Music Glossary

 

 

The purpose of this online Music Glossary is to help students learn the meanings of these musical words by comparing different definitions from various sources, and then constructing their own meaning for the words, rather than just rote memorizing a given definition. The comments in red are from Mr. McDade. The comments are meant to help students further refine and clarify their definitions. Some words have definitions from more than one pair of students - this is so students learn how to evaluate their own work and compare their work to others. We also have group discussions about different definitions, to help refine the definitions and make them more accurate.

 

 

Please check back on this page in the future for visual aids and sound examples of these musical words!

 

 

This online musical glossary has been compiled by several 4th & 5th Gr. Music classes in our school, using the following resources:

 

The Austin Symphony Glossary of Popular Music Terms

 

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Kids - Music Dictionary

 

Capistrano School, CA Glossary of Musical Terms

 

Classics for Kids Musical Dictionary

 

Essentials of Music 

 

Making Music textbooks, pub. by Silver Burdett/Pearson-Scott Foresman

Copyright  2005, Pearson Education, Inc.

 

Music Glossary

 

 

 

All external links are intended for educational purposes only. The Francis Howell School District and its employees are not responsible for content that is objectionable outside of this site.

 

 

Work Pages (need invite key to edit)

 

 

Musical Glossary

 

(note to viewers: this musical glossary is a work in progress. The definitions are conceived & written by students & may not be completely accurate, hence the comments in red by Mr. McDade. Also, spelling may not always be accurate.)

 

 

 

a cappella -

 

accelerando -

 

accent - shows that one note should be sung or played differently than others; should stand out Jacklyn & Tess 5th  How does an accented note stand out? Is it louder? softer? longer? shorter? stronger sounding? see 3rd Gr. book, p. 208-209; 4th Gr. book, p. 210-211, 5th Gr. book p. 172-173 - listen to "Infernal Dance" by I. Stravinsky - Mr. McD

 

accidental - a mark placed before a note that will change the pitch by 1 or 2 half steps. Jacklyn & Tess 5th  Give examples; what are the three most common accidentals?; what kind of accidentals change the pitch by two 1/2 steps? see 5th Gr. book. p. 191 - Mr. McD

 

 

accompaniment - a part added to a musician's piece of music that is less important and is usually played by the piano. It enhances the music. Jacklyn & Tess 5th  Is an accompaniment more important for providing rhythm, melody, or harmony to a piece of music? see 3rd Gr. book, p. 36 - listen to "Make New Friends"; 4th Gr. book, p. 36; 5th Gr. book, p. 418 - listen to "I Vow To You, My Country"  - Mr. McD

 

acoustic -

 

aerophone (give an example-Mr. McD) -

 

arrangement -

 

articulation -

 

band (concert band) -

 

Backbeat-A constent rhythem that has an accent on beats 2 and 4.by:Mackenzie and Alison  good! what style(s) of music use a backbeat in their rhythm? see 5th Gr. book, p. 215 - Mr. McD 

 

Ballad -A short poem in song form which tells a story; Folk ballad, popular Ballad (who wrote this def.? - Spomer 5th or Ekstrom 4th)  How have ballads been important to the history and culture of groups of people, tribes, countries, etc.? Mr. McD

 

Ballad- a poem telling of music (?). singers usally learn these poems from each other are they poems or songs? what makes a ballad different than other songs? see 3rd Gr. book, p. 352; 4th Gr. book, p. 274; 5th Gr. book, p. 230

 

Ballad- A short verse or poem that is turned into a short song. By: Alison and Mackenzie 4th grade  is a Ballad always short? Mr. McD.

 

Beat -A rhythimic (sp) pattern of music which can sometimes set the time (?) a note is played. By Brittney and Erica 5th  Is a beat a pattern, or something steady and constant? see 3rd Gr. book, p. 10; 4th Gr. book, p. 12; 5th Gr. book, p. 12 - Mr. McD.

