music

• scotch snap


  very short accented note before a long note
• ground bass


  theme in the bass which is repeated many times while the upper parts are varied
• homophonic


  where you hear melody with accompaniment or where all the parts play a similar rhythm at the same time
• legato


  notes are played or sung smoothly
• march


  strong steady beat, simple time
• bothy ballad


  folk song narrating stories of rural or farming life
• arpeggio


  notes of a chord played one after each other
• aria


  a solo dung in operatic style
• cadenza


  passage of music which allows soloist to show off
• ostinato 


  short pattern repeated many times
• pause


  note held longer than written - pause sign is written above note
• polyphonic


  two or more melodic lines that weave independently of each other
• rondo 


  first section keeps returning in between different sections
• sforzando 


  note played with a forced sudden accent
• canon


  strict imitation
• chromatic 


  notes that move by a semitone
• cluster 


  group of notes which clash
• coda


  passage at end of piece which rounds it off perfectly
• jig


  fast, compound time, sounds jumpy, dotted rhythms
• mouth music


  gaelic nonsense words sung to imitate sound of bagpipes
• scot’s ballad


  slow scottish song that narrates a story
• anacrusis 


  notes which appear before first strong beat of musical phrase
• alberti bass


  broken chords played by the left hand whilst right hand plays a melody
• accidental


  sign added to a note to change the pitch
• reel


  fairly quick, simple time, fast moving quavers
• strathspey


  moderate time, simple time, disconnected, doesn’t flow, scotch snap
• vamp


  a bass note played on the beat and a chord played off the beat, usually piano or guitar
• descant


  counter melody which os sung above main melody
• discord 


  chord in which certain notes clash
• drone


  one note held on or repeated in the bass
• glissando


  sliding from one note to another taking in all the notes in between
• staccato


  short and detached notes
• strophic


  music heard repeating throughout whole song
• syncopation 


  strongly accented notes playing off or against the beat