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158 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Melody
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Meaningful succession of pitches
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Phrase
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Section of melody, comparable to a section or phrase of a sentence.
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Cadence
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Stopping point.
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Sequence
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Melodic phrase repeated at different levels of pitch.
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Tune
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Melody that is easy to recognize, memorize, and sing.
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Theme
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Melody that recurs throughout a section, a movement, or an entire composition.
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Motive, Motivic Melody
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Short melodic phrase that may be effectively developed.
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Lyrical melody
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Relatively long, song like melody.
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Scale
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Ascending or descending pattern of half steps, whole steps, or both.
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Major Scale
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Ascending pattern of steps as follows: whole, whole , half, whole, whole, whole, half.
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Minor Scale
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Ascending pattern of steps as follows: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole.
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Tonic
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First and most important note of the major or minor scale, to which all other notes in the scale are subordinate.
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Key
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The major or minor scale on which a composition is based.
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Chromatic Scale
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Twelve consecutive half steps within the range of octave.
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Whole-Tone Scale
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Six consecutive whole steps within the range of an octave.
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Pentatonic Scale
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Five-note scale.
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Pitch
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Highness or lowness of sound.
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Dynamic Level
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Level of volume.
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Frequency
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Rate of a sound wave's vibration.
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Register
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A particular range of pitches.
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Tone
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Sound with specific pitch, produced by a constant rate of vibration of the sound-producing medium.
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Sharp
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Sign (#) angled in the left direction. It indicates that tone is to be performed one-half step higher that notated.
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Flat
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Sign (b) indicating that a tone is to be performed one-half step lower than notated.
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Staff
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Five lines and four spaces on which the music is notated.
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Interval
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Distance between two pitches.
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Octave
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Interval of an eight, as from C to C.
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Forte
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Loud.
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Piano
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Soft.
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Crescendo
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Becoming louder.
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Decrescendo, Diminuendo
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Becoming softer.
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Rhythm
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Arrangement of time in music.
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Elements of Music
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Basic materials of which music is composed: rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre.
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Tempo
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Rate of speed at which a musical piece is performed.
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Rest
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Sign that indicates silence, or the cessation of musical sound.
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Beat
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Basic underlying pulse of music.
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Accent
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Strong sound. Accents may be achieved by stress, duration, or position of tone.
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Meter
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Organization of rhythm into patterns of strong and weak beats.
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Measure (bar)
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Unit containing a number of beats.
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Duple Meter
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Two beats per measure.
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Triple Meter
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Three beats per measure.
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Quadruple Meter
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Four beats per measure.
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Downbeat
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First beat of measure.
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Upbeat
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Last beat of measure.
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Harmony
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Simultaneous sounding of two or more different tones.
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Chord
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Meaningful (as opposed to random) combination of three or more tones.
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Triad
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Chords with three tones, consisting of two superimposed thirds.
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Tonality, Tonal System
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System of harmony, based on the major and minor scales, that has dominated Western Music since the seventeenth century.
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Dominant (V)
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Fifth note of the major or minor scale.
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Subdominant (IV)
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Fourth note of the major or minor scale.
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Dissonance
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Active, unsettled sound.
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Consonance
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Passive sound that seems to be at rest.
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Texture
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Manner in which melodic lines are used in music.
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Monophonic Texture (Monophony)
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One unaccompanied melodic line.
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Polyphonic Texture (Polyphony)
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Combination of two or more simultaneous melodic lines.
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Round
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Melody that may be performed by two or more voices entering at different times, producing meaningful harmony.
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Homophonic Texture (homophony)
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Melodic line accompanied by chordal harmony.
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Timbre
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The characteristic quality of the sound of a voice or instrument.
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Soprano
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High female singing voice.
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Mezzo-Soprano
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Medium-range female voice.
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Alto (Contralto)
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Low Female Voice
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Tenor
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High Male Voice
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Baritone
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Medium-range male voice.
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Bass
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Low male voice.
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Orchestra
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Mixed ensemble of string, wind, and percussion instruments.
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Symphony Orchestra
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An instrumental ensemble consisting of member of four families of instruments, dominated by strings.
