Musician's Guide to Fundamentals: Chapter 1 - 4 Review

Octave:

"(1) The distance of eight musical steps; the interval size 8. (2) The particular part of the musical range where a pitch sounds (e.g., C4, or middle C, is a C in a particular octave)."

Anacrusis:

"A beat that precedes a downbeat, sometimes shown in an incomplete measure (the rest of the measure is notated at the end of the section). Also called an upbeat or pickup."

Rest:

"A duration of silence."

Beat subdivision:

"A further division of the beat division into two parts; for example, for a quarter note in simple meter, the beat divides into two eighths and subdivides into four sixteenths."

Beam:

"A line that connects two or more note stems within a beat unit."

Descending contour:

"A melodic line that generally goes down, from higher pitches to lower ones."

Diatonic half step

"A semitone spelling that uses different letter names for the two pitches (e.g., D and Eb)."

Note head:

"A small oval used to notate a pitch on the staff. Hollow, or white, note heads normally represent a longer duration than black, or filled, note heads."

Clef:

"A symbol on the far left of a staff that shows which pitch (and octave) is represented by each line and space. See also treble clef, bass clef, C-clef, alto clef, tenor clef."

Measure:

"A unit of grouped beats; beginning and ending with bar lines."

Bar line:

"A vertical line, extending from the top of the staff to the bottom, that indicates the end of a measure."

Double sharp

"An accidental (x) that raises a pitch two half steps (or one whole step) above its letter name."

Ledger line:

"Extra lines drawn through the stems and note heads to designate a musical pitch located above or below the staff."

Score:

"Notated music."

Syncopation:

"Rhythmic displacement of accents created by dots, ties, rests, dynamic markings, or accent marks."

Pickup:

"See anacrusis."

Accent:

"Stress given to a note or some other musical element that brings it to the listener's attention. Accents can be created by playing louder or softer, using a different timbre or articulation, speeding up or slowing down, or slightly changing rhythmic durations."

Upbeat:

"The beat that precedes a downbeat; named for the upward lift of the conductor's hand. Also known as an anacrusis."

Dynamic level:

"The degree of loudness in performance. Extends from ppp (very soft) to fff (very loud)."

Half step

"The distance between a pitch and the next closest pitch on the keyboard."

Interval

"The distance spanned between two musical pitches, as measured by the number of steps counted between their letter names (e.g., C to E is a third, D to C is a seventh)."

Beat unit:

"The duration assigned to the basic pulse."

Meter:

"The grouping and division of beats in regular, recurring patterns."

Register:

"The highness or lowness of a pitch or passage; the particular octave in which a pitch sounds."

Musical alphabet:

"The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, which are used to name musical pitches."

Slur:

"An arc that connects two (or more) different pitches. Slurs affect performance articulation but not duration. In piano music, they tell the performer to play the slurred notes smoothly; in vocal music, the slurred notes are sung on one syllable or in one breath."

Metrical accent:

"An emphasis on a note resulting from its placement on a strong beat."

Whole step

"An interval that spans two adjacent half steps."

Semitone

"Another word for half step."

Natural

"An accidental that cancels a sharp or flat."

Ascending contour:

"A musical line that generally goes up, from lower pitches to higher ones."

Pitch:

"A musical sound in a particular octave or register."

Accidental

"A musical symbol that appears before a note to raise or lower its pitch chromatically. See sharp, flat, natural, double sharp, and double flat."

Swung eighths:

"A performance practice where a rhythm notated with even eighth notes is performed unevenly, with more time allotted to the first eighth and less to the second in each pair."

Diatonic half step

"A semitone spelling that uses different letter names for the two pitches (e.g., D and E )."

Chromatic half step

"A semitone spelling that uses the same letter name for both pitches (e.g., D and D#)."

Flag:

"A short arc attached to the right side of a note stem, at the opposite end from the note head; each flag divides the duration of a note in half (e.g., a sixteenth note has two flags and is half of an eighth note, which has one flag)."

Meter signature:

"A sign that appears at the beginning of a piece, after the clef and key signature: the upper number indicates the meter type and the lower number indicates which note gets the beat; also called a time signature."

Quarter rest:

"A silence represented by ; equal in duration to a quarter note."

Sixteenth rest:

"A silence represented by ; equal in duration to a sixteenth note."

Eighth rest:

"A silence represented by ; equal in duration to an eighth note."

Whole rest:

"A silence represented by hanging below the fourth staff line; equal in duration to a whole note."

