A
A: 1. The musical pitch relating to 440 oscilations per
second of vibration, or any octave transposition of that
pitch. 2. The key of A.
Absolute Music: Music without associations
outside of itself, in contrast to program music.
Absolute Pitch: see
perfect pitch.
A Cappella: "In the manner of the chapel". Sung
music without instrumental accompaniment.
Accidentals: Sharps,
flats, or natural signs that raise
or lower a given diatonic pitch to deviate from its
key signature.
Accompaniment: A vocal or instrumental part
that supports the primary part, or provides background for a soloist.
Achromatic: See
diatonic.
Acoustic: Any instrument that can provide sound
without the use of electronic amplification.
Adagio: Slow, leisurely; a slow movement.
Acoustics: 1. The science relating to the
creation and dissipation of sound waves. 2. The way in which sound production
is affected by the physical properties of the room or chamber in which they are
produced.
Advent: Christian religious observance which takes
place in the four weeks immediately preceeding Christmas.
Aeolian Mode: A medieval mode
whose scale pattern is that of playing A to A
on the white keys of a piano. This scale is also called the natural minor scale.
Agnus Dei: "Lamb of God". In the
Mass, the fifth part of the
ordinary.
Air: A song or melody.
Alberti Bass: A pattern of bass notes that
outlines the chord being sounded in the pattern low-high-middle-high.
Albumblatt: (Ger.) A page or leaf from a
book, or a short, easy piece.
Allemande: (Fr.) "German." A stately
16th-century German dance, initially in a duple meter. During the 17th and
18th centuries, it was used as the first movement of the suite.
Alteration: The use of a
sharp or flat to raise or lower a
pitch from its natural state.
Altered Chord: A chord in which a note has
been changed from its normal position, usually
chromatically.
Alto: 1. In most choirs, the lowest female vocal
part. Occasionally, extremely high tenors may be said
to sing this part. 2. An instrument in the alto range. 3. A
viola.
Alto Clef: The C clef
falling on third line of the staff, in modern practice, is usually only used
by the viola.
Analysis: The study of the form and structure
of music.
Answer: In a fugue, the
second entry of the subject.
Antescedent: The first phrase of a musical
period. In a fugue, the
subject.
Anthem: A choral or vocal composition, often with
a religious or political lyric, with or without accompaniment, written either
for performance in a church, or another place with significance to the song
itself.
Antithesis: In the fugue,
the answer.
Aria: A musical work usually found in an
opera or oratorio, which
generally dwells on a single emotional theme of one of the characters.
Arietta: A short aria.
Arpeggio: The notes of a chord played in
successsion to one another, rather than simultabniously. A broken chord.
Arrangement: An adaptation of a given
composition into a form other than as originally composed.
Ars Antiqua: "Old Art". Refers to the old
musical practices of Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Ars Nova: "New Art". A term invented by
Philippe De Vitry to describe the music
of his era, the 14th century, as opposed to the music of earlier generations.
Art Song: A serious vocal composition, generally
for voice and piano. Denotes a self-contained work, as opposed to an
aria.
Atonal: Music that lacks a tonal center, or in
which all pitches carry equal importance.
Augmentation: The lengthening of note values
used in a theme to alter the melody without changing the
pitches.
Augmented: Raised, or enlarged. Generally
refers to the raising of a pitch chromatically
by one half step.
Augmented Chord: A chord which contains
a root, a major third, and an
augmented fifth.
Augmented Sixth Chord: A
chord which contains an augmented
sixth above the bass, in addition to
various other tones, which determine weather the chord is a
German Sixth Chord,
French Sixth Chord,
Italian Sixth Chord,
Neopolitan Sixth,
or Doubly Augmented Sixth Chord.
Authentic Cadence: A
cadence that starts of the fifth
of the key, and resolves to the tonic.
B
B: The key of B, or in the German musical system,
B-flat.
Bagatelle: A short light or whimsical piece,
usually written for piano.
Ballad: 1. A simple song. 2. A song that tells a
story.
Ballet: A theatrical dance form with a story,
sets, and music.
Band: An instrumental ensemble, usually consisting
of percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments, and excluding strings.
Baritone: A low male singing voice between
tenor and bass.
Baroque Period: The musical era from roughly
1600 to 1750 A.D., characterized by the establishment of major and minor
tonality, rather than modes, and the introduction of
opera.
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.
Bass Clef: The F clef
indicating the fourth line of the staff. Used in combination with the
treble clef to make the
grand staff.
Basso Continuo: "Continuous Bass",
sometimes referred to as "thoroughbass". Used in Baroque
music, A continuo is a bass line that repeats throughout an
entire work, or section of a work. Played by the lowest instrument, a continuo
usually consisted of a bass line, and a series of
figures.
Battaglia: "Battle". A composition that
imitates the sounds and feel of battle, and martial music.
Bequadro: A natural
sign.
Berceuse: A lullaby.
Binary Form: A two-part song form consisting
of an initial section, which is then followed by a contrasting section. (AB),
see song forms.
Bitonal: The use of two different keys, or
tonic centers at the same time.
Borrowed Chord: Use of a chord in a key in
which it is not diatonic, or the substitution of a
chord from a different key into a work.
Bouts: In the violin
and guitar families, the curves in the sides of the
instrument, especially the C-shaped inward curves that form the
waist.
Bow: The device used in the string instrument
families, such as the violin family, consisting
of a wooden stick, pointed at one end, and strung with horsehair. The bow is
drawn across the strings to generate a tone.
C
C: The key of C.
C Clef: A clef that indicates
which line represents C on a staff, as opposed to a
G clef, or an F clef.
Cabalistic Numerological Symbolism: A method of
inbedding hidden messages in music, by using a code of numbers based on which
notes are used, their durations, arrangement, subdivision, etc--whereby the
composer made symbolic referrence to specific persons, places, or things and/or
events in some way associated with the music.
Cacophony: A discordant or dissonant sound.
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.
Cadenza: An extended solo passage, usually near
the end of a piece, improvised by the performer, or sometimes written out by
the composer.
Cambiata: In
counterpoint, a
nonharmonic tone inserted between a
dissonance and its
resolution.
Camera: Secular chamber music, as opposed to church
music, or chiesa.
Camerata: Small art or music schools dating from
the 16th century.
Cancel: A natural sign, used
to remove a previously applied accidental.
Cannon: "Rule". In
counterpoint, a melody that is repeated exactly by
a different voice, entering a short interval after the original voice.
Cantata: "Sung". A multi-movement vocal work for
concert or church performance by a choir, sometimes soloists, and an
instrumental ensemble.
Canticle: A non-metrical hymn or song.
Canto Fermo: A
cantus firmus.
Cantus Firmus: "Fixed Song". A pre-existing
melody, used as the foundation for a polyphonic work.
Used in counterpoint, Canti Firmus were usually based
on ecclesiatical chant.
Canzona: A song, or ballad, or
"in the style of a song".
Capellmeister:
Kapellmeister.
Cappella: See
a cappella.
Cello: In the violin family,
the tenor instrument, played while held between the knees.
Chamber Music: Music for small ensemble.
Chanson: A song, usually secular. This term is
usually applied to works composed during the Medieval and Renaissance periods,
though many twentieth-century composers have also applied the term to their own
works.
Chiesa: "Church". Church music, as opposed to
chamber music, or camera.
Chorale: A German Lutheran hymn tune.
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.
Chordal: A form of music in which a single melody
is accompanied by sets of chords, rather than a competing
counter melody.
Chromatic: Motion by half steps; or pitches
used outside of the diatonic scale in which they
normally occur.
Classical Era: The musical period from the late
1700s to the mid 1820s, characterized by more rigidly defined musical forms,
increased attention to instrumental music, and the evolution of the
symphony.
Clef: The symbol used at the beginning of a staff
to indicate which lines and spaces represent which notes. In modern practice,
only three clefs are commonly used, the G clef or
treble clef, the F clef or
bass clef, and the C clef, when
used as an alto clef.
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.
Clusters: Groups of notes that are the interval of
a second apart from one another.
Coloratura: "Coloring". Elaborate coloration of
the melodic line, usually by a vocalist.
Comic Opera: An opera
with light-natured music, comedy, and a happy ending. In contrast to
grand opera.
Common Chord: A chord composed of a
root, third, and
fifth.
Common Time: 4/4 meter.
Common Tone: A note that remains the same
between two different chords.
Compound Interval: An interval greater
than an octave, such as a ninth, or eleventh.
Concert: A public performance of music.
Concertante: A piece for two or more
instruments with orchestral accompaniment.
