GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ACCENT — a sign, L ,used to indicate a predominant beat.

ACCIDENTAL — a sign used to show a temporary change in pitch of a note (i.e., sharp #, flatb, double sharp ! , double flat bb , or natural @ .) The sharps or flats in a key signature are not regarded as accidentals.

AD LIB — to be played at the performer’s own discretion.

ALLEGRETTO — moderately fast.

ALLEGRO — fast and lively.

ANACRUSIS — a note or notes occurring before the first bar of music (also called "lead-in" or pick-up notes).

ANDANTE — an easy walking pace.

ARPEGGIO — the playing of a chord in single note fashion.

BAR — a division of music occurring between two bar lines (also called a "measure")

BAR LINE — a vertical line drawn across the staff which divides the music into equal sections called bars (or measures).

BASS — the lower regions of pitch in general.

"BLUES" SCALE — consisting of the I,bIII, IV, bV, V and bVII notes of the major scale.

CHORD — a combination of three or more different notes played together.

CHORD PROGRESSION — a series of chords played as musical unit (e.g., as in a song).

CHROMATIC SCALE — a scale ascending and descending in semitones: e.g., C chromatic scale:

CLEF — a sign placed at the beginning of each staff of music which fixes the location of a particular note on the staff, and hence the location of all other notes, e.g.:

CODA — an ending section of music, signified by the sign v

COMMON TIME — an indication of * time - four quarter note beats per bar (also indicated by C).

COMPOUND TIME — occurs when bars are measured in dotted notes, e.g.: ), _, +.

D.C. AL FINE — a repeat from the beginning to the word "fine".

DOT — a sign placed after a note indicating that its time value is extended by a half, e.g.:

DOUBLE BAR LINE — two vertical lines close together, indicating the end of a piece, or section thereof.

DOUBLE FLAT — a sign (bb) which lowers the pitch of a note by one tone.

DOUBLE SHARP — a sign (!) which raises the pitch of a note by one tone.

D.S. AL FINE — a repeat from the sign (indicated thus V) to the word "fine".

DURATION — the time value of each note.

DYNAMICS — the varying degrees of softness (indicated by the term "piano") and loudness (indicated by the term "forte") in music.

EIGHTH NOTE — a note with the value of half a beat in * time, indicated thus 5 (also called a quaver). The eighth rest indicating half a beat of silence, is written: j

ENHARMONIC — describes the difference in notation, but not in pith, of two notes, e.g.:

FERMATA — a sign, ?, used to indicate that a note or chord is held to the player’s own discretion (also called a "pause sign")

FLAT — a sign, (b) used to lower the pitch of a note by one semitone.

FORTE — loud. Indicated by the sign G.

HALF NOTE — a note with the value of two beats in * time, indicated thus: 1 (also called a minim). The half rest, indicating two beats of silence, is written:

HARMIONIC MINOR SCALE — a series of 8 notes in alphabetical order based on the interval sequence;

HARMONY — simultaneous sounding of two or more different notes.

IMPROVISE — to perform spontaneously; i.e., not from memory or from a written copy.

INTERVAL — the distance between any two notes of different pitches.

KEY — describes the notes used in a composition with regard to the major or minor scales from which they are taken, e.g., a piece "in the key of C major" describes the melody, chords, etc, a predominantly consisting of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B - i.e., from the C scale.

KEY SIGNATURE — a sign, placed at the beginning of each stave of music, directly after the clef, to indicate the key of a piece. The sign consists of a certain number of sharps or flats, which represent the sharps or flats found in the scale of the song’s key, e.g.:

indicates a scale with F# and C#, which is D major; D E F# G A B C# D.

Therefore the key is D major (or B minor).

LEAD-IN - same as Anacrusis.

LEDGER LINES - small horizontal lines upon which notes are written when their pitch is either above or below the range of the staff, e.g.:

LEGATO — smoothly, will connected.

LYRIC — words that accompany a melody.

MAJOR SCALE — a series of eight notes in alphabetical order based on the interval sequence: tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone

giving the familiar sound: do re mi fa so la ti do

MELODIC MINOR SCALE — a series of 8 notes in alphabetical order based on the interval sequence:

T,S,T,T,T,T,S ascending, and

T,T,S,T,T,S,T descending.

MELODY — a succession of notes of varying pitch and duration, and having a recognizable musical shape.

METRONOME — a device which indicates the number of beats per minute, and which can be adjusted in accordance to the desired tempo. E.g., MM (Maelzel Metronome) 3 = 60 indicates 60 quarter note beats per minute.

MODERATO — at a moderate pace.

MODULATION — the changing of key within a song (or chord progression).

NATURAL — sign (@) used to cancel out the effect of a sharp or flat. The word is also used to describe the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, i.e., "the natural notes".

OCTAVE — the distance between any given note with a set frequency, and another note with exactly double that frequency. Both notes will have the same letter name;

PHRASE — a small group of notes forming a recognizable unit within a melody.

PITCH — the sound produced by a note, determined by the frequency of the air vibration. The pitch relates to a note being referred to as "high" or "low".

PIVOT FINGER — a finger which remains in position while the other fingers move, when changing chords.

POSITION — a term used to describe the location of the left and right hand on the keyboard.

NATURAL MINOR SCALE — a series of 8 notes in alphabetical order based on the sequence T, S, T, T, S, T, T

QUARTET NOTE — a note with the value of one beat in * time, indicated thus 3 (also called a crotchet). The quarter rest, indicating one beat of silence, is written: h

RITARDANDO — Gradually slow down (abbreviated to "rit")

REPEAT SIGNS — in music, used to indicate a repeat of a section of music, by means of two dots placed before a double bar line:

In chord progressions, a repeat sign C, indicates an exact repeat of the previous bar.

RHYTHM — the aspect of music concerned with tempo, duration and accents of notes. Tempo indicates the speed of a piece (fast or slow); duration indicates the time value of each note (quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, etc.) and accents indicate which beat is more predominant.

ROOT NOTE — the note after which a chord or scale is named (also called "key note")

SCALE TONE CHORDS — chords which are constructed from notes within a given scale.

SEMITONE — the smallest interval used in conventional music. On piano, it is the distance between one piano key and the next.

SHARP — a sign (#) used to raise the pitch of a note by one semitone

SIMPLE TIME — occurs when bars are measured in undotted notes, %, ^, *

STACCATO — to play short and detached. Indicated by a dot above the note. x

STAFF — five parallel lines together with four spaces, upon which music is written.

SYNCOPATION — the placing of an accent on a normally unaccented beat. E.g.:

TEMPO — the speed of a piece.

TIE — a curved line joining two or more notes of the same pitch, where the second note(s) is not played, but its time value is added to that of the first note.

1.

2.

TIME SIGNATURE — a sign at the beginning of a piece which indicates, the number of beats per bar (top figure), and the type of note receiving one beat (bottom figure).

TONE — an interval of two semitones.

TRANSPOSITION — the process of changing music from one key to another.

TREBLE — the upper regions of pitch in general.

TRIPLET — a group of three notes played in the same time as two notes of the same kind.

e.g., Three eighth notes are played in the time of two eighth notes.

WHOLE NOTE — a note with the value of four beats in * time, indicated thus ` (also called a semibreve).

The whole rest, indicating four beats of silence, is written: