GLOSSARY OF TERMS-PIANO
Accidental: Any sharp or flat not in the key signature
Accent: The emphasizing of one note over another by playing it more loudly
Accompaniment: A vocal or instrumental part that supports another, often solo, part.
Adagio: a tempo marking; very slow
Andante: a medium slow walking tempo
Arranger: To reset (a composition) for other instruments or voices or as another style of performance.
Arpeggiated chords: a broken or rolled chord marked by a wavy line
Bar line: a vertical line which divides music into measures
Bass clef: F clef on the fourth line indicating left hand notes
Bass staff: the five lines and four spaces with a bass clef sign
Beat: The steady pulse of music
Block chords: when all three notes of a chord are played together (vertically)
Blues notes: flattened third, seventh, and occasionally fifth degrees of a major scale
Broken chords: when all three notes of a chord are played separately (horizontally)
C chord: C,E,G
C-position: C,D,E,F,G
Call and response: a musical conversation when one musical thought answers another
Chord: three or more notes played together
Chord progression: to move from one chord to another
Composer: A person who writes music
Concept: an idea
Connections: associating a past musical experience with a new one
Contrary Motion: moving the hands in opposite directions
Count(s): see beat
Crescendo: to gradually become louder
D seven chord: D,F#, C
Decrescendo: to gradually become softer
D.C. al fine: ( Da Capo al fine) return to the head (beginning) of the song and stop at the fine
D.S. al fine: (Dal Segno al fine) return to the sign and stop at the fine
Damper pedal: the right most pedal on the piano; when you hold it down, any tone you sound will
continue after you release the key.
Damper pedal marking: The sign that shows you when to press and release the pedal
Diminuendo: gradually diminish; gradually get softer
Dotted half note: lasts for 3 beats
Dotted quarter note: lasts for one and 1/2 beats
Double bar line: denotes the end of the song
Duet: performed by two players; a piece of music for two performers
Dynamic markings: a performance mark that tells the dynamic level (volume) to be performed
Dynamics: the loudness/softness of music (volume)
Eighth note: lasts ½ of a beat
Eighth rest: ½ beat of silence
Ensemble: A work for two or more vocalists or instrumentalists.
Extended position: To open the hand position to include an octave spread (i.e.,C,E,G,C fingering 1,2,3,5)
Eye-hand coordination: being able to coordinate the reading of music while playing the piano
simultaneously.
F chord: F,A,C
F clef: another name for the bass clef
Fermata: a sign that tells you to hold on to the note(s) longer than the printed value.
Finger substitution: using an alternate fingering on the same key to ease the movement of the hands on
the keyboard.
Fingering: The indication on a musical score of which fingers are to be used in playing.
Flat: to lower a note by 1/2 step
Form: repetition and contrast in music
Forte: loud
Fortissimo: very loud
Fundamentals: the basics; also, having the root in the bass: a fundamental chord.
G chord: G,B,D,
G seven chord: G,B,D,F
G-Clef: another name for the treble clef
G-position: G,A,B,C,D
Grand staff: both the treble and bass staves connected together with a brace
Half note: lasts 2 beats/counts
Half rest: lasts 2 beats/counts of silence
Half step: on the piano, the distance between one key and the next (moving to the right or left); An interval
equal to a half tone in the standard diatonic scale.
Hand position: placement of hands on the keyboard
Harmonic interval: the distance between two or more notes played together (thus creating harmony)
Harmony: two or more notes played together
Instruction: An imparted or acquired item of knowledge; a lesson.
Interpretation: A performer's distinctive personal version of a song,
Interval: The difference, usually expressed in the number of steps, between two pitches.
Inversions: A rearrangement of tones in which the notes of a chord are rearranged such that the bass has a
different pitch.
Key signature: The group of sharps or flats placed to the right of the clef on a staff to identify the key.
Keyboard: A piano. Any of various instruments, played by means of a set of pianolike keys, often
connected to a synthesizer or amplifier.
Largo: a broad tempo
Ledger line: A short line placed above or below a staff to accommodate notes higher or lower than the
range of the staff.
Left hand C-position: C,D,E,F,G-fingers 5,4,3,2,1
Legato: smoothly connected; in a smooth, even style without any noticeable break between the notes.
Loco: At the pitch written.
Major key/scale: Designating a scale or mode having half steps between the third and fourth and the
seventh and eighth degrees. (w,w,h,w,w,w,h)
Measure: the distance between bar lines
Melodic interval: the distance between two notes that are played separately.
Melody: the main theme or tune of a song; a rhythmically organized sequence of single tones so related to
one another as to make up a particular phrase or idea.
Metronome: A device used to mark time by means of regularly recurring ticks or flashes at adjustable
intervals.
Mezzo forte: medium loud ( a normal touch on the keyboard)
Mezzo piano: medium soft
Middle C-position: a hand position on the keyboard where both thumbs share middle C. (left hand is on
F,G,A,B,C,-right hand is on C,D,E,F,G)
Minor key/scale: A diatonic scale having a half step between the second and third degrees and any of
several intervalic arrangements above the fifth.
