Year 9 Advanced Vocabulary Flashcards

1
Q

Timbre

A

The quality or colour of sound that makes one voice or instrument different from another.

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2
Q

Keyboard

A

A musical instrument such as a piano, organ or synthesiser.

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3
Q

Djembe

A

A drum of West African origin.

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4
Q

Duration

A

How long or short notes are.

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5
Q

Pulse

A

The beat / heartbeat of the music.

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6
Q

Rhythm

A

Musical patterns made up of notes of different durations / lengths.

Can be played on a pitched or unpitched instrument.

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7
Q

Ostinato

A

A musical pattern that repeats (can be pitched or unpitched).

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8
Q

Pitch

A

How high or low a musical sound is.

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9
Q

Melody

A

Another word for tune, created by playing notes one after another.

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10
Q

Staff/ Stave

A

The five lines that music is written down on.

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11
Q

Sharp

A

A symbol (#) which raises a note by a half step (or semitone) when put in front of it.

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12
Q

Flat

A

A symbol (b) which lowers a note by a half step (or semitone) when put in front of it.

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13
Q

Dynamics

A

How loudly or quietly to play a piece of music.

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14
Q

Forte

A

Italian word for “loud” (shortened to f).

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15
Q

Piano

A

Italian word for “quiet” (shortened to p).

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16
Q

Tempo

A

The speed of a piece of music.

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17
Q

Adagio

A

Italian word for “slowly”.

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18
Q

Allegro

A

Italian word for “fast”.

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19
Q

Structure

A

The way a piece of music is built by combining different sections

(eg. intro-verse-chorus in a pop song).

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20
Q

Call and Response

A

A question and answer phrase.

e.g. “Have you got a Djembe? Yes I have”.

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21
Q

Texture

A

Thick or thin. How many layers of music there are.

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22
Q

Thick and Thin Textures

A

Music can be described as having a thin texture (only one or two musical layers) or a thick texture (many musical layers).

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23
Q

Tonality

A

The tonality of a piece of music is often either major or minor.

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24
Q

Musical Mood

A

Different pieces of music can be described as having a different mood, often depending on whether the tonality is major or minor.

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25
Q

Music Technology

A

The use of computers or other hardware/software to create and edit musical sounds.

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26
Q

Audio

A

Sound that has been recorded.

Eg, “I have recorded my vocal part as an audio track”.

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27
Q

Orchestra

A

Name given to a musical group / ensemble made up four families: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion.

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28
Q

Quaver

A

A note that lasts half a beat. They are often found in pairs to make up a whole beat.​

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29
Q

Crotchet

A

A note that lasts for one beat.

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30
Q

Minim

A

A note that lasts for two beats.

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31
Q

Semibreve

A

A note which lasts for four beats.

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32
Q

Scale

A

A group of notes in a particular order.

e.g. C Major Scale:

C D E F G A B C

33
Q

Treble Clef

A

A clef used in sheet music for notes higher in pitch than middle C.​

34
Q

Bass Clef

A

A clef used in sheet music for notes lower in pitch than middle C.​

35
Q

Crescendo

A

Italian word for “getting louder”.​

36
Q

Diminuendo

A

Italian word for “getting quieter”.​

37
Q

Accelerando

A

Italian word for “getting faster”.​

38
Q

Ritenuto

A

Italian word for “slowing down”.​

39
Q

Binary Form

A

A piece of music with two contrasting sections, often called A and B.

40
Q

Major Keys

A

Music is usually either major or minor. Music in a major key is based around major scales and tends to sound happier.​

41
Q

Primary Triads

A

The three most commonly used chords in any given key.

In C Major these are C, F and G. They are also known as chords I, IV and V (or 1, 4 and 5).​

42
Q

Mash-up

A

A piece of music created electronically (using software such as Audacity) where different pieces are cut and pasted together.​

43
Q

Remix

A

An arrangement or new version of an existing song or piece of music, created using technology.

44
Q

Time Signature

A

The numbers at the beginning of a piece music that tell us how many beats there are in a bar.​

45
Q

Simple Time Signatures

A

A time signature where the main beats in the bar are usually either crochets or minims and can be divided by two.​

46
Q

Sequence

A

A melodic pattern which repeats either up or down in pitch from the original.​

47
Q

Mezzo-Forte

A

Italian word for “medium-loud” (shortened to mf).​

48
Q

Mezzo-Piano

A

Italian word for “medium-quiet” (shortened to mp).​

49
Q

Andante

A

Italian word for “at a walking pace”

(tempo of the music).​

50
Q

Moderato

A

Italian word for “medium”

(tempo of the music).​

51
Q

Ternary Form

A

A piece of music with three sections, where the first one repeats at the end (labelled A B A1).​

52
Q

Melody and Accompaniment

A

A type of texture where there is a clear melody (tune) with distinct accompaniment (the music in the background: the ‘backing’).​

53
Q

Minor Keys

A

Music is usually either major or minor. Music in a minor key is based around minor scales and tends to sound sad.​

54
Q

Secondary Triads

A

Minor chords ii and vi, which make a chord sequence more interesting than just using chords I, IV & V.

55
Q

Multi-tracking

A

The process of recoding more than one track on top of each other so they play back simultaneously.

56
Q

Mixing

A

In music technology; the producer controls the dynamic levels (volume) of each track to get an even mix.

57
Q

Soprano

A

A high female voice.

58
Q

Alto

A

A low female voice.

59
Q

Tenor

A

A high male voice.

60
Q

Bass

A

A low male voice.

61
Q

Compound Time Signatures

A

A time signature where the main beats in the bar are often dotted crochets and/or can be divided by three.​

62
Q

Chromatic Scale

A

A scale which contains all 12 musical notes.

eg:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C.

63
Q

Fortissimo

A

Italian word for “very loud” (shortened to ff).

64
Q

Pianissimo

A

Italian word for “very quiet” (shortened to pp).

65
Q

Staccato

A

Italian word for notes played in a short and detached way (shown on sheet music as a dot above/below a note).

66
Q

Legato

A

Italian word for notes played smoothly (shown on sheet music as a line or phrase mark over a group of notes).

67
Q

Lento

A

Italian word for “very slow” (tempo of the music).

68
Q

Presto

A

Italian word for “very quick” (tempo of the music).

69
Q

Strophic Song Structure

A

A song which has distinct sections which often repeat. Songs may include the following sections:

Intro, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Middle 8, Outro.

70
Q

Monophonic

A

A thin musical texture with only one musical layer.

eg. a single melody line without an accompaniment.

71
Q

Homophonic

A

A musical texture with two parts that move together.

eg. a melody with an accompaniment of chords.

72
Q

Polyphonic

A

A thick/complex musical texture which contains several musical layers which intertwine. It is not always possible to say which line is the most important, or which is the melody.

73
Q

Tonic

A

The most important note in a scale.

The first degree of a scale. eg C D E F G A B.

74
Q

Subdominant

A

The third most important note in a scale.

The fourth degree of the scale.

eg C D E F G A B

75
Q

Dominant

A

The second most important note in a scale. The fifth degree of the scale.eg C D E F G A B.

76
Q

Atonal

Atonality

A

Music where there is no obvious tonality;

The music cannot be described as being either major or minor.

77
Q

Cluster CHords

A

A dissonant (‘clashy’) chord whose notes are very close together. Often sounds horrible and tense and so is used to create this kind of musical mood.​

78
Q

Digital Audio Effects

A

These are electronic processes you can add to audio tracks, to alter or enhance certain characteristics.​