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Glossary

cadence

TBD

interval

TBD

Accent

Emphasis on one specific pitch or chord.

Accent

Emphasis on one specific pitch or chord.

Accidental

The symbol used in music to chromatically change a note or to cancelthat change. The flat, sharp, double sharp, and double flat change anote, and the natural sign cancels any changes.

Accidental

The symbol used in music to chromatically change a note or to cancel that change. The flat, sharp, double sharp, and double flat change a note, and the natural sign cancels any changes.

Accidentals

TBD

Alto

Thelower range of female voices.

Antecedent

The first of two phrases that form a complete period. The antecedentphrase is also called the question phrase. This is followed bythe consequent, also called answer phrase.

Anticipation

A nonharmonic tone that anticipates a note from an upcoming chord.

Appoggiatura

A nonharmonic tone that is approached by a leap up to the dissonantnote and resolved by moving a step down from that dissonant note.

Asymmetrical meters

Meters that include an odd number of beats, but unlike 3/4 canhave more than one pattern of strong and weak beats. Examples ofasymmetrical meters are 5/8 and 7/8.

Augmented

Made larger. The term augmented can refer to an interval, atriad, or even a specific rhythm.

Augmented triad

A triad formed by stacking two major thirds on top of each other.This forms the interval of an augmented fifth between the lowest noteand highest note in root position. For example, C – E – G#.

Authentic cadence

A specific melodic and/or harmonic pattern that occurs at the endof a musical sentence. The two chords involved are the dominant andtonic chords. Authentic cadences are either perfect or imperfect.Perfect authentic cadences include the tonic in the soprano voice.

Bar

Anotherterm for a measure of music.

Bar line

Avertical line drawn through the staff lines to divide the staff intomeasures.

Bass

Thelowest male voice.

Bass clef

Asymbol used at the beginning of the staff to indicate that the fourthline up on the staff represents the pitch F.

Beam

A thickline used to connect notes together. The beam is used in place of theflag or flags at the end of the stem to represent notes that areeither eighth notes or shorter durations.

Beat

Aregular pulse in music.

Cadence

Aspecific melodic and/or harmonic pattern that occurs at the end of amusical sentence. See also Authentic cadence, Plagalcadence, Deceptive cadence, and Half cadence.

Chord

Threeor more notes sounded at the same time.

Chord progression

A series of chords.

Chromatic scale

A scale that includes all twelve pitches and is constructedentirely of half steps.

Circle of fifths

The arrangement of all the keys in a pattern of ascending fifthssuch that when the pattern is completed one arrives back at theoriginal key.

Clef

Asymbol used at the beginning of the staff to indicate the specificpitches for the lines and spaces on the staff. See also Trebleclef and Bass clef.

common

TBD

Common time

Term used for 4/4 meter.

Compound intervals

Intervals larger than an octave.

Compound meter

A meter with three subdivisions rather than two, such as 6/8 and9/8.

Conjunct motion

The step-by-step movement of notes.

Consequent

The second phrase of a period. The answer in theantecedent-consequent pattern.

Consonance,consonant

A sound that is pleasant.

creative while

TBD

Deceptive cadence

A specific melodic and /or harmonic pattern that occurs at theend of a musical statement. The cadence begins on V, but instead ofmoving to the tonic, it progresses to a deceptive chord, such as vi.

diatonic

TBD

differently

TBD

Diminished

Made smaller. The term diminished is used for intervals andtriads.

Diminished triad

A triad formed by stacking two minor thirds on top of each other.This forms the interval of a diminished fifth between the lowest noteand highest note in root position. For example, C – Eb– Gb.

Disjunct motion

The movement of notes that leap.

Dissonance,dissonant

A sound that is unpleasant. The opposite ofconsonant.

Dot

A dotfollowing the note increases its length by one-half of its value. Adot is also used to represent staccato.

Double bar lines

Two vertical lines drawn through the staff to represent the endof a piece or section. Two equal lines represent the end of asection; one thin line followed by a thicker line represents the endof a piece.

