Elements of Popular Music Quiz
major
"happy" or "uplifting"
minor
"sad" or "dark"
accent
- "punching a note harder" - where syncopation is
Vibrato
- a controlled vibration in the sound - narrow or wide - slow or fast
ternary
- a three part form that repeats the first section - ABA
binary form
- a two part form (AB)
instrumental break
- breaks up choruses and verses - allows something different but doesn't change
scale
- built within an octave - usually starts and ends on a pitch that sounds the same
interval
- distance between pitches - make up the melody
duple meter
- faster beater - two beats per group - ex: superstition, uptown funk, Billie jean
quadruple meter
- four beats per group - ex: radioactive - downbeat on the first note
strophic
- one sections that repeats again and again - even if the word changes - ex: 100 beers on the wall - AAA
harmony
- the verticalization of pitch - the art of combining pitches into chords - sung or played by instruments - more than one pitch - uses depth
triple meter
- three beats per group - ex: my favorite things
melody
- tune - the element that focuses on the horizontal presentation of pitch - pitch pitch pitch
outro
Instrumental section at the end of a song
groove
a characteristic rhythmic "feel" to a song, usually created by the rhythm section (drums, bass, rhythm guitar, sometimes keyboard)
dissonance
a harsh sounding combination, creates tension
consonance
a pleasant combination of pitches
beat
a regular, repeating pulse- the "heartbeat" of the music
solo
breaks up choruses and verses
progressions
chords are then arranged into sentence-like patterns
hook
corresponds with chorus; makes it catchy/ memorable
crescendo
getting gradually louder
Decrescendo
gradually getting softer
form
how a song is constructed
duration
how long a sound (or silence) ;asts
rests
how long to hold a silence
intro
instrumental part before verse/chorus
forte
loud
pre-chorus
may or may not be present; a section that introduces the chorus
syncopation
putting accents "off-the-beat" (between the counted numbers)
bridge
section that is new; brings the 1st and 2nd parts of song connect together
riff
short repeated phrase
piano
soft
chorus
some words each time; emotional response to story telling verse
verse
story telling words that change throughout the song
Rhythm
the element of time in music
pitch
the highness or lowness of a musical sound
tempo
the speed of the beat, which can described by the number of beats/second
timbre
the unique sound of an instrument/voice
meter
when beats are organized into recurring accent patterns, the result is a recognizable meter
