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Music Terms

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**Music Terms A-Z**
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Accelerando -Increase of speed in music Accent - Stress of one tone over others, making it stand out; often it is the first beat of a measure Accompaniment - Music that goes along with a more important part; often harmony or rhythmic patterns accompanying a melody. Adagio -Slow, leisurely Allegretto - Moderately fast, lively. Faster than Andante, slower than allegro Allegro - Lively, brisk, rapid Andante - Moderately slow, a walking speed

Baroque - Relating to the period from about 1600-1750, characterized by grandeur and heavy elaboration of design in music. Binary form - Two-part form; the structure of a musical composition consisting of two main sections.

Cadence - Closing of a phrase or section of music Cantata - A short lyric form dealing with either secular or sacred subjects Chord - Three or more tones combined and sounded simultaneously Classical - Referring to that period from approximately 1750-1800, characterized musically by objectivity of the composer, emotional restraint, and simple harmonies. Consonance -A simultaneious sounding of tones that produces a feeling of rest, i.e., a feeling that there is no need for further resolution. Crescendo - Gradually growing louder

Da Capo - From the beginning. A direction to repeat the entire compositon from the beginning to the place where the word "fine" appears or to the end. Diminuendo - Gradually growing softer Dissonance - A simultaneous sounding of tones that produces a feeling of tension or unrest and a feeling that further resolution is needed. Dolce - Sweetly, softly Dynamics - Varying intensities of sound throughout a given musical composition. (Piano, Mezzo Piano, Forte, etc.)

Espressione - Expressively

Fermata - A pause, stop, or interruption as that before the cadenza of a concerto. Fine - The end of a musical piece Forte - Loud, strong Fortissimo - Very loud

Grave - Heavy, slow, pondereous in movement Gusto - In good taste, tasteful Istesso tempo - The same tempo. (The tempo remains as before, after a change was made)

Legato - Smooth, flowing Largo - Large, broad, slow and stately Legato - Smooth and connected Lento - Slow

Melody - An arrangement of single tones in a meaningful sequence Maestoso - Majestic, dignified Meno - Less Mezzo forte - Moderately loud Mezzo piano - Moderately soft Molto, molta - Much

Obbligato - Required, indispensable Ostinato - A repeated melodic or rhythmic fragment

Piano - Soft, softly Pianissimo - Very soft Presto - Fast, rapid Phrase - A small section of a composition comprising a musical thought. Comparable to a sentence in language. Polyphonic Music - Music in which two or more melodies sound simultaneously Polyrhythms - Music in which two or more keys are used simultaneously in a given composition Ritardando - Gradually growing slower

Retrograde - A form of contrapuntal imitation in which the melody is played backwards. Romantic -Relating to the nineteenth-century musical period characterized by subjectivity on the part of the composer, emotionalism in music, longer musical forms, and richer harmonies. Root - The tone of the scale upon which a chord is built Root Position - The postion of a chord in which the root appears as the lowest tone. Rubato - From the Italian "robbed". Used to indicate a modification of the strict rhythmical flow.

Scale -A graduated series of tones arranged in a specified order Scherzo - Joke, jest. A sprightly movement, light and humorous in nature Sforzando - Explosively Slur - A curved line drawn over two or more notes of different pitches, indicating that they are to be executed in a smoothly connected manner without a break. Sostenuto - Sustained Spirito - Spiritedly Staccato - Separate. Sounded in a short, detached manner Syncopation - The rhythmic result produced when a regularly accented beat is displaced onto an unaccented beat.

Tempo - The rate of speed at which a musical compostion is performed Theme - A short musical passage that states an idea. It often provides the basis for variations, development, etc. Timbre - The quality of a musical tone that distinguishes voices and instruments. Tone - 1. A musical sound 2. The quality of a musical sound Tutto, Tutta - All, whole

Vivace - Spirited, bright, rapid, equalling or exceeding allegro

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