| Term | Definition |
|---|
| melody | part of song in musical foreground |
| harmony | background chords or collection of notes |
| Texture | layers and connectedness of melodies and harmonies |
| Pitch | how high or low a note is |
| Dynamics | how loud or soft something is |
| forte | Strength/loud |
| Piano | Soft |
| Mezzo | Medium |
| Crescendo | Music builds up/gets louder |
| Diminuendo | Music get's softer/ builds down |
| Staff | 5 lines notes are placed in |
| Clef | indicates notes that will be played |
| Tempo | how fast or slow a beat is |
| Adagio | a slow tempo |
| Allegro | a fast tempo |
| Vivace | a very fast tempo |
| Andante | A walking tempo |
| Riardando | slow tempo down |
| Rubato | Fluctuating tempo |
| Meter | beats to a measure |
| simple meter | when the beast is subdivided into 2 |
| Compound meter | when the beat is divided into 3 |
| Syncopation | emphasizing the down beat |
| Intervals | Distance between notes |
| Measure | notes in between bars |
| Pentatonic Scale | 5 note scale (i.e all black keys) |
| Chromatic Scale | All half steps in an octave |
| Triad | 3 note chord |
| Tonality | refers to music in major or minor keys |
| Atonal music | music that is not in major or minor |
| Consonance | if a note fits in a key |
| Dissonance | if a note does not fit in a key |
| Verse | music repeats with different words |
| Refrain | Chorus- same music- same words |
| Song | Sung short piece |
| Soprano | High Woman Voice |
| Bass | Low Man Voice |
| Alto | Low Woman Voice |
| Tenor | High Man Voice |
| Castratos | Boys who kept high pitched voice |
| Falsetto | Male high pitched voice |
| Countertenors | Men who can sing in high voice |
| Monophony | Many voices sing same words to one note |
| Polyphony | Many voices sing different words to different notes |
| Homophony | Many voices singing same words at different notes |
| Timbre | refers to pitch or tone color |
| Phrase | a musical sentence/ melody |
| Membranophones | drums |
| Idiophones | keys, cymbals, cowbell etc. |
| Loot | like a violin, popular in the renaissance |
| Harpsichord | precurser to piano, keyed instrument |
| Latin | Official Language of Catholic Church |
| Pope Gregory | He was 1st to Organize Church Music |
| Gregorian Chant | early monophonic music |
| Ordinary of the mass | sung portion of the mass |
| Advent | weeks before xmas |
| Lent | weeks before lent |
| Neumes | written notes in early music (chants) |
| Syllabic | one syllable per note |
| Melismatic | many notes per syllable |
| Neumatic | multiple notes per syllable |
| Hildegard | German Composer from Medieval Ages |
| Drone | A single held note |
| Leonin and Perolin | early composers at Notre Dame |
| Organum | Gregorian Chant with another melody line |
| Machaut | Notred Dame composer after leonin and perolin |
| Sackbut | instrument that was used in church looks like trombone |
| Ostinato | repeating figure that happens over and over again |
| Call and Response | Sing out and others sing back, group repetition |
| Program music | telling a story through a song |
| Reformation | era of people wanting to change or leave the church |
| Council of trent | group that decide how to move on after reformation |
| Martin Luther | Reformer who stared Lutheran Church |
| Henry VIII | Wanted divorce, so he made church of england |
| Counter Reformation | Era after reformation to bring church back together |
| Palestrina | polyphony Composer whos music was acceptable to church leaders |
| Vernacular | when music used language of the people it was |
| Congregational Singing | Congregation sings |
| Modes | Dorian Lydian and Mixolydian are examples of |
| Imitative Polyphony | One voice starts, others follow mimicking first voice |
| Madrigal | short sung secular piece |
| Acapella | musical piece without instrument is played |
| Viola de Gamba | Cello like instrument held up with legs |
| Viols | like violin but held with chin |
| Word Painting | depicts s meaning of word in music |
| John Dowland | contemporary with shakespeare, wrote loot songs |
| Gesualdo | Killed family, dark composer, uses chromatic scales |
| Baroque | period with very highly decorated music and art |
| Gabrielli | wrote antiphonal music, wrote brass into early music |
| antiphonal | placing choirs around church to create surround sound affect |
| Trio Sonata | 4 ppl Bass(2) + Melody(1) + Melody(1) |
| Bass Line | counter melody, supports harmony |
| Basso Continuo | Harpsichord and Cello playing together |
| Figure Bass notation | Baroque notation w/ #'s above notes |
| Ornamentation | melody |
| Monteverdi | First major opera composer (Italian) |
| Purcell | Short lived British composer |
| Lully | French composer worked for king |
| Vivaldi | Great humanitarian, Italian |
| Handel | German Composer very successful, high baroque |
| Opera | Combined drama and music |
| The Florentine Camerata | Group that decided music and drama should combine |
| Recitative | plot mover in opera |
| Aria | main piece in opera |
| Tutti | everyone plays in this portion of the concerto grosso |
| Cadenza | extended solo near end of piece |
| Ritornello | returning melody |
| Ground Bass | Long repeating bass line |
| Overture | Music before curtain goes up |
| Chorale melodies | melodies sung by congregation |
| Counterpoint | writing 2+ melodies simultaniously |
| Subject | Main melody in fugue |
| Exposition | when all are playing same melody in fugue |
| Episode | when all play their own melody in fugue |
| Statement | when subject comes back to forefront |
| equal temperment | tuning system that allowed one to play in any key |
| Musical Offering | collection of fugues bach wrote for the king using his melody |
| Canon | 2 voice round |
| Beggars Opera | opera that made fun of opera and made opera not cool |
| Oratorio | Opera like piece after operas aren't cool |
| 1750 | year baroque period ends |
| De capo | go back to beginning |
Combine with other sets
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