Concerto: A piece for soloist(s) and orchestra.
Consequent: The second phrase in a musical
period, in a fugue, the
answer.
Consonance: Sounds that are in agreement in
terms of physical generation of sound; i.e. sounds found in the
harmonic series of a pitch being harmonized, in
contrast to dissonance.
Consort: A Renaissance
chamber group.
Continuo:
Basso continuo.
Counterpoint: The combination of two or more
melodic lines played against one another. A horizontal structure built upon
competing melodic lines, rather than a chordalsetting.
Countertenor: "Against the tenor". The
highest male singing voice, above tenor.
Crab Cannon: A
contrapuntal piece in which one part is identical
to another, but backwards.
Crecendo: A gradual increase in volume.
Credo: "I believe". In the Mass,
the third part of the ordinary. The Creed.
D
D: 1. "Deutsch". D numbers are used instead of
opus numbers to catalogue works by
Schubert 2. The key of D.
Deceptive Cadence: A
cadence where the dominant
tonality resolves to any chord other than the tonic, most
especially when it goes instead to the sixth.
Degree: A note of a scale, usually as identified
by number. See second, third,
fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, and
octave.
Descant: 1. Soprano or
tenor voice. 2. The melodic line or
counterpoint accompanying an existing melody.
3. The upper part of a polyphonic composition.
Descriptive Music:
Program music.
Development: The elboration of melodic,
thematic, or harmonic progressions in a piece.
Diatonic: The notes that occur naturally in a
scale, without being modified by accidentals other
than in the key signature.
Dies Irae: "Day of Wrath". The
sequence for the Requiem Mass.
Diminished: Lowered, or reduced. Generally
refers to the lowering of a pitch chromatically
by one half step.
Diminished Seventh Chord: A chord
which contains a root, a minor third,
a diminished fifth, and a
diminished seventh.
Diminished Triad: A chord which contains
a root, a minor third, and a
diminished fifth.
Diminuition: The shortening of note values
used in a theme to alter the melody without changing the
pitches.
Dirge: A piece that is performed at a funeral or
memorial service.
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.
Divertimento: An entertaining instrumental
piece made up of several short movements.
Dodecaphonic:
Twelve-tone music.
Dominant: A chord based on the
fifth degree of the diatonic scale
being used. A dominant usually resolves to the
tonic.
Dorian Mode: A medieval mode
whose scale pattern is that of playing D to D on the white keys of a piano.
Double Concerto: A
concerto for two solo instruments, and orchestra.
Double Counterpoint:
Invertible Counterpoint.
Double Flat: An
accidental that lowers the note it preceeds by one
whole step.
Double Fugue: A fugue
with two themes that occur at the same time.
Double Sharp: An
accidental that raises the note it preceeds by one
whole step.
Doubly Augmented Sixth Chord: An
augmented sixth chord, which contains a
sharp second from the
tonic.
Dramatic Soprano: A female singer with
a slightly lower range than a Lyric Soprano.
Dramatic Tenor: A male singer with
a slightly lower range than a Lyric Tenor.
Dynamics: The degrees of loudness or softness
in a musical work, and the symbols that represent them.
E
E: The key of E.
Eighth: An octave.
Elegy: A melancholy piece.
Eleventh: The interval of eleven
diatonic degrees.
Embellishment:
ornaments added to music to make it more interesting.
Ensemble: A group of singers, or instrumentalists.
Equal Temperament: Any tuning system
which divides the octave into equal intervals.
Ethnomusicology: The study of various
types of music in relation to their geographic, racial, and cultural context.
Etude: A short song, usually written for pedagogical
or instructional use.
Evaded Cadence: A
cadence that implies one type of
resolution, but goes to another instead.
Even Tuning See
equal temperament.
Excercise: A short piece written to improve
performance technique.
Exposition: The first occurence of the
theme or subject in a work, where
the prinicpal idea of the piece is stated.
Expressionism: An early 20th-century musical
style, employing an abstract approach to music, unlike
impressionism.
F
F: The key of F.
F Clef: A clef that indicates
which line represents F on a staff, as opposed to a
C clef, or an G clef.
False Cadence: A
deceptive cadence.
Falsetto: A high, light, artificial voice used
to sing notes that are above the normal register.
Fantasy, Fantasia, Fantaisie: A piece in free
style and form.
