N4 Music

A-Z Concepts

N4 Music Concepts

You will find the concepts in alphabetical order under the following headings:

1. melody / harmony

2. rhythm / tempo

3. texture / structure / form

4. timbre / dynamics

5. styles

1. MELODY / HARMONY

Arpeggio

▶ Notes of a chord played one after the other.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Atonal

▶ Atonal music has no feeling of key, major or minor. It is very dissonant and

lacks a 'nice' melody and accompaniment.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Broken Chords

▶ In a broken chord, the notes of a chord are played separately.

▶ Click to watch video. Music until 0:09 are broken chords:

1. MELODY / HARMONY

Drone

▶ One note held on or repeated in the bass. A feature of the bagpipes.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Major

▶ The music sounds in a major key – often described as having a cheery, happy feel

to it.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Minor

▶ The music sounds in a minor key, often described as having a sad or dark sound.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Ornament

▶ An ornament decorates a melody by adding extra notes. Ornaments are

often short and add melodic and rhythmic interest.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Pedal

▶ A note which is sustained or repeated continuously in the bass.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Pentatonic Scale

▶ Any five-note scale. In practice, the most common one is that on which much folk

music is based, particularly Scottish and Celtic.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Scat Singing

▶ Nonsense words, syllables and sounds are improvised (made up) by the singer.

Sometimes the singer is imitating the sounds of instruments.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

Vamp

▶ A rhythmic accompaniment with a bass note played on the beat and a chord

off the beat. Usually played on piano or guitar.

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1. MELODY / HARMONY

2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Anacrusis

▶ The notes which appear before the first strong beat of a musical phrase,

particularly at the start of a piece.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Compound Time

▶ The beat is divided into groups of three. You can say “straw-ber-ry” to each beat.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Jig

▶ A fast dance in compound time. Usually 2 beats in a bar,

with each beat dividing into 3 quavers.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

March

▶ Music with a strong steady pulse with two or four beats in a bar.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Reel

▶ A fast Scottish dance written in simple time with two or four beats in a bar.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Scotch Snap

▶ A very short accented note before a longer note.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Simple Time

▶ In simple time meter the beat is divided into groups of two. You can say “co-la”.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Strathspey

▶ A Scottish dance with four beats in a bar and usually featuring the Scotch snap.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Syncopation

▶ Strongly accented notes playing off or against the beat. Syncopation occurs in

all kinds of music.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

Waltz

▶ A slow dance with three beats in a bar in simple time.

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2. RHYTHM / TEMPO

3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE /

FORM

Binary

▶ A form in which the music is made up of two different sections labelled A and B.

Each section may be repeated.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Cadenza

▶ A passage of music which allows soloists to display their technical ability in singing

or playing an instrument. A cadenza is commonly featured in a concerto.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Canon

▶ Strict imitation. Once one part starts to play or sing a melody, another part

enters shortly afterwards with exactly the same melody. Frere Jacques is

often sung this way.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Chorus

▶ The word chorus has two possible meanings:

1. A group of singers, or the refrain between verses

of a song.

1. A group of singers.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Imitation

▶ Where the melody is immediately copied by another instrument or voice.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Middle 8

▶ In popular music, a section which provides a contrast to the opening section.

It is often eight bars long.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Rondo

▶ A B A C A….. A form where the first section (A) keeps returning,

in between different sections – B, C etc.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Ternary

▶ A B A – 3 part form: Section A, followed by a B section which is a different melody,

than a return to the A section.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Theme and Variations

▶ The structure of a piece where the melody is heard (the theme),

then returns several times with variations (changes).

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

Verse and Chorus

▶ A structure/ form popular in many songs. The music of the verse will repeat,

often with different words, and between verses the chorus will normally

repeat and features different music to the verse.

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3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM

4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Backing vocals

▶ Singers who support the lead singer(s), usually by singing in harmony in the background.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Brass Band

▶ A band of brass instruments and percussion.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Distortion

▶ An electronic effect used in rock music to colour the sound of an electric guitar.

It gives a 'fuzzy' sound rather than the usual clean sound.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Harpsichord

▶ A keyboard instrument which looks like a small grand piano.

Popular in the Baroque period.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Instruments

▶ You will be expected to name and identify a wide range of musical instruments.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Muted

▶ Using a device which reduces the volume or alters the sound of an instrument.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Reverb

▶ An electronic effect which can give the impression of different hall acoustics.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

Wind Band

▶ A band with woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

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4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS

5. STYLES

Aria

▶ A solo song sung in an operatic style.

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5. STYLES

African Music

▶ Much African music features voices and/or African drums.

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5. STYLES

Baroque

▶ The name given to a style of music composed during the period 1600-1750

approximately. The harpsichord was a popular instrument during this period.

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5. STYLES

Bothy Ballad

▶ A folk song, usually with many verses, from north-east Scotland.

Usually tells a story of farm life, and is generally sung a capella.

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5. STYLES

Celtic Rock

▶ A style of music that mixes Celtic folk music and rock together.

Instruments featured can include electric guitar and drum kit.

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5. STYLES

Classical

▶ A term used to refer to music composed during the period 1750-1810

approximately; the era of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The piano was a

popular Classical instrument.

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5. STYLES

Concerto

▶ A work for solo instrument and orchestra, e.g. a flute concerto is written for

flute and orchestra.

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5. STYLES

Gospel

▶ Music written with religious lyrics, often in praise or thanksgiving to God.

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5. STYLES

Indian

▶ Music from India which uses instruments such as the sitar and tabla.

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5. STYLES

Minimalism

▶ A development in the second half of the 20th century based on short musical ideas

which are constantly repeated with very slight changes each time.

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5. STYLES

Mouth Music

▶ Unaccompanied songs with Gaelic or nonsense words, normally sung for

ceilidh dances.

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5. STYLES

Opera

▶ A drama set to music with soloists, chorus, acting, and orchestral

accompaniment.

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5. STYLES

Pibroch

▶ Music for solo bagpipe, in theme and variation form, and

with grace notes.

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5. STYLES

Ragtime

▶ A style of jazz music which became popular at the end of the 19th

century. Usually played on the piano and featuring syncopated rhythms

and a vamped accompaniment.

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5. STYLES

Rapping

▶ Rhyming lyrics that are spoken and performed in time to a beat.

Rapping is popular in hip-hop music.

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5. STYLES

Reggae

▶ Reggae music was developed in the late 1960s in Jamaica.

It has quite a distinctive sound and has the characteristic of

strong accents on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar.

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5. STYLES

Romantic

▶ The Romantic period developed from 1810-1900 approximately. During this time

orchestras grew in size and music become more expressive and emotional.

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5. STYLES

Scots Ballad

▶ A Scottish song which tells a story. Examples of Scots ballads are 'Flower of

Scotland' and 'Loch Lomond'.

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5. STYLES

Swing

▶ A jazz style which started in the 1930s and was performed by a big band.

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5. STYLES

Symphony

▶ A large work for orchestra, usually in four movements.

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5. STYLES

Waulking Song

▶ A rhythmic song sung in Gaelic by the women in the Western Isles of Scotland

while they waulked woollen cloth to soften and shrink it. It is usually sung a

capella, features call and response, and a beat in the background.

▶ Click to watch video.

5. STYLES