An ever-updated list of relevant music terms and their respective definitions.
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Key Music Terms and Definitions
- Melody: A sequence of single pitches.
- Harmony: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords.
- Rhythm: The pattern of sounds and silences in music.
- Tempo: The speed or pace of a piece of music.
- Beat: The basic unit of time in music, often felt as a pulse.
- Meter: The organization of beats into regular groupings.
- Chord: Three or more musical notes played simultaneously to create harmony.
- Scale: A series of musical notes ordered by pitch.
- Key: The tonal center or main pitch around which a piece of music revolves.
- Dynamics: The variation in loudness between notes or phrases in music.
- Timbre: The quality or color of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds.
- Crescendo: Gradually getting louder.
- Decrescendo: Gradually getting softer.
- Syncopation: Emphasizing a normally weak beat or subdivision of the beat.
- Ostinato: A repeating musical phrase or motif.
- Fortissimo: Very loud.
- Pianissimo: Very soft.
- Arpeggio: A broken chord where the individual notes are played in sequence.
- Counterpoint: The combination of different melodic lines in a musical composition.
- Modulation: Changing from one key to another within a piece of music.
- Interval: The distance in pitch between two notes.
- Forte: Loud.
- Piano: Soft.
- Legato: Playing or singing in a smooth, connected manner.
- Staccato: Playing or singing with distinct breaks between the notes.
- Chorus: A repeated section of a song with the same lyrics and melody.
- Verse: A section of a song with different lyrics and often a different melody than the chorus.
- Bridge: A contrasting section that connects two parts of a song.
- Diatonic: Pertaining to the notes of a major or minor scale.
- Harmonic Minor: A minor scale with a raised seventh degree.
- Whole Tone Scale: A scale consisting entirely of whole tones, without semitones.
- Pentatonic Scale: A five-note scale widely used in various musical traditions.
- Pitch: The perceived frequency of a sound, determining its highness or lowness.
- Tritone: An interval of three whole tones, often considered dissonant.
- Sonata Form: A structure used in many classical compositions, consisting of exposition, development, and recapitulation.
- Coda: A concluding section of a musical composition.
- Consonance: The quality of stability and rest in music, often associated with pleasing sounds.
- Dissonance: The quality of tension and instability in music, often associated with harsh sounds.
- Allegro: A tempo marking indicating a brisk and lively pace.
- Adagio: A tempo marking indicating a slow and leisurely pace.
- Atonal: Music that lacks a tonal center or key.
- Orchestra: A large ensemble of musicians playing various instruments.
- Acapella: Vocal music without instrumental accompaniment.
- Glissando: A continuous sliding from one pitch to another.
- Harmonic Progression: The movement from one chord to another in a sequence.
- Polyphony: Music with two or more independent melodies sounding simultaneously.
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