Feminine Cadence: A
cadence ending on a weak beat.
Fibbonacci Series: A mathematical
sequence in which the next number in the series is the sum of the previous
two numbers. Used by many 20th century composers to determine various elements
of composition, espeically Bela Bartok.
Fifth: The interval of five
diatonic degrees.
Figured Bass: The bass part of a piece
written by giving a single bass note, with numbers beside it to indicate
the inversion of the chord to be played.
Figured Melody: A highly
ornamented melody.
Finale: The last movement of a
sonata or symphony, or the last
section of an opera.
Fingerboard: On string instruments, the top
surface of the neck, where the fingers press down on the strings.
Flats: An accidental
that lowers a given pitch by one half-step. See also
key signature.
Fourth: The interval of four
diatonic degrees.
French Sixth Chord: An
augmented sixth chord, which contains a
second from the tonic.
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.
Fugue: "Flight." A
contrapuntal piece, in which two or more parts are
built or "layered" on a recurring subject that is
intriduced alone, and followed by an answer, which
is the subject (or theme) at a different pitch,
usually the fifth.
Function: The way in which chords, and individual
tones within the chord, tend to imply movement toward another chord.
Fundamental: Any note that sounds, producing
overtones in the
harmonic series.
G
G: The key of G.
G Clef: A clef that indicates
which line represents G on a staff, as opposed to a C clef,
or an F clef.
Gallant: an 18th century compositional style
that was light, elegant, non-contrapuntal, and
highly ornamented.
German Sixth Chord: An
augmented sixth chord, which contains a
flat third from the
tonic.
Gloria: "Glory". In the Mass,
the second part of the ordinary.
Golden Section: A mathematical proportion
where the ratio between a small section and a larger section is equal to the
ratio between the larger section and both sections put together. Used by many
20th century composers, especially Bela Bartok,
to determine the point of climax for a given work.
Grace Note: A note, or notes that are played
quickly, usually before the beat. See ornaments.
Grand Opera: Opera on a
large scale, usually entirely sung, in contrast to
comic opera.
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.
Gregorian Chant: A body of chants of the Roman
Catholic Church, most of which are part of two liturgical rites, the
Mass and the Offices. Origins traditionally are
ascribed to the period of Pope Gregory I (590-604).
Guitar: A string instrument from Spain, with a
large, flat-backed sound box, violin-like curved shape,
a fretted neck, and six strings.
H
H: 1. In the German musical system, B
natural, or the key of B natural. 2. "Hoboken", the
cataloguer of Haydn's works; H numbers are
used instead of opus numbers for the works of Haydn.
Half-Cadence: A
cadence that ends on the dominant
instead of the tonic. Also called an
imperfect cadence.
Half-Step: The smallest
interval that is commonly used in Western music. There
are 12 half-steps in an octave.
Harmonic Progression: The movement
from one chord to another, usually in terms of their
function.
Harmonic Series: A series of notes
produced above the fundamental (the series includes
the fundamental) which fall in the overtones of that
pitch.
Harmony:1. The study of progression, structure,
and relationships of chords. 2. When pitches are in agreement, or
consonance.
Head Voice: The upper register of the singing
voice.
Heldentenor: A heroic
tenor with a strong, robust singing voice.
Hemitonium: A
half-step.
Heterophony: The simultanious performance of
two slightly different melodies.
Homophony: Music in which one voice has the
melody, performed with a chordal
accompaniment.
Hymn: A song, often a chorale,
written in praise of God, or for a religious congregation.
I
Imitation: A fugal
technique of composition, in which one part introduces a theme, or
subject which is then answered
by the other parts by reitorating the same theme later in the work. This term
is usually applied to fugal passages in choral music.
Imperfect Cadence: See
half-cadence.
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. Impressionism avoided
traditional harmony of thirds, employing more often
quartal or quintal tonality.
Impromptu: A short, improvisational-sounding
piece.
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.
Incidental Music: Short musical segments
that accompany, or highlight dramatic moments in, a play, or other stage work.
Instrumentation: The art of composing,
orchestrating or arranging works for an
instrumental ensemble.
Interlude: Short music used to bridge the
acts of a play, or the verses of a hymn.
Introduction: The preparatory section,
movement, or phrase of a musical work.
Interval: The distance between two notes, in
terms of occilations per second. The difference in one
half-step is about 35 beats per second.
