Useful vocabulary for GCSE Music

These are all useful musical terms to know, but some are not essential for GCSE Music. A small number in brackets
after the definition indicates that the term has been included in a vocab list for one or more of the set works:

1
J S Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, third movement
2
L van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ‘Pathétique’, first movement
3
H Purcell: ‘Music for a While’
4
Queen: ‘Killer Queen’ from Sheer Heart Attack
5
S Schwartz: ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked
6
J Williams: ‘Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner’ from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
7
Afro Celt Sound System: ‘Release’ from Volume 2: Release
8
Esperanza Spalding: ‘Samba Em Preludio’ from Esperanza

Articulation • Rock – A musical genre which originally developed

• Accent – Notes may be given special prominence
by the addition of accent marks (e.g. > ) (5)
• Legato – Played in a smooth fashion (2)
• Sforzando – An accent showing that a note or
chord should be played with greater force than
other notes surrounding it. Often shown in the
score as sf or sfz (2,5)
• Staccato – Played in a detached fashion (2)
Context
Era
• Baroque – Music in the Western Classical Tradition
from approx. 1600 to 1750
• Classical – Music in the Western Classical Tradi-
tion from approx. 1750 to 1820
• Romantic – The musical period extending from c.
1810 to c. 1900 (2)
Genre
• Genre – A type of piece (e.g. opera, concerto) or
style of music (e.g. rock, jazz)
• Bossa nova – A variant of samba which first ap-
peared in the 1950s. It has a slower and more
lyrical style, rich, complex harmonies borrowed
from contemporary jazz, and none of samba’s em-
phasis on percussion. (8)
• Fusion – The blending of two or more musical
styles, usually from different cultures (7)
• Jazz – A style of music which was originally a
fusion of African and North American styles. A
number of varieties of have developed over time,
including swing, bebop and cool jazz
• Musical theatre – Musical theatre incorporates
acting and singing to an instrumental accompani-
ment, and usually includes spoken dialogue and
dance (5)
from 1950s ‘rock and roll’ (4)
• Samba – A dance characteristic of Brazil, but with
its roots in Africa, known for its energetic drum-
ming and syncopated rhythm. (8)
• Scherzo – Literally ‘I joke’, a lively dance move-
ment, often part of a symphony or sonata
Mood
• Affection – The prevailing mood in a Baroque
movement (1)
• Onomatopoeic – The music setting sounds like
the word to which it refers (3)
• Word painting – This occurs when a composer
deliberately illustrates a word or phrase with a
matching musical image (e.g. by having rising
notes for ‘ascending’) (3,4)
Notation
• Oral tradition – Music learnt by listening and re-
peating, and passed on orally
• Tablature – Notation other than staff notation with
letters, numbers or other conventional signs – to-
day used particularly by guitarists
Work
• Cantata – A work (sacred or secular, and particu-
larly associated with the Baroque period) in several
movements for singer(s) and instruments
• Concerto – A work for soloist and orchestra, usu-
ally in three movements
• Concerto grosso – A concerto for more than one
soloist. The phrase literally means ‘large concerto’.
