Dotted notes Whatever the time signature may be, a dot after any note always makes it half as long again.
Escape Note A non-harmonic note or tone (outside of the currently played chord) - compare changing note.
Grace Note without Stroke If a grace note has no stroke through it, it is played for full value of the note, however the note that follows is played at half it's normal value.
Grace Note A grace note is a small note with a stroke through it. It is quickly played before playing the full length note.
Changing Note An unaccented and non-harmonic note that is passed by on the way to play a major third interval, most commonly in a downwards direction.
Note each clear, sustained level of sound.
Perfect pitch being able to immediately find the required level of sound for any note without any help.
Scale the ladder of sound from any note to its octave .
Rhythm all tunes have rhythm. Sometimes the rhythm is free flowing, but more often it is measured with a regularly occuring Pulse. The pulse is not like the ticking of a clock: there is a physical tension and relaxation in it. Unfortunately, we often lose this effortless continuity when learning to 'keep time' in music. In the early stages of keeping time, a measured rhythm can be Counted where each syllable is given a rhythmical pattern of long notes and short notes.
rf, sf, sfz When any of these markings indicate that notes recieve special emphasis.
Rest / Rests Rests last for the same number of beats as the notes which they replace. A rest in a bar or measure is a period of time where no note is played.
Relative major and minor the major and minor keys that share the same notes in that key.
Quaver Americans use eighth note.
Semibreve Americans use 'whole note'.
Pentatonic can apply to a tune founded on any five notes
Pause Also known as a hold, or hold sign, this symbol indicates that the note or rest it marks is to be held longer than normal. It may also mark the end of a piece. It looks like an eyebrow over (or under) an eye.
Octave Sign An octave sign (8ve__________|) shown over notes means to play or sing these notes an octave higher. When it is under notes, then play or sing the notes an octave lower.
Nota Cambiata See Changing Note
Nonchord tone See escape note.
Natural Sign This contradicts (naturalizes) a sharp (#) or flat (b) -- the note marked becomes a 'natural' note. If affects all notes in the same position which follow in the bar .
Tie or Bind A tie or bind is a curved line above or below two notes which serves to add the value of these two notes together. Note that both notes must be in the same position on the staff.
A tie joins two notes of the same pitch: it can be confused with a slur, which links together notes of a different pitch. Tied notes always sound like one continuous note.
Vibrato the effect of vibrating a note
Unison This word is written above music in which more than one section play or sing the same notes together, usually on a melody.
Triplet Three notes to be fitted into the time of two. Other numbers of notes may be grouped in the same way, but of course would then not be named a 'triplet'. For example, two notes played over three beats is called a couplet or duplet.
Tremolo Tremolo is to trill or shake a note. They can be represented by trill, a shake, mordents, and turns. These are a type of music ornamentation.
Toccata An important type of early keyboard music characterized by rapid, repeated notes, designed to 'show off' the instrument, composer, and the performer.
Time Values Crotchet : Americans use 'quarter note '. Minum : Americans use 'half note '.
Crotchets and minums have their stems going upwards on the right of the note when the pitch is below the middle line of the stave, and downwards on the left for notes that are above the middle line. Semibreve : Americans use 'whole note'.
The semibreve lasts as long as two minums or four crotchets. Quaver : Americans use eighth note
a note that is half as long as a quarter note. There are eight eighth notes to a whole note. A single eighth note is written with the tail to the right of the stem, whether the stem goes up or down. Two eighth notes together have their tails joined.
Time Signature A time signature is a device which shows how to count the time patterns in any bar. It is represented by either two numbers, a 'c', or 'c' with a vertical line through it. This is usually shown at the beginning of staves. These symbols give the number of beats to a bar.
Concerning the two numbers, the lower number represents the unit of time: it is written according to its value in terms of a semibreve. The number of top of a time-signature shows how many units there are to the bar.
The time signature is written on the stave just before the first note of the tune. A time signature with four quarter notes to the bar is written 4/4 (common time, also represented by a 'C'). The time signature for songs with two quarter notes to the bar is written 2/4, etc.
Time Pattern a rhythmical pattern in long notes and short notes. The time pattern of any song can be written above it's words in the musical notation for long notes and short notes.
Melodic Interval the distance in pitch between two notes. A stepwise movement up or down is the melodic interval of a second.
Strain In music, a strain is a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence.
Staccato A note marked with a dot above or below it is meant to be played in a short manner, like the way you would touch a hot iron. If the staccato notes are slurred, they are to be played less shortly, but still separated by silent spaces.