Introit: "Entrance". A psalm sung at the start of
the Roman Catholic Mass.
Invention: A short,
contrapuntal piece.
Inversion: The different forms that a chord may
take by changing the chord member that is the bass of the chord.
Invertible Counterpoint:
counterpoint in which two or more voices can be
interchanged for one another.
Ionian Mode: A medieval mode
whose scale pattern is that of playing C to C on the white keys of a piano.
This scale is identical to a major scale.
Italian Sixth Chord: An
augmented sixth chord, which contains a
only three tones, as opposed to a German Sixth Chord,
or a French Sixth Chord.
J
Jazz: A style of music of Afro-American roots
chracterized by a strong rythmic understructure, blue notes, and improvisation
on melody and chord structure.
Jubilate: A song of praise, usually based on
Psalm 100.
Just Tuning: Any system of tuning in which the
intervals are pure, and do not deviate from the
overtone series.
K
K: 1. "Kochel", used instead of opus
numbers to designate the works of Mozart.
2. "Kirkpatrick", used to designate the works of
Domenico Scarlatti.
Kanon: Canon.
Kapellmeister: "Master of the chapel."
Director of music for a church or royalty.
Key: The tonal center based on the
tonic note of the scale.
Key signature: Sharps
or flats written at the beginning of a staff line to
indicate which pitches are to be raised or lowered from their
natural state during the piece.
Kreuz: (Gr.) A sharp.
Kyrie: "Lord." In the Mass,
the first part of the ordinary.
L
Lament: A mournful piece, either meant to be
played at a funeral, or to commemorate a death.
Landini Cadence: The melodic
cadence that moves in the sequence 7-6-8, used
primarily by Francesco Landini, and later
by other composers.
Leading Tone: The
seventh degree of the diatonic
scale, when it is only a half-step below the tonic. It
is called "leading" because it gives the feeling of wanting to move up a
half-step toward the tonic.
Leap: the movement of a single musical line by more
than a second at a time.
Ledger Lines: Lines written above or below
the staff to help indicate the correct pitches for notes
written outside of it.
Leitmotif: "Leading Motive". Use of a musical
phrase to identify with a certain person, place or thing in a dramatic work,
especially an opera, usually repeated every time its
referrant appeared in the work.
Lent: The season of the church year from Ash
Wednesday to Easter (40 days, not counting Sundays).
Libretto: The text (lyrics and any spoken parts)
of an opera or oratorio.
Lied/Lieder: A German art
song, usually those of the Romantic or Classical eras.
Litany: A set of prayers recited by a leader
alternating with responses by the congregation, often set in
plainsong form.
Liturgy: A perscribed order of worship in a
church, usually used in referrence to the Mass.
Locrian Mode: A mode whose
scale pattern is that of playing B to B on the white keys of a piano. While
this mode theoretically existed in medieval times, it was never used.
Lullaby: A cradle song.
Lydian Mode: A medieval mode
whose scale pattern is that of playing F to F on the white keys of a piano.
Lyric: 1. The words to a song. 2. In a singing and
melodious manner.
Lyric Soprano: A female singer with
a slightly higher range than a Dramatic Soprano.
Lyric Tenor: A male singer with a slightly
higher range than a Dramatic Tenor.
M
Madrigal: A Renaissance
choral piece, usually unaccompanied.
Maggiore: The major mode.
Major: "Greater". A term used to describe certain
intervals (seconds,
thirds,sixths and
sevenths), chords and
the Ionian Mode.
Major Chord: a triad
composed of a root, a third, and a
fifth.
Major Scale: A diatonic
scale where the half-steps fall
between the third and fourth, and
the seventh and . This scale is
identical to the Ionian Mode.
Mannheim School: A
Preclassical group of German
symphonic composers whose style including extended
crecendos (called steamrollers) and
melodies that arpeggiated upward, (called
rockets).
March: Music for marching, such as in a parade or
procession.
Mass: The musical setting of the Roman Catholic Church
service, usually just the ordinary, but sometimes also
the proper.
Mixolydian Mode: A medieval
mode whose scale pattern is that of playing G to G on the
white keys of a piano.
Meter Signature: See
time signature.
Mode: A scale pattern consisting of set intervals of
whole and half steps. The primary modes are
Aeolian, Dorian,
Ionian, Locrian,
Lydian, Mixolydian, and
Phrygian.
