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appreciation

answer

The combination of respect and knowledge derived from an evaluation of the music's quality and significance. The following definitions represent the four steps in the process of appreciation.

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tolerance/exposure/receptivity

answer

Refers to what is required in order to understand and be affected by a piece or style of music.

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criticism/analysis

answer

A close look at the style and compositional details of a piece of music; an investment that helps you understand a composition and its composer.

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understanding

answer

The by-product of exposure and criticism. Understanding a composition and its composer develops a respect for the process and the sound.

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personal taste

answer

The impact a work of art has on you personally. Is it possible to appreciate something you don't like? Do you expand or contract?

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dissonance

answer

A combination of notes that seem unrelated or harsh. Too many dissonant sounds make most listeners uncomfortable.

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consonance

answer

A combination of notes that sounds pleasing, stable, and does not create tension or dissonance.

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fundamental pitch

answer

The lowest and main pitch heard in an overtone series. The fundamental pitch is also the loudest.

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overtone series

answer

The combination of pitches that are based on the same fundamental pitch. Every note has several related pitches, or overtones, that vibrate at the same time that the fundamental pitch is sounded. The notes in this "harmonic series" are always in the same sequence, though the characteristic sound of an instrument is influenced by the presence or absence of particular tones in the series.

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amplitude

answer

The volume of a sound. Amplitude is measured by the height and depth of its waveform.

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frequency

answer

The length of a sound wave; the number of vibrations per second. Every pitch has a specific frequency. For example, the note A above middle C, commonly tuned, vibrates 440 times per second.

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synthesizer

answer

A tone generator, often a keyboard. Sounds imitating either acoustic instruments or new and unique waveforms are created using a synthesizer.

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intonation

answer

Accuracy of pitch. Good intonation, or being "in tune," is the exact sounding of a specific pitch, without being slightly above or below the standard.

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tuning up

answer

The process of bringing two or more instruments in agreement on pitch. Once instruments are tuned, the music can be better controlled by the musicians.

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instrument family

answer

Instruments in the modern symphony orchestra that share the same means of creating sound (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion).

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pizzicato

answer

The technique of plucking a stringed instrument rather than bowing it.

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ensemble

answer

A group of instrumentalists or singers. Usually implies a smaller group.

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sampling

answer

Recording and digitally re-creating existing waveforms. Any sound can be recorded (sampled) and its waveform digitally plotted. Upon request, the synthesizer can read out this code and re-create an exact copy of the original sound.

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MIDI

answer

The acronym for musical instrument digital interface. This process transmits data between two or more electronic instruments, allowing them to communicate and play together.

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sequenced

answer

Music that is the product of electronic processing of the musical parts of a composition. The parts are played separately and stored as data in a computer. The data is combined and organized by the computer to be played together later.

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articulation marks

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Words or symbols above or below a note or phrase to indicate how affected material should be played. Such words as legato (smooth and attached), staccato (separated, detached), and/or such markings as dots, slurs, dashes, and accents, indicate the composer's or arranger's intention.

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binary form

answer

A formal structure using theme repetition and contrast (A-B) or (A-A-B-B).

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cadence

answer

The end of a large or small musical idea. It can be the end of a phrase, theme group, or movement.

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contrast

answer

One of the primary techniques used to construct binary and ternary forms. Contrasting themes or melodies add interest and a sense of return when the original melody reappears.

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dominant

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Refers to a chord (or new key) that is built on the fifth degree (V) of the scale, and requiring resolution to the tonic chord.

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dynamics

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Volume level (loudness), or changes and variety of volume levels. Also refers to various words and markings that indicate the volume at which a note, phrase, piece, or section should be played.

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envelope

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The four elements that make up the sound of a note: attack, decay, sustain, and release (ADSR). Attack is the sound of a note as it begins, decay is the sound of a note as it softens immediately after the attack, sustain is the quality of the note before it stops or releases.

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fugue

answer

A musical form that uses subjects (main theme/melody), answers, and countersubjects in an overlapping manner; like a complicated round.

