Music words and definitions

• A Capella - Unaccompanied choral music
• Accelerando - An increase, or accelleration of the tempo, or pace of a piece
• Accent - Extra force given to a marked note. Indicated with a > above the note
• Accidental - A sharp, flat or natural given to a note that is not indicated in the key signature
• Adagio - Slow, but faster than largo. A slow movement is called an adagio
• Aerophone - An instrument which produces sound by air being blown through it
• Allegretto - Fairly quick, but not as much as allegro
• Allegro - Quick and lively, but not as much as presto
• Alto - The lowest female voice or a clef for instruments such as the viola
• Andante - A walking speed, but not too slow
• Anthem - See Anthem
• Antiphonal - When two or more sets of instruments or voices sing against each other in a question - answer style, playing alternately
• Arco - Use of the bow by the player of a string instrument. Normally follows a passage of pizzicato
• Aria
• Atonal - Music without a sense of key, by Schienberg and others in the early 1900s
• Brass - A family of instruments. See Brass
• Choir - A group of singers usually comprising sopranos, altos, tenors and basses
• Chordophone - An instrument that produces sound by the vibration of strings
• Chorus
• Concerto
• Concerto Grosso
• Contrapuntal - When the melody is shared between the different instruments playing, to produce an overall melody when all the instruments are playing
• Dischord - (discord) "A combination of notes including one or more dissonant intervals". This means a combination of notes that don't sound 'right' together
• Flat - When a note is played a semitone down from its natural state
• Grave - A term meaning very slow, slower than largo
• Homophonic - All the parts play the same rhythm although they play different notes
• Idiophone - An instrument that sounds as a consequence of being hit
• Imitation - Where the opening pattern of a musical phrase played by one voice or instrument is copied in another, not necessarily at the same pitch
• Keyboards - A family of instruments. See Keyboards
• Key Signature - Symbols at the beginning of a stave showing which notes are to be played flat or sharp throughout a piece of music
• Largo - A term meaning slow, but not as slow as grave
• Membranophone - An instrument that produces sound by the vibration of a stretched skin, eg. drums
• Modes - Before the modern practice of major and minor keys was developed, players and composers used modes in music. A mode can be created by playing all the white notes on a piano from any note to that note a further octave up (eg. A-A)
• Monophonic - Music written in only one voice, or with only one melody line throughout the range of instruments
• Motet
• Opera
• Oratorio
• Percussion - A family of instruments. See Percussion
• Piano Trio - A group of three instruments including: A piano, a violin and a cello
• Pizzicato - When a stringed instrument is played not with a bow, but plucked with the fingers. Opposite of arco
• Polyphonic - Music written with several different parts for different instruments. May be contrapuntal
• Presto - Very fast, faster than Allegro
• Recitative - In oratorios - A sung solo punctuated by chords
• Rubato - To play with a flexible tempo
• Sharp - When a note is played a semitone up from its natural note
• Sonata
• Soprano - The highest female voice
• Stave - The lines upon which music notation is written
• String Quartet - A group of four string instruments including: two violins, one viola and a cello. See also String Quartet
• Strings - A family of instruments. See Strings
• Symphonic Poem
• Symphony
• Trio Sonata
• Troubadors - A musician who makes there living wandering from place to place, performing for rich families and their courts
• Woodwind - A family of instruments. See Woodwind