Double flat

Two flats in front of a note that lower the note by two half steps.

Double sharp

A sign that looks like an X. This symbol raises a pitch by two halfsteps.

Duration

TBD

Dynamic

Thelevel of the volume of sound, from either soft to loud.

Eighth note

A note including a notehead, flag, and stem that is equal to half thevalue of a quarter note.

Enharmonic

Notes that sound the same but are spelled differently, such as D#and Eb

Escape tone

A nonharmonic tone that includes a step followed by a leap.

First inversion

The arrangement of a triad or seventh chord when the third of thechord is the lowest sounding pitch.

Flag

Thenotational sign that is attached to the stem of a note to create anote smaller than the quarter note, including eighth notes andsixteenth notes.

Flat

Asymbol that lowers a pitch by one half step.

Grand staff

A standard music staff that includes a treble clef and bass clefstaff line that are joined together.

guitar

TBD

Half cadence

A cadence that stops on the V chord. The V chord is often preceded bythe ii chord. See also Cadence.

Half note

The note value with an open circle and a stem that represents thevalue of two quarter notes.

Half step

The space between two notes that is represented by two adjacent keyson the piano keyboard. C to Dbis a half step.

Harmonic interval

The distance between two notes that sound simultaneously.

Harmonic minor scale

The version of the minor scale that includes a raised seventh.

Harmony

Thevertical sonorities in music, namely chords. The combination ofvarious chords in certain patterns produces harmony.

Imperfect authenticcadence

A cadence that includes a dominant moving to a tonic,but the chords may or may not be in root position, and a note otherthan the tonic may be in the soprano voice of the final chord.

indentation

TBD

Interval

Thedistance between any two pitches. Simple intervals include seconds,thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, and octaves.

Inversion

Achange to the vertical order of pitches. In intervals, inversion iscreated by switching the order of the top and bottom notes. This isalso true for triads, but because there are three notes in the chord,the order of the pitches can be changed three times. If the root ofthe chord is in the bass, the triad is in root position; if the thirdof the chord is the lowest note, it is in first inversion; and if thefifth of the chord is the lowest note, the triad is in secondinversion.

Key signature

Flats or sharps that appear in specific positions and order at thestart of a staff to indicate the key of a composition.

Leap

Anymelodic interval a third or larger.

Ledger lines

Short lines located either above, below, or in between staff lines toindicate pitches.

Macro analysis

A nontraditional method of analysis that uses chord roots and slursto represent circle progressions. This type of analysis is often usedin conjunction with Roman numeral analysis. The result provides boththe root of the chord and its position in relation to the tonic.

major

TBD

Major scale

A scale with a half step between the 3 and 4 and also the 7 and 8notes. All the other intervals of the scale are whole steps.

Major triad

A triad formed with a major third on the bottom and a minor thirdstacked on top. This forms the interval of a perfect fifth betweenthe lowest note and highest note in root position. For example, C –E – G.

Measure

Thedistance between two bar lines.

Melodic interval

The distance between two notes that sound one after the other.

Melodic minor scale

The version of the minor scale that includes both a raised sixthand seventh on the ascending version of the scale. The scale descendsin natural minor.

Melody

Ahorizontal progression of single pitches perceived as a unit.

Meter

Anorganized pattern of beats, including a recurring pattern of strongand weak beats.

metronome

TBD

Minor triad

A triad formed with a minor third on the bottom and a major thirdstacked on top. This forms the interval of a perfect fifth betweenthe lowest note and highest note in root position. For example, C –Eb – G.

Motive

Arecurring short rhythmic idea.

Natural

Thesymbol used to cancel a preceding sharp or flat. This symbol alsocancels double sharps and double flats.

Natural minor scale

The version of the minor scale with a half step between the 2 and3 and also the 5 and 6 notes. All the other steps are whole steps.

Neighboring tone

A nonharmonic tone that moves by step from a note to a note thatdoesn’t fit the harmony and back to the note that started thepattern.

