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AMMSMusicZone
Here
is a list of music vocabulary words and definitions that might be
helpful when writting your CD reviews.
A Cappella: "In the manner of
the chapel". Sung music without instrumental accompaniment
Accelerando, accel: Gradually
faster.
Accompaniment: A vocal or
instrumental part that supports the primary part, or provides
background for a soloist.
Acoustic: Any instrument that
can provide sound without the use of electronic amplification.
Andante: Moderate tempo.
Arpeggio: The notes of a chord
played in succession to one another, rather than simultaneously. A
broken chord.
Arrangement: An adaptation of a
given composition into a form other than as originally composed.
Ballad: 1. A simple song. 2. A
song that tells a story.
Band: An instrumental ensemble,
usually consisting of percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments, and
excluding strings.
Bass: "Low." 1. The lowest male
singing voice, below baritone. 2. The lowest part in a piece of music.
3. The lowest instrument in a musical work. 4. In the violin family,
the lowest instrument.
Cadence: The melodic or
harmonic ending of a piece, or the sections or phrases within a piece.
A chord progression that gives a feeling of resolution, or conclusion.
Cello: In the violin family,
the tenor instrument, played while held between the knees.
Chamber Music: Music for small
ensemble.
Chord: A set of notes, usually
three or four, played simultaniously--usually containing a root, and
other tones which have a tonal relationship to that root.
Chromatic: Motion by half
steps; or pitches used outside of the diatonic scale in which they
normally occur.
Close Harmony: A harmonic
voicing technique in which all the parts involved remain as close
together as the chords allow, often within a single octave.
Common Chord: A chord composed
of a root, third, and fifth.
Common Time: 4/4
meter.
Crecendo: A gradual increase in
volume.
Dissonance: Notes that
conflict, or sound outside of a chord in which they occur. Such notes
usually fall outside of the overtones which are being generated by the
note or chord that is sounding.
Dynamics: The degrees of
loudness or softness in a musical work, and the symbols that represent
them.
Ensemble: A group of singers,
or instrumentalists.
Falsetto: A high, light,
artificial voice used to sing notes that are above the normal register.
Finale: The last movement of a
sonata or symphony, or the last section of an opera.
Fret: On certain string
instruments, a thin, raised bar placed across the fingerboard to
indicate a specific position of a note, and aid in tuning that note.
Grand Staff: The combination of
a staff line notated in treble clef with one notated in bass clef. Used
primarily in scoring for piano, and other keyboard instruments, this
staff is also sometimes used to score vocal works, such as hymns.
Guitar: A string instrument
from Spain, with a large, flat-backed sound box, violin-like curved
shape, a fretted neck, and six strings.
Harmony:1. The study of
progression, structure, and relationships of chords. 2. When pitches
are in agreement, or consonance.
Hymn: A song, often a chorale,
written in praise of God, or for a religious congregation.
Impressionism: A stylistic
period of composition that sought to put to music only the most
immediate, direct impressions, upon the composer, of a given subject. .
Improvisation: Spontanious
Composition. The performance of music that is composed on the
spur-of-the moment by the performer, usually as a solo, or cadenza.
Also used extensively in jazz.
Instrumentation: The art of
composing, orchestrating or arranging works for an instrumental
ensemble.
Introduction: The preparatory
section, movement, or phrase of a musical work.
Jazz: A style of music of
Afro-American roots chracterized by a strong rythmic understructure,
blue notes, and improvisation on melody and chord structure.
Ledger Lines: Lines written
above or below the staff to help indicate the correct pitches for notes
written outside of it.
Lullaby: A cradle song.
Lyric: 1. The words to a song.
2. In a singing and melodious manner.
March: Music for marching, such
as in a parade or procession.
Modal: Pertaining to modes.
Motif: A short musical idea, or
melodic theme that runs through a piece.
.
Nonharmonic: Notes that fall
outside of the harmonic structure in which they occur.
Notation: written music
indicating pitch and rhythm.
Orchestration: The art of
arranging, writing or scoring music for an orchestra.
Phrase: A single musical idea,
or element. Usually very short, often consisting of only one or two
measures.
Rest: A symbol used to denote
silence.
Rhythm: The term which denotes
the organization of sound in time; the temporal quality of sound.
Ritardando, rit: Gradually
slower. Same as rallentando.
Roll: On percussion
instruments, a sticking technique consisting of a rapid succession of
notes.
Rubato: Denotes flexibility of
tempo to assist in achieving expressiveness.
Run: A rapid scale passage.
Sequence: 1. Repetition of the
same basic melodic theme at a different pitch. 2. A type of Gregorian
chant with non-biblical texts, lines grouped in rhymed pairs, and one
note per syllable.
Song Forms: The arrangement of
sections in a song to contrast similiar and different sections. Often,
letters are used to represent different parts of a given selection:
ABA, AABA, ABACA, etc.
Soprano: The highest female
vocal range, above alto.
Staff: The five horizontal
lines upon which music is written. Usually including a clef, and having
a time signature and key signature.
Subject: A theme or motif that
is the basis for a musical form, such as a fugue or sonata.
Symphony: A piece for large
orchestra, usually in four movements.
Tenor: "Holder." 1. A high male
voice between alto and baritone. In early polyphonic music, it sang the
cantus firmus in long held notes. 2. Instruments in the tenor range.
Theme: 1. A phrase that serves
as the subject, or melody for a given work, as in a fugue, or sonata.
2. A conceptual idea that motivates a given work.
Time Signature: The numbers
written on staff of any piece, indicating which type of note gets a
single beat, and also how many beats are in each measure.
Tonal: Music with a center, or
tonic, which employs tones which relate to that tonic in a predictable
and measurable manner.
Viola: In the violin family,
the alto instrument, played under the chin.
Violin: In the violin family,
the treble instrument played under the chin.
Violin Family: A family of
four-string instruments originating during the 17th century, tuned in
fifths, and characterized by rounded backs and shoulders, f-shaped
sound holes, and deep middle bouts. See violin, viola, cello, and bass.
Whole note/whole rest: A
note/rest equal to two half notes and four quarter notes.