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half-step

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The smallest distance or interval between two notes in traditional Western European music.

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harmonic rhythm

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The frequency and regularity of chord changes in a composition. A pulse is established by the regular movement from one chord to another.

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harmony

answer

Several pitches interacting simultaneously.

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interval

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The distance between two notes.

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key (tonal area)

answer

In a scale or piece, one note is more stable than any other, and the is defined by this note. All other notes in the same key are less stable and eventually lead back to the primary note. The key establishes a tonality in which all notes and chords are related in some way to the tonal area or single note.

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melody

answer

A series of notes that expresses a musical thought. It is made up of both rhythm and pitch. Conjunct melodies move by step and small intervals; disjunct melodies move by larger skips.

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minuet and trio

answer

A dance form in 3/4 time. The three-part form was (A section) minuet, (B) a second minuet in a contrasting lighter style (the "trio" section; though not always really a trio), and (A) the first minuet repeated. This remained the standard form of the third movement in symphonies and string quartets until it was modified (by Beethoven) and replaced by the quicker and more playful scherzo and trio form.

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motion

answer

Music moves forward in patterns of beats and at various speeds that define its motion (rhythm, tempo, and meter).

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musical space

answer

The range of sound filled by the music elements: motion, pitch, harmony, texture, and tone.

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pitch

answer

The relative height or depth of a sound; a basic musical element expressing frequency and instrument range.

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sonata-allegro form

answer

The primary large structure used for the first movement of a symphony. Themes are exposed, developed, and recapitulated.

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tempo

answer

The speed of a musical composition. The basic rhythmic pulse can be slow or fast, or change gradually between fast and slow.

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texture

answer

The result of various degrees of simultaneous musical activity.

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theme and variation

answer

A musical structure for a single work or movement of a larger work, in which a melody (theme) is stated, varied in several possible ways, and then usually restated.

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theme group

answer

A section of one or more themes related mainly in that they are in the same key. Common in the exposition (A) section of the sonata-allegro form (where the second theme group is usually in the dominant or relative minor key).

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tone

answer

The sound quality of instruments, individually and combined.

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tonality

answer

Related to the key that a piece of music is played in; the sense that notes in a key stand in relation to a main/most stable note.

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tonic

answer

The first degree (I) of a major or minor scale (e.g., in the key of C the tonic is the note C). Also refers to a chord or key based on that note.

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oral tradition

answer

In the folk tradition, information, history, and culture were passed verbally from generation to generation. Many cultural traits are still communicated in this way.

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monophony

answer

Music that consists of a single melody in unison, without accompaniment or harmony. Common in early church music and ancient cultures.

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Gregorian chant

answer

A collection of medieval monophonic chants assembled by Pope Gregory I. They had highly developed melodies and supplied material for other composers for centuries.

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polyphony

answer

Two or more important parts sung or played simultaneously.

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organum

answer

Two voices or parts that travel either parallel to each other, with the same rhythm and intervals, or somewhat less strictly, in styles called free (parallel or opposite intervals) and melismatic (several notes in one part for a note in the other part).

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School of Notre Dame

answer

Refers to the twelfth-century musical innovations of choirmasters Léonin and Perotin at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, including notating music with measured rhythm and the expansion of polyphony.

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melisma

answer

Several notes sung for a single syllable of text. Some melismas are very long, with many notes sung per syllable.

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measured rhythm

answer

A notational system associated with the School of Notre Dame that established a more precise form of metered rhythm.

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cantus firmus

answer

A melody, most often a Gregorian chant, used as the lowest (tenor) part. Other parts were written above the cantus firmus, creating a form of polyphonic music.

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tenor

answer

The lower part (cantus firmus) in early polyphony.

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duplum

answer

The part written above the tenor/cantus firmus in early polyphony.

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Ars Nova

answer

"New art," a popular fourteenth-century style, typified by polyphonic singing, using stories of village life and common language.

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homophony

answer

Music that has a single melody supported by chords.

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imitation

answer

The process of repeating a melodic idea or entire melody immediately in another part, either inexactly or exactly (e.g., a round). A favorite technique of Renaissance composers.

