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Glossary of terms for music
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Glossary of Terms for Music Accelerando the gradual speeding up of the music Articulation the attack and release of notes (legato, staccato) Back beat the accented second and fourth beats in quadruple metre in rock Music Cadence set of notes or chords that indicates end of a composition, phrase (where there is a ‘half-close’ the term is an imperfect cadence) Chord two or more notes of different pitch sounded together Chordal ostinato a repeated pattern or progression of chords Climax note usually the highest note of a melody Colour can describe the musical expression in the playing or the singing Contour the shape of a melody Dominant the 5th degree of the scale Dynamics the degree of loudness or softness of music Glissando sliding between notes Harmony two or more notes of different letter names sounded together Imitation the repetition of a melodic pattern by a different voice or instrument Legato means ‘smooth’, tells the player to soften the initial sound of the note Lyrics the words of a song Melisma the use of two or more notes to a word or syllable for emphasis or emotional effect Multi-tracking a recording technique involving the layering of vocal and/or instrumental lines, one on top of the other Ostinato a repeated rhythmic pattern Pitch the height or depth of each note is its pitch Program music instrumental music in which the composer suggests a story, a scene or an emotion Sequence the repetition of a melodic idea at a higher or lower pitch level Smooth contour the shape of a melody involving stepwise movement Soundscape sounds that we hear that represent a particular context or location Staccato each note is played quickly, separately, deliberately brought off short or detached Tempo the speed at which notes are played Texture the thickness of sound, depends on the number of voices and/or instruments performing together Timbre can describe the quality of tone of different instruments or voices Vibrato the fluctuating or wavering of the pitch of a note
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