Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about musical terms. Questions about symbols should use the "notation" tag.
2
votes
1answer
27 views
What is the difference between accented and unaccented notes?
how can I tell the difference between an accented and unaccented note?
(I am doing grade 8 ABRSM & Trinity theory, any tips?)
1
vote
1answer
56 views
Naming of common Instrumental groupings
I am aware that I cannot expect absolute, definitive answers but there appears to be some common patterns. Are the following reasonably reliable and what can be added?
Clarification: I am primarily ...
-2
votes
0answers
30 views
Interval terminology vis-a-vis 'exotic' chords [migrated]
Your quality standards are incomprehensible to me.
What's wrong with asking a question about interval descriptions and including examples of what I believe to be the answer?
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Is there a formal name for tones occurring at the same instant?
I am not talking about chords. Imagine a score with two staffs (e.g. for piano) and let's say 2 voices. In the first measure on the upper staff we have some chord (let's say it consists of 4 notes) ...
6
votes
6answers
2k views
Which 'Scale' A Song is In
A month or two ago, I participated in a school music programme, where I was playing guitar. The chord progression I was playing was in the key of C. Then our music teacher comes, and asks in which ...
3
votes
1answer
28 views
Do the Italian names for tempo translate directly the same way as they did when they were first named?
I am curious to know, do the words for tempo translate nowadays in the same way that they did when they were named. So for example, Andante is walking, Allegro is cheerful and Adagio is slowly, but ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
What does the word “Grand” in a title of a piece of music (by e.g. Beethoven or Chopin) mean?
Chopin wrote four "grandes valses brillantes" (Opera 18, 34) and Beethoven wrote a sonata (Opus 13) that the publisher called a "grande sonate pathétique".
What is the sense of the word "grand" in ...
4
votes
2answers
560 views
What instrument is an “alto” string part in a score?
In the music score below, the bottom five parts seem to be string parts. We think the first two are violins, the last is string bass, and the second-last is cello. But what is the third-last? Is it a ...
2
votes
2answers
41 views
What is the name of the default articulation?
Is there a term for the "default" articulation that is played when no articulation symbols are present? When the note is played for nearly its full duration value, but with just a tiny rest to ...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
Is there a term for tablature with numerals placed between the lines?
In most of tablature notation for fretted instruments, each line represents a string and the numerals, representing the frets where to stop the string, are printed on the respective lines.
However, ...
2
votes
1answer
41 views
Terminology used when a high note in a sentence is sung like a flasetto
In many pop songs I've listened to, when the singer touches the high notes in a line, it is sung like a falsetto.
For example, in this cover of Hello by Conor Maynard, the chorus starts from 1:14. ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
What genre of music is this? Is there a technical term or name for this structure?
I noticed that I made my favourite own tracks with this technic:
take an ostinato build from a 4 bar phrase, repeat it over and over
after a little repetition
take a pure chord progression (Chord ...
3
votes
2answers
97 views
What's the term for the place where the singer stops singing and lets the orchestra playing instrumentally?
I'm looking for the term (jargon) that used in music or orchestra and says where the singer stops singing and lets the orchestra playing instrumentally. What's it called?
4
votes
2answers
119 views
How a chord is analyzed as a “chromatic mediant of the V”?
In the video How To Analyze Songs from the channel 12 tone, the guy wisely separates the task of labeling from analyzing. There's a comment where he lists some possible analysis options of the label ...
2
votes
2answers
75 views
What's another name for the sostenuto pedal?
Every pedal except the sostenuto pedal also has an English name. Sostenuto means "sustained" in Italian, according to Wikipedia.
Another reason for an English word to replace the word "sostenuto" is ...
2
votes
2answers
37 views
Cyclic integration in music
In a book that I'm reading there is a term called cyclic integration, as follows:
In the genres that are the main carriers of classical sonata-form evolution, Mozart began to achieve a marked ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a term for when a lyric is sung and then an instrument (sound) is played to mimic the lyric?