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String Instruments
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Instruments that may be bowed, strummed, struck, or plucked. Orchestral string instruments include the violin, viola, cello, string bass (or double bass), and harp.
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Pizzicato
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The technique of plucking bowed string instruments.
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Woodwinds
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Wind instruments that included the piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone.
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Brass
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Wind instruments that included the trumpet, trombone, (French) horn, and tuba.
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Percussion
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All instrument that may be played by shaking the instrument itself. These include the timpani (tuned kettledrums), other, chimes tambourine, triangle, cymbals, and various mallet instruments, such as the xylophone.
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Keyboard Instruments
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Instruments on which sound is produced by pressing keys on a keyboard.
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Stops
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Levers, handles, or buttons that allow an organist to change timbres at will.
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Electronic Synthesizer
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A highly versatile electronic sound generator capable of producing and altering an infinite variety of sounds.
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MIDI
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A system allowing composers to manage quantities of complex information, and making it possible for unrelated electronic devices to communicate with each other .
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Concert
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Any music performance, but usually one by an orchestra, band, or choral ensemble.
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Recital
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Performance by a soloist or small ensemble.
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Concertmaster, Concertmistress
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Conductor's assistant, who is also the orchestra's first, or principal, violinist.
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Genre
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The type of musical piece, determined partly by instrumentation and form, and partly by intended function.
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Form
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The design, organization, or "shape" of a musical piece.
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Score
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The notated parts for all the voices and instruments of a music composition.
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Symphony
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Multimovement orchestral form.
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Movement
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Section of a large work, such as a symphony or concerto.
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Concerto
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A multimovement work for orchestra and an instrumental soloist.
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Program Music
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Instrumental music that purports to tell a story or describe a scene, idea, or event.
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Opus
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"Work." An opus number indicates the chronological order in which a piece was composed or published.
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Band
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Instrumental ensemble consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion sections. A concert or symphonic band may include a few string instruments as well.
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Chamber Music
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Music for a small instrumental ensemble with one instrument per line of music.
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Chorus
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A group of singers, also called a choir. A choral composition.
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Dance
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Movement organized and usually accompanied by music.
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Musical Theater
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Dramatic performances including instrumental and vocal music, and sometimes dance.
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Improvisation
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Process of simultaneously composing and performing music.
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Ethos
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Moral and ethical qualities of music.
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Acoustics
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Science of sound.
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Modes
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Seven-note scales within the range of an octave.
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Classical Style
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Restrained, objective style of art.
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Romantic Style
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Emotional, subjective style of art.
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Medieval Period, Middle Ages
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The period from about 500 to 1450 ce.
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Liturgy
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The text and formal arrangement of a religious service.
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Linear polyphony
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Polyphonic music conceived without an intention that the combined melody lines should form chordal or harmonic combinations.
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Unison
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Production of music by several voices or instruments at the same pitch, performed at the same octave or at different octaves.
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A Cappella
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Unaccompanied group singing.
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Plainsong, Plainchant, Chant, Gregorian Chant
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Music to which portions of the Catholic service are sung. The texture is monophonic, the timbre that of unaccompanied voices.
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Drone
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A sustained or repeated tone.
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Age of Humanism
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A period, characterized by a new optimism, that began in fourteenth-century Italy and spread throughout western Europe during the Renaissance.
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Canon
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A polyphonic composition in which all the voices perform the same melody, beginning at different times.
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Ostinato
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A persistently repeated melodic or rhythmic pattern.
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Mass
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Roman Catholic worship service.
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Renaissance
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The word means "rebirth." Spelled with a capital letter, it refers to the period of renewed interest in the classical arts of ancient Greece and Rome that began in the early fifteenth century and dominated the style of Western music from 1450 to 1600.
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Protestant Reformation
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Protest movement, led by Martin Luther, against certain tenants of the Catholic church.
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Counter Reformation
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Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation; it proposed certain reforms, including some related to church music.
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Golden Age of Polyphony
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Term for the Renaissance, when polyphonic texture was prevalent and particularly beautiful.
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Renaissance Motet
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Religious vocal composition that is through-composed, polyphonic in texture, sung in Latin, and invariably serene and worshipful.
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Word Painting
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Musical illustrations of verbal concepts.
