AB Form
A musical form that has an A section, a complete unit, and a contrasting B section, also a complete unit.
ABA Form
A musical form that has an A section, a complete unit, and a contrasting B section, also a complete unit; it returns to repeat the A section at the end making the overall form of the composition ABA.
ABA Phrases
Phrases can also be grouped in ABA phrases. The first phrase is an A phrase, the next a contrasting B phrase; an A phrase is repeated making an overall phrase group of ABA.
Beat
The rhythmic pulse heard and felt throughout a song or composition.
Coda
An ending that is added to a song or composition.
Chant
A repeated phrase spoken rhythmically.
Duple meter
Music that moves with a rhythmic swing of pulses in sets of 2’s; most commonly, 2/4, 4/4, also 2/2, 2/8, 4/8 etc. The first beat gets more emphasis; STRONG weak, STRONG weak. 6/8 is compound duple meter, 2 sets of 3’s.
Dotted half note
A note with an open head and stem plus a dot following it. The duration is three times as long as a quarter note.
Dynamics
Loudness and softness in a song or composition.
Form
Form is the organizational scheme of the composition, the design of sections of the song or composition; the design contrast of musical ideas using restatement, variation and contrast. Some forms students might find easiest to use are rondo, theme and variation, AB, ABA.
Half note
A note with an open head. The duration is two times as long as a quarter note.
Harmony
Two or more tones played or sung at the same time.
Improvisation
A musical performance created spontaneously.
Interval
The distance from one pitch to another.
1K
1K is a computer file of 1 kilobyte or 1,048 bites. 1K is a small unit and can be downloaded quickly.
Key
The tonality or the relationship of the tones to each other. Songs that have a tonal center or that gravitate to C are in the key of C. The key signature is shown at the beginning of a staff identifying the sharps or flats in that key.
Key signature
The arrangement of sharps or flats placed at the beginning of each line of music, which denotes the tonality or key. The key signature indicates which tones are to be sharp or flat in the scale system a piece is based on.
Major
The word major can refer to a scale, key, chord or interval. A major scale is arranged in an order that moves to the next letter name scale step with a half-step occurring between the 3rd and 4th scale step and the 7th and 8th for the major. The other tones in a major scale are whole steps.
Measure
The division of rhythms of a composition into a specified number of beats, separated by a vertical line called a bar line.
Meter
The grouping of beats in song or composition. Basic meter groupings of many songs are in two, three, four or six beats. The time signature tells you about the meter. For example; in 3/4 time, the top number of time signature indicates that there are three beats in the measure, the bottom four indicates a quarter note gets the pulse or the beat. In this case, each third beat get an accent, the three beats are STRONG weak weak STRONG weak weak. The meter grouping is divided by a bar line.
MIDI file
A computer file that stores instructions for a musical instrument using Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a standardized way in which micro-processor-based musical instruments can communicate with one another and other computers. MIDI files are usually not large and can be downloaded quickly.
Minor
Minor can refer to a scale, key, chord or interval. When referring to interval it is lesser or smaller interval than major. The third scale step of the minor scale, chord or interval is a half-step lower than the third in the major chord. An explanation of minor scales is not given here. There are natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales.
Pentatonic scale
A five-tone scale. The most common five-tone scale to folk music is the scale that uses steps 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the major scale. Using the black keys of the piano gives the pentatonic scale.
Phrase
A musical thought or idea that can be compared to a sentence in language. It is a short musical passage complete in itself. The length can vary.
Pulse
A term used to mean the rhythmic beat in the music.
Quarter note
A note with a filled-in head and a stem. It often represents the basic pulse or beat of a song or composition. For example in 3/4, each quarter note would get one pulse or beat.
Question-answer phrase
A phrase is a musical thought or idea that can be compared to a sentence in language. It is a short musical passage, complete in itself. The length can vary. A musical question phrase leaves the listener feeling that the music must go on. An answer phrase leaves the listener feeling that the music could end there. This is accomplished by returning at the end of the musical answer phrase to the tonal center of the composition, to the tonic or the first scale step of the composition.
Rhythm
The organization of sounds, no sound (rests) and patterns into different groupings.
Rondo
A musical form with a recurring A theme that is alternated between contrasting sections. For example; A, B, A, C, A. The A, B, or C represent a musical section, each different from the other.
Scale
A series of tones in a pattern of whole-steps or half-steps. The pattern determines whether the scale is major, minor, chromatic etc. Compositions or songs are based on the tonal material of a scale.
Sequence
Successive repetitions of a melodic pattern at different pitch levels. It is referred to as a “sequential repetition.”
Step
Refers to the interval or distance of one note to the one immediately beside it.
Tempo
The speed of a song or composition when it is performed.
Theme & Variation
A musical form that states a main theme, a complete musical idea. Variations are created using the thematic material of the main theme for the basis of the variations.
Time signature
The time signature tells you about the meter or the rhythmic grouping of the song or composition. It is placed on a musical staff at the beginning of each piece or section. The top number indicates what kind of note receives one beat. Bar lines divide the staff into measures. For example; in a 4/4 time signature, the top 4 indicates there will be 4 beats in each measure and the bottom 4 means that a quarter note receives one beat or pulse.
Tonic
A term representing the tonal center of a song or composition; the first scale step. It can refer to a scale step or a triad or a chord. A tonic chord is the triad whose root is the first scale step of the key of the composition.
Tonality
The key of a composition or song gives the tonality of a song.
Triple meter
Music that moves in groupings of rhythmic pulses or beats in sets of 3’s. For example, 3/4, 3/8 or 3/2.
9/8 is compound triple meter; 3 sets of 3’s.
Wave file
A computer file containing audio information.