Naming the Notes

Staff or Stave

clef, clef sign, clef signature

Great Staff, Grand Staff, Great Stave or Grand Stave

treble clef

bass clef

alto clef

middle C

treble clef

G clef

violin clef

E G B D F

F A C E

bass clef

F clef

G B D F A

A C E G

alto clef

viola clef

counter-tenor clef

soprano clef

mezzo-soprano clef

tenor clef

baritone clef

subbass clef

French violin clef

indefinite pitch clef

The naming of the notes and position of middle C arise from the way we set out our great staff. Guido d'Arezzo (c.995-1050) called the first line on the lower staff by the Greek letter gamma. The lowest note in the scale was called ut and was placed on gamma. This first note was soon called gamma ut, which contracted to gamut. At some point, French musicians began referring to the whole scale (by then an octave) as the gamut, a typical example of metonymy, the rhetorical or metaphorical substitution of a one thing for another based on their association or proximity. The term was next extended to refer to the musical range of an instrument or voice. By the seventeenth century gamut was further generalized to mean an entire range of any kind.

Guido d'Arezzo

gamut

solmization

Ut Queant Laxis

ut re mi fa sol la

hexachord

distinguishing octaves

duration

time value

proportional or mensural notation

notehead

flag

stem

placement of stem and flag

augmentation dot

dot

double-dotting

triple-dotting

Measure and Bar Lines

1. Time Signature

2. meter

3. beat

4. pulse

5. simple time

6. compound time

7. compound meter

8. divisive rhythm

A hypermeasure, large-scale or high-level measure, or measure-group is a metric unit in which, generally, each regular measure is one beat (actually hyperbeat) of a larger meter. Thus a beat is to a measure as a measure/hyperbeat is to a hypermeasure. Hypermeasures must be larger than a notated bar, perceived as a unit, consist of a pattern of strong and weak beats, and along with adjacent hypermeasures, which must be of the same length, create a sense of hypermeter. The term was coined by Edward T. Cone in Musical Form and Musical Performance (New York: Norton, 1968).

odd meter

hypermeasure

1. mensuration

2. modus

3. tempus

4. prolatio

5. major

6. minor

1. common time

2. modus

3. tempus perfectum

4. tempus imperfectum

5. alla breve

6. alla capella time

7. cut time

whole bar rest

multiple bar rest

imcomplete bar

incomplete measure

anacrusis

augmented rhythms

diminished rhythms

retrograde rhythms

polyrhythm/cross-rhythm

metronome

tempo markings

BPM

changing the tempo

fermata, fetura, caesura

Dance Tempi

1. keyboard

2. tone

3. semitone

4. whole step

5. half step

1. octave

2. natural

3. double flat

4. flat

5. sharp

6. double sharp

1. microtone

2. microtonal

3. quarter tone

4. eighth tone

5. comma

6. cent

1. major scale

2. chromatic scale

3. key note

4. degree

5. Roman Numerals

6. W W H W W W H

tetrachord

combined by disjunction

1. major scales

2. sharp key

3. flat key

4. natural key

building major scales

key signature

key signature

music ficta

1. circle of fifths

2. key signature

3. tetrachord

relative major

relative minor

1. accidental

2. precautionary mark

3. courtesy accidental

4. accidentals and ornamentation

1. key change

2. cautionary sign

3. inflection

4. compound signs

ancient minor scale

natural minor scale

1. haronic minor

2. seventh degree

3. leading tone

4. tonic

5. dominant chord

6. dominant 7th chord

7. tritone

melodic minor scale

1. key note

2. key signature

3. relative major

4. parallel major

5. relative minor

6. parallel minor

7. rule of 7

8. rule of 12

9. key name

10. tonic major

11. tonic minor

diatonic

chromatic

naming rules

naming rules

1. tonic

2. supertonic

3. mediant

4. subdominant

5. dominant

6. submediant

7. subtonic

8. leading tone

9. degree

melodic interval

harmonic interval

1. dyad

2. unison

3. octave

4. perfect unison

5. perfect prime

6. augmented unison

7. augmented prime

8. diminished unison

1. perfect intervals

2. major intervals

3. minor intervals

1. doubly diminished

2. diminished

3. augmented doubly

4. augmented

5. quality of intervals

1. tritone

2. diabolus in musica

3. consonance by circumstance

inversion

rule of 9

1. simple time

2. simple meter

3. compound time

4. compound meter

irrational rhythm

triplet

irregular divisions

beaming

1. music

2. noise

3. concordant

4. discordant

5. consonance

6. dissonance

7. form

8. function

9. perfect consonances

10. imperfect consonances

11. dissonances

1. triad

2. Roman Numerals

3. primary triad

4. secondary triad

5. major triad

6. minor triad

7. augmented triad

8. diminished triad

9. close position

10. open position

chords

seventh chord

dominant chord

broken chord

spread chord

arpeggio

1. structural

2. functional

3. naming seventh chords

1. major seventh chords

2. minor seventh chords

3. dominant seventh chords

4. minor seventh flat five chord

5. fully diminished seventh

6. half diminished seventh

7. augmented major seventh

8. augmented minor seventh

9. minor major seventh

1. power chords

2. sus2 chords

3. sus4 chords

4. add2 chords

5. add9 chords

6. aug 5th %26amp; dim 5th chords

7. augmented sixth chords

8. Italian 'augmented' sixth chord

9. French 'augmented' sixth chord

10. German 'augmented' sixth chord

11. six/nine chords

12. polychords

1. thorough bass

2. realization

3. basso continuo

1. 5 3

2. 6 3 or 6

3. 6 4

4. accidental under note

5. line through number

6. accidental under number

7. accidental beside single 6

8. accidental beside number

9. horizontal line after number

10. 7 or 8 or 9

11. 6 5

12. 4 3

13. 4 2

Roman numeral figuring

key of

instrument

concert pitch

transposing instrument

concert pitch

written pitch

sounding pitch

1. iamb

2. anapest

3. trochee

4. dactyl

5. amphibrach

6. pyrrh

7. tribrach

8. spondee

anacrusis

pick-up

up-beat

syncopation

off the beat

hemiola

cross-rhythm

1. rhythmic structure

2. strong beat

3. medium beat

4. weak beat

5. phrase

6. slur

1. tenuto

2. staccato

3. mezzo-staccato

4. staccatissimo

1. slurred staccato

2. portato

3. articulated legato

1. staccato accents

2. staccatissimo accents

3. normal accents

4. strong accents

5. legato accents

bowing terms

1. fortissimo

2. forte

3. mezzo forte

4. mezzo piano

5. piano

6. pianissimo

7. ffff%2c fff%2c ppp%2c pppp