Is there a term for when a phrase in a song, i.e., "shivers down my spine" as in Bohemian Rhapsody, after that phrase is sung, a tinkling or some kind of sound is made with an instrument, to mimic "...
9
votes
1answer
619 views
Does a walking bass line usually consist of chord tones?
Do we define a walking bass by it consisting of mainly chord tones? So it's just a skeleton of a chord progression? What if it wasn't just chord tones, would it still be considered a walking bass line ...
4
votes
1answer
99 views
How is this type of chord progression notation called?
In France, a lot of guitar/bass (pop/jazz) musicians use a graphical way of representing a songs chord progression.
It is called the "grid" ( translation of "grille"?) of a song.
It looks like this (...
2
votes
2answers
79 views
Naming convention for sheet music?
As far as I can tell there are two different types of sheet music/tablature (there are most likely a whole lot more variations, but for my purposes) where one type aims to let you play your instrument ...
6
votes
4answers
667 views
In a rhythm, what word best describes the duration of an on/off beat cycle?
I'm writing some software that composes drum-lines.
I'm looking for a word that describes the lowest unique combination of down- and up-beats.
Eg: Let's say the following are quarter notes:
(Disco ...
6
votes
1answer
54 views
Is there a specific term for the orchestral bursts in The Firebird?
In Stravinsky's Firebird, during the Danse Infernale section, there are several very short, jarring bursts from the orchestra. These bursts have an unusual dynamic quality in that the attack is not at ...
1
vote
0answers
54 views
Term for chorus that sounds like pre-chorus
I'm not good with musical terms, but I like to listen to songs that have odd and strange parts while maintaining "good" structure.
There's a song called Remember Me by Oh My Girl. To my ear, the ...
-3
votes
1answer
78 views
Odd and Even Harmonic Theory [closed]
I've been thinking of ways to harmonize melodies. One of my ways is to not think in terms of the seven diatonic chords, but to just think of in terms of "odd chords" and "even chords".
Let's say we ...
1
vote
2answers
94 views
What makes a note “high” or “low”?
I've heard people talk about "high C" and "low C". What classifies a note as a "high" or "low" note? Also, what's above the high notes?
6
votes
2answers
83 views
Other than scale-degree 7, do other scale degrees have names for their altered forms?
In a major key, we have names for all seven scale degrees:
Tonic
Supertonic
Mediant
Subdominant
Dominant
Submediant
Leading Tone
To this we can add the subtonic, scale-degree ♭7 that rests a whole ...
9
votes
4answers
3k views
What do “bars” mean?
I am trying to understand the meaning of the word "bars".
I will give a couple examples:
In an interview the rapper 50 Cent mentioned that when he was coming up "he just rapped", he "didn't ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
Can a song be in the chromatic scale?
I noticed that Entry of the Gladiators is said to be in C major scale but I was wondering if it could be in the chromatic scale since it uses all the notes. And if not, are there examples of songs ...
8
votes
2answers
726 views
What's the exact difference between modulation, key change and tonicisation?
I've always regarded a key change as the use of a completely different set of notes for the following music - definitely in a different key. Was in C, now is in C#, with no reason to suppose a return.
...
0
votes
2answers
242 views
What do you call the short sections at the ends of pieces?
How would you characterize the short section at the end of a piece of music (climax)?
What do you think is its function?
1
vote
0answers
53 views
To imagine music & to understand the becoming of a musical idea [closed]
Nice to meet you. This is my first post here, so I begin with a short introduction:
In 2013 I started the Goaganesh Project, inspired to make electronic music primarily by my admiration for the ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
What is this string/violin technique called?
In this song, from 2:40 to 2:41, the strings play a series of very short notes. It sounds almost like vibrato. I hear this string technique quite often in orchestral music. Is there a name for this ...
2
votes
3answers
186 views
Can the idea of “modulation” be applied outside of harmony?