It is usually in three movements (1)
• Fanfare – A flourish for brass instruments (fre-
quently with percussion) for ceremonial or celebra-
tory effect, or simply any short passage for brass
in an orchestral work (6)

1
• Gigue – Both a fast Baroque dance and pieces sug-
gestive of that dance. Normally in a compound
metre (such as 12/8)
• March – Originally a piece for soldiers to march to:
usually in 4/4 time, with regular and often repet-
itive rhythms. Now used for any piece of similar
character designed, for example, for ceremonial or
processional use
• Prelude – In the Baroque period, an ‘introductory’
piece preceding another piece. Later preludes are
often short stand-alone pieces in an improvisatory
style (8)
• Sonata – A piece, usually in three or four move-
ments, written for a solo instrument often accom-
panied by a keyboard instrument (2)
• Suite – A group of pieces, all or some of which are
usually in Baroque or Classical dance styles
Other
• Cover – A new version of an existing song (8)
• Cue – A section of music in a film or a line of dia-
logue written at the beginning of a musical theatre
number to tell the conductor when the number
should start
• Diegetic music – Music contained within the ac-
tion of a film and included in the story e.g. music
played in a bar that the characters can hear
• Finale – The last movement of a multi-movement
work such as a concerto, or the closing scene in an
act of an opera or musical (5)
• Improvisation – A piece composed as it is per-
formed, although frequently based on a pre-
conceived ‘stimulus’ such as a melodic theme or
chord scheme
• Lyrical – Songlike, flowing (2)
• Main title – The music heard during the opening
credits of a film, which include its title and the
names of the writer and main actors and produc-
tion staff. The music acts like a short overture and
sets the mood for the start of the film (6)
• Patronage – A system whereby composers earned
money from a wealthy individual for writing mu-
sic. The person who commissioned (asked for) the
music was known as a patron (1)
• Programme music – Music which describes some-
thing without using song
• Romanticism – An artistic and intellectual move-
ment that began in Europe in the early 1800s and
lasted for approximately 100 years. It is charac-
terised by an emphasis on the individual’s expres-
sion of emotions, a love of the natural world and
the idea of the individual’s rebellion against estab-
lished social rules and conventions (2)
2
Elements
• Articulation – The degree to which a note is sepa-
rated from the note that follows it (ranging from
minimal (legato) to much greater (staccato or stac-
catissimo)
• Dynamics – The volume of musical sound(s), and
also the symbols used in a score to indicate volume
(e.g. f and p)
• Form/structure – The overall shape of a compo-
sition (e.g. binary. ternary, rondo). ‘Form’ and
‘structure’ are largely synonymous
• Harmony – Successions of chords (or sometimes
refers to single chords)
• Melody – A succession of single sounds – most
frequently an individual strand or part within a
fuller musical texture. Usually ‘tuneful’ or other-
wise prominent or memorable
• Metre – Often indicated by a time signature, this
concerns the pattern and number of strong and
weak beats (e.g. 2/4 has two crotchets per bar, the
first ‘strong’, the second ‘weak’).
• Pitch – How high or low sounds are
• Rhythm – The relationship between sounds and
the passage of time, including conventional group-
ings e.g. ‘dotted rhythms’
• Sonority – The nature and quality of musical
sounds
• Tempo – The speed of the music
• Texture – The number of parts in a piece of music
and how they relate to one another
• Timbre – The particular tone colour of an instru-
ment or voice
• Tonality – The relationship of notes within a scale
or mode to a principal note (the tonic). A wider
term than key but often used synonymously with it
Harmony
Cadences
• Imperfect cadence – A two-chord progression fin-
ishing on V (often I–V, II–V or IV–V) at the end
of a phrase or section. Sounds incomplete, like a
musical comma (2)
• Interrupted cadence – The chord progression
V–VI at the end of a phrase or section. So called
because it interrupts the expectation of a perfect
cadence (V–I) (2)
• Perfect cadence – The chord progression V–I at
the end of a phrase or section. Sounds final (1,2,3)
• Plagal cadence – The chord progression IV–I at
the end of a phrase or section. Commonly thought
of as the progression used in the simple ‘Amen’ at
the end of a hymn
Other
• Added sixth chord – A triad with an added note
a sixth above the root note
• Altered chord – A chord in which one of the notes
has been altered by sharpening or flattening it, for
example Bm7b5 where the fifth (F]) is flattened
(to F natural) (8)
• Bare fifth – A chord lacking the third and therefore
ambiguous in terms of major/minor harmony (e.g.
the notes C and G without the third E or Eb) (5)
• Cadence – The chords that conclude a musical
phrase (1)
• Cadential 6/4 – This refers to a progression of
chords forming a cadence e.g. Ic–V7–I. The 6/4
refers to the first chord being in second inversion
– that is, a fourth and sixth above the bass (for
example, G–C–E) (2)
• Chord – The simultaneous sounding together of
two or more notes
• Chord sequence – A series of chords, usually re-
peated (e.g. in a 12-bar blues)
• Circle of fifths – A series of chords in which the
root note of each chord is a fifth lower (or a fourth
higher) than that of the previous one e.g. Am, Dm,
G, C (4)
• Cluster – A group of notes which are close to
each other. When used as a chord they sound
dissonant (6)
• Diminished seventh – A four-note chord made up
solely of minor-third intervals (2,8)
• Dissonance – In traditional harmony a dissonance
is a note that does not belong to a common chord
or triad – strict rules usually govern its approach
and its resolution back to a non-dissonant note (i.e.