8. forte piano

9. crescendo

10. decrescendo

11. diminuendo

12. marcato

13. sforzando

14. sforzandano piano

15. forzando

16. rinforzando

17. calando

18. incalzando

19. con sordino

20. dolcissimo

21. leggiero

22. pacato

23. mancando%2c morendo

24. martellato

25. mezza voce%2c sotto voce

26. senza sordino

27. tacet

28. tutta forza

29. una corda

1. a

2. a capella

3. a capriccio

4. accelerando

5. ad libitum

6. affettuoso

7. agitato

8. alla

9. alla breve

10. allargando

11. amabile

12. amoroso

13. ancora

14. animato

15. a piacere

16. appassionato

17. arioso

18. arpeggio

19. assai

20. ben%2c bene

21. brillante

22. cadenza

23. calando

24. cambiare

25. cantabile

26. chiuso

27. col%2c colla

28. come

29. comodo

30. con

31. con brio

32. con dolore

33. con forza

34. con fuoco

35. con giusto

36. con passione

37. con spirito

38. crescendo

39. dal

40. decrescendo

41. decisivo

42. delicato

43. diminuendo

44. dolce

45. dolente

46. doppio movimento

47. e%2c ed

48. e poi

49. espressivo

50. facilmente

51. feroce

52. fine

53. furioso

54. giocoso

55. grandioso

56. grazioso

57. il%2c la

58. impetuoso

59. lacrimoso

60. lamentoso

61. largamente

62. legato

63. leggiero

64. lusingando

65. ma

66. maestoso

67. mancando

68. marcato

69. mertellato

70. marziale

71. meno

72. meno mosso

73. mesto

74. mezzo

75. misterioso

76. molto

77. morendo

78. nobilmente

79. non

80. ossia

81. parlando

82. parlante

83. pateticamente

84. perdendosi

85. pesante

86. piacevole

87. piangevole

88. piu

89. pizzicato

90. placidamente

91. pochetto

92. poco

93. poco a poco

94. poi

95. pomposo

96. quasi

97. rallentando

98. religioso

99. replica

100. risoluto

101. ritmico

102. rubato

103. scherzando

104. secco

105. sempre

106. semplice

107. senza

108. serioso

109. simili

110. sino al

111. slargando

112. slentando

113. smorzando

114. soave

115. solennemente

116. sonore

117. sordino

118. sostenuto

119. sotto voce

120. spiccato

121. spiritoso

122. stentando

123. strepitoso

124. stringendo

125. subito

126. sul

127. suono

128. tanto

129. tempo primo

130. tempo rubato

131. teneramente

132. tenuto

133. tessitura

134. tosto

135. tranquillo

136. tremolo

137. troppo

138. tutti

139. un poco

140. vibrato

141. vigoroso

142. vivo

1. harmonic cadence

2. turnaround

3. melodic cadence

4. rhythmic cadence

5. textural cadence

6. form %26amp; cadence

1. grace note

2. appoggiatura

3. acciaccatura

1. trill

2. preparation

3. prefix

4. shake

5. termination

6. unprepared

7. prepared

8. vocal trill

1. mordent

2. inverted mordent

3. upper modent

4. lower mordent

5. long mordent

6. double mordent

1. monochord

2. Pythagoras

3. interval

4. lyre

1. Dorian

2. Phyrgian

3. Lydian

4. Mixolydian

5. Aeolian

6. Locrian

7. Ionian

1. whole tone scale

2. diminished scale

3. dominant diminished scale

1. passing tones

2. neighboring tones

3. appoggiatura

4. escape note

5. suspension

6. retardation

7. anticipation

8. pedal note

9. auxiliary note

10. neighbor group

1. The Tonic

2. The Dominant and Subdominant

3. The II and VII Degrees

4. The III and VI Degrees

5. Harmonic Functions in Minor Keys

6. Harmonic Analysis

1. Passing Tone

2. Neighbor Note

3. Suspension

4. Anticipation

5. Appoggiatura

1. The Dominant Chord

2. The Pivot Chord

3. Modulation to Distantly Related Keys

1. orchestral layout

2. brass quintet layout

3. band layout

4. woodwind quintet layout

1. History of Musical Pitch

2. A Brief History of Musical Tuning

3. Physics of Musical Instruments - A Brief History

1. harmonics

2. fundamental

3. overtones

The degree to which the frequencies of overtones (known as partial tones or harmonics) depart from whole multiples of the fundamental frequency.

harmonic overtones

inharmonic overtones

1. tuning

2. temperament

3. Pythagoras

tonality

What makes music tonal?

melodic substitution

1. parallel key modulation

2. relative key modulation

3. enharmonic modulation

4. direct modulation

5. pivot chord modulation

6. transient modulation

The Minuet

The Minuets

1. What is a phrase?

2. What is a period?

3. Parallel Period

4. Contrasting Period

5. Double Period

6. Other Periods

7. What is a motive?