Modal: Pertaining to modes.
Modern: Music written in the 20th century, or
contemporary music.
Modulation: 1. To change keys, the movement
from one tonic center to another.
Monody: A solo or unison song with
accompaniement.
Monothematic: Music based upon a single
theme.
Monophony: Music written in a single melodic
line, as opposed to polyphony.
Morceau: "Morsel". A musical work or composition.
Mordent: An ornament
consisting of a single alternation between a given pitch, and the one
immeditatly below or above it--called an inverted mordent.
Motet: A choral composition, usually on a religious
text.
Motif: A short musical idea, or melodic theme that
runs through a piece.
Movement: A self-contained segment of a larger
work. Found in works such as sonatas,
symphonies, concertos, etc.
Musicology: The study of music and music
history.
Music Drama: Opera,
specifically that of Richard Wagner and his
successors.
Musique Concrete: Music composed by
manipulating recorded sounds, specifically aucoustically generated real-world
sounds.
N
Nachschlag: An ornament
consisting of an unaccented note or notes at the end of the main note, or at
the end of a trill.
Nachtmusik: "Night Music", a
seranade.
Natural: A note that has not been raised or
lowered from its named pitch. On a piano, naturals are the white keys.
Sharps or flats may be used to
alter a natural pitch up or down a half step, respectively.
Neopolitan: Any chord built upon the
flat second
degree of the tonic key.
Neopolitan Sixth Chord: An
augmented sixth chord built upon the
flat second
degree of the tonic key.
Ninth: The interval of nine
diatonic degrees.
Nocturne: A night-piece, or
seranade.
Nonharmonic: Notes that fall outside of the
harmonic structure in which they occur.
Notation: written music indicating pitch and
rhythm.
O
O: The symbol for diminished.
Oblique Motion: Two melodic lines, where one voice
remains stationary, while the other moves.
Octave: An interval eight
diatonic scale degrees above it. Two notes an octave
apart have the same letter name, and form the most
consonant interval possible.
Octet: A piece written for eight parts, or the group
that performs such a piece.
Oeuvre: (Fr.) opus.
Offertory 1. A part of the Roman Catholic
Mass proper, following the
Credo and sung during the offering. 2. In Protestant
church services, any music sung or played during offering.
Open Fifth: A triad
that does not contain a third, consisting only of a
root and a fifth.
Opera: A musical play, usually entirely sung,
making use of costumes, staging, props, sets, and dramatic elements. Operas
usually consist of two types of musical elements, the aria,
which primarily expresses a single idea or theme, and the
recitative which advances the story.
Opera Comique:
Comic Opera.
Operetta: A light opera.
Opus: "Work". With a number, used to show the order
in which the works by a given composer were written or published. Opus numbers
are most often used for composers who catalogued their own works.
Oratorio: An operatic
work without staging, sets, or elaborate costumes. Usually performed in a
more relaxed setting than a formal opera, and usually having a religious
theme.
Orchestration: The art of arranging,
writing or scoring music for an orchestra.
Ordinary: In the Mass,
the parts that are used every day, as distinct from the
proper. The ordinary consists of the
Kyrie, Gloria,
Credo, Sanctus, and
Agnus Dei.
Ornament: A melodic embellishment, either written
or improvised. Types of ornaments included trills,
turns, mordents, and
grace notes.
Overtone: A tone that is present in the sounding
of a fundamental, due to the physics of the
production of musical tones.
Overture: The introductory music for an
opera, ballet, or
oratorio.
P
Parallel Chords:The movement of specific
chords or chord combinations up and down a scale.
Parallel Intervals:The movement in two
or more parts of the same intervals in the same
direction.
Parallel Keys:Major and Minor keys having
the same tonic note.
Parallel Motion:The movement in two
or more parts of the same intervals in the same
direction.
Partial: Either the
fundamental or an overtone
in the harmonic series.
Partita: 1. A set of
variations. 2. A suite.
Part Song: An unaccompanied
homophonic song for three or more voices.
Perfect Pitch: The ability to distinguish
and identify any given note without any musical or tonal support.
Period: A musical statement, made up of two or
more phrases, and a cadence.
Phrase: A single musical idea, or element. Usually
very short, often consisting of only one or two measures.
Phrygian Mode: A medieval mode
whose scale pattern is that of playing E to E on the white keys of a piano.
