Music Keywords

• Harmony = chords, support the melody

  • functional
  • diatonic
  • chromatic
  • extended chords
  • dominant 7ths
  • non-functional
  • quartal harmony
  • dissonance
  • suspension
  • circle of 5ths
  • pedal note
  • cadence (perfect = V-I, imperfect = ?-V + interrupted, V-Vi)
• Texture = the number of layers

  • homophonic
  • polyphonic
  • monophonic
  • contrapuntal
  • antiphonal
  • melody dominated homophony
  • heterophonic
• Melody = a combination of pitch and rhythm

  • conjunct
  • disjunct
  • chromatic
  • ornaments - trills, appoggiaturas
  • ascending
  • descending
  • pentatonic
  • sequence
  • syllabic and melismatic word setting
  • melodic ostinato e.g. Defying Gravity
• Tonality = what key is the piece in?

  • major
  • minor
  • atonal
  • bitonal
  • modal
  • modulation
  • pentatonic
• Rhythm = the organisation of sounds by their length

  • dotted rhythm
  • syncopated
  • triplets
  • sextuplets
  • straight rhythms
  • 4/4, 3/4
  • use of rests
  • swung
  • rhythmic ostinato
• Tempo = the speed of the music

  • largo - slow
  • allegro - fast
  • moderato - at a moderate speed
• Dynamics = how loud or quiet a piece is

  • piano - quiet
  • pianissimo - very quiet
  • forte - loud
  • fortissimo - very loud
  • crescendo - gradually getting louder
  • decrescendo - gradually getting quieter
  • sforzando - sfz
• Structure = the different sections of a piece form its structure

  • ternary - ABA
  • sonata - Exposition, Development, Recapitulation
  • intro, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, outro