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Through-Composed
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A form containing new music throughout.
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Imitative Polyphony
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Technique in which each phrase of a composition is addressed by all the voices, which enter successively in imitation of each other.
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Hymn
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Religious song, strophic in form, with freely written text, appropriate for congregational singing.
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Chorale
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Characteristics hymn introduced by Martin Luther.
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Strophic Form
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The most popular song form, having two or more stanzas all set to the same music.
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Psalm Tunes
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Tuneful settings for the 150 psalms in versions suitable for congregational singing.
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Madrigal
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Secular song introduced in Italy that became in England as well. Polyphonic in texture and expressive in mood, madrigals are written in the vernacular.
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Lute
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Plucked string instrument; the instrument most widely used in the sixteenth century.
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Viol
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Most popular bowed string instrument of the Renaissance.
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Clavichord
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Keyboard instrument capable of producing subtle changes of volume and even slight vibrato.
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Recorder
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End-blown wind instrument, sometimes called a whistle flute, developed in the Middle Ages and every popular in the Renaissance.
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Consort
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Ensemble of several members of the same instrument family.
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Affections
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Baroque term for human emotions or states of the soul.
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Polychoral Music
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Music for two or more choirs, vocal, instrumental, or both, performed antiphonally. A characteristic feature of music of the Venetian school.
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Concertato Principle
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Principle of contrasting the sonorities of large and small vocal and instrumental ensembles.
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Sonata
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In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, an instrumental composition to be "sounded" on instruments rather than sung.
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Baroque
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The term, originally meaning irregular, now applies to the dramatic, emotional style of seventeenth and early eighteenth-century art.
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Movement
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Section of complete work that has its won formal design and a degree of independence but is conceived as part of the whole; usually separated from other movements by a pause.
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Tonal System
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System of harmony based on the major and the minor scales.
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First Practice, Stile Antico
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Polyphonic, conservative style of the late Renaissance.
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Second Practice, Stile Moderno
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Homophonic, expressive style introduced by Monteverdi.
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Chromaticism
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Use of tones not in the key on which a composition is based.
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Opera
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Dramatic vocal form blending visual, literary, and musical arts, performed in a theater or opera house.
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Libretto
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Text of a dramatic vocal work.
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Recitative
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Speechlike setting of a text, with homophonic accompaniment by a keyboard (dry recitative) or an orchestra (accompanies recitative).
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Aria
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Songlike setting of a text, musically expressive, accompanied by orchestra; generally homophonic in texture..
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Da Capo Aria
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An aria with an ABA design.
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Bel Canto
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Eighteenth-century Italian singing style that emphasized the beauty and virtuosity of the voice.
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Castrato
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Castrated male singer.
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Oratorio
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Dramatic vocal work on a religious subject, performed in a concert hall or church.
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Cantata
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Multimovement dramatic vocal work on a religious or secular subject, performed in concert style.
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Terraced Dynamics
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Abrupt changes of dynamic level.
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Prelude
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Short Independent or introductory piece for keyboard.
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Choral Prelude
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Prelude based on a Lutheran chorale melody.
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Fugue
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Imitative polyphonic composition.
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Toccata
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Rhapsodic, virtuosic keyboard form.
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Suite
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Collection of stylized dance pieces.
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Basso Continuo
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The continuous, supporting bass line of a Baroque composition. Also, the instruments accompanying Baroque ensemble compositions, consisting of one ore more sustaining instruments and a lute or keyboard.
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Figured Bass
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System of musical shorthand by which composers indicated intervals above the bass line with numbers (figures) rather than with notated pitches.
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Chamber Music
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Music for a small instrumental ensemble with one instrument per line of music.
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Sonata
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In the Baroque, the multimovement composition for one or more solo instruments, accompanied by continuo.
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Orchestra
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Mixed ensemble of string, wind, and percussion instruments, conceived during the Baroque.
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Solo Concerto
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Multimovement composition for orchestra and one solo instrument.
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Concerto Grosso
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A multimovement composition for orchestra plus a small group of solo instruments.
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Ritornello
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A thematic section, most often played by the orchestra, that begins a concerto movement, serves to divide the solo sections, and often returns in its original form at the end of the movement.
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