Half rest:

"A silence represented by sitting on top of the third staff line; equal in duration to a half note."

Tie:

"A small arc connecting note heads of two (or more) identical pitches to indicate the durations are to be combined together, without rearticulating the pitch. Used to notate durations extending across a bar line and for durations that cannot be represented with dotted notes."

Conducting pattern:

"A specific pattern, one for each meter, that conductors outline by moving their arms in the air to help keep performers playing together in time."

Whole note:

"A stemless white (hollow) note head (o); its duration is equivalent to two half notes."

Quarter note:

"A stemmed black (filled) note head (); equivalent to two eighth notes."

Eighth note:

"A stemmed black (filled) note head with one flag or beam (); equivalent to two sixteenth notes."

Sixteenth note:

"A stemmed black (filled) notehead with two flags or beams (); two sixteenth notes equal an eighth note."

Half note:

"A stemmed white (hollow) note head; its duration is equivalent to two quarter notes."

Stem:

"A vertical line attached to a note head; it generally extends upward if the note is written below the middle line of the staff and downward if the note is written on or above the middle line."

Sharp

"An accidental (#) that raises a pitch a half step."

Flat

"An accidental (b) that lowers a pitch by one half step."

Double flat

"An accidental (bb) that lowers a pitch two half steps (or one whole step) below its letter name."

Middle C:

"C4; the C located at the center of the piano keyboard."

Bass clef:

"Clef positioned on a staff to indicate F; its two dots surround the F3 line. (Also known as the F-clef.)"

Treble clef:

"Clef positioned on a staff to indicate G by means of the end of its curving line; it circles the line that represents G4. (Also known as the G-clef.)"

Timbre:

"Describes the instrumentation or quality of a musical sound."

Enharmonic

"Different names for the same pitch (e.g., Eb and D#)."

Articulation:

"How a pitch is sounded, including various ways of bowing or plucking stringed instruments and tonguing wind and brass instruments."

Tempo:

"How fast or slow music is played."

Triplet:

"In simple meter, a division of the beat into three, instead of two, equal parts."

Augmentation:

"Lengthening the durations of a rhythm, often by doubling them."

Simple meter:

"Meter where the beat divides into twos and subdivides into fours. The top number of simple meter signatures is 2, 3, or 4 (e.g., or )."

Simple quadruple:

"Meter with four beats in a measure, each beat divided into two (e.g., )."

Simple triple:

"Meter with three beats in a measure, each beat divided into two (e.g., or )."

Simple duple:

"Meter with two beats in a measure, each beat divided into two (e.g., )."

Dot:

"Rhythmic notation that adds half of a note's own value to its duration (e.g., the duration of a dotted half note equals a half note plus a quarter note)."

Bar:

"See measure."

Octave equivalence:

"The concept that pitches eight steps apart (sharing the same name) sound similar."

Rhythm:

"The durations of pitch and silence (notes and rests) used in a piece."

Downbeat:

"The first beat of a measure, which has the strongest accent or emphasis; named for the downward motion of the conductor's hand."

Staff:

"The five parallel lines on which music is written. Plural form is staves."

Enharmonic equivalence

"The idea that two or more possible names for a single pitch (e.g., C#, Db, Bx) are musically and functionally the same."

Half step

"The musical space between a pitch and its next closest pitch on the keyboard (e.g., F-F# or B-Bb); normally a white to black key, or vice versa, except E-F or B-C."

Letter name:

"The name for a particular pitch, A–G, that corresponds to its place on the staff or a musical instrument."

Beat:

"The primary pulse in musical meter. Normally represents an even and regular division of musical time."

Note:

"The representation of a musical sound with a note head on the staff. The position of the note head indicates the pitch; whether the note head is black (filled) or white (hollow) and the presence of a stem, beam, or flag indicates the duration."

Beat division:

"The secondary pulse in musical meter; beats may be divided into two parts (simple meter) or three parts (compound meter)."

Contour:

"The shape of a melody; its motion up and down. Common contours include ascending, descending, arch, V-shape, and wave."

Enharmonically equivalent intervals

"Two intervals that can be respelled with enharmonically equivalent notes (e.g., A2 and m3)."

Rhythm clef:

"Two short, thick, vertical lines at the beginning of a single-line staff; used to notate unpitched percussion parts."

Grand staff:

"Two staves, one in treble clef and one in bass clef, connected by a curly brace; typically used in piano music."