virtuosic
music that is very difficult to play
vocable
singing a vowel sound, without words
unison
multiple instruments playing the same melody/tune
tenary form
sonata
triplet
three notes played in one beat
tonality
major or minor
trill
two adjustment notes that are played rapidly one after the other
tremelo
constant repitition of the same note
subject
one of the main tunes of a piece
sequence
a pattern of notes repeated higher or lower
sonata
a piece of music in 3 parts - ABA
sextuplets
six notes in one beat
staccato
fast and detached / choppy
syncopation
jazzy rhythm using off-beats
syllabic
one note for each syllable
swing rhythm
sounds jazzy / long-short rhythm
rit. / ritardando
slow down
range
the difference between the highest and lowest note sung
perfect cadence
cadence that sounds finished
pathétique
very emotional
patronage
music written for the church or aristocracy
pocco rall
slow down
pizzicato
a playing technique in which the strings of an instrument are plucked
pedal note
a constant, low bass note played throughout the section of a piece
panning
the music is playing between both ears
portamento
a voice slide
octave
8 notes apart
ostinato
a musical phrase which repeats
outro/coda
bit of music at the end
overdubbed
multi-track recording technique (studio effect)
monophonic
one single line of music - no accopagnement
marcatto
like staccato but longer and heavier
Mordent
a twiddle on the note (very short trill)
legato
smooth and connected
leitmotif
a musical theme representing a character. It is often reused several times.
imperfect cadence
cadence that sounds unfinished
homophony/homophonic
melody with chords
honky tonk piano
sounds out of tune, not well looked after
grave
very slow
fanfare
a piece of music introducing something important
flanger
slight echo sound (swooshing or jet playing notes)
falsetto
when a man uses a higher pitch, higher vocal range
enharmonic
same note, different name
Eq effect
creates a distant sound
Eq
equalisation
disjunct
notes move by leap
drone
a long held note (often for the whole piece)
codetta
small coda
coda
end section of music - sometimes it's new
conjunct
notes move by step
cadence
ending of some sort
chromatic scale
a scale of semitones
appogiatura
leaning
antiphonal
like an echo
Accaciatura
a not played very quickly before the note (crushed note)