a ‘consonance’) (3)
• Dominant preparation – A passage focused on
the dominant chord (V) to create expectation for a
return to the tonic (2)
• Dominant seventh – A dominant chord (i.e. V –
the chord whose root note is the 5th note of the
scale) with an extra note a seventh above the root
note e.g. in C major, the chord G B D F (with F
being the added seventh) (4)
• Extended chord – A chord with at least one added
note, for example a ninth above the root note (4,8)
• Figured bass – A bass line with the intended har-
monies indicated by figures rather than written
out as chords, typical of continuo parts in Baroque
music (1,3)
• Neapolitan chord – A chord built on the flattened
supertonic note (e.g. D[ in C major) (6)
• Passing note – A dissonant note that connects two
other consonant notes by step (3)
3
• Pedal – A note (usually in the bass, and generally
either the tonic or dominant of the key) which is
sustained or repeated while chords change, often
resulting in dissonance (1,2,5,6)
• Polytonal chord – A chord built from two or more
keys simultaneously
• Quartal harmony – The use of chords built on
fourths e.g. the chord A D G C (6)
• Roman numerals – Used to label chords in tradi-
tional harmony according to which degree of the
scale is used as the root (from I to VII). Thus in C
major, the chord D F A (with root D) is II
• Static harmony – When the harmony remains on
a single chord for a long time (7)
• Sus chord – A chord in which the third is replaced
by a 2nd or 4th e.g. Gsus4 = G C D (5)
• Suspension – Prolonging a note to create a disso-
nance (harmonic clash) with the next chord (1,3)
• Tierce de Picardie – This refers to a sharpened
third in the tonic chord in music in a minor key (3)
Instrumentation
Voice types
• Soprano – A high female voice
• Alto – A low female voice
• Tenor – A high male voice (4)
• Bass – A low male voice
Other
• Accordion – An instrument in which the move-
ment of bellows creates pressure that causes metal
reeds to vibrate depending on which buttons or
keys are pressed down (7)
• Acoustic – Used to describe an instrument that
doesn’t need amplification, unlike an electric gui-
tar, for example (8)
• Bodhrán – An Irish hand-held drum played with a
double-headed beater (7)
• Duet – A piece or song for two main performers,
sometimes with accompaniment (5)
• Ensemble – A group of instruments playing to-
gether e.g. a string quartet or orchestra
• Fiddle – Folk musicians’ name for the violin (7)
• Forces – The instrument(s) and/or voice(s) that
perform the music
• Hurdy-gurdy – A mechanical violin used in Irish
folk music in which the strings are made to vibrate
by a wheel turned by a handle and keys are pressed
against one or more strings to produce notes (7)
• Kora – A West African harp (7)
• Low whistle – An instrument which produces its
sound in a similar way to a recorder. It is longer
and deeper than the smaller and more familiar tin
whistle (7)
• Talking drum – A type of African drum with an
hourglass shape. When playing, one hand can be
used to alter the tension of the drum heads and
therefore the pitch produced (7)
• Uilleann pipes – Irish bagpipes with a softer tone
than those from Scotland (7)
Melody
Ornamentation
• Ornamentation – The process of elaborating
or decorating musical material (particularly a
melody) using, for example, trills and turns (1,3)
• Acciaccatura – A type of ornament usually written
as a crossed-out grace note (i.e. a small note). The
added note is ‘crushed’ in as quickly as possible
before the main note. (2,8)
• Appoggiatura – A type of ornament which leans
on the main note, commonly taking half of its value
and starting a tone or semitone higher (1,3)
• Mordent – A type of ornament where the main
note is played, followed by the note above (upper
mordent) or below (lower mordent) the main note,
then the main note again (2,3,8)
• Trill – A type of ornament where there is rapid
alternation between the main note and the note
above it, usually written as ‘tr’ above the note (1)
Vocal
• Lyrics – Words to which a song is set (generally
applies to music in popular styles)
• Melisma(tic) – A group of notes used to set just
one syllable of text (3)
• Syllabic – Where each syllable has one note. The
opposite of melismatic. (3,4,5,8)
Other
• Arpeggiated – Played as an arpeggio (3)
• Arpeggio – The notes of a chord played one after
another rather than together, in ascending or de-
scending order. The term ‘broken chord’ is also
sometimes used. (3,8)
• Conjunct – Where a melody moves by steps (by
tones and/or semitones) and not by leaps (of a 3rd
or more) (3,5,8)
• Contrary motion – Where one part (usually the
treble) moves in the opposite direction from an-
other part (usually the bass) i.e. when one moves