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madrigal

answer

Popular in the Renaissance, a secular poem about love that was set in a polyphonic texture, with contrasting homophonic sections. Word painting was prevalent.

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madrigalisms

answer

Associated with word painting, specific words or feelings are described or emphasized musically.

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mode

answer

There are seven common modes, including the major and minor scales. The pattern of whole-steps and half-steps in the scale determine the mode. Most of the modes were used chiefly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.

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motet

answer

An essential part of Renaissance music, motets are polyphonic settings of Latin text. They are sacred choral works but are not part of the liturgical Mass.

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syncopation

answer

Shifting an accent to a normally unaccented part of the beat or measure.

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Venetian School

answer

Composers from late sixteenth-century Venice who wrote and performed music in the using the polychoral style that required multiple choirs of voices or instruments.

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word painting

answer

Using music to illustrate, emphasize, and interpret the special meaning of a word and make it stand out from the words around it.

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opera

answer

A large-scale work featuring an orchestra and vocalists acting out a dramatic theme or story.

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monody/monodic style

answer

The then-new vocal technique of solo voice and basso continuo developed by the Camerata (a departure from the Renaissance ideal of four equal voices in counterpoint, which tended to obscure the text).

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Camerata (Florentine)

answer

A group of noblemen, literary figures, poets, and musicians who gathered from approximately 1573 to 1587 and developed a new dramatic relationship between music and text, giving rise to monodic songs and the first operas. Setting text to music in a way that imitated the rhythms, pauses, and intervals of speech, they attempted to produce the emotional impact described by the early Greeks.

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recitative

answer

A speech-like vocal style without repetition, used to describe or produce an action. Dry recitative, or recitativo secco, is the most common form, having only continuo accompaniment. Recitativo stromentato has an orchestral accompaniment.

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thoroughbass

answer

The continuous sounding bass line that underpins so much of the music of the Baroque period; also called basso continuo.

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continuo (basso)

answer

The performance of a figured bass by a harpsichord, lute, or organ reinforced by a cello, bassoon, or other low instrument.

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figured bass

answer

A system of small numbers written above a bass note to indicate the intervals needed to build the desired chord. Figured basses are a shorthand that is interpreted by basso continuo players.

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ground bass

answer

A repeated melody in the bass (passacaglia) that supports melodies above. Also called basso ostinato ("stubborn bass").

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sinfonias

answer

Instrumental musical sections in early opera.

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aria

answer

A songlike, emotional, and often demanding vocal work used in opera, oratorios, and cantatas.

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bel canto

answer

A vocal style that displayed virtuosic techniques associated with the da capo form. The vocalist improvised complicated ornaments to display vocal prowess.

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da capo aria

answer

An A-B-A form for a solo vocalists. It had emotionally intense melodies that were commonly ornamented on the repeat of the last A section.

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castrato

answer

A male singer who sang soprano or alto roles in opera because of castration before puberty. (Such performers were revered in their time.)

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chorus

answer

A section in an oratorio, opera, or cantata performed with several singers on each part.

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ballad opera

answer

A lighter and often humorous dramatic form of opera, based on popular melodies, performed specifically in England.

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oratorio

answer

A large vocal and instrumental dramatic work based on a sacred subject. It has arias and recitatives like opera; however, there is no staging or dramatic acting.

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cantata

answer

A musical piece that is sung. The church cantata was a short dramatic work with solos and chorus sections.

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sonata

answer

An early term used to describe instrumental music (to be played or sounded, as opposed to a cantata/to be sung, or toccata/to show off the touch or skill). There are two kinds, the secular da camera and the sacred, which is more serious. Later in history the term refers to a three-movement work for soloist or soloist with piano accompaniment.

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toccata

answer

A flamboyant organ or keyboard piece that shows off the player's skill. From the Italian term for "touch," this form sometimes precedes a fugue.

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chorale

answer

A hymn or psalm sung by a congregation in church.

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passion

answer

A dramatic sacred work that characterizes the suffering and death of Christ. It uses arias, recitatives, and choruses, as found in oratorios.

