Chapter 2 flashcards.txt

The quality of a note that distinguishes a high note from a low one.

Number of sound waves per second.

Measurement of frequency.

Playing different pitches simultaneously

The distance in pitch between any two notes.

Most fundamental interval, with 2 to 1 ratio of frequencies.

Two otherwise identical melodies sung simultaneously an octave apart.

A method by which musicians decide which frequencies will be represented on instruments or in a musical system.

Tuning system in America and in Europe that enables musicians to notate music and recombine instruments into different ensembles.

Pitch that functions as a center to which the melody always returns at the end or other points of rest.

Same as tonic.

Same as tonic.

The feeling that a melody revolves around the tonic pitch.

Music that revolves around a tonic pitch.

Music that defies identification of a tonal center.

Other word for atonal.

Western mode that uses seven of the available twelve pitches (represented by the white keys)

A subset of pitches within a tuning system with a defined tonic. Also distinguished by motives, ornaments, and other melodic practices as well as melodic range.

Mode with five pitches

Mode with six pitches

Mode with seven pitches

Modes arranged from tonic in one octave to the tonic in the next octave. Convenient construction for illustrating the tonic and pitch set used in a piece of music.

Associated with happy melodies in the West

Associated with sad melodies in the West

Melodic fragment, characteristic of certain modes but not others

Variation in pitch (along with rhythm)

General direction or shape of a melody over time.

Defined by the sizes of the intervals between adjacent notes in the melody (steepeness of the contour)

Small intervals between adjacent notes.

Large intervals between adjacent notes.

The difference between the highest and lowest notes in a melody

Where a melody lies in relation to the possible range of the singer or instrument.

Points of momentary rest or arrival (like the end of a phrase). Often fall on the tonal center or another important pitch.

Section of melody from one cadence to another.

Recurring melodic fragment that can signal cadences

Cadences that create a resting point in relation to what immediately precedes, but could not be used to end the piece.

Same as half-cadence.

Added notes or other small changes in pitch or loudness that don't change the overall character of the melody as much as they enhance or embellish it.

A rapid alternation between two notes a step apart.

Added notes or other small changes in pitch or loudness that don't change the overall character of the melody as much as they enhance or embellish it.

An entire melody recognizable as a discrete entity, and may be anywhere from the length of one phrase to over a minute in length. Listener's recognition of these repeated melodies is one of the most important ways performers and composers structure music.

Largest level of musical architecture that guides our listening experience through expectations and surprises that come from following repetitions and contrasts, sectional changes, and variations.

Same as structure.

Large sections within a composition, set apart by stopping the music. Analogous to a chapter.

A song that repeats a group of melodic phrases over and over but with different words. Each repetition is a verse, stanza, or strophe.

A section repeated in music with the same words.

Common in modern popular songs, stanzas are punctuated with refrains.

Used to increase interest while maintaining elements of repetition. Common ways include the following: transposition, increased or different ornamentation, different mode, different tonal center, different tempo or rhythmic density, different instruments used, different texture

Repetition at a different pitch level.

The tonic changes to a new pitch, or the melody has changed key or modes (even if the tonic doesn't change).

A melody is introduced and then played many times in different variations. The variations are arranged to articulate a larger form with beginning, middle, and end, with rising tension and resolution.