Msc.txt

the character or quality of a musical tone as determined by its harmonics and its attack and decay.

a musical composition, or portion of a composition, sung or played by a single performer unison.

a musical texture involving only a single line of music with no accompaniment.

a musical texture involving two or more simultaneously sounding lines; the lines are often independent and create counterpoint.

a texture in which all the voices, or lines, move to new pitches at roughly the same time; often referred to in contradistinction to polyphony.

the process whereby a performer plucks the strings of an instrument rather than bowing them.

in musical notation, a dynamic mark indicating "soft".

the various levels of volume, loud and soft, at which sounds are produced in a musical composition.

in musical notation, a dynamic mark indicating "loud".

a gradual increase in the volume of sound.

an even pulse in music that divides the passing of time into equal segments.

the organization of time in music, dividing up long spans of time into smaller, more easily comprehended units; gives shape to the profile of the melody.

the speed at which the beats occur in music.

the gathering of beats into regular groups.

the first beat of each measure; it is indicated by a downward motion of the conductor�s hand and is usually stressed.

emphasis or stress placed on a musical tone or a chord.

the interval comprising the first and eighth tones of the major and minor diatonic scale; the sounds are quite similar because the frequency of vibration of the higher pitch is exactly twice that of the lower.

the relative position, high or low, of a musical sound.

the chord built on the fifth degree of the scale.

the central pitch around which the melody and harmony gravitate.

a seven-note scale that ascends in the following order of whole and half steps: 1-1-�-1-1-1-�.

a seven-note scale that ascends in the following order of whole and half steps: 1-1-�-1-1-1-�.

scale that makes use of all twelve pitches, equally divided, within the octave.

a tonal center built on a tonic note and making use of a scale; also, on a keyboard instrument, one of a series of levers that can be depressed to generate sound.

two or more simultaneously sounding pitches.

pitches sounding agreeable and stable.

a discordant mingling of sounds.

a keyboard instrument, especially popular during the Baroque era, that produces sound by depressing a key that drives a lever upward and forces a pick to pluck a string.