Nonharmonic tone

A note that doesn’t fit the surrounding harmony.

nonharmonic tones

TBD

Note

Asymbol that represents pitch on the staff.

note 2

TBD

Notehead

Thepart of the note that rests either on the line or space to designatepitch.

notes

TBD

Parallel keys

Keys that share the same tonic but not the same key signature.

Passing tone

A nonharmonic tone that moves by step from one note to a note thatdoesn’t fit the surrounding harmony to another note a step away.

pedagogical

TBD

Perfect authenticcadence

A cadence that includes a dominant to tonicprogression. The roots of both chords must be in the bass, and thefinal soprano note must be the tonic.

Period

Amusical statement that often includes two phrases.

Phrase

Anorganized idea that often comprises four measures that end with sometype of cadence.

Pitch

Theelement in music that denotes sound. Pitches can be either high orlow.

Plagal cadence

A cadence that moves from the subdominant to tonic chord.

practicing

TBD

Qualities

TBD

Quarter note

A note with a filled-in notehead and stem that often represents onebeat.

Quarter rest

A symbol that represents silence equal to the duration of a quarternote.

Relative keys

Keys that share the same key signature but not the same tonic.

Repeat sign

The symbol that includes a double bar with two dots which means thatsection of music should be repeated.

Rest

Thesymbol in music used to represent silence.

Retardation

A nonharmonic tone that continues a note from the previous harmony,but unlike a suspension, the nonharmonic tone resolves up a step to anote in the chord, rather than down, as in the suspension.

Rhythm

Theorganization of time in music.

Roman numeralanalysis

An analysis system that represents the tonic and allother scale degrees related to that tonic using Roman numerals.

Root position

The arrangement of a triad or seventh chord when the root of thechord is the lowest sounding pitch.

Scale

Astepwise arrangement of notes.

Scale degree

A specific note of a scale. The scale degrees are called tonic,supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, and leadingtone.

Second inversion

The arrangement of a triad or seventh chord when the fifth of thechord is the lowest sounding pitch.

Sequence

Therepetition of a short segment of music on various different scaledegrees.

Seventh chord

A chord with four tones. A seventh chord is formed by adding anotherthird on top of a triad.

Sharp

Thesymbol that raises a pitch one half step.

Simple intervals

Intervals that are either an octave or smaller than an octave.

Slur

Acurved line encompassing a group of notes that are to be playedsmoothly.

smoothly

TBD

Soprano

Thehighest female voice.

Staccato

Aspecific notation, represented with a dot above or below a note,which indicates that the pitches should be played short and detached.

Staff

Thegroup of five lines that form the framework for pitches. The staffalso includes the spaces between the lines.

Stem

Theline that extends up or down from the notehead.

study

TBD

Suspension

Anonharmonic tone that continues a note from the previous harmony, andthen resolves down by step.

symbols

TBD

Syncopation

The deliberate accent of weak beats, or weak parts of the beat.

Tempo

Thespeed of the music.

Tenor

Thehigher of the male voices.

Theme

A longmelodic idea used to create a composition.

Third inversion

An inversion that applies only to seventh chords. The arrangementof a seventh chord when the seventh of the chord is the lowestsounding pitch.

Tie

A curvedline that connects the noteheads of two pitches that are the same.

Timbre

Thecolor of the sound. A trumpet sounds different than a piano sounds;likewise, a human voice sounds different than both of them sound.

Treble clef

The sign used at the beginning of the staff that signifies the secondline from the bottom of the staff is the pitch G.

Triad

Achord built of three pitches by skipping every other letter name,such as C – E – G. The four types of triads are major, minor,augmented, and diminished.

Triplet

Atriplet is created when three notes are placed in the space normallyfilled by two notes of the same duration. A quarter note tripletrepresented by three quarter notes with a 3 above them would take theplace of two quarter notes, and three eighth notes with a 3 abovethem would take the place of two eighth notes.

Where to

TBD

Whole step

An interval that includes two half steps.

with

TBD