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