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harpsichord

answer

The most dominant keyboard instrument in the Baroque period. Strings are plucked when a key is depressed.

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trio sonata

answer

A sonata with three parts. The two higher melodies are performed by two soloists, while the continuo players perform the third part.

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suite

answer

A group of highly styled dance forms, intended for listening. Suites were written for small ensembles, harpsichord, and orchestra.

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concerto grosso

answer

A form in which a soloist or ensemble is contrasted against a string orchestra or full orchestra.

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tutti

answer

Means "all" or "together" in Italian; used musically to refer to the whole orchestra or group of instruments performing. In the concerto grosso, tutti was another term for ritornello.

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ritornello

answer

The orchestral section, always returning with the same music. It contrasts with the solo sections in a concerto grosso.

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concertino group

answer

The solo group in a concerto grosso, in contrast to the orchestra or ripieno group.

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ripieno group

answer

The orchestral or tutti group, in contrast to the solo group (concertino) in a concerto grosso.

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terraced dynamics

answer

Used in the Baroque era. To change dynamics, more players were added or more stops on the organ were added. The result was that dynamics changed suddenly rather than gradually.

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stops (organ)

answer

The levers or buttons used to open a rank of pipes on an organ so that the air can go through them when a key is depressed.

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preludes

answer

Precedes suites and fugues in Baroque instrumental music. They are most commonly associated with the pipe organ.

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subject

answer

The first statement in a fugue. Once answered by being stated in another part, it enters again in a third part.

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countersubject

answer

Accompanies a subject in a fugue. It is a complementary melody and supplies motives and complexity to the texture.

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cadence

answer

The end of a large or small musical idea. It can be the end of a phrase, theme group, or movement.

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pedal point

answer

The long sounding of a low note on a pipe organ while melodies move freely above. The most common placement of a pedal point is at the end of large sections or works.

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tonic

answer

The first note of the scale being used (e.g., in the key of C the tonic is C).

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dominant (V)

answer

Refers to the chord that is built on the fifth degree of the scale and requires resolution to the tonic chord.

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episode

answer

Melodically free section in a fugue.

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chorale prelude

answer

An organ work based on a chorale. Often improvisational and even dissonant, it is an introduction to whatever well-known chorale the congregation was about to sing.

question

chromatic scale

answer

A scale made up of all the half-steps in an octave. Chromatic as a description refers to the use of half-steps in melodies and chords that are not in the key, and is used for dissonance or color (hence the name).

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absolute music

answer

In comparison with program music, this type of music is not meant to interpret any literary element or other outside reference.

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art song

answer

A poem by an established writer that is set to music (usually distinct from folksong or popular song). The most common languages for these songs are Italian, French, and German.

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cadenza

answer

An unaccompanied solo that is rhythmically free in both pulse and meter. Cadenzas are passages of various lengths (sometimes improvised) that occur just before the concluding chord of a cadence, and are commonly associated with the concerto form and opera.

question

coda

answer

A musical extension at the end of a movement or performance. It can be very short or quite long and developmental.

question

concert overture

answer

An overture played on the concert stage. This kind of overture is not an introduction to a dramatic work or opera.

question

concertmaster

answer

The assistant to the conductor of an orchestra. Traditionally, the first-chair violinist is automatically the concertmaster.

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concerto (solo)

answer

Most often a three-movement work featuring a soloist or soloists accompanied by an orchestra.

question

divertimenti

answer

A collection of dance-like forms performed by small string ensembles. The predecessor to the modern string quartet.

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ensemble finale

answer

The final scene of an operatic section, in which several singers perform at the same time, but sing independent texts and often express different moods. Found especially in Italian opera.

question

exposition

answer

The first section of the sonata-allegro form, in which two themes (or theme groups) are presented, the first in the tonic and the second in the dominant or relative minor.

