Musical Terms
Music Term |
Definition |
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| accidental | A sharp or flat that appears in front of a note to alter its pitch from the normal pitch in the key. A sharp (#) raises a pitch by a half-step. A flat (which looks like the letter "b") lowers the pitch by a half-step. | |
| augmented chord | Any chord which contains an augmented interval. The augmented chord is the triad consisting of a major third and augmented fifth. | |
| blue note | A note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. The blue notes are usually said to be flattened third, flattened fifth, and flattened seventh scale degrees. | |
| blues scale | The minor pentatonic scale plus the #4 or b5 degree. A major feature of the blues scale is the use of blue notes. | |
| cadence | A melodic configuration or series of chords marking the end of a phrase, section, or piece of music. The perfect cadence is considered to be the ii-V-I chord progression. | |
| chord | Two or more (usually 3 or more) tones sounding at the same time. Traditional chords are formed by stacking every other note in the scale. Modern contemporary chords may be formed by stack notes at different intervals. | |
| chromatic scale | A musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone or half step apart. "A chromatic scale is a nondiatonic scale consisting entirely of half-step intervals," having, "no tonic," due to the symmetry or equal spacing of its tones. | |
| circle of fifths | The circle of fifths (or circle of fourths) shows the relationships among the twelve tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys. | |
| common practice period | The common practice period, in the history of European art music (broadly called classical music), spanning the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, lasted from about 1600 until about 1900. | |
| consonance and dissonance | Two tones are said to be consonant if their combination is pleasing to the ear, and dissonant if displeasing. In music, consonance provides resolution and dissonance causes tension. | |
| counterpoint | Counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent. It has been most commonly identified in Western music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period. | |
| diatonic scale | A seven note musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps. These scales are the foundation of the European musical tradition. The modern major and minor scales are diatonic. | |
| diminished chord | A chord that has a minor third (3 half-steps) between the first and second chord tones and a dminished 5th between the first and third chord tones. A diminished 5th is made up of 6 half-steps. Example: A diminished would be: a, c, and e-flat. | |
| dominant | The fifth degree of the scale. The dominant chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral V if it is within the major mode (because it is a major triad, for example G-B-D in C major) or v if it is within the minor mode (because it is a minor triad, for example G-B♭-D in C minor, unless of course the B♭ is sharpened to B natural, as will often occur since B♮ is the leading tone for the C minor scale). | |
| equal temperament | Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. In equal temperament tunings an interval, usually the octave, is divided into a series of equal steps (equal frequency ratios). For modern Western music, the most common tuning system is twelve-tone equal temperament. | |
| half-step and whole-step | A half-step is the distance from one tone in the chromatic scale. On a piano keyboard, it is the distance from one key to the very next key on the keyboard (whether black or white). Exampe: c to c#, b to c, e to f, or f to f#. On the guitar, each fret raises a pitch by one half-step. A whole step is the distance produced by moving up two tones in the chromatic scale. You can also think of a while step as being made up of two half-steps. c to d is an example of a whole step. | |
| harmony | Harmony in music is the simultaneous use of different pitches to make chords. The study of harmony involves harmonic progressions and the structural principles that govern them.[1] Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic line, or the "horizontal" aspect. Counterpoint and polyphony are thus sometimes distinguished from harmony. | |
| interval | The term musical interval refers to a step up or down in pitch which is specified by the ratio of the frequencies involved. For example, an octave is a music interval defined by the ratio 2:1 regardless of the starting frequency. From 100 Hz to 200 Hz is an octave, as is the interval from 2000 Hz to 4000 Hz. | |
| key center | The key center is a tone that usually sounds first in the bass part. It serves as a sort of foundation for a piece of music. This tone may also appear as the first note of the melody. If not, then the first note of the melody will be a major third or perfect fifth above the key center. | |
| key signature | A series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental. | |
| loudness | Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical strength (amplitude). Loudness, a subjective measure, is often confused with objective measures of sound pressure such as decibels or sound intensity. |
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| leading-tone | The leading note is the seventh tonal degree of the diatonic scale leading up to the tonic. A leading-note (called the leading-tone in the US) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. The leading note is the seventh tonal degree of the diatonic scale leading up to the tonic. For example, in the C major scale (white keys on a piano, starting on C), the leading note is the note B; and the leading note chord uses the notes B, D, and F: a diminished triad. In music theory, the leading note triad is symbolized by the Roman numeral vii°. | |
| major chord | A chord that has a minor third (4 half-steps) between the first and second chord tones. Example: an A major chord is made up of the notes a, c#, and e. | |
| melody | A melody also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity. In its most literal sense a melody is a sequence of pitches and durations, while more figuratively the term has occasionally been extended to include successions of other musical elements such as tone color. | |
| minor chord | A chord that has a major third (3 half-step) between the first and second chord tones. Example: an a minor chord is made up of the notes a, c, and e. | |
| major third | The distance between two tones such that the distance is 4 half-steps. Example: C to the E is major third. Do to Mi is also a major third.. | |
