GCSE Music

Glossary
Ornamentation
Decorations to the melody
Acciaccatura
A crushed note, played in as short a time as possible. It is notated as a small
note with a diagonal line through the stem to show that it really has no value.

Lip trills
Using the lips to produce a trill effect on brass instruments rather than the
valves.

Mordent
A musical ornament involving moving rapidly from one note, to another, then
back again.

Portamento
Sliding from one pitch to another

Tremolo
A rapidly repeated note or a rapid alternation between two different notes.
The note or notes to be played in this way are shown with one or more lines
crossways through the stem to indicate the speed of repetition.

Trill
Rapid alternation between two notes.

Turn
A musical ornament consisting of the note above the written
note, the written note, the note below and the written note
again.

Articulation
Marcato
Marked, i.e. accented (stressed on a certain note)

Legato
Played smoothly

Staccato
An instruction to play the notes crisply, detached, which is shown in the music
by placing dots above or below the notes being played.
Texture

Texture refers to the way that the various instrumental or vocal

parts relate to one another.

Monophonic
Music consisting of a single unaccompanied melody line.

Homophonic
A musical texture in which all parts move in a similar rhythm creating a
chordal effect.

Polyphonic
A musical texture where two or more parts move independently of each
other.

Contrapuntal
Two or more independent melodic lines performed at the same time.

Call and response

Refers to a musical texture whereby one musician or group of musicians
makes a musical statement and this is immediately answered by another
musician or group of musicians.

Imitation
One part copying or imitating another, not necessarily at the same pitch

Antiphonal
Where a bar or phrase is alternated between two instruments, groups of
instruments or singers; from 'anti' (opposite' or 'against') and 'phonos' (voice).

Unison
Two or more people performing the same note or melody.
Harmony
Harmony refers to the chords and cadences used.
Diminished seventh
A chord built up of minor thirds.

Dominant seventh
The dominant chord plus an extra note a minor seventh above the root or first
note.

Drone
A harmonic effect where a single note or chord is sustained throughout a
musical phrase. Often appears as a perfect 4th or 5th interval.

Imperfect cadence
In an imperfect cadence the last chord is chord V (the dominant) creating
an unfinished effect.

Inverted pedal
When the pedal (the sustained or repeated note) is played at a higher pitch
than the other parts.

Inversions
An inverted chord is one where any note from the chord appears as the
lowest in pitch other than the root.

Modulation
Process of changing from one key to another.

Pedal
A sustained or repeated note, usually in the bass or lowest part, above which
the harmony changes

Perfect cadence
Two chords played as a progression to mark the end of a phrase. The chords
are dominant to tonic, often shown by Roman numerals as V-I.

Tierce de Picardie
A major chord used to end a piece in a minor key.
Rhythm
Rhythm refers to the patterns made by the notes and rests.
Anacrusis
An upbeat to a musical theme starting before the first beat of the bar.

Augmentation
Extending a musical idea rhythmically. Typically doubling the length of the
notes.

Backbeat
(Or offbeat) Refers usually to the second and fourth beat in a drum rhythm in
4/4 time.

Bi-rhythm
Two independent rhythms played simultaneously

Cross Rhythm
When two different rhythms are heard together with different accented
beats (different time signatures together)

Double-dotted
A dot after a note increases its duration by half the original value. The second
dot adds a further half of that half.

Hemiola
A rhythmic device in which two groups of three beats are performed as three
groups of two.

Ostinato
A repeated rhythm or melodic pattern; such short melodic patterns are often
referred to in pop music as 'riffs'.

Polyrhythm
Two different rhythms heard played simultaneously.

Scotch Snap
A two-note dotted pattern with the shorter note first followed by the
longer note.
Shuffle beat
Commonly found in rock, jazz and blues with an 8 beat rhythm sub-divided
into triplets.

Sextuplets
Six notes played in the time usually taken by four. The feeling is of two triplets
rather than pairs of quavers or semiquavers.

Swung Rhythms
Particularly in jazz music, the first quaver of a pair will be
played slightly longer than the second.

Syncopation
Refers to stresses in the rhythmic flow that appear to be off the main beats in
the pulse.

Tala
A repeated rhythmic pattern found in Indian music.

Tie
Two or more notes tied together – the length of the two notes combined

Triplet
Three notes played in the time of two.

Compound Time
A metre (time signature) in which the main beats can be subdivided into
three.

Simple Time
A metre in which the main beat can be subdivided into two.
Dynamics
Dynamics are the levels of loudness and quietness in a piece.

ppp – pianississimo
Very, very quiet

pp-pianissimo
Very quiet

p – piano
Quiet

mp – mezzo piano
Quite (half) quiet

mf – mezzo forte
Quite (half) quiet

f – forte
Loud

ff – fortissimo
Very loud

fff – fortississimo
Very, very loud

Crescendo
To get gradually louder

Diminuendo

To get gradually quieter

Melody
How is the melody constructed?
Conjunct

A melody in which each note is a step away from the previous one.

Disjunct

A melody in which there are many leaps between one note and the next.

Interval
The distance between two pitches: C-G = 5th (count the letter names
between including the first and last)

Inversion
When a melody is turned upside down, the intervals between the notes are
the same but move in the opposite direction.