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fixed idea (idée fixe)

answer

A recurring theme (specific to Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique). It appeared, although transformed, in each movement of this program symphony.

question

leitmotifs (leading motifs/motives)

answer

Small identifiable musical units (motives) associated with a person, act, or object. Leitmotifs are a unifying feature of Wagnerian opera. The motives develop and change as the characters change.

question

libretto

answer

A text designed specifically to be set to music.

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lied

answer

German art song. These songs disappeared after the Renaissance and reappeared in the nineteenth century.

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miniatures

answer

Short works in the Romantic period, such as art songs and single-movement piano compositions.

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motive (or motif)

answer

A small musical unit made up of a short identifiable rhythm encompassing a few pitches. The most famous motive is the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

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opera buffa

answer

Opera that was entirely sung (Italian) but still part of the comic-opera tradition. Instead of spoken dialogue, recitative was used.

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overture

answer

The opening instrumental selection that precedes a music drama or theatrical work. (See also concert overture.)

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pianoforte (or piano)

answer

The dominant instrument in music since the nineteenth century. The instrument is named for its ability to play both loud (forte) and soft (piano).

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program music

answer

Music based on a literary element, either a poem, story, or title. The music is interpretive of the story or mood presented in this "program."

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recapitulation

answer

The last section of a sonata-allegro form, in which the two primary themes (or theme groups) are restated in the tonic key after the development.

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reform opera

answer

A form of serious opera developed by Gluck that recaptured some of the audience lost to oratorios and ballad opera. The music, drama, and dance were more integrated, and the difference between recitative and aria was lessened.

question

rubato

answer

Means "robbed time" in Italian. In the piano style of Chopin, the right hand would pull and push against the regular rhythm being played in the left hand, adding expression, and suggesting a sense of rhythmic freedom. Liszt would accelerate or slow down both hands together.

question

Russian Five

answer

Five composers who worked together in hopes of producing a music style that would be representative of their Russian heritage, rather than the music imported from Europe.

question

sonata

answer

An early term used to describe instrumental music. There are two kinds, the secular da camera and the more serious sacred da chiesa. Later in history the term refers to a three-movement solo work, or a work for solo instrument with piano accompaniment.

question

sonata-allegro form

answer

The primary large structure used for the first movement of a symphony. Themes are exposed, developed, and recapitulated.

question

string quartet

answer

A musical group comprised of two violins, viola, and cello. String quartet compositions share the same form as symphonies.

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strophic form

answer

A song that retains the same music in every verse.

question

symphony

answer

A large four-movement work for orchestra that developed in the nineteenth century.

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through-composed form

answer

Music without repetitive sections for different verses. If it is a song, the music may be different for each verse even if the text is strophic.

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transitional sections

answer

These appear between themes or theme groups and help introduce new material. They can be developmental in nature, with motivic interplay and modulation to different keys.

question

impressionism

answer

A musical style at the turn of the twentieth century that emphasized tone color and subtle textures to evoke natural images (e.g., Debussy).

question

whole-tone scale

answer

A six-tone scale that has only whole-steps. (Major and minor scales have both half-steps and whole-steps.)

question

muted

answer

The tone and volume of instruments can be darkened, thinned, or softened by using mutes. Brass instruments place mutes in the bell, and string instruments use wooden clamps on the bridge.

question

primitivism

answer

A twentieth-century style inspired by primitive art and drives. The music is combined with twentieth-century rhythmic and melodic angularity.

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neoromanticism

answer

Borrows musical ideas of the nineteenth century to compose music in the twentieth century.

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absolute music

answer

When compared with program music, this type of music is not meant to interpret any literary element or other outside reference.

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musicology

answer

The study of musical styles, both historically and theoretically.

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ethnomusicology

answer

The study of music history in light of ethnic-group and cultural identities.

question

series

answer

A series of notes, rhythms, and dynamics can be used to build a serial composition. The series provides an order for melodic and rhythmic activities. The series can be played forward, backwards (retrograde), upside down (inversion), and upside down and backwards (retrograde-inversion), or can start on a different pitch (transposition).