| mediant | The third degree of the diatonic scale, being the "middle" note of the tonic triad. Te mediant chord is minor and is noted with the Roman numeral iii. In a natural minor scale, the mediant occurs as a major chord, noted with the Roman numeral III. In harmonic minor scales and ascending melodic minor scales, the seventh scale degree is raised by a half-step from a subtonic to a leading tone, creating an augmented mediant chord, noted with the Roman numeral III+. | |
| monophony | Monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This may be realized as just one note at a time, or with the same note duplicated at the octave (such as often when men and women sing together). | |
| parallel minor | A minor key (or scale) which has the same letter name as the major key (or scale). C minor is the parallel minor of C major. A minor is the parallel minor of A major. | |
| pitch | Pitch = frequency of sound For example, middle C in equal temperament = 261.6 Hz Sounds may be generally characterized by pitch, loudness, and quality. The perceived pitch of a sound is just the ear's response to frequency, i.e., for most practical purposes the pitch is just the frequency. |
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| pentatonic scale | A five tone scale made up of these steps of the major scale: 1,2,3,5,6 or do-re-mi-so-la. The black keys of the piano form a pentatonic scale. Many folk tunes are made up largely of tones taken from the pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale avoids the harsh interval of the tritone and the strong, leading half-step interval. That's why if you improvise using only black keys, the music will be restful and rather pleasing. The Indian love flute is tuned to the pentatonic scale, so when you improve with this flute (no matter what you play) your music sounds restful and rather good! | |
| perfect fifth | The distance between two tones such that the distance is 7 half-steps. Example: B to the F# above it is a perfect fifth. See movie on finding a perfect fifth on the keyboard. | |
| perfect fourth | A musical interval which spans four scale degrees. It consists of the note and the note five semitones above it on the musical scale. | |
| perfect pitch | The ability of a person to identify or recreate a musical note without the benefit of an external reference. | |
| polyphony | Polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords. | |
| relative minor | A minor key that has the same key signature as major key. The key of A minor has no sharps or flats, neither does C major. So A minor is the relative minor of C major. The relative minor is always built on the 6th scale step of the major key. Think: do re mi fa so la. The relative minor always starts with "la" (American movable do system.) | |
| resolution | Resolution in western tonal music theory is the "need" for a sounded note and/or chord to move from a dissonance (an unstable sound) to a consonance (a more final or stable sounding one). | |
| root | A chord is the note or pitch upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as being built or hierarchically centered upon. This feeling of centeredness is aurally perceivable for those who grew up with European music, and its verbal labelling is a basic skill for the musically trained. | |
| rhythm | A rhythm, "any measured flow or movement, symmetry" is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. | |
| solfege (movable and fix do systems) | Solfege is a system for sight-singing and ear training music where each tone of the scale is given a syllable that is easy to sing. The tones of the major scale are do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. In America, the moveable "do system" is used such that the first tone of the scale is always "do" no matter the key center is. In some other countries a "fixed do" system is used, where the tone "C" is always do. The moveable do system stresses relative pitch. The idea is that, for example, a series of tones like so-mi-re-do-re-do-la-so-mi ("My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean") sounds the same no matter what the key center is. By singing a lot of different melodies, but always using solfege syllabes, you can develop a sense for what various solfege syllabes sound like. | |
| subdominant | The fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately "below" the dominant. The subdominant chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral IV if it is within the major mode (because it is a major triad, for example F-A-C in C major) or iv if it is within the minor mode (because it is a minor triad, for example F-Ab-C in C minor). | |
| submediant | The fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately "below" the dominant. The subdominant chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral IV if it is within the major mode (because it is a major triad, for example F-A-C in C major) or iv if it is within the minor mode (because it is a minor triad, for example F-Ab-C in C minor). The submediant chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral VI if it is major or vi if it is minor. | |
| supertonic | The second degree or note of a diatonic scale. The supertonic chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral ii in a major scale, indicating that the chord is a minor chord (for example, D-F-A in C major), or iio in a natural minor scale, indicating that the chord is a diminished chord (for example, D-F-Ab in C natural minor). | |
| timbre | The Color of Music Timbre (pronounced /ˈtæmbər/, like tamber, or spelling pronunciation /tɪmbər/) or color, is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments. Timbre is caused by the fact that each note from a musical instrument is a complex wave containing more than one frequency, overtones. For instruments that produce notes with a clear and specific pitch, the frequencies involved are part of a harmonic series. |
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| tonality | Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. | |
| tonic | The first note of a musical scale in the tonal method of musical composition. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord. | |
| triad | A three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. The Root, the Third (whose interval is a major third or minor third above the root) and the Fifth (whose interval is a major or minor third above the third, and a diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the root). | |
| whole tone scale | A scale in which each note is separated from its neighbours by the interval of a whole step. There are only two whole tone scales, both six-note or hexatonic scales. |