Sostenuto Playing or singing smoothly, applied to a movement or passage and giving each note its full value: used in written music to show how a piece, or part of a piece, should be performed.
Also used in a passage to indicate the tones of said passage are to be somewhat prolonged or protracted.
Snap A so-called Scotch snap is a short note before a dotted note, which in traditional playing is generally exaggerated rhythmically for musical expression.
Slur The curved line linking two notes. Notes that are slurred are always sung or played very smoothly and expressively, with a gentle stress at the beginning of the slur, and a gentle relaxation at the end of it. Slurs also indicate 'bowing' for stringed instruments, and can indicate proper 'phrasing' for a sequence of notes.
Signs On The Staves There are four common signs used on the staves. They are the treble , or G clef, the bass clef , or F clef, the alto clef (the C CLEF on the middle line), and the tenor (the C CLEF on the second from top line). Each of these clefs were originally letters, indicating which note on the staff was that note.
Sharp Sign A sharp sign (#) raises or 'sharpens' a note. It affects all notes in the same position which follow in the bar. Written immediately after the clef , it is a part of the key signature .
Dash A dash is like a staccato note , but it is meant to be played even more abruptly. It looks like an apostophe above or below a note (').
Accent an audible stress to a note, shown by the sign >, ^, or v.
Accidental any sharp, flat, or natural that is not given in the key signature. An accidental in front of a note applies as often as the note is repeated at that particular octave during the remainder of the bar it is in. In the bar that comes after accidental sharps or flats is usual to find 'warning' to contradict the accidentals in the previous bar.
Alto Clef The C clef giving the position of the note middle C on the middle line of the staff.
Alto The lowest voices of women and boys. Also instruments which play the notes of these voices.
A vocal line in choir music that is usually for mezzo-sopranos
Arpeggio The notes of the chord are sounded quickly on after the other starting with the lowest note, and going up.
Basso continuo (Italian) Also called 'continuo' or 'figured bass'. Basso continuo is a system for notating chords developed thorugh the 16th century and popular through the 17th century. Basso continuo is in many ways similar to modern chord notation, but there are also important differences. In basso continuo the bass line is notated in standard notation, while other chord notes might be indicated with numbers and other symbols below the bass note.
Bass The lower voices of men. Also instruments which play the notes of these voices.
Breve Twice a whole note (or semibreve.) The breve is the longest note. It is not often found except in church music.
Broken Chord A chord where the notes are not played all at once but rather separated.
C Clef The alto clef or tenor clef which give the position of the note middle C. In an alto clef it is the center line. In a tenor clef it is the second line from the top.
Chord / Chords The sound of three or more notes being played together. There is some debate over whether two notes played together could be a chord. Some dictionaries will say it is, others that only three notes together is a chord.
Chromatic Refers to note going up or down a semitone.
Clef Literally means 'key', it's a symbol at the beginning of a staff that denotes the pitch of the notes.
Compound Time signatures with a dotted note beat. In simple time the beat is divided into two. In compound time the beat is divided into three.
Crotchet Americans use 'quarter note'.
Minum Americans use 'half note'.
Diatonic the seven note scale with its octave. The steps of a diatonic scale are not all the same size. The distance between B and C, and between E and F, is half the size of the other steps.
Double Flat Sign A double flat sign (bb) further flattens a note which is already flat .
Double Sharp Sign This further sharpens a note which is already sharp.
Echappee See Escape Note.
Eco (Italian 'echo') when a group of notes is played again, usually at a lower volume, to create an echo effect
Fermata (Italian 'pause') Instruction to hold a note a bit longer
Flat Sign A flat sign (b) lowers or 'flattens' a note. It affects all notes in the same position which follow in the bar. Written immediately after the clef, it is part of the key signature.
Frequency the number of vibrations per second. A high note has a greater frequency than a low note. The lowest note of a piano has an approximate frequency of 30: the highest note has an approximate frequency of 4000.
Interval The space between two notes.
Key Signatures A grouping of sharp or flat signs placed immediately after the clef on the lines of the staff. Unless contradicted (cancelled) by natural signs, they affect every note with the same name as the ones marked.
Leap the gap between the two last notes
Major Interval The interval between the keynote of a major scale and the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, or 7th of that scale.
Abbreviations 'Musical Shorthand' used when part or all of a piece of music is to be played or sung more than once. Other abbreviations are used for notes or groups of notes which are to be played or sung more than once.
Melody a sequence notes of different pitches that form a musical piece