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serialism

answer

A modern classical system for writing music. Devised by Arnold Schoenberg, it arranges the twelve tones of the octave into a tone row or series. Because all twelve notes of the octave are used, tonality is destroyed. Also called twelve-tone technique and dodecaphony.

question

neoclassicism

answer

In the first half of the twentieth century, music was inspired by the restraint and control exhibited in the Baroque and Viennese periods. This style, not without wit, was partially a response to the overly emotional music of the late nineteenth century (e.g., Stravinsky).

question

tone row

answer

An ordering of notes that will be the basis of a serial composition. The twelve-tone row was able to produce atonal works.

question

Sprechstimme (or Sprechgesang)

answer

A singing technique used in the twentieth century (from the German for "speaking voice" or "speech-song"). The voice half-sang and half-spoke the melody. The result is similar to very animated speech.

question

tone cluster

answer

A twentieth-century technique in which several notes, separated only by major or minor second intervals, are played simultaneously to form dissonant clusters or clouds of sound.

question

indeterminate music

answer

Partially composed music (also known as aleatory music or chance music). The performer is required to make decisions while playing. The level of decision making varies considerably, from choosing what note to play to deciding what the overall structure will be.

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artificial intelligence

answer

A computer environment where decisions in creation and direction are determined by software. These systems develop and expand simple ideas into complex structures.

question

electronic music

answer

Music generated through tape manipulation and/or computer software.

question

tape manipulation

answer

Method used to affect recorded sounds. Tapes can be slowed down, sped up, run backwards, or cut and reassembled in a different order.

question

musique concrète

answer

Music composed from recorded and electronically effected acoustic sounds (could be engines, water, breaking glass, violin, and so on). Tape manipulation is a primary compositional technique.

question

multiphonic

answer

One sound that has a confusing number of pitches at once. It has a honking and often buzzing sound.

question

experimental/theoretical music

answer

Music based on theories where the outcome is not determined. This music explores sounds and their relationship to the musical arts.

question

minimalism

answer

Music using a narrow range of dynamics, texture, notes, rhythm, or other resources. It can be repetitive and trance-like, and may stay constant or change only subtly over long periods of time.

question

chamber music

answer

A type of music originally designed for an intimate setting within a small room that became popular in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. Each part was written for and performed by one player. During the Classical period, such music was performed by small groups of two to four performers, but it has since been adapted for ensembles of fifteen or twenty musicians in a small orchestra.

question

string quartet

answer

One of many forms of a chamber ensemble. It consists of four string instruments; they are two violins, a viola, and a violoncello. During the early Classical period, Haydn was among the first composers to create music for this type of ensemble.

question

piano trio

answer

A chamber ensemble group consisting of a piano, violin, and violoncello that commonly performed in an intimate setting of a small room during the Classical period. Later, during the Baroque period, trio sonatas were performed by four instruments playing three parts.

question

basso continuo

answer

From the Baroque period, a basso continuo is one part played by two players. Because of the new emphasis on chords during this period, an accompaniment pattern consisting of a bass part together with Arabic numbers would be used to specify the chords to be played. A single low instrument, such as a cello, bassoon, or theorbo (a type of lute), would play the bass part, while an organ, harpsichord, or lute would play the chords in one hand while the other hand would double the bass part. Basso continuo was also abbreviated as continuo or called figured bass. The basso continuo was a prominent feature of the Baroque period and later abandoned in the Classical period.

question

pizzicato

answer

A technique in which a performer uses his or her fingers to pluck the string of a string instrument, such as a violin, viola, or violoncello, instead of using the bow.

question

arco

answer

A technique in which a performer moves the hairs of the bow across the string of a string instrument, such as a violin, viola, or violoncello, to create musical sound.

question

tremolo

answer

The quick and continuous reiteration of a single pitch; also known as a "fingered tremolo" when there is a rapid alternation between two tones from a chord (a skip apart from each other).

question

double-stops

answer

The technique of playing two tones simultaneously on a string instrument.

question

divertimento

answer

An enormous variety of chamber ensemble (non-orchestral) music written for various instruments with varying number of movements that implied a more graceful and light atmosphere during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

question

polytonal

answer

Two or more tonalities used simultaneously.

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