definitions of vocab (GCSE music)

• what is a perfect cadence?

  A cadence is made by two chords at the end of a piece of music. Perfect cadences sound as though the music has come to an end. A perfect cadence is formed by the chords V - I.
• what is a contrapuntal texture?

  contrapuntal music is that which contains nearly independent melodies that are each given equal value.
• what is texture in a piece?

  Texture describes how layers of sound within a piece of music interact.
• what does MADTSHIRT stand for when writing a long answer question?

  melody, articulation, dynamics, tempo, stucture, harmony, intrumentation, rhythm, texture
• what are dynamics?

  volume of the music
• what is tempo in music

  how fast the piece is
• what is melody in music

  sequence of notes involving pitch
• what is harmony in music?

  When notes are played at the same time it is called harmony.
• what is tonality?

  The type of harmony created in a piece of music or a song is the tonality of the music.
• what is articulation?

  Articulation shows how smoothly something is played (e.g. staccato or legato)
• what is structure?

  most music is divided into different sections. They can be indentified by keys, melodies, lyrics or chord progressions.
• what is rhythm?

  the organisation of sounds by their length (e.g. crochets, semiquavers)
• what does the term monophonic mean?

  a single line of music
• what does the term polyphonic mean?

  two or more lines of music
• what does unison mean?

  all singing/playing the same thing together
• what is a drone?

  a long sustained note
• what is a mode?

  a white note scale
• what is imitation?

  where one part copies another immediately
• what is counterpoint?

  two or more independent lines that weave in and out of each other
• what are terraced dynamics?

  sudden changes in volume add tension and excitement
• what are triplets?

  playing 3 notes in the space of 2
• what is codetta?

  a dominant tonic cadence at the end of the exposition that may be repeated several times for emphasis
• what is trill?

  a rapid alternation of a note with one a semitone or tone above
• what does conjunct mean?

  a melody that moves in distinct steps or intervals, smoothly, and in a connected way
• what is a perfect cadence?

  Perfect cadences sound as though the music has come to an end. A perfect cadence is formed by the chords V-I
• what is functional harmony?

  follows typical traditional purposes
• what is a dotted rhythm?

  a dot after a note which increases its value by half again
• what does augmented mean?

  Augmentation is when a musical idea is repeated but with the note values doubled, which doubles the length of the idea.
• what is polytonality?

  Use of multiple keys at the same time
• what is ambiguous tonality?

  Ambiguous tonality is when a piece of music does not clearly establish a key or tonal center - common in pop songs
• what does syllabic mean?

  To make a word sound confident and clear the music will have one note per syllable
• what is a concerto grosso?

  a concerto (piece) for a large number of instrumental parts
• what are appoggiaturas?

  consists of an added non-chord note in a melody that is resolved to the regular note of the chord
• what does diatonic mean?

  a scale consisting of seven different pitches within an octave
• what is suspension?


  holding a consonant note while the underlying harmony changes, normally on a strong beat
• what is a gigue?

  lively dance
• what is melisma?

  group of notes or tones sung on one syllable
• what does syncopated mean?

  offbeat