Music Terms Modules 1 - 4
Pentatonic
A pattern of five notes within the octave; for example, the five black keys comprise this type of pattern
Fermata
A sign used to hold the note out longer than its normal length
Bar Line
A vertical line through the horizontal lines of a staff or staves separating music into measures
Half Step
Adjacent note on the keyboard
Articulation
An indication of how smoothly or detached written notes are to be sounded; words or symbols may be used
Brace
Curved brackets used at the beginning of the grand staff to connect two or more staves
Slur
Curved line above or below two or more different pitches indicating to play those notes smoothly or connected
Enharmonic
Different spellings to identify the same pitch
Interval
Distance between two notes
Allegro
Fast tempo
Downbeat
First beat of the measure, named for the conductor's downward notion used to indicate the first beat
Measure
Grouping of metered beats (strong and weak beats) separated by lines called bar lines
Beam
Horizontal line connecting the end of note stems of rhythmic values smaller than a quarter note; replaces the flag on individual notes
Phrase
Musical sentence, frequently four to eight measures long
Anacrusis
Note or notes of an incomplete measure at the beginning of a piece of music (also called "pick up")
Pulse Note
Note that represents the beat; note that receives one count
Note Head
Part of the note that is oval; its placement on the staff indicates the pitch of the note
Chromatic Scale
Pattern of notes that are half steps apart
Tempo
Rate of speed of the pulse
Meter
Recurring division of the pulse into a pattern of strong and weak beats
Flag Beam
Short curved line attached to the stem on the right at the opposite end of the note head that changes the note's value by half
Ledger Line
Short lines above or below a staff that extend the pitch range of the staff
Motive
Short rhythmic and melodic idea used in a phrase
Solfege
Singing with syllables; 7 syllables: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti
Chromatic
Spelling for two notes using the same letter name, but with different accidentals
Diatonic
Spelling using consecutive letter names
Rest
Symbol to represent a specific duration of silence
Accidental
Symbol used to alter pitch
Natural Sign
Symbol used to cancel a previous accidental for that note: natural
Flat Sign
Symbol used to lower a note a half step
Double Flat
Symbol used to lower a note two half steps
Sharp
Symbol used to raise a note a half step
Double Sharp
Symbol used to raise a note two half steps
Musical Alphabet
The seven letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), which represent sounds or pitches from which melodies are composed
Bass Clef (F Clef)
The sign indicating that the fourth line from the bottom is the F below middle C
Treble Clef (G Clef)
The sign indicating that the second line from the bottom of the staff is the G above middle C
Grand Staff
The treble staff above and bass staff below joined together by a bar line and with a brace; used in notating keyboard music
Time Signature
The two numbers placed at the beginning of a piece that indicate the number of beats in a measure (top number) and the note value
Whole Step
Two adjacent half steps
Octave
Two pitches of the same name, eight letter names apart
Double Bar Line
Two vertical lines on a staff or staves used to indicate the end of a section of music
8va
Used to play an octave higher than indicated
8vb
Used to play an octave lower than indicated
Simple Meter
When the top number of a time signature is 2, 3, or 4; the main pulse note divides into groups of 2 or 4