up in pitch, the other moves down (6)
4
• Disjunct – Where a melody moves mostly by leaps
(of a 3rd or more) and not by steps (by tones
and/or semitones) (5)
• Enharmonic – Two identically sounding pitches
with different names e.g. E[ and D] (2)
• Glissando – A slide between adjacent notes of a
scale. The terms glissando and portamento are
to some extent interchangeable, but a portamento
involves movements smaller than a semitone (such
as a singer can achieve but a pianist cannot) (6,8)
• Interval – The distance between two neighbouring
notes or two heard simultaneously, usually stated
as ordinal numbers (2nd, 3rd, etc.) with an ad-
jective expressing their character (major, minor,
diminished or augmented)
• Leap – A melodic movement to a note further than
a tone or semitone away from the previous note.
Opposite of ‘step’
• Leitmotif – A recurring musical idea which is
associated with a particular theme, character or
place (5,6)
• Melodic device – A compositional method apply-
ing to a single melodic line rather than to the com-
plete texture (for example melodic sequence)
• Monotone – Use of the same pitch repeatedly in a
melodic part
• Motif – A short melodic phrase of just a few
notes (5)
• Ostinato – A short musical pattern repeated
throughout a section or complete piece (5,6,7)
• Phrasing – The correct observance of divisions
between whole phrases and sometimes shorter
groups of notes (often to accord with a composer’s
markings)
• Range – The interval between the lowest and high-
est notes in a single melodic part. Also known as
‘compass’
• Riff – A short passage of music that is repeated,
usually in popular styles of music (7)
• Scale – A succession of pitches in stepwise order
usually extending for an octave (e.g. C D E F G A
B C)
• Scalic – Music that is based on scales ascending
and/or descending in pitch (1)
• Sequence – Repetition of a melody (or an har-
monic progression) but at different pitch level(s)
rather than at the same pitch (1,3,4,5,6)
• Stepwise – Where a melody moves by steps (by
tones and/or semitones) and not by leaps (of a 3rd
or more) (3)
• Tessitura – The most widely used part of a vocal
or instrumental part’s range (7,8)
• Theme – A melody (or occasionally some other
form of musical material) on which part or all of a
piece is based
• Variant – A phrase whose shape resembles the
original (1)
Music technology
• Effects – Methods of artificially creating sounds,
or of modifying or enhancing recorded sounds,
through use of music technology
• Chorus effect – An effect used to simulate the
small variations of pitch and timing experienced
when several performers play or sing the same part
• Distortion – An effect that increases the sustain of
an electric guitar and makes the timbre more gritty
or smooth (4,5)
• EQ – Short for equalisation, an effect that alters
the tonal balance of a sound, changing the rela-
tive levels of low, mid and high frequencies, for
example. It can be used to alter the timbre of an
instrument electronically (4)
• Flanger – An effects unit that creates ‘flanging’, an
audio effect which involves mixing together two
identical signals, one of them delayed by a small,
gradually changing amount (4)
• Loop – A short repeated passage, often for elec-
tronic drums (7)
• Mix – The relative volume of the different parts in
a recording and their place in the stereo field (7)
• Multi-track recording – Recording different in-
strumental or vocal parts to separate ‘tracks’ (one
by one or simultaneously) so that each can be pro-
cessed separately (4,7)
• Overdubbing – Adding more recorded sounds to
a previously-made recording, with the intention of
enhancing it (4,8)
• Pad – A synthesiser sound designed to be used in
chords as opposed to melodic lines (7)
• Panning – Giving sounds different levels in the left
and right speakers or headphones so that it sounds
as it they are coming from a particular direction (4)
• Pitch shift – Where the original pitch of a sound
is raised or lowered, often by means of an effects
unit called a ‘pitch shifter’
• Re-take – A new recording of a section or piece
intended to replace a previous unsatisfactory one
• Reverb – An effect which creates the impression
of being in a physical space (4,7)
• Sample – A short pre-recorded segment of sound,
sometimes manipulated in some way (7)
5
• Track – An individual song, piece or movement
on a recording (e.g. on a CD) or path on a mag-
netic tape or computerised recording system that
receives or contains information from a single au-
dio channel
• Wah wah – The Wah wah (or Harmon) mute, as
used with trumpets and trombones. The name is
onomatopoeic – the resulting sound can be rather
like ‘wah wah’. The same result can be obtained
