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A multi-sectional vocal work, either sacred or secular in subject matter, usually featuring solos, duets, and choruses and ranging in accompaniment from small chamber ensembles to large orchestras
Cantata
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Succession of tones in a given sequence that possesses certain subjective qualities - a perceivable coherence, an inevitability, and a sense of completion
Melody
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A vocal composition including the sung portions of the Roman Catholic liturgy, primarily in Latin
Mass
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The close or resolution of a musical phrase or section
Cadence
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Variations on a musical theme spontaneously created
improvisation
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A written version of music documenting the composer's intentions
Score
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Musical style that allows the performer to present variations on a stated theme and display virtuosity
Toccata
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Music that is written in a specific key
Tonal Music
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Two or more tones played or sung at the same time; the composition and progression of chords, simultaneous sounds, and counterpoint
Harmony
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A musical idea repeated thru a composition
Theme
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The art of organizing sound, usually those sounds created by musical instruments or the human voice
Music
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A set of short musical movements, for one or any combination of instruments, or for orchestra, played in a specific order
Suite
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A polyphonic vocal work, usually written for four or five voices, setting a pastoral poem to music, performed without instrumental accompaniement and intended for secular use
Madrigal
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Unaccompanied polyphonic vocal work, often setting a sacred Latic text to music
Motet
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Music that contains only a single part
MOnophonic
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The difference in pitch between tones, usually expressed in the number of steps
Interval
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In music, a brief but recognizable recurring fragment of a melody
Motif
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Artists who create and or perform music
Musicians
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A component of orchestration, referring in a descriptive way to the number of instrumentes playing at any one time
Texture
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Term for global music (generally non-Western) that is "discovered" by Western audiences
World Music
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Two or more sounds that are pleasing to the ear when played simultaneously; harmonies that create stability in a composition
Consonance
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Instrumental work that attempts to give the impression of being spontaneously improvised by the performer
Fantasia
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The frequency of notes heard in ascending or descending order
Scale
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Composition for soloist and orchestra in three movements (first and third fast, second slow)
Concerto
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A full orchestral work usually in four movements
Symphony
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Term for post-1945 that uses strange innovative elements or combines different genre
Avante-garde music
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Music developed in southern African-American communities at the end of the 19th century that fused work, spirituals, and chants and featured a twelve bar blues chord progression
Blues Music
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Musical composition for solo voice and piano, often based on poetry popular in the Romantic Era
Art Song
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Music with several independent parts sounding at once
Polyphonic
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An instrumental work that employs the technique of presenting a musical idea (usually a melody) and subjecting it to a sccuession of elaborations or modifications where the listener can recognize it from one repitition to the next
Variation
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Musical style developed by the African-Americans at the beginning of the 20th century that is an amalgamation of African and European music, featuring improvisation, syncopation, polyrhythms and use of "swing time"
Jazz Music
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How musical sounds are organized temporally or in time employing stressed and unstressed beats
Rhythm
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Instrumental ensemble that contains string, brass, woodwind, and percussion sections and typically plays classical or art music
Orchestra
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Religious songs originating amon African-American slaves int he American south that fused aspects of African Music and religion with Christian Hymns
Spirituals
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Measured Pace at which a composition is played
Tempo
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A single note of a definite frequencey
Tone
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The science of sound, concerned primarily with the production, propagation, and perception of sound
Acoustics
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Music developed in African-American communities during the late 1970s that features rhythmic and rhyming speech and 4/4 beat
Hip-Hop music
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song- based music typically oriented toward the youth market, featuring short verse-chorus songs often with a catchy beat and simple lyrics
Pop Music
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A specfic scale, determined by the first note in the scale, which dominates in a section of music
Key
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Simplest form of harmony which features two melodic lines of equal value played agaisnt one another
COunterpoint
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Persistence of a tone in time, meaning how long it lasts
Duration
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Multi-sectional work for vocalists and orchestra, which uses the same structural elements as opera without the use of scenery, setting and costume
Oratorio
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An extended multi-movement work generally solo instrumentalist
SOnata
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Music that is written in a way that avoids centering around a specific key
Atonal Music
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A rounded symbol which indicates the length of a pitch by its shape and coloring
Note
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A fully-produced, multi-sectional work for the theater whose text is primarily sung by soloists and a chorus and which is accompanied by instruments usually a large orchestra
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A composition which is performed between acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work
Intermezzo
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An instrumental work, usually for piano that attempts to evoke dreamy, contemplative feelings, commonly featuring a slow, soft, lyrical melody and a flowing accompaniment
Nocturne
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Composition in which the theme or subject is developed thru a series of successive imitations
Fugue
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Long, accompanied song for a solo voice typically found in an opera or oratorio
Aria
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Music created for the christian church, the European courts, and concert halls, from Middle ages to the present
Art or Classical Music
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Song-based music that became popular after 1960 in US and Britain that was heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music featuringa driving 4/4 beat and a verse-chorus form
Rock music
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The volume of a tone, meaning the varying degrees of loudness and softness in a composition; also the articulation of the tone, meaning the manner it should be played
Dynamics
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The "color" of a tone, meaning which instrument plays it; the color or quality of the musical sound being produced
Timbre
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Any sound that sets up regular vibrations in the air and is perceived as a discrete tone; the relative highness or lowness can be measured in vibrations per second
Pitch
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Music created by and for the common people of a particular region or by a disadvantaged ethnic group or religious sect, orally transmitted
Folk Music
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The special symbols and language of the modern score
Musical Notation
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A multi-sectional work, or movement, whose theme recurs multiple times in the course of the piece, always in the tonic key, much like a refrain
Rondo
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Music popular from 1900-1920 that that preceded jazz, was influenced by African American songs and featured syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm
Ragtime Music
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Grouping of beats into measures
Meter
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Form of jazz that began in the 1970s and combine jazz with other genres, including rock and rhythm and blues
Jazz Fusion
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Music created for the Christian church, the European courts, and the concert halls, from the Middle ages to the present
Classical or art Music
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Orchestral work, usually in 2-3 contrasting sections, used as the intro to an opera or other dramatic piece
Overture
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In music, basic unit of rhythm
Beat
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Music that moves from chord to chord, without undue elaboration or with a simple melody
Homophonic
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An instrumental musical composition designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill in a solo instrument
Etude
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Technique to make a musical composition more interesting and engaging through contrasting timbres or rhythm or tempo
Contrast
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Two or more sounds that are not pleasing to the ear when played simultaneously; unstable harmonies that create tension in a composition
Dissonance
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Musicians who create (write) music
Composers
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Form of Jazz developed between 1950-60 that emphasized individual performers and collective improvisions as opposed to adhering to pre-established frameworks
Free Jazz
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Widely disseminated music meant principally for enjoyment in the home
Popular Music
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