Glossary of Musical Terms
Chord - 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.
Chord progression - A string of chords played in succession.
Chromatic scale - Includes all twelve notes of an octave.
Clef - In sheet music, a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.
Consonance - Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.
Dissonance - Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.
Dynamics - Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.
Enharmonic Interval - Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position. For example: C sharp and D flat.
Falsetto - A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.
Fermata - To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.
Fifth - The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.
Flat - A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.
Form - The structure of a piece of music.
Forte - A symbol indicating to sing loudly.
Fourth - The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.
Glissando - Sliding between two notes.
Interval - The distance in pitch between two notes.
Intonation - The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.
Key signature - The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.
Leading note - The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.
Legato - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be sung smoothly.
Measure - The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two, three, four beats to a measure.
Modulation - To shift to another key.
Natural - A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.
Octave - Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends.
Phrase - A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.
Piano - An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a "p".
Pitch - The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.
Refrain - A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.
Relative pitch - Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.
Rubato - An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.
Sharp - A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.
Slide - A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone.
Staccato - Short detached notes, as opposed to legato.
Tempo - Indicating speed.
Timbre - Tone color, quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.
Time Signature - A numeric symbol in sheet music determining the number of beats to a measure.
Tonality - The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.
Tone - The intonation, pitch, and modulation of a composition expressing the meaning, feeling, or attitude of the music.
Tonic - The first tone of a scale also known as a keynote.
Treble - The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.
Triad - Three note chords consisting of a root, third, and fifth.
Triplet - Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.
Tuning - The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.
Unison - Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.
Vibrato - Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes.
Whole note - A whole note is equal to 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes, etc.