Tonic
The first note of the scale used by the piece of music, known as the home key
of the piece of music.

Dominant
The fifth note of the scale or the key based on the fifth note of the tonic key
eg if the original key is C major, the dominant is G major.

Melisma
A group of notes sung to the same syllable.

Octave
The interval of eight notes.

Passing notes
Melodic notes that do not form part of the essential harmonic structure but
‘pass’ between one chord and another.

Riff
A short, repeated musical phrase.

Scalic
Melody based on segments of scales.
Sequence
Repetition of a music motif or melodic phrase at a higher or lower pitch.

Stepwise
Refers to melody in cases where the movement is largely by step, ie from one
note to the next adjacent note.

Word painting
A compositional technique whereby the sound of the music reflects the
lyrical content thereby literally ‘painting’ the words.
Structure
The overall form of the piece.
Binary
A structure with two sections with contrasting material (A B)

Ternary
A musical structure with three sections with similar outer sections and a
contrasting central one (A B A).

Rondo
A musical structure in which a main melody alternates with contrasting
sections (A B A C A)

Arch Shape
A musical structure of contrasting sections in the form A B C B A

Theme and Variations

A composition where the main musical idea (theme) is repeated, each time
with alterations to one or more or its original elements.

Ground Bass
A repeated bass line over which the melody changes.

Minuet and Trio

A minuet is an elegant dance in ¾ time. It is often paired with a trio section
and repeated to form an ABA structured movement.

Verse
In vocal music, a section of music that is repeated but with different words
each time

Chorus
A pop music, a section of music that is repeated each time with the same
words.

Bridge
In song-writing, a bridge is usually a contrasting section performed before
returning to a verse or chorus. Can also be called a ‘Middle 8’.
Interlude
Similar to a bridge or a break, an interlude breaks up the structure.

Segue
A smooth, uninterrupted transition from the end of one piece of music to the
beginning of another.
.
Transition
A transition is a section of music that links one main idea to another, for
example, between a verse and a chorus.
Technology
Automatic Double Tracking (ADT)
Creating a double tracking effect through the use of tape delay. Can also
now be done digitally.

Close–micing
A microphone is placed close to an instrument within three to twelve inches.

Double tracking
Recording the same instrumental or vocal part twice to achieve a chorus
type effect.

Direct Input Transfer (DIT)

Recording directly into the mixing desk or computer with the aid of an
amplifier

Feedback
Using the amplifier to set up vibration with the strings on electric guitar
producing a howling effect.

Lesley speaker
A loudspeaker and amplifier with a rotating drum producing a fluttering
effect.

Varispeeding
The music is recorded with the tape machine slowed down or sped up. The
track is then played back at the standard speed altering the timbre of the
voice/instrument.
Tempo - The speed of the beat or pulse.
Largo
Very Slow

Adagio
Slow

Andante
At a walking pace.

Moderato
A moderate speed.

Allegro
Quick.

Presto
Very Fast

Accelerando
To accelerate, increase in speed, become gradually faster

Rallentando
To decrease in speed, become gradually slower.

BPM
The number of beats in a minute in a musical pulse.

Meno mosso
A little less (movement)

Poco rit.
Slow down a little

Molto rit
Slow down a lot

Rubato
‘Robbed’ – being flexible with the strict tempo allowing some speeding and
slackening of pace.
Timbre / Instrument Techniques
The type of instruments being used and the way those instruments are being
played.

Arco
With a bow (also con arco).

Con sord./con sordino

With a mute

Celeste
A keyboard instrument where hammers strike metal plates of different pitch.

Congas
Tall wooden drums - Latin percussion instruments.

Crook
Lengths of tubing which could replace the central section of the natural horn
to increase or decrease its overall length, altering the range of notes
available.

Dilruba
A bowed string instrument found throughout the Indian sub-continent.

Falsetto
False voice. Male vocal in highest register.

Feedback
Using the amplifier to set up vibration with the strings on electric guitar
producing a howling effect.

Harmonic series
The range of notes available to a brass player by tightening or slackening the
pressure of his or her lips on the mouthpiece.

Harpsichord
A keyboard instrument where the strings are plucked rather than struck.

Horn section
A group of wind/brass instruments in rock, soul, jazz etc.
Pitch bend
Bending the strings on a string instrument such as guitar.

Pizzicato
Plucking rather than bowing a stringed instrument such as the Violin or ‘Cello.

Rap
A vocal part that combines elements of speech, rhythm and chant.

Rim shot
Where the snare drum player places on stick across the rim of the drum,
resting on the skin, and then hits this stick with the other stick, thus producing
a short, loud sound.

Sitar
A plucked string instrument found mainly in Indian music.

Staccato
An instruction to play the notes crisply, detached, which is shown in the music
by placing dots above or below the notes being played.

Swardmandal
An Indian Harp or Zither.

Tabla
An Indian drum where the pitch can be altered by pressing on the skin.

Tambura
A lute-like stringed instrument producing a drone.

Timbales
Shallow single-headed drums with a metal casing.

Tone
The sound quality of an instrument or voice.

Vibrato
Making a note vibrate rather than playing/singing it pure.