via music technology as a studio effect (4)
Rhythm
• Anacrusis – When a phrase doesn’t start on the
first beat of the bar but has some unstressed notes
before the first barline. Sometimes more informally
known as an ‘upbeat’ or ‘pickup’ (4)
• Augmented – Doubling (or more) of the original
notes’ durations (2,8)
• Beat – Most music has a regular beat rather as
most people have a regular pulse. Small num-
bers of beats are generally grouped into bars, and
within these some beats are ‘strong’ and others are
‘weak’
• Colla voce – A performance direction meaning
‘with the voice’ i.e. follow the vocalist’s tempo (5)
• Compound metre – A metre in which the beat
subdivides into groups of three e.g. 6/8 has two
groups of three quavers (4)
• Cross rhythm – A deliberately conflicting rhythm
e.g. triplet quavers against straight quavers (6,8)
• Dotted rhythm – A pair of notes consisting of a
dotted note and a shorter note (the two making
up a complete beat or number of beats), or several
successive such pairs of notes
• Duration – In rhythmic terms, the length of a note
• Groove – A drum loop or rhythmic ‘feel’
• Passagework – A constantly moving passage, of-
ten in patterns of quick notes such as semiquavers.
It often includes sequences (1)
• Shuffle – A rhythm based on the shuffle dance
step, characteristically featuring alternately long
and short notes (within triplet groupings)
• Simple metre – A metre in which the beat subdi-
vides into groups of two e.g. 3/4 has three groups
of two quavers
• Swing – A jazz style that incorporates swung
rhythms
• Swung rhythm – When two notes of the same
value (usually quavers) are played with the first
lengthened and the second correspondingly short-
ened. Often used in jazz (4)
• Syncopation – When a ‘strong’ or stressed note oc-
curs on a part of a bar or beat that would normally
be ‘weak’ or unstressed (4,5,6,8)
• Triplets – Three notes of equal value taking the
time normally occupied by two notes of the same
written value
Structure
Form
• Binary – A form with two sections (often referred
to as A and B), each usually repeated to form an
AABB structure. The A section usually modulates
to the dominant or relative major. The B section
returns to the tonic, often via other keys
• Fugal exposition – The opening section of a
fugue (1)
• Fugue – A musical form with a contrapuntal
texture (1)
• Rondo – A form comprising several statements
of a main section interspersed with contrasting
episodes. The simplest rondo structure is ABACA,
where A is the recurring section, and B and C are
the episodes
• Ternary – A form with three sections (often re-
ferred to as A B A). The opening section is repeated
(exactly or varied), section B providing pronounced
contrast (1,3,6)
Sonata form
• Sonata form – A large-scale form which evolved
in the Classical period (2)
• Exposition – The first main section in sonata form,
where the 1st and 2nd subject are heard for the
first time (2)
• Development – The second main section in sonata
form, where musical material is developed, usually
in a variety of keys (2)
• Recapitulation – The third main section in sonata
form, where the 1st and 2nd subject are heard
again, usually both in the tonic key (2)
• First subject – The first theme or melody (2)
• Second subject – The second theme or melody (2)
• Transition/bridge passage – A linking passage
often used to modulate (i.e. change key) in prepa-
ration for the second subject (2)
Other
• Bridge – A short and often contrasting section in a
pop song that links two other sections
6
• Chorus – The section of a song that is repeated,
usually after each verse. It generally has the same
lyrics each time it repeats and is often the most
memorable part of the song. Also a large group of
singers in an opera, musical or oratorio (4,5)
• Coda – A section sometimes added at the end of a
piece or movement (2,5)
• Codetta – A short coda concluding a section (2,6)
• Da capo aria – An aria in ternary form. Da capo
means ‘from the beginning again’ i.e. repeat the
A section (after the B section) to form an ABA
structure (3)
• Ground bass – A repeating phrase in the bass
(a type of ‘ostinato’), especially in some Baroque
pieces (3)
• Introduction – An opening passage or section
which clearly prepares for (or introduces) the first
main idea (e.g. in a song where the piano has an
introduction before the singer begins) (5)
• Middle 8 – A contrasting section in a pop song
that links two other sections. It is often 8 bars long
(hence the name) but doesn’t have to be (4)
• Outro – A section sometimes used at the end of a
song, like a coda in classical music (4,7)
• Phrase – A short passage of music to some ex-
tent comparable to a phrase in speaking or writing.
