 | Term | Definition |
| |
Rock |
Most popular music of today usually has amplified instruments and a strong beat |
| |
Rock 'n' roll |
an early 1950's style of rock |
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pop |
commercial rock song aimed at the teenage market with a strong dancing beat |
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lead singer |
person who sings the verses of the song |
| |
backing vocalists |
join the lead singer in the chorus sections to create a change of vocal timbre and texture and to heighten the impact of the words |
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verse |
a repeated section, the melody remains the same but the words change |
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chorus |
the chorus repeats itself but the words remain the same |
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hook |
the key phrase, usually the title of the song |
| |
middle eight |
a middle section of 8 bars which has music and words different to the verse and chorus |
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improvisation |
where a lead guitarist or other instrumentalist plays an improvised solo |
| |
backbeat |
where the snare drum is played in a special pattern for beats 2 and 4 |
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pick-ups |
these change the vibrations of the strings into electric signals |
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amplifier |
strengthens the signals from the pick-ups |
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speaker |
changes these signals into sounds |
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volume control |
varies the loudness of an electric guitar |
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tone control |
varies the timbre of an electric guitar |
| |
guitar effects |
flanger, distortion, phase, chorus, overdrive, wah-wah and delay |
| |
heavy rock |
a style with a loud, heavy drum beat, strongly amplified guitars, overdrive, a harsh singing style, antisocial lyrics and riffs as the basic structural element |
| |
riff |
a repeated melodic or chordal phrase that is heard at various places in a song and sometimes through whole sections |
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bridge |
another term for the middle 8 |
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syncopation |
the rhythmic effect in which an off-beat is emphasised, created by accents, ties and rests |
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blues |
early musical styles from which rock developed, originally a type of folk song |
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call and response |
where a soloist sings or plays a phrase and is answered by another soloist or group |
| |
the blues progression |
a 12-bar blues form where a particular progression of chords are played |
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blues melodic structure |
three melodic structures of a blues song where the first two phrases are the same |
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dead spot |
the left over part of a phrase which is usually only two bars and one beat long |
| |
snare drum |
a small horizontal drum with a snare inside |
| |
snare |
a band of wires stretched across the bottom head or skin, which produce a dry rattling sound |
| |
bass drum |
the large central drum which is struck by a padded stick connected to a lever to a foot pedal. |
| |
tom-toms |
small drums that can be tuned to different pitches for effect |
| |
floor tom-tom |
a tom-tom which is the largest of the tom-toms and stands on the floor |
| |
cymbals |
circular metal discs on stands that produce shattering, metallic sounds |
| |
ride cymbal |
a cymbal used to play rhythmic patterns |
| |
crash cymbal |
used for accenting and marking climaxes |
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hi-hats |
two cymbals mounted horizontally with the lower one connected to a spring-action foot lever that brings it into contact with the higher one |
| |
drum machine |
a special machine which plays all the sounds of the drum kit plus other percussion ones |
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ostinatos |
sequences |
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rockabilly |
a mixture of country and western and rhythm and blues |
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punk |
a loud distortion of guitars, fast and with harsh sounding chords, emphasising anarchy, rebellion and rejection of education |
| |
fills |
a short rhythmic section played on drums to fill in the dead spot at the end of a singer's phrase |
| |
keyboard |
an electronic instrument containing a large number of sounds, touch sensitivity, and MIDI connection |
| |
synthesisers |
these control the four qualities of sound (pitch, volume, timbre and duration) |
| |
MIDI |
musical instrument digital interface, a way of connecting electrical instruments |
| |
digital piano |
a type of keyboard which is designed to imitate an acoustic piano |
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funk |
strongly rhthmic with syncopation, wah-wah, punchy and disjoined bass lines, thin textured drum accompaniments, call and response and piano, organ and brass |
| |
soft rock |
refined rock that emphasises harmony and melody and does not have the harshness of styles such as heavy rock |