If you have a "pivot motif", which shares, for example, rhythmic properties of theme A and theme B, and is used to move between the two themes, could you consider this a modulation? What other ...
1
vote
3answers
160 views
What does 'angular' mean?
I quote uses of 'angular' and 'angularity' in The Rough Guide to Classical Music (2010 5 ed).
Some uses of 'angular'
p. 286 Bottom, Right Column
Korngold’s Symphony (1952) is the most ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
Why is 'musique concrète' called 'concrète'? [closed]
This post defines it, but doesn't expound its etymology. This website doesn't either:
The idea behind Musique Concrète is that the composer begins with a set of “concrete” sounds and arranges them ...
5
votes
2answers
706 views
Term for two differently named chords that contain the same notes
Is there a musical term for two different chords that contain the same notes?
E.g., Bdim7 is B D F A♭ and Ddim7 is D F A♭ B. They both have the same notes but their names are different.
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How does 'meter' differ from 'rhythm' in music?
The following introductory books' definitions don't distinguish meter from rhythm. Please see the titled question. I asked this on Music Fans, but I still don't understand. Please expound more plainly?...
7
votes
2answers
220 views
What is circle picking for guitar?
I just heard a term describing a picking technique for guitar that I hadn't heard before. Can anyone enlighten me as to what circle picking actually is?
2
votes
2answers
53 views
Names of textual chord notation systems
I use three types of textual chord notation. For example in the key of C:
Nashville number system: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim
I ii iii IV V vi viiØ or I IIm IIIm IV V VIm VIIØ
What do you ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
Is there a name for when the notes of a bass guitar slowly go up and down
There is a thing I have noticed in a bunch of songs where the bass guitar plays slowly and the notes go up then down and back up again.
This is one example I found where it's pretty clear but I have ...
3
votes
5answers
136 views
Is interval always related to a scale?
Is music interval always a concept in terms of scales and do we always have to take the first note as tonic? What would be the interval between D note and E note in C major scale?
2
votes
1answer
99 views
Is there a term for songs that have a “surprise change” in their rhythm? [duplicate]
There are many songs that begin with a repeating beat/instrumental that implies a certain rhythm (let’s call it “Rhythm A”), but then when a later instrument enters the song, it turns out that the ...
8
votes
2answers
486 views
What do we call a chord progression that doesn't have a tonic chord?
I came up with a chord progression the other day:
Fm7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 G7
It's clearly in C minor. But instead of resolving to Cm, I was looping through it. What catched my attention was that it ...
10
votes
3answers
5k views
What’s that U shaped metal thing needed for tuning called?
There is this metal thing shaped as a 'U'; you hit it against something and put it against your ear to hear this sound. I'm not sure what it's called but I need it to tune the A string on my violin.
0
votes
3answers
128 views
Is there a name for talking-in-tune singing?
I've been listening to Roger Waters (from Pink Floyd) and quite often his vocalising doesn't seem close enough to singing to actually call it singing. His vocalising for Pink Floyd is usually singing, ...
1
vote
2answers
90 views
Terminology - note or tone?
For the 2,000th theory question! The leading note is often called the leading tone, albeit being one semitone below the root note. Why has it been called thus? It can't be right!
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Terms for 4, 8 and 16 bar sections?
Are there specific musical terms describing time structure like 4 bar sections, 8 bar sections, 16 etc.?
5
votes
1answer
650 views
What is the difference between legato and portamento?
On Wikipedia Legato means: [...] the player makes a transition from note to note with no intervening silence. [...]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legato
On Wikipedia Portamento means: [...]...
4
votes
2answers
163 views
Meaning of 'Section Work'?
Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra is one of the best jazz
orchestras in existence, a powerhouse outfit whose precise section
work is enhanced by thrilling soloists.
Please define '...
2
votes
1answer
450 views
“Break” vs “Breakdown” meaning (EDM)
when referring to electronic dance music structure, is there any difference between the terms "break" and "breakdown"?
A breakdown for sure is that section where kick/main bass are muted and the song ...