Moderato: moderate tempo
Multi-meter: having more than one time signature;
Music: The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative
composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.
Musical idea: a musical motive or thought
Musical alphabet: A,B,C,D,E,F,G
Musical concept: a musical idea
Musical notation: A system of figures or symbols used in a specialized field to represent numbers,
quantities, tones, or values: musical notation.
Natural sign: a musical symbol that returns a note back to its previous pitch.
Note head: the circular part of the note to which the stem is attached
Note value: the length of time a note is held out
Octave (8va): A tone that is eight diatonic degrees above or below another given tone.
Parallel Motion: Moving in the same direction at a fixed interval:
Pattern: a particular order of notes
Practice Techniques: method of rehearsing a piece of music
Phrase: a complete musical sentence
Piano: softly
Pianissimo: very soft
Posture: manner of sitting at the keyboard
Practice: method of rehearsing assignments/songs
Primary chords: chords built on the I, IV, and Vth position of the scales
Primo: first
Quarter note: lasts for 1 beat/count of sound
Quarter rest: lasts for 1 beat/count of silence
Recorder: a device on the keyboard that allows the students to record their work and play it back. (used as
a learning tool.)
Repeat sign: a sign that tells you to go back and play again.
Repetition: to do it again; to play it again
Rest: silence in music
Rhythm: The pattern of musical movement through time
Right hand C-position: C,D,E,F,G- fingering 1,2,3,4,5
Ritardando: to gradually slow down
Root position: The note from which a chord is built. Such a note occurring as the lowest note of a triad or
other chord
Scale: An ascending or descending collection of pitches proceeding by a specified scheme of intervals.
Secondo: The second part in a concert piece, especially the lower part in a piano duet.
Sequence: A melodic or harmonic pattern successively repeated at different pitches with or without a key
change.
Sharp: Raised in pitch by a semitone or half step
Simile: to play in the same manner
Skills: application of musical concepts to keyboard performance
Slur: an arched line over or under notes on different lines and/or spaces that signifies the need to play
legato; indicates a phrase
Solo: one person performs/plays
Sounds: the choice of tone colors (instrumental choices) found on the classroom electronic keyboards
Speed: the tempo of the music
Spiritual: A religious folk song of African-American origin
Staccato: short and detached
Staff: the five lines and four spaces where the notes are written
Steady beat: A steady succession of units of rhythm,…the consistent underlying beat/count
Stem: the line attached to the head of the note
Syncopation: A shift of accent in a passage or composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is
stressed.
Tempo: the speed of the music
Tetrachord: A series of four diatonic tones (in alphabetical order) encompassing the interval of a perfect
fourth. (ex. c,d,e,f, )
Theory: the study of the written music (notation)
Tied notes: two notes (on the same line or space) that are connected by an arched line and are held out for
the combined value of both notes
Time signature: A specific rhythm determined by the number of beats and the time value assigned to each
note in a measure.
Transition: to move the hands smoothly from an ascending to a descending pattern (i.e., pg. 78 and pg.
87)
Treble clef: A symbol indicating that the second line from the bottom of a staff represents the pitch of G
above middle C. Also called G clef .
Treble staff: The music staff with a treble clef on it. (used for right hand playing)
Triad: A chord of three tones, especially one built on a given root tone plus a major or minor third and a
perfect fifth.
Triplet: A group of three notes having the time value of two notes of the same kind. Also called tercet
Twelve rules of practice: The 12 tools for practicing as shared by Wynton Marsalis in “Marsalis on
Music”
Volume: the loudness and softness of music
Whole note: lasts for 4 beats/counts (a semibreve)
Whole rest: silence for 4 counts or for the whole measure
Whole step: the interval of a major second (two semitones)
PLUS COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY (additional terms not found in the piano list)
(Julliard and Music Ace software)
Composer: a person who writes music
Composition: the music that a composer writes
Contour: the shape of the melodic line
Enharmonic: Of, relating to, or involving tones that are identical in pitch but are written
differently according to the key in which they occur, as C sharp and D flat, for example.
Imitation: Repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in key, rhythm, and
voice.
Meter: The organization of strong and weak beats into a regular, recurring pattern
Ostinato: a repeated pattern
Pitch: a musical tone
Retrograde: Opposite to the usual order; inverted or reversed.
Rhythm pattern: an organized succession of rhythmic beats
Seventh chord: a three note chord with the interval of a seventh added
Tension: The interplay of conflicting elements in a piece of music
Theme: The principal melodic phrase in a composition,
Timbre: The combination of qualities of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds
of the same pitch and volume.
Trio: a.) a composition for three voices or three instruments. b.) a group of three singers
or three instrumentalists. c) The middle, contrasting section of a minuet, scherzo, march,
or various other forms.