 

Beat- A rythemice (sp) pattern that is counted by time.  by:Mackenzie and Alison 4th  see comments on "Beat" above Mr. McD

 

Blues- 20th centruy jazz (? jazz what? Mr. McD) made by African Americans with a 12 bar form and harmonic structure ; uses flatted 3rds and 7th notes. by: Hailee and Alexis 5th  what other musical charcteristics make Blues music unique? how is Blues music important to other styles of American music? in which geographical part of the USA did Blues music 1st develop? did Blues 1st develop in urban or rural areas? see 5th Gr. book, Mr. McD

 

call & response: a style, that (grammer) a lead singer is imitated by the chorus By Kayla and Reesa   a style of what? song, music? Mr. McD

 

canon: a combination of melodys played at different times. By Reesa and Kayla does a canon use different melodies, or one melody played at different times? Mr. McD

 

ceremonial music -

 

choir -

 

chord: 3 or more notes played together at the same time By Kayla & Reesa good! what are the two most common kinds of chords? Mr. McD

 

chord progression -

 

chordophone (give an example-Mr. McD) -

 

Chorus- 1. A group of singers or their music. good! also known as a ____ ? Mr. McD

                2. The section of the song that is repeated. By Erica and Brittiney  good! also known as the ____ of a song? Mr. McD

 

Chorus- The music for a group of singers or a group of singers its self  by allison  & jessica  for the 1st part of your definition, what part of the music is a chorus? see #2 above - Mr. McD

 

chromatic -

 

Classical music -

 

Coda- a part added to the final piece of music that gives the sound feeling <- where did you see that? Mr. McD.

by jessica and allison

 

composer -

 

Concerto- A piece of music written for 1 or more performers played with an orchestra.-BY ANNA AND RANEY- 5th grade good! what are the most common solo instruments that classical composers have written concertos for? Have jazz composers ever written concertos for solo instruments? Mr. McD

 

conductor -

 

Country music -

 

crescendo- a itialian word for slowly growing louder. By:Walker and Jack  does it always happen slowly?  Mr. McD

 

da capo (D.C.) -

 

dal segno (D.S.) -

 

decresendo- a italian word for slowly growing softer. By:Walker and Jack  see crescendo above Mr. McD

 

diatonic-the tones of the major and minor scales. by, fairen and kaitlyn  5th grade  good!  is Diatonic music more common, or not as common in "Western" music (music from  Europe and N. & S. America), as compared to music from Asia & Africa? Mr. McD

 

duet - two people preforming a composition. by kaitlyn and fairen 5th grade  good!  can a composition written for two people/instruments also be called a duet? Mr. McD

 

dynamics - the loudness or softness in music. by, fairen and  Kaitlyn   good! Mr. McD

 

dynamics - one of the elements of music which means pitches getting louder or softer in music.By:Walker and Jack   is it only pitches? what about rhythms? Mr. McD

 

elements of music -

 

Ensemble: a group of preformers singing or playing an instrument together Varun & Rees 5th Gr. good!  what's the biggest number of people that can make up an ensemble? Is an orchestra an ensemble?

 

expression -

 

fermata -

 

Fingering:the use of fingers playing a piano/keyboard, stringed or woodwind instrament By: morgan, michael 4 grade good! how are Fingerings shown on a piece of music? Mr. McD

 

Fine: where a composition ends when there is a repet of some section of music. by: morgan and michel 4 grade  does a Coda always repeat a section of the music? Mr. McD

 

folk song -

 

Form: a pattern of music most likely in a piece of music Matthew & Payton 4th Gr.  this definition needs some more work - Mr. McD 

 

 

Form:A plane piece of  music in oder of same and different ideas. By Michael and Morgan 4 Grade  this definition needs some more work - Mr. McD

 

Forte: an Italian term for loud Varun & Rees 5th Gr  good! Mr. McD 

 

genre (style) -

 

