Basic Music Vocabulary Flashcards

Music Vocabulary

• Staff: Composed of five lines and four spaces where music notation is created.
• Clef: A symbol at the staff's beginning that assigns note names to lines and spaces.
• Time Signature: Indicates the number of beats in a measure and the type of note that gets one beat, placed at the start of the staff.
• Rhythm: A structured pattern of tones organized around a consistent pulse or beat.
• Pitch: Refers to the perceived highness or lowness of a sound.
• Melody: A sequence of notes perceived as a single musical entity, typically the main tune.
• Harmony: The simultaneous combination of different musical notes to create chords.
• Chord: Involves playing two or more notes at the same time, typically at least three.
• Triad: A specific chord consisting of three notes based on the interval of a third.
• Root: The base note of a chord, determining its name and structure.
• Interval: The distance in pitch between two notes, crucial for understanding music theory.
• Half Step: The smallest interval in Western music, equivalent to a minor second.
• Whole Step: Composed of two half steps, representing a major second interval.
• Skip: Any interval larger than a whole step, useful in various scales and melodies.
• Third: An interval covering two steps, categorized as either major or minor.
• Fifth: An interval that spans four steps, recognized as one of the two perfect intervals in music.
• Scale: A sequence of notes arranged in ascending or descending order, outlining the pitches of a key and starting and ending on the tonic.
• Tonic: The foundational note of a scale, serving as the first note and determining the scale's letter name.
• Repeat Sign: A musical notation indicating that a section should be played again, represented by two bar lines and two dots.
• Multi-measure Rest: A symbol indicating that the musician should remain silent for multiple measures.
• Dynamic Markings: Symbols indicating the volume at which music should be performed, typically found below the staff.
• Multiple Endings: Commonly found in music, this concept includes first and second endings for sections of a piece.
• Key Signature: A set of sharps or flats positioned at the beginning of the staff, providing information about the key of the piece.
• Key: Defines the tonality or sound of a piece, specifying the particular scale used.
• Accidental: Symbols like sharps, flats, or naturals that alter the pitch of a note within a measure.