Plainsong: A monophonic
chant which is unmeasured, and unaccompanied; such as
gregorian chant.
Polonaise: A stately Polish dance in moderate
triple time, often with a repeated rhythmic pattern.
Polychoral: A style in which an ensemble is
divided into groups that may perform individually, alternately, or together.
Polyphony: "Many sounds". Music that has many
notes sounding together, either in a chordal, or
countrapuntal setting.
Prelude: "Play-before". An introductory movement
or work.
Program Music: A piece that conveys a
picture or story, in contrast to absolute music.
Proper: The parts of the Mass
whose parts change daily, as distinct from the ordinary.
The proper consists of the introit, Gradual, Alleluia or
Tract, Offertory, and Communion.
Q
Quartal Harmony: Harmony based on the interval of
a perfect fourth, rather than on thirds.
Quintal Harmony: Harmony based on the interval of
a fifth, rather than thirds.
R
Recitative: A musical work usually found in an
opera or oratorio, which mimics
the patterns of speech, in order to advance the story.
Red Notes: In medieval music, notes that were
colored red on the page in order to distinguish differences in rhythm or
octave transposition for specific notes. They were also used to show
differences in a cantus firmus from the
original.
Renaissance: "Rebirth." The era from the
mid-15th century to the end of the 16th century. The music was charactarized
by the use of freer forms, and a progression from modes
toward major and minor scales, and harmony.
Requiem: A version of the Mass
performed to commemorate the dead. The sections are:
introit, Kyrie, Gradual and Tract,
Sequence(Dies Irae),
Offertory, Sanctus, and
Agnus Dei.
Resolution: The changing of a
dissonant pitch, usually by stepwise or
chromatic motion, so that it becomes
consonant with the chord being sounded.
Romantic Era: The musical period from roughly
1827-1900, characterized by freer forms, larger, more elaborate works, and an
increased attention to emotional themes within the music.
Root: the most fundamental note of a chord, often
the bass note, which usually contains the other members of
the chord in its overtones.
S
Sanctus: "Holy." In the Mass,
the fourth part of the ordinary.
Scale: A series of notes which define a
diatonic tonality, often consisting
of eight degrees, and containing a
tonic and sometimes also a
leading tone.
Serialism: A form of music writing based on
Twelve-Tone technique, in which pitch classes, rythyms, and often dynamics are
determined systematically.
Second: The interval of two
diatonic degrees.
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.
Serenade: A love song, or piece traditionally
performed below a loved one's window in the evening.
Seventh: The interval of seven
diatonic degrees.
Sharps: An accidental
that raises a given pitch by one half-step. See also
key signature.
Sixth: The interval of six
diatonic degrees.
Sonata: A piece for a solo, or accompanied,
instrument, usually in 3 or 4 movements.
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.
T
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.
Tenorlied: A german song, in which the
tenor vocal line predominates, or has the melody.
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.
Third: The interval of three
diatonic degrees.
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.
Tonic: The key center, or foundation of, a scale or
melody.
Treble: The highest voice, instrument, or part.
Treble Clef: The G clef
falling on the second line of the staff. Used with the
bass clef to form the
grand staff.
Triad: A chord consisting
of a root, and two other members, usually a
third and a fifth.
Trill: An ornament
consisting of a rapid alternation between two pitches, the main pitch, and the
pitch a whole or half step above it.
Turn: An ornament
consisting of four or five notes that move up and down 'around' a given
pitch, using that pitch as a tonal center.
Twelve-Tone Music: Music in which no pitch
class (or note) is repeated until all other chromatic pitches have been used.
Any group of twelve pitches arranged this way is called a row.
V
Venetian School: Late-Renaissance group
of composers in Venice whose style included polychoral
textures and the foundations of orchestration.
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. The violin, viola, and cello are tuned in
fifths, the bass tuned in fourths . They are characterized
by rounded backs and shoulders,
f-shaped sound holes, and deep middle bouts. See
violin, viola,
cello, and bass.
Votive: A chant or hymn honoring a particular
saint, or the Virgin Mary.
W
Wagner Tuba: A five-valved tuba designed by
Richard Wagner, for use in his music.
Waist: A narrowing in the middle of the body of an
instrument, resulting in a shape like an hourglass. Typically found in string
instruments, and some drums.
Z
Zigeunermusik: Gypsy music.
Zwischenspiel:
Interlude.