Chorus Exam Review
Staff – five lines and four spaces on which music is written
Treble clef – Symbol showing staff where music for higher pitched voices or instruments is written
Bass Clef - Symbol showing staff where music for lower pitched voices or instruments is written
Pitch – how high or low a sound is
Rhythm – sound organized in time; a pattern of long and short sounds and silences
Beat – steady pulse in music
Tempo – speed of music
Barline – vertical line dividing the staff
Measure - units of the staff separated by barlines
Double barline – denotes the end of a piece of music
Repeat sign – double barline with two dots; instructs performer to go back and repeat a section of music
Notes – represent sound in music
Rests – represent silence in music
Time Signature – top number shows how many beats per measure; bottom number tells what note
equals one beat
Interval – distance between two pitches ( second, third, fourth, etc.)
Fermata (“bird’s eye”) – denotes that a note should be held longer than usual
Monophonic – “one sound”; unison; all voices sing same notes and some syllables at the same time.
Homophonic – “same sound”; block chords; voices sing same syllables at same time, but on different
pitches to create harmony.
Polyphonic – “many sounds”; voices sing different words at different times, similar to a round, with
staggered entrances, to create harmony.
Texture – thickness and inter-relation of both horizontal (melodic) and vertical (harmonic) sounds or
voices in music.
Syncopated Rhythm - rhythm having accents (strong sounds) on weak beats
Baroque – Musical period 1600-1750; characterized by polyphonic texture for both instruments and
voices, and strong rhythmic pulse. Bach, Handel, Buxtehude, Vivaldi are representative composers.
Romantic – Musical period 1820-1900; music often influenced by ideas of romance, imagination, and
fantasy, and the feelings and emotions evoked by them; freer in form than Baroque and Classical music;
Beethoven, Brahms, Adam are representative composers.
Popular Music – music for the people (population); contemporary music that is found in daily life and
that is usually produced for a commercial rather than an artistic outlet. Having roots in folk music,
during the twentieth century popular music became more and more divided into various sub-categories
such as pop, rock, reggae, jazz, country, hip-hop, soul, rhythm and blues, heavy metal, etc.
Calypso – style of music originating in the West Indies (Carribean) featuring syncopated rhythms and
often comical lyrics
Jazz – an original American style of music that features swing rhythms, syncopation, and improvisation
Identify languages: Latin, German, Spanish; give key pronunciation tips for each.
German: Auf! Stimet die Saiten, got Phoebus tritt ein, dies Fest au begleiten mit guldenem Shein.
W = V; F often = V; double vowels – pronounce the second one (ie: “die” sounds like “dee”)
Latin: Gloria in excelsis deo.
Vowels are pure: a=ah; e=eh; i=ee; o=oh; u=oo
Spanish: Fuentecilla que corres, clara y Sonora, ruisenor que en la selva cantando lloras.
ll=y; ~ gives an “n” a “y” sound; “r” is rolled, vowels generally same as in Latin.