Terms By: Katie Romano. A Ambit- the range of pitches Arch-form- symmetric in time & climaxes in the middle Attack- initial growth of sound Avant-garde-

Terms

By: Katie Romano

“A”Ambit- the range of pitches

Arch-form- symmetric in time & climaxes in the middle

Attack- initial growth of sound

Avant-garde- style considered to be experimental or advanced

“B”

Blues Progression- 12 bar sequence of seventh-chord changes in jazz based on I, IV and V

Blues-Scale- C, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, A, Bb and C

Borrowed Chords- taken from parallel major or minor key

“C”

Cambiata- pair of non-harmonic-tones separated by a 3rd, approached by a step then resolved to the note in between the 3rd

Chromatic Semitone- half step notated with the same letter name; C and C#

Consecutive-octaves and 5ths- similar to parallel 5ths and octaves but in contrary motion

Cross-relation- 2 voices encounter contradictory chromaticism

“D”

Density- number of different sounds at a time within a given time and spatial interval

Dominant-function- any chord or sound that implies motion to the tonic

Dominant-Preparation- any chord that acts as a link between the I and V chord, usually the IV chord

“E”

Elision- omission of pitches from a melodic line

Equal-temperament- most pervasive contemporary tuning system in which the octave is divided into 12 semitones

“F”

Fragmentation- use of part of a melodic line

Fugue- contrapuntal form that is built from a single subject and has an exposition where all the voices state the subject in turn, alternating the tonic and dominant entrances

“G”

Ground bass- a series of notes that is repeated over and over again in the bass

“H”

Harmonic-rhythm- the rate of chord change

Hemiola- a metric pattern of triple in a normally duple meter or vice versa

“America” by Leonard Bernstein

“I”

Idiom- aspect of composition that is especially adapted to or explores an instrument’s capabilities

“L”Leitmotif- a brief musical used to symbolize

a character, feeling, or thought in a vocal genre

Locrian- a seldom used mode, B-B with all white keys

S-T-T-S-T-T-T

“M”Microtone- an interval smaller than a

semitone

Minimalism- style if music that uses a very small amount of material, repeats it and gradually varies

Motet- vocal genre with words, contrapuntal work for voices without instrument parts

Motive- brief melodic line or rhythmic idea

“O”Oblique-motion- voice-leading in which one

voice moves against another

Overlapping-voices- normal positions of voice is violated

Overtone-series- order of overtones ascending from the fundametal

“P”

Parallel-harmony- chords whose voices are in parallel motion

“R”

Root-movement- the change of roots indicated by a directional-interval-class

“S”Smooth-voice-leading- voice leading where there is no

leap greater than a P4 in soprano, alto, or tenor and no greater than a P5 in the bass

Sonority- sound usually consisting of a combination of other sounds

Syaesthesia- perceiving a mixture of sensory phenomena as one

Synthesis- creation of complex sounds by mixing sounds of a simpler nature

selective elimination of elements of a complex sound to create a simpler one

“T”Timbre- the “tone color” of an instrument defined by the overtone

series

Tonicization- transient tonics normally created by a secondary-dominant emphasis

Twelve-tone-composition- serial composition based on repetition and transformations of an ordered-set of 12 equal tempered pitch-classes

Twelve-tone-row- specific ordering of the twelve equal-tempered pcs that are used to generate a musical composition

Two-voice Framework- structural outline of the bass line and the most important upper voice