Download Music Vocabulary Terms

Music Vocabulary Terms
General Music Terminology
Music: Sounds organized in time
Pitch: The highness or lowness of a sound, measured by frequency
Staff: The five lines on which music is read
Grand Staff: A full staff of both treble and bass clefs
Bar Lines: The vertical lines on the staff, which breaks music into measures
Measure or Bar: Sections of the staff divided by bar lines
Time Signature: the 2 numbers at the beginning of a piece of music that tells the player how
many beats are in each measure.
Fundamental: The lowest possible note on a vibrating string.
Sharp: Raises the pitch by one half step
Flat: Lowers the pitch by one half step
Chromatic Scale: A sequence of 12 notes made up by half steps
Enharmonic: A note that sounds the same but can be spelled differently (ex. A#/Bb or F#/Gb)
Key: The sequence or scale that the musician performs during the piece.
Key Signature: Located at the beginning of the piece or after a double bar line, the key
signature will tell the musician what notes are sharp or flat and which key they are playing in
Equal Temperament Tuning: Each note is tuned equally (piano, mallet percussion, ect.)
Register: The high, middle, or low section to the range of a voice or instrument
Tessitura: The comfortable range for a voice or instrument
Musique Concrete: An electronic composition where live instruments are recorded, then edited
and manipulated. They would then be recombined to create new sounds and played over a loud
speaker.
Types of Instruments
Chordophone: Instruments that have more than one string that vibrates to create sound
Areophone: Instruments that require air to be blown through them to produce a sound
Membraneophone: Instruments that have a vibrating membrane, skin, or synthetic head
stretched across the frame.
Idiophone: Instruments that vibrates through itself when struck
Strings: Any instrument that produces its sound with a vibrating string being bowed or plucked
(ex. Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Guitar)
Woodwinds: Any instrument that requires air to produce a sound either across a tone hole or a
reed. (ex. Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon, Saxophone)
Brass: Any instrument that requires air to produce a sound along with a buzzing into the
mouthpiece. Typically have valves or slides. (ex. Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Baritone,
Tuba)
Percussion: Any type of instrument that needs to be struck to produce a vibration either through
a membrane or the frame of the instrument. (ex. Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Claves, Cow Bell)
Keyboards: Any instruments similar to a piano. (ex. Piano, Harpsichord, Organ, Celesta,
synthesizer)
Scales and Intervals
Scale: A consistent sequence of intervals. There are 12 Major Scales: one for each note and 36
minor scales: 3 for each note: Natural Minor Scale, Melodic Minor Scale, and Harmonic Minor
Scale. Although Major and Minor scales are most common, there are many other types of scales.
Intervals: The distance between two notes. Intervals can be determined up or down. Intervals
of unison (same note), 2nd, 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, 6th, 7th, and Octave (8th) are most common.
Harmonic Intervals: Notes of the interval that are being played or heard at the same time.
(chord)
Melodic Intervals: Notes of the interval are played or heard separately.
Ascending Intervals: A Melodic Interval where the lower pitch occurs first
Descending Interval: A Melodic Interval where the higher pitch occurs first
Octave: An interval between two notes up or down that is the same
Half Step: An interval used to describe moving up or down from one note, to the very next note
possible in Western music.
Whole Step: Equivalent to 2 half steps
Major Scale: W – W- ½ - W- W – W -1/2
Natural Minor Scale: W – ½ - W – W – ½ - W – W
Harmonic Minor Scale: W – ½ - W - W – ½ - (W + ½) – ½
* should sound Middle Eastern
Melodic Minor Scale: This scale sounds different while ascending compared to when
descending.
UP: W – ½ - W – W – W – W – ½
DOWN: W – W – ½ - W – W – ½ - W
Relative Major and Minor: shares the same key signature (ex. G major and E minor both have
one sharp in the key signature)
Parallel: Scales that start on the same note but have a different key signature (ex. C Major/C
minor or F Major/F minor)
Blues Scale: A scale used specific to the Blues styles of music that includes a combination of
Major and minor scales.
Chords
Chord: 3 or more notes played at the same time
Triad: A chord consisting of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of a scale pattern.
Major Triad: 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a major scale
Minor Triad: Major triad with a lowered (b) 3rd
Diminished Triad: Major triad with a lowered (b) 3rd and 5th
Augmented Triad: Major Triad with a raised (#) 5th
Root: Lowest of the 3 notes in a triad.
Root Position: When a chord is written and the root (lowest note) is in the bass (on the bottom)
First Inversion: When a chord is written and the 3rd is in the bass (on the bottom)
Second Inversion: When a chord is written and the 5th is in the bass (on the bottom)
Melodies and Tempos
Melody: A series of pitches played one at a time to be perceived by the ear to form a coherent
whole. (The part of the music you would walk away humming/singing)
Harmony: Two or more pitches that occur at the same time in a melody
Transpose: Playing the same melody in more than one key
Conjunct Melody: A melody that moves smoothly to closely related pitches. No leaps or
abrupt motion
Disjunct Melody: A melody that contains large leaps or intervals
Rhythm
Rhythm: The way music is organized in time
Beat: The pulse that underlies music
Tempo: The speed of the beat
Meter: Determines whether the piece has a feel in 2 beats, 4 beats, or 3 beats
Unmetered: When there is no steady tempo or pulse
Pick Up Note or Anacrusis: Notes that occur before beat one.
Compound Meter: The beat has a triple subdivision
Mixed Meter: Measures of different meters occur in rapid succession.
Irregular Meter: Measures of different meters that occur randomly
Polymeter: Two or more meters are being used at the same time (20th Century Composition)
Polyrhythm: Two or more conflicting rhythms occur at the same time. (ex. 3 on 2 - hemiola)
Syncopation: Occurs when notes are emphasized between beats