence, or near the end of a piece of music
Call and Response
Music that works similarly to a conversation, with one musical phrase offered first and a second phrase answers back
Chromatic
Musical scale of 12 tones, each a half step or semitone above or below the adjacent pitches
Conjunct Motion - Melody
Moving by steps
Contour
the sequence of motion between notes in a melody
Disjunct Motion - Melody
Moving by skips and leaps
Imitation - Melody
When a melody is echoed in another voice
Interval - Melodic
The distance between two pitches
Improvisation - Melody
Created or performed spontaneously, or without preparation
Melodic Ornamentation
The embellishment of a musical passage by adding notes or modifying rhythms
Melodic Sequence
A specific pattern of notes that is repeated at a higher or lower level of pitch
Phrase - Melody
A substantial musical thought, which ends with a musical punctuation called a cadence
Range - Melody
The distance between the lowest and highest note of a melody
Trill - Melody
A musical ornament where two notes, often a step apart from each other, rapidly alternate
Solfege
A music education method often used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading
Text Painting - Melody
When music reflects the meaning of words or lyrics
Meter
Simple Meter
Meter where the beat divides into two, or then further subdivides into four
Compound Meter
Meter where the beat divides into three, or then further subdivides into six
Duple Meter
Pulse groupings of 2
Triple Meter
Pulse groupings in 3
Quadruple Meter
Pulse groupings of 4
Mixed Meter
Meter where the beat groups in a bar change freely throughout the music
Non-Metric
Music without a sense of underlying pulse or beat
Rhythm
Duplet
A borrowed division from Simple Meter where two equal notes are played in the time of three
Hemiola
Three beats of equal value played in the amount of time normally occupied by two beats
Rhythmic Duration
How long a note is sustained
Rhythmic Pattern
A succession of rhythms performed in repetition, often used to establish beat
Syncopation
A temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat
Triplet
A borrowed division from Compound Meter where three equal notes are played in the time of two
Tempo
Largo
Very slow, labored
Adagio
Slow
Moderato
Moderate tempo
Andante
Walking speed
Allegro
Moderately Fast (skipping speed)
Vivace
Fast / Lively
Presto
Very fast
Rubato - Tempo
The freedom or flexibility to choose your own tempo for a section or a phrase of music
Accelerando
Gradual increase in speed of the pulse or beat
Ritardando - Tempo
Gradual slowing in tempo
Fermata
A note prolonged beyond its normal duration for expressive purposes
Texture
Unison
All musical parts performing the same pitches at the same time
Round - Texture
A melody performed with itself in imitation
Chordal Texture
Musical material primarily using chords/harmony with little melodic activity
Range - Texture
The distance between the lowest and highest note of a piece of music or musical instrument
Heterophony
The simultaneous variation of a single melodic line
Homophony
When multiple lines or parts of music move with similar or identical rhythm
Monophony
One note sounding at a time
Polyphony
Multiple independent melodic lines performed at the same time
Tonality
Atonal/Atonality
Music that does not utilize traditionally tonal structures (ex. Major, Minor, Modal), often with an unidentifiable tonic (home-note)
Bitonality
Music that utilizes two keys / tonalities simultaneously
Free Tonality / Pantonality
Music that is not in one tonality or key, but shifts freely among many or all keys
Major Tonality
Music that is centered around the tonic (home-note) of a major scale and/or harmonic progression
Minor Tonality
Music that is centered around the tonic (home-note) of a minor scale and/or harmonic progression
Modal
Music based on one of the eight church modes, which use the major scale and start on a home tone other than Do
Pentatonic Scale
A musical scale with five notes per octave
Whole Tone Scale
A scale consisting entirely of whole steps, no half steps
Microtonal
Music using intervals outside of standard tuning, often with intervals smaller than a semitone.
Twelve Tone Serialism
All 12 notes of the chromatic scale are given equal importance, often by using 12-tone rows that are played in order, reversed, and upside down