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A
1) A cappella - One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.
2) Accelerando - A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.
3) Allegro - A direction to play lively and fast.
4) Atonal - Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.
B
1) Beat - The unit of musical rhythm.
C
1) Cadence - A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase, either in the middle or the end of a composition.
2) Cadenza - Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto, featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist. Originally an improvised cadence by a soloist. Later it became a written out passage to display performance skills of an instrumentalist or performer.
3) Cantabile - A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.
4) Cantata - Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.
5) Chamber music - Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.
6) Choir - Group of singers in a chorus.
7) Chord progression - A string of chords played in succession.
8) Chorus - A group singing in unison.
9) Classical - The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's. The music was spare and emotionally reserved, especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.
10) Classicism - The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.
11) Concerto - A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.
12) Consonance - Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.
13) Counterpoint - Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.
D
1) Development - Where the musical themes and melodies are developed, written in sonata form.
2) Dissonance - Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.
3) Duet - A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.
4) Dynamics - Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.
5) Da Capo - In sheet music, an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.
E
1) Enharmonic Interval - Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position. For example: C sharp and D flat.
2) Ensemble - The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.
3) Espressivo - A direction to play expressively.
4) Exposition - The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes.
5) Expressionism - Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.
F
1) Falsetto - A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.
2) Finale - Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.
3) Flat - A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.
4) Fugue - A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition, each voice enters at different times, creating counterpoint with one another.
G
1) Glissando - Sliding between two notes.
2) Grazioso - Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.
3) Gregorian Chant - Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.
H
1) Harmony - Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.
2) Homophony - Music written to be sung or played in unison.
3) Hymn - A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.
I
1) Impromptu - A short piano piece, often improvisational and intimate in character.
2) Instrumentation - Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.
3) Interlude - Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.
4) Interpretation - The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.
5) Introduction - The opening section of a piece of music or movement.
6) Intonation - The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.
K
1) Key - System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.
2) Key signature - The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played
L
1)Leading note - The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.
2)Legato - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.
3)Leitmotif - A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.
4)Libretto - A book of text containing the words of an opera.
M
1)Madrigal - A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment.
2)Major - One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.
3)Measure - The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two, three, four beats to a measure.
4)Mezzo - The voice between soprano and alto. Also, in sheet music, a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.
5)Minor - One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark, melancholic mood.
6)Minuet - Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.
7)Modulation - To shift to another key.
8)Motif - Primary theme or subject that is developed.
9)Movement - A separate section of a larger composition.
N
1)Natural - A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.
2)Nonet - A composition written for nine instruments.
3)Notation - First developed in the 8th century, methods of writing music.
O
1)Obbligato -An extended solo, often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.
2)Octave -Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends.
3)
Octet -A composition written for eight instruments. 4)Opera -A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.
5)Operetta -A short light musical drama.
6)Oratorio -An extended cantata on a sacred subject.
7)Orchestra -A large group of instrumentalists playing together.
8)Ostinato -A repeated phrase.
9)Overture -Introduction to an opera or other large musical work.
P
1)Pastoral -A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes.
2)Phrase -A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.
3)Piano -An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a “p”.
4)Pizzicato -String instruments that are picked instead of bowed.
5)Prelude -A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work, also an orchestral introduction to opera, however not lengthy enough
to be considered an overture.
6)Presto -A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast.
7)Progression -The movement of chords in succession.
Q
1)Quartet - A set of four musicians who perform a composition written for four parts.
R
1)Recapitulation -A recap of exposition(A) from the Sonata Form (AABA). It tre-enters the theme but changes it up a tad.
2)Recitative -A form of writing for vocals that is close to the manner of speech and is rhythmically free.
3)Relative major and minor -The major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key. For example: A minor shares the same note as C
major.
4)Requiem -A dirge, hymn, or musical service for the repose of the dead.
5)Rondo -A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical
sonata form works.
6)Root -The principal note of a triad.
S
1) Scale - Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.
2) Scherzo - Pertaining to the sonata form, a fast movement in triple time.
3) Scordatura - The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.
4) Septet - A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.
5) Sequence - A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.
6) Serenade - A lighthearted piece, written in several movements, usually as background music for a social function.
7) Sextet - A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.
8) Sharp - A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.
9) Slide - A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone.
10) Sonata - Music of a particular form consisting of three or four movements. Each of the movements differs in tempo, rhythm, and melody; but is held together by subject and style.
11) Sonata form - A complex piece of music. It is usually the first movement of the piece which has an exposition, a development, or recapitulation. (AABA)
12) Staccato - Short detached notes, as opposed to legato.
13) Staff - Made up of five horizontal parallel lines and the spaces between them on which musical notation is written.
14) String quartet - A group of 4 instruments, two violins, a viola, and cello.
15) Symphony - Three to four movement orchestral piece, generally in sonata form.
T
16) Tablature - A system of notation for stringed instruments. The notes are indicated by the finger positions
17) Tempo - Indicating speed.
18) Tessitura - The range of an instrumental or a vocal part.
19) Theme – A Melodic or, sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.
20) Timbre – Tone color, quality of sound that distinguishes one veres or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.
21) Tonality- The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.
22) Tone – The intonation, pitch, and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning, feeling, or attitude of the music.
23) Tonic - The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.
24) Treble - The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.
25) Trill - Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.
26) Trio - A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three persons.
27) Triple time - Time signature with three beats to the measure.
28) Vibrato - Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes.
V
1)Vibrato - Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes.
2) Virtuoso - A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.
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