Glossary

a cappella - vocalists performing without accompaniment

accidentals - sharps & flats — pitch modifiers

adagio - at a slow tempo

allegro - lively and fast

alto - the second-highest classical singing voice

arpeggio - the notes of a chord played individually in a melody

atonal - without regard to any specific key

bass - low-frequency sounds; the lowest classical singing voice

beat - the repeating pulse you can feel when listening to a piece of music

BPM - beats per minute

cadence - a chord progression ending a phrase

chord - three or more notes played simultaneously

chord inversion - a chord played with a non-root pitch in the base

chord progression - a sequence of chords

chord substitution - replacing a chord in a chord progression with a similar chord

clef - a symbol defining the pitches on a musical staff

compound interval - an interval spanning more than 12 half steps

consonance - collections of pitches that are generally considered to sound pleasing to the ear

diatonic chord - a chord built by picking out notes from a scale separated by 3rds

dissonance - collections of pitches that are generally considered to sound harsh or tense to the ear

dynamics - pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition

extended chord - chords built with more than three 3rds – ninth chords, eleventh chords, and thirteenth chords

falsetto - a style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female

flat - lowered in pitch by one semitone

harmony - the arrangement of multiple notes at the same time to form chords

interval - the distance between two notes

interval number - the number of letters that the interval spans

interval quality - describes the sound of the interval and helps specify the exact number of half steps in the interval

key - the scale that forms the basis of a musical composition

key signature - flats and sharps at the beginning staff lines which indicate the key of the music

measure - synonym for "bar" — a small section of music containing a fixed number of beats

melody - the arrangement of individual notes over time, with no two notes playing simultaneously — when you sing a song, you sing the melody

middle C - the fourth C key from the left on a standard 88-key piano keyboard

mode - the different scales you get when you start on different notes of a "base" scale and consider those starting notes the new root notes

modulation - changing to another key

natural note - a note with no accidental — a white key on a piano

note - a sound with a distinct pitch and a duration

note value - the duration of a note/rest

octave - an interval spanning twelve semitones

pitch - the "highness" or "lowness" of a sound

rhythm - the purposeful arrangement of sounds over time — what you dance to when listening to a piece of music

roman numeral notation - a way to notate chords using roman numerals of scale degrees instead of letters to designate chord root notes

root note - the tonal center of a scale or key — the note that sounds like "home"

rubato - to slightly deviate from a fixed tempo in a smooth and flowing manner

scale - sets of notes forming particular intervals with a tonal center called a root note

scale degree - the number of a note in a scale, in ascending order, starting from 1

semitone - the smallest interval (aside from unisons) in Western music

seventh chord - a chord built with three 3rds, including the 7th degree of a scale

sharp - raised in pitch by one semitone

sight-reading - reading and performing a piece of music that the performer has not seen or learned before

simple interval - intervals spanning 12 half steps or less

soprano - the highest type of classical singing voice

staff - a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch

strong beat - a beat with a lot of "weight" in a measure, specific to the time signature

tempo - the speed of the beat

tenor - the third-highest type of classical singing voice

time signature - specifies the number & type of beats in a measure

tone - the interval spanning two semitones

triad - chords made of exactly three distinct pitches

voice leading - the arrangement of the notes in chord progressions (called "voices") to create smooth, flowing transitions between chords

weak beat - a beat with relatively little "weight" in a measure, specific to the time signature