Many phrases are two or four bars long
• Strophic – Having the same (or similar) music for
each stanza of the poem being set
• Transition – A section used to take the music from
one key to another by modulation. Sometimes also
called a bridge passage (2)
• Vamp – A short, repeated section of musical ac-
companiment, often repeated until the vocalist is
ready to continue
• Verse – The basic structural building-block of a
song or hymn. The melody of each is usually the
same but the lyrics used are different (4,5)
Technique
• Capo – A device used on the neck of a fretted string
instrument (e.g. guitar) to shorten the playable
length of the strings, raising the pitch
• Double stopping – Where two (or more) notes
are played together, usually on an orchestral string
instrument (7,8)
• Falsetto – A method of voice production used to
sing notes higher than the normal range (4)
• Fill – A brief drum improvisation (5)
• Hammer on – A guitar technique where notes are
played by sharply bringing down a fretting finger
on to a string, making fast playing easier by remov-
ing the need to pluck the string (8)
• Harmonic – Each sound combines a fundamen-
tal pitch and a series of less clearly heard higher
pitches called harmonics. With stringed instru-
ments these can be sounded by lightly touching a
string at particular points (8)
• Pizzicato – Where the string(s) of a stringed in-
strument are plucked rather than bowed (arco)
• Arco – Where the string(s) of a stringed instrument
are bowed rather than plucked (pizzicato)
• Pull off – A guitar technique where a string is
plucked by ‘pulling’ the string with a finger used to
fret the note (4,8)
• Roll – A percussion technique in which a sustained
sound is created by playing a note many times in
quick succession (4)
• Slide – A guitar technique where the player moves
from one note to another on the same string with-
out removing their fretting finger, thereby creating
a kind of glissando (4)
• String bend – A guitar technique where the pitch
is raised by bending the string upwards or down-
wards with the finger used to fret the note (4)
• Tremolo/tremolando – Rapid repetition of a sin-
gle note or of notes a 3rd or more apart (5,6)
• Vibrato – A technique used to cause rapid varia-
tions in pitch (4)
• Vocalisation – Singing notes to particular sounds
rather than words e.g. singing to ‘la’ or ‘ooh’ (4,5)
Tempo
• Rallentando – Gradually slowing down
• Ritardando – Gradually slowing down (6)
• Rubato – A technique where the performer can
pull back or speed up the tempo for expressive
effect (8)
Texture
Fugue
• Answer – In a fugue, the subject repeated in re-
sponse to its initial appearance, usually a fourth or
fifth lower or higher than the preceding subject. (1)
• Countersubject – The melody played after the sub-
ject or answer has been sounded. The melody is
literally ‘against’ the subject (1)
• Stretto – Entries of the subject occur closer to-
gether than before, highlighting the tension of the
music (1)
• Subject – The short main theme of a fugue (1)
7
Other
• Accompaniment – Musical background to the
main part or parts (e.g. piano accompanying a
solo singer) (8)
• Alberti bass – A figuration commonly used in the
Classical period, made up of broken chords used
as an accompaniment. Named after a composer (2)
• Antiphonal – Swapping between different musical
groups (e.g. concertino and ripieno) (1,4)
• Bass line – The lowest part in the musical texture,
which often determines or generates the harmony
• Canon – Parts copy each other in exact intervals,
often at the fifth or octave, but at different beats
of the bar e.g. the song ‘London’s Burning’ (1,6)
• Concertino – The smaller group of soloists in a
concerto grosso (1)
• Continuo – The bass line in many Baroque orches-
tral, choral and chamber works. Most commonly
played by low string instruments (with or without
bassoons) and with a chord-playing instrument
(notably harpsichord, organ or lute) to complete
