Listen Kerman Ch 1-5
theme
general term for the 'topic' or basic subject matter of longer pieces of music; similar to essay points that are introduced, repeated, developed and hammered home
form in tunes
good tunes have a clear, purposeful beginning, a feeling of action in the middle, and a firm sense of winding down
decrescendo
gradual decrease in dynamic
crescendo
gradual increase in dynamic
cadence
interim pausing or stopping places in a tune, that gives a sense of relaxation until the conclusion
tone color or TIMBRE
the quality of musical sounds
tune
a simple, easily singable, catchy melody, such as a folk, Christmas carol or popular song
motives
an easily recognizable, distinct fragment of melody that recurs within a long composition (such as Beethoven's 5th symphony motive DA-DA-DA-DAAA)
melody
an organized set of pitches forming a melodic line
modulations
are changes of key, a change of home tone or pitch
low pitches
long, slow vibrations
major mode
music that centers around the 'C'; different positions for this mode are called keys
minor mode
music that is centered around 'A'
phrase
naturally occurring divisions in tunes that are clear and sharp; tunes that tend to coincide with poetic lines or lyrics and permit breathing
homophony
one melody line combined with other less prominent sounds, but are the same rhythm, same chord
form
organization of rhythm, dynamic, tone color, melody, harmony, and texture
parallelism
phrases can have same notes but different words; one phrase may be slightly higher or lower than another
tempo
speed or rate at which the regular beats of the meter follow one another
subito
sudden dynamic change
dynamics
the amplitude or strength of sound vibrations: loud and soft; volume
pitch
the frequency or rate of sound vibrations (high and low)
tonality
the home tone or "do" of the scale
monophony
simplest texture; single melody line
consonance
sounds that "belong" together
dissonance
sounds that create tension
climax
a distinct high point toward which the earlier parts of the composition seems to be heading
meter
a recurring pattern of strong and weak beats
rhythm
aspect of music comprising all elements that relate to forward movement
beats
basic unit of rhythmic measurement
triple Meter
beats are grouped in threes
duple meter
beats are grouped in twos
sequence
duplication of a phrase at two or more different pitch levels, occurs frequently in certain musical styles
accents
enable us to beat time; organize beats unto metric patterns
balance between phrases
in many tunes, all the phrases are two, four or eight bars long; a two-measure phrase can be drawn out to four which provides contrast, but end up in a well-proportioned whole
scales
sequences of musical notes in ascending or descending order
chromatic scale
set of 12 notes represented by both black and white keys on a piano keyboard
high pitches
short, fast vibrations
diatonic scale
the set of seven notes, including the repeated 1st note which forms an octave: do, re, mi, fa, so, la ti, do
harmony
the simultaneous sounding of more than one note
intervals
the space between the notes on the chromatic scale, including whole steps and half steps (i.e. D to D# or Eb)
texture
the way various musical elements (sounds and melodic lines) occurring simultaneously, interact or blend with each other
keys
there are 12 major and minor ____, dependent on the mode
polyphony
two or more melodies of equal importance sounding at the same time
musical genres
type of music as defined by its performing forces; symphony, concerto, opera, song, chorale, etc...
non-imitative polyphony
when melodies differ from one another
imitative polyphony
when various lines sounding together use the same or fairly similar melody, with one coming shortly after another