Music

• Diminution


  Note lengths are halved
• Augmentation


  Note lengths are doubled
• Subtraction


  A cell is repeated but notes are removed
• Addition


  A cell is repeated but new notes are added
• Layering


  Add new musical parts to create a more complex texture
• Metamorphosis


  Gradually changing ideas (e.g. changing 1 note at a time)
• Phasing


  Two identical parts which gradually go out of sync as they are repeated together, then gradually go back in time with each other
• Ostinato


  A repeated phrase, can be a melody or a rhythm
• Minimalist music usually takes a cell and repeats this over and over again which turns it into an ostinato
• Minimalist music is normally based upon short musical ideas called cells
• Minimalism


  Musical style that uses limited or minimal musical materials, originated in New York in the 1960s, first developed by the American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich & Philip Glass
• Duet


  A performance with two singers or instruments
• Chorus


  A part of a song which is repeated after each verse
• Through-composed


  Different music with each verse
• Strophic


  Repetition of a verse
• Syllabic


  One syllable per music note
• Melismatic


  Several notes over one piece of text
• Cells


  A singular cell which can be manipulated in very small ways
• Monophonic


  A single unaccompanied melodic line
• Homophonic


  Melody with accompaniment
• Polyphonic


  More than one melody performed at the same time
• Heterophonic


  Two melodic lines that follow each other but with more ornamentation in the main melody
• Diatonic


  Only using the notes in the same key
• Tonality


  The key or pitch of a piece of music
• Articulation


  Markings in music (e.g. staccato dot)