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IGCSE Music Glossary

Terms in this set (134)

Pizzicato
Plucked notes on a string insturment
Arco
Bowed notes on a string instrument
Tremolo
The moving backwards and forward on a string instrument with the bow - creates a trembling effect
Riff
A repeated short tune/motif in jazz or popular music
Dissonance
A clashing sound between notes
Accompaniment
The part played under the tune
Phasing
When the parts in a minimalist piece go out of time with one another
Note addition
Adding notes to a minimalist tune
Note subtraction
Removing notes from a minimalist tune
Loop
The electronic repeating of a short tune or rhythm
Layering
Parts/tunes placed over one another in a minimalist composition
Metamorphosis
When a tune grows/changes slowly throughout a piece of minimalist music
Drone
A long, sustained note held in the bass part
Head
The main tune in a Jazz or Blues piece
Comping
The syncopated chordal accompaniment in a Jazz or Blues piece
Trill
An ornament in which the written note is alternated with the note above
Vibrato
The slight vibrating of a note by a musician
Overdub
Additional tracks being added by monitoring the previously recorded tracks while simultaneously recording a new track
Power chord
A loud chord consisting of the only root note of the chord and the fifth, usually played on electric guitar
Acoustic
Music played not using electronic means
Glissando
The sliding between two notes - hitting the notes in between
Outro
The end section in a piece of popular music, similar to a coda
Call and repsonse
A musical statement by a singer or instrumentalist that is answered by other singers or instrumentalists
Countermelody
A melody over the top of another melody
Heterophonic
Music in which two or more versions or variations of the same melody are performed simeltaneously
Fusion
The combining of two or more music styles or genres
Counterpoint
A musical form involving the simultaneous sound of two or more melodies
Lilting
Singing with a light, graceful rhythm
Nonsense syllables
Made up syllables or words in a folk or jazz piece to add rhythmic effect
Rasa
The mood created by the sounds of the pitches in a raga
Matras
The individual beats in a rhythmical cycle or tala
Teental
The most common 16-beat tala
Tan
The rapid scalic flourishes on the sitar, sarod or sarangi
Meend
The sliding between two notes in Indian music
Fixed composition
The main melody of a particular raga introduced in the gat or bandish section
Vocables
sound effects made by the voice, e.g. 'eh', 'ah', 'oh'
Membranophones
Instruments with a 'skin'
Idiophones
Instruments that resonate or are solid
Aerophones
Instruments that you blow through
Chordophones
Instruments that have strings
Tone language
African languages that use pitch to determine the meaning of words
Texture
The interweaving of melodic and harmonic elements int he musical 'fabric'. It can be monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, or in world music, heterophonic
Structure
The way different sections are placed one after another
Silence
Rests placed in music
Dynamics
How loud or soft the music is
Duration
The note lengths placed together to produce different rhythms - dotted, syncopated, repetitive, regular
Pitch
High and low in music
Pulse
The regular or irregular beat in the music - relates to time signatures
Pentatonic
Music that only uses a scale with five pitches
Cadence
The notes or chords ending a section of music with a feeling of conclusiveness
Plagal cadence
A IV-I cadence (frequently ending church music - sounds like 'Amen')
Perfect cadence
The chordal progression of dominant to tonic i.e. V-I
Pedal
A long note held in the bass part
Diminuendo
Getting quiter
Crescendo
Getting louder
Atonal
No key
Reverb
Electronically making the instrument or voice sound like it is in a large room - reverberating
Delay
Electronically making a sound repeat and die away
EQ
Electronically making the bass sounds or treble sounds louder or softer
Distortion
Electronically distorting the sound
Drum loop
Using a drum machine to repeat or loop a drum beat
Sampler
A machine that digitally records a live sound then plays it back
Tambura
A bass Sitar which plays the drone
Sitar
An Indian string instrument which plays the melody
Tabla
A pair of Indian drums
Oratorio
Bible story that is sung with an orchestral accompaniment - a religious opera
Symphony
A large piece for orchestra with four movements
Prelude
A short musical piece played as an introduction to a larger piece of music
SATB
The abbreviation for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass
Hexachord
Series of six adjacent tones with half a step occurring between the third and fourth degree
Motif
A short musical idea
Syncopation
A rhythmic idea not on the beat
Compound time
The beat is divided into groups of three quavers - the time signature has an 8 on the bottom
Ascending pattern
A tune that goes up
Descending pattern
A tune that goes down
Scalic passage
A tune that moves up or down by step
Improvization
Process of simultaneously composing and performing music on the spot
Accompany
To sing or play a musical instrument for or with other people
Muted
To muffle or dampen the sound of an instrument
Melisamtic
Singing a word or syllable over many notes
Accent
A slightly emphasized or louder note
Harpsichord
A plucked keyboard instrument from the Baroque period of music
Djembe
An African single-skinned drum
Talking drum
An African two-skinned drum used to communicate between tribes
Raga
A piece of Indian classical music - or - an Indian scale or set of notes that represents a mood, time of day or occasion
Alap
The first section of a raga that is slow and has no pulse. It introduces the notes of the raga
Jhor
The second section of a raga which is slightly faster and has a pulse
Jhala
The third section of a raga which is much faster, has a pulse and has virtuoso displays but has no tabla
Gat
The fourth section of a raga which is fast and signaled by the introduction of the tabla - fixed composition or tune is used
Sam
First beat of the tala or Indian rhythmic cycle
Tala
Indian rhythmic cycle
Basso continuo
A continuous bass line that provided an underlying structure for the harmonies and was usually played by the cello, or bassoon, or double bass in the Baroque period
Bass
Low male voice
Tenor
High male voice
Alto
Low female voice
Soprano
High female voice
Largo
Slowly
Moderato
Medium tempo
Allegro
Fast and lively tempo
Presto
Very fast tempo
Sforzando
A sudden, sharp accent
Forte
Loud
Piano
Soft
Pianissimo
Very soft
Dissonant
Clashing notes played together
Consonant
Nice-sounding notes played together
Libretto
The words of a musical or opera
BPM
Beats per minute
Aural tradition
Music passed down by generations by word of mouth (i.e. not written down)
Balafon
An African xylophone
Polyrhythm
More than one rhythm played at the same time
Cross-rhythm
A 2 or 4 time rhythm played against a 3 time rhythm
Lead drummer
The leader of African drumming - bringing people in, changing the tempo and leading the 'call and response'
Aria
Solo song in an opera or oratorio
Augmentation
Doubling the length of the note values
Diminution
Halving the length of the note values
Solo
One instrument playing or a voice singing a tune
Coda
End section to a piece of music
Staccato
Playing the notes short and detatched
Legato
Long and smooth notes
Virtuoso
A very skillful musician
Arpeggio
A broken chord
Cantabile
In a singing style
Rubato
The performer pulling the tempo about
Modulation
The changing of key/tonality within a piece of music
Tonic
First note in a scale
Dominant
Fifth note in a scale
Klangfarbenmelodie
The use of instrumental timbres together - rather than using melody as a priority
Inversion
Turning a melody upside down
Retrograde
Playing the melody backwards
Retrograde inversion
Playing the melody backwards and upside down
Prime
The 12 notes of the chromatic scale placed into a certain order and used in a serialist composition
Enharmonic equivalent
The equivalent sharp note as a flat and vice versa
Sustained
A held note
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