| MUSIC
TERM | MEANING
|
| A cappella
| Vocal
performance devoid of instruments |
| Acid Rock | Rock
music subgenre associated with psychedelic drugs and which originated in 1960s |
| Adagio | Quite Slow |
| Allegro | Fast |
| Alto | Lowest female voice |
| Baritone | Moderate range
male voice |
| Bass
voice |
Low male voice |
|
Beat | Pulse or unit of rhythm |
| Blues scale | A major scale involving flat third and seventh |
| Beam | Straight line connecting
8th notes |
| Cadence
| Chord
sequence at phrase ending and song/music ending |
| Chord | 3 or more pitches sounding at the same time |
| Common Time | 4/4 meter signature |
| Crescendo | Gradually louder
|
| Cut Time
| 2/2
meter signature |
| Da
Capo (D.C.) |
A sign instructing to repeat from beginning |
| Dal Segno (D.S.) | A sign instructing to repeat from sign |
| Deceptive Cadence | Any chord other than tonic (I) chord is followed after dominant (V) chord in a
chord progression
|
| Diminuendo
| Gradually
softer |
|
Do | Syllable denoting tonic
|
| Dominant
| 5th
scale step |
| Elegy
| Instrumental
lament for the dead |
| Enharmonic
| Notes
occupying same position, e.g. G sharp and A flat |
| Ensemble | Performance of all instruments/voices |
| Etude | Musical piece mainly composed to improve technique
|
| Fa |
Syllable
denoting subdominant |
| Fine
| The
end in notation |
|
Forte (f.) | Loud |
| Fortissimo (ff.) | Very Loud |
| Glissando | Rapid slide through pitches |
| Grace note | Ornamental note, which is printed in small type
|
| Grave |
Very,
very slow |
| Ground
Bass | Repeating
melody in the bass |
| Half
Step | Smallest
interval |
| Harmonic
Progression |
Chord progression |
|
Harmony | Simultaneously sounding notes |
| Heavy Metal | Rock style with loud, distorted instrumental solos
|
| Heptatonic
scale |
Seven note scale |
|
Idiophone | Instruments that produce sound from its material, e.g. cymbals and gong
|
| Imitation
| Melody
repeated in different pitch level |
|
Improvise | Playing on spur of moment |
| Interval | Relationship between 2 notes |
| Jentele | Instruction to
perform a section in graceful manner |
|
Jete | Violinist skipping or bouncing bow on strings |
| Jive | Form of blues popular in 1940s |
| Jubilate | 100th
psalm in Holy Bible |
| Kantele
| A
folk instrument belonging to psaltery family |
| Kantor | Lutheran church music director |
| Key | A specific scale with a common tonic |
| Klein | Minor in interval
reference |
| La
| Syllable
denoting submediant |
| Largo
| A
very slow tempo |
| Leading
note | 7th
scale step |
| Legato
| Played
smoothly |
| Major
scale |
Scale with half steps between 3rd & 4th and 7th & 8th
notes |
| Mediant
| 3rd
scale step |
| Melody
| Succession
of pitches in organised manner |
|
Mesto | Sad |
|
Mi | Syllable denoting mediant |
| Minor scale | Scale with half steps between 2nd & 3rd and 6th
& 7th notes |
| Mode | An octave where a series of notes are arranged according to its name scale. Mode examples are major &
minor scales and Gregorian modes.
|
| Natural | Symbol cancelling a previous sharp or flat |
| Nonet | Music piece for 9 instruments |
| Notation
| Writing
music |
|
Notehead | Round part
of a note symbol |
| Octave
| Interval
from a scale beginning and scale end, i.e. 8 notes |
| Octet | Music piece for 8 instruments |
| Operetta | Short musical drama |
| Ostinato | Repeated phrase
|
| Pentatonic
scale |
A musical scale with 5 notes |
| Pitch | Frequency of a note determining high or low sound |
| Poco a poco | Little by little
|
| Presto |
Very
fast tempo |
| Quadruple
meter |
Meter with 4 beats |
|
Quartet | Performance by 4 singers or musicians |
| Quaver | 8th note |
| Quintet | Performance by
5 singers or musicians |
| Raga | Mode in Indian music |
| Re | Syllable denoting supertonic |
| Recital | A solo concert
|
| Rhythm |
Aspect
of music concerning time |
| Root | Main note of triad |
| Scale | Successive notes of a key/mode |
| Sol | Syllable denoting dominant |
| Solmization | Syllables: Do,
Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do |
| Soprano | Highest pitched voice |
| Staff | 5 horizontal lines for writing notes |
| Tempo | Speed of beat in music |
| Ti | Syllable denoting leading
note |
| Triad
| 3
note chord showing root, 3rd and 5th notes |
| Trill | Rapid alteration between one tone and another |
| Tonic |
Keynote
of a scale |
| Ukelele
| Small
guitar with 4 strings |
| Una Corda | Instruction to use soft pedal of piano |
| Unison | 2 pitches which are same |
| Upbeat | Last beat of a
measure |
| Veloce
| Instruction
to perform with speed |
| Vibrato
| Fluctuation
of pitch of a note |
| Viertel
| German
word for quaver note |
| Voz
| Spanish
word for voice |
| Waltz
| A
dance in triple meter |
| Whole
Rest |
A pause having time duration of whole note |
| Whole Step | Interval containing 2 half steps |
| Whole Tone scale | Scale that has
whole tone notes (scale which has only 6 notes) |
| Xilofono | Italian word for xylophone |
| Xyl | Abbreviation for xylophone |
| Xylophone | A percussion instrument
with wooded bars |
| Xylorimba
| A
xylophone which has range of marimba |
|
Yodel | A genre of singing involving switching voice types and warbling |
| Yue Qin |
Moon
mandolin used in China |
| Zart | Instruction to perform tenderly and softly |
| Zeloso | Instruction to perform with zeal |
| Zither | Many stringed wooden
instrument |
| Zu3
| Instruction
to perform by 3 musicians |
| Zydeco | Cajun style of folk music |