Harmony - a combination of two or more pitches or musical parts being played at the same time. Tosto 5th this definition was written collaboratively by Mrs. Tosto's 5th Gr. class

 

idiophone (give an example-Mr. McD) -

 

improvise (improvisation) -

 

instrument families (list them) -

 

Jazz music - A style of music that was born out of blues music created by african amrican in the 20th centrey that involvs syncapation, (sp) imporvation, (sp) and haromnics. (sp) By Zach,Garrett   what other musical styles were part of the creation of Jazz music? where did this happen? what kind of harmonies are used in Jazz? in which part of the 20th century was Jazz the most popular musical style in America? what style of music replaced Jazz as the most popular in America? how has Jazz influenced other styles of music? Mr. McD

 

Key- A scale,or peace of music wich is based. by:Nicky and Jonathan 5th grade this definition needs more work - Mr. McD

 

key signature -

 

keyboard instrument -

 

legato-a line of long, tied notes that are smooth and graceful. by: Austin & Jason 4th Gr.  are the notes always long & tied? Mr. McD

 

Legato- It tells a preformer/singer to play the notes smoothly and connected. By: Nicole and Alison 5th grade.  Good! 

 

lullaby -

 

lyrics -

 

Marcato- Music performed with stressed or accented notes. Collin and Max 5th grade Miss Spomer  Good! 

 

march -

 

Major- A series of whole and half steps. Collin and Max 5th grade Miss Spomer  this sounds like a definition for a Major scale; are a Major scale & a Major chord the same thing? Mr. McD

 

Measure- A grouping of beats set off by bar lines. Collin and Max 5th grade Miss Spomer  is there another way to word "set off by bar lines"? Mr. McD

 

Melody:  1. a tune; melodies are one pitch at a time on a line; the pitches can move up, or down, or repeat

                    2. a line of pitches that move one at a time, which can move up, down or repeat, creating a tune 5th Gr. Miss 

                     Spomer  these two definitions were written collaboratively by Mrs. Spomer's 5th Gr. class

 

membranaphone (give an example-Mr. McD)

 

meter -

 

MIDI -

 

motif (motive) -

 

notation -

 

orchestra -

 

Ostinato- A short repeaed phrase or rythym in a harmony patern. By:Kevink and forth"?  and Caleb    is an ostinato always "in a harmony pattern"? Mr. McD

 

overture -

 

pentatonic scale -

 

phrase -

 

piano -

 

pitch -

 

popular music (pop music) -

 

quartet -

 

Ragtime: a piano style created by African Americans that was popular in the late 19th century. by:5th grade brooke and morgan  what are the musical characteristics of Ragtime? who is the most well known composer of Ragtime music? did Ragtime have any influence on the development of other musical styles? Mr. McD

 

rest -

 

Rhythm: A pattern of long and short sounds and rests put into groups, that happens over time. 5th Gr. Mrs. Kelly  this definition was written collaboratively by Mrs. Kelly's 5th Gr. class

 

Refrain: a part of a song sung the same way everytime it repeats by: brooke and morgan 5th grade  in a typical song, do the verses also repeat like the Refrain does? what's another word for Refrain (look in the "C's" above) Mr. McD

 

Rock 'n Roll -

 

Rondo: a back and forth instrument composistion theme by: brooke and morgan 5th grade  what is meant by "back and forth"? what's an example of a rondo form - is AB a rondo form?  Mr. McD

 

round -

 

sacred -

 

scale -

 

score -

 

sea shanty (or chanty) -

 

secular -

 

sequence -

 

slur -

 

solfege -

 

solo -

 

sonata -

 

spiritual -

 

staccato -

 

staff -

 

string quartet -

 

style (genre) -

 

syncopation -

 

tempo -

 

texture -

 

theme -

 

theme and variation -

 

tie -

 

timbre (tone color) -

 

transpose -

 

trio -

 

unison -

 

waltz -

 

work song -