Music Appreciation Class Vocabulary Word List: Expect to see 18 of these on the exam
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tempo​
: rate of speed dynamics​
: the varying or contrasting degrees of intensity or loudness in music orchestration​
: the art of combining different instruments to get different sounds philharmonic​
: literally “devoted to music” symphony​
: a piece of music written for an orchestra, has three to five sections counterpoint​
: a technique of writing two or more melodies that sound together at the same time clef​
: a symbol that shows where on the staff a certain note is elegy​
: a vocal or instrumental composition with a sad or lamenting character, written in a free form fugue​
: the most highly developed form of counterpoint, where the same melody starts at different times and plays over itself. forte​
: Italian for “strong,” an instruction to play loudly, written with an f piano​
: Italian for “soft,” an instruction to play quietly, written with a p mezzo​
: Italian for “middle,” can be added before f or p accent​
: a stress or special emphasis on note key signature​
: the sharp, flat, or natural signs at the beginning of a staff that show the tonality of the composition meter​
: measure of time leger lines​
: small lines written above or below the staff staff​
: five parallel lines that show where notes are placed sonata​
: an instrumental piece of music with several movements, each with a specific form. String Quartet​
:​
an ensemble of two violins, one viola, and one cello interval​
: distance between two notes half­step​
: also called a semitone, smallest possible interval, keys next to each other on piano whole­step​
: also called a wholetone, interval of two half­steps chord​
: Two or more notes sounding together at the same time arpeggio​
: a chord with the notes played separately chamber music​
: music written for small groups, usually played without a conductor performance practice​
: playing music from a certain era in the style of that era accidental​
: a mark placed before a note that changes the previously understood pitch Musical Era​
: an approximate length of time when a certain style of music was most popular For the exam, I’ll give the dates and ask you to fill in the blank on the corresponding era: ● Ancient Era:​
(1500 B.C. to 476) ● Medieval Era:​
(500 ­ 1400) ● Renaissance Era:​
(1400 ­ 1600) ● Baroque​
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Era: ​
(1600 ­ 1760) ● Classical Era:​
(1730 ­ 1820) ● Romantic Era:​
(1780 ­ 1910) ● Modern Era:​
(1890 ­ 1975) ●
Postmodern Era:​
(1975 ­ now)