the harmony by realising the figured bass (1,3)
• Contrapuntal – The adjective of counterpoint (1,8)
• Dialoguing – Instruments literally ‘in dialogue’,
playing one after the other, swapping ideas (1)
• Doubling – Where one performer consistently
plays or sings the same notes as another, or
where one performer swaps between multiple
instruments (5)
• Drone – Especially in non-classical genres, a con-
tinuously held or repeated note or harmonic inter-
val (e.g. a perfect 5th) (7)
• Fugal – In the manner of a fugue but not a strict
fugue
• Heterophony – Where two or more parts play the
same melodic line simultaneously, but there are
small variations between them. The adjective is
‘heterophonic’
• Homophony – A widely-used type of texture
consisting of a melody part and other sub-
sidiary (accompanying) parts. The adjective is
‘homophonic’ (1,5)
• Imitation – When two or more parts share the
same melodic idea (not necessarily in full, exactly
or at the same pitch). Each new part enters sepa-
rately while the earlier parts continue with shared
or new material (4)
• Counterpoint – Literally means ‘tune against tune’.
The simultaneous combination of two or more
melodies with independent rhythms i.e. a poly-
phonic texture (1,8)
• Murky bass – Fast octave repetitions used in the
bass part (2)
• Polyphony – In one sense any texture with two
or more parts, but commonly used as a synonym
for ‘counterpoint’ where there are two or more si-
multaneous and largely independent melody lines.
The adjective is ‘polyphonic’ (1)
• Polyrhythmic – The texture created by the combi-
nation of a number of different rhythms (7)
• Ripieno – The larger group in a concerto grosso,
commonly string orchestra (1)
• Monophony – Music in which only one note is
heard at a time – a single melodic line. The adjec-
tive is ‘monophonic’ (1,5,8)
• Tutti – Literally means ‘all’ or ‘everyone’. An in-
dication that everyone will be playing/singing at
that point in the music (6)
• Two-part – Music for two ‘parts’ (i.e. for two
melodic lines, and therefore with two notes sound-
ing simultaneously except where one or both rest)
• Underscore – Music played in the background un-
der spoken dialogue (5,6)
• Unison – More than one part playing the same
melody at the same pitch i.e. a monophonic
texture (1,5)
• Solo – A piece or section for one player or singer,
with or without accompaniment (8)
Timbre
• Tone quality – The quality of a performer’s sound
(which may be termed rich, rounded, thin, etc.)
Tonality
• Atonal – Absence of tonality or key
GRS – May 2017
• Diatonic – Notes belonging to the key of the piece
(literally ‘of the key’) (1)
• Dominant – The key or chord a perfect 5th higher
than the tonic (‘home’) key of a piece (e.g. D major
where the piece is in G major) (1)
• Key – A form of tonality based on major and minor
scales
• Major – Based on major scales, with a major 3rd
between scale degrees 1 and 3.
• Minor – Based on minor scales, with a minor 3rd
between scale degrees 1 and 3
• Modal – Based on modes, each of which uses a
particular scale made up of a different series of
tones and semitones (7)
• Modulation – Change of key
• Passing modulations – Modulations where the
new key only lasts for a few bars (or less) before
modulating to another key (1)
• Pentatonic – Based on a five-note scale (often
equivalent to scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 of a major
scale, or 1, 3, 4, 5, flat 7 of a minor scale)
• Relative minor/major – Major keys and their rel-
ative minors have the same key signature (e.g. F
major and D minor). Minor keys and their relative
majors have the same key signature (e.g. E minor
and G major) (1)
• Secondary dominant – This refers to a key that
is the dominant key of the dominant e.g. in C
major, G is the dominant and D is the secondary
dominant (1)
• Chromatic – Used to describe notes that are not
diatonic (part of the key of the music) or a melody
ascending or descending in semitones (1,8)