Higher concepts

• Sonata


  A work for solo piano, or a solo instrument accompanied by piano, in three or four movements
• Oratorio


  Usually a story from the Bible set to music for soloists, chorus and orchestra. It may include recitatives, arias, duets and chorus. It is performed without acting or stage design
• Impressionist


  A term borrowed from painting in which brief musical ideas merge and change to create a rather blurred and vague outline. Debussy was an important composer of this style
• Musique concrete


  Recorded natural sounds which are transformed using simple editing techniques such as cutting and re-assembling, playing backwards, slowing down and speeding up
• Mass (Renaissance period)


  A sacred choral work using the five main sections of the Roman Catholic church liturgy: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison; Gloria in excelcis Deo; Credo in unum deum; Sanctus; Osanna; Benedictus; Agnus Dei. Features include Latin text and polyphonic texture, and it is usually sung a capella
• String quartet


  A type of piece written for two violins, viola and cello. Written from the Classical period to the modern day
• Jazz funk


  A combination of jazz Improvisation and the amplified instruments and character of Rock
• Soul music


  A style of Afro-American popular music including elements of blues and gospel and conveying strong emotions
• Mode/modal


  Term used to describe music based on a mode, a type of early scale used before major and minor keys were developed. Modes are used in jazz and pop music for improvising
• Relative major/relative minor


  A change from minor to major key with the same key signature found 3 semitones higher, e.g. D minor to F major. OR A change from major to minor key with the same key signature found 3 semitones lower, e.g. C major to A minor
• Interval


  The distance in pitch between two notes, e.g. C–F is a 4th
• Obbligato


  A prominent solo instrument part in a piece of vocal music. Strongly associated with the Baroque period
• Mordent


  An ornament which sounds the main note, the note above and then the main note again. An inverted mordent sounds the main note, the note below and then the main note again
• Plagal cadence


  A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a phrase. A plagal cadence is the subdominant to tonic chords (IV–I). In the key of C major, chords F to C
• Interrupted cadence


  A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a phrase. An interrupted cadence is usually formed by the chords V–VI. (In the key of C major, chords G to A minor.) This is known also as the surprise cadence as the listener may be expecting V–I which has a more final sound
• Tierce de Picardie


  The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is changed to major. Often associated with the Baroque period, where the last section of a minor piece would be in the major key
• Dominant 7th


  Chord built on the dominant (5th) note of a key which adds the 7th note above its root. It is sometimes written as V7 or, in the key of C major, G7(GBDF)
• Diminished 7th


  A chord consisting to three intervals of a minor 3rd built on top of each other
• Added 6th


  A type of chord that is used frequently in jazz and popular music. Root, 3rd and 5th of the chord with the 6th added (e.g. CEGA)
• Harmonic minor scale


  Scale which shares the same key signature as its Relative major but raises the 7th note by a semitone
• Melodic minor scale


  Scale which shares the same key signature as its Relative major but raises the 6th and 7th notes by a semitone ascending, and similarly lowers them descending
• 3 against 2

  One line of music may be playing quavers in groups of two whilst at the same time another line of music will be playing triplets. Other note values can be similarly used
• Time changes/Irregular time signatures

  Often in modern or rhythmically based ethnic music, groupings of notes change, but the underlying pulse remains constant. Groupings of two and three produce irregular accents and metres
• Augmentation


  An increase in the length of notes, usually by doubling the note values. The music sometimes sounds slower
• Diminution


  A decrease in the length of notes. The music will sound faster when imitated or repeated
• Through-composed


  A vocal/choral composition in which there is little or no repetition of the music
• Da capo aria


  An aria in Ternary form (A B A), found in opera and oratorio in the 17th and 18th centuries. The third section is not written out but the instruction Da capo (from the beginning) is given instead. The repeat of the A section was performed with the solo ornamented
• Lied


  This term (the German word for song) refers specifically in the Romantic era to works for solo voice and piano. The text is in German, the structure of the verses is strophic and through composed. An important feature is that voice and piano are equally important
• Passacaglia


  Variations over a ground bass
• Concerto grosso


  A type of concerto in which a group of soloists (concertino) is combined and contrasted with a larger group (ripieno)
• Sonata form


  Sometimes known as first movement form. This term is used to describe the structure of the first movement of many sonatas, symphonies and often overtures. It falls into three sections: exposition, development and recapitulation. The exposition introduces two contrasting themes in related keys. These are developed and heard again in the recapitulation, this time in the same key
• Exposition


  The first section of a movement in Sonata form (Exposition – Development – Recapitulation) or the first section of a Fugue where each voice has played or sung at least one entry of subject or answer
• Basso continuo


  In the Baroque period, the continuo part consisted of a bass line (basso continuo) played by cello, bass, viola da gamba or bassoon. In addition the harpsichord, organ or lute player was expected to fill in harmonies built on that bass line. Sometimes figures were written under the bass line indicating the chords the composer would like played. This was called figured bass
• Ritornello


  Little return. A 17th-century term for a brief introduction or interlude in a vocal composition, or for a brief instrumental passage between scenes in a 17th-century opera. In a Concerto grosso, the ritornello is the main theme played by the Ripieno group (the orchestra) and sometimes by Concertino (the soloists). The ritornello may return frequently throughout the movement, similar to a Rondo
• Tremolando


  Term for the rapid up-and-down movement of a bow on a stringed instrument creating an agitated, restless effect. The term also describes rapid alternation of two different notes at least a 3rd apart played on piano, strings or wind instruments
• Harmonics


  The high "eerie" sounds produced on a bowed string instrument by lightly touching the string at certain points. On a guitar these will sound bell-like
• Coloratura


  Term for high, florid, vocal singing involving scales, runs and ornaments. Sometimes these passages were written down, but often were extemporised by the performer
• Ripieno


  In Baroque music, especially Concerto grosso, the term means the main group of instrumentalists as opposed to the small/solo group which was known as the Concertino
• Concertino


  In a Concerto grosso this is the name given to the small/solo group of instrumentalists as opposed to the main group which is called Ripieno
• String quartet


  An ensemble consisting of two violins, viola and cello