Visual and Performing Arts: Music Glossary
The music terms defined in this section include only those terms that are blue text in the standards. The definitions explain the context or point of view, from the perspective of the artistic discipline, regarding the use of terms within the standards. The definitions included here are not meant to be an exhaustive list or used as curriculum.
The following defined terms are commonly accepted definitions, most of which are provided by the National Coalition for Core Arts at https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/content/glossary. AB: Musical form consisting of two sections, A and B, which contrast with each other (binary form).
ABA: Musical form consisting of three sections, A, B, and A; two are the same, and the middle one is different (ternary form). analog tools: Category of musical instruments and tools that are non-digital (i.e., do not transfer sound in or convert sound into binary code), such as acoustic instruments, microphones, monitors, and speakers. analysis: (See analyze) analyze: Examine in detail the structure and context of the music. arrangement: Setting or adaptation of an existing musical composition. articulation: Characteristic way in which musical tones are connected, separated, or accented; types of articulation include legato (smooth, connected tones) and staccato (short, detached tones). audience etiquette: Social behavior observed by those attending musical performances and which can vary depending upon the type of music performed beat: Underlying steady pulse present in most music.
chord progression: Series of chords sounding in succession; certain progressions are typical in particular styles/genres of music.
collaboratively: Working together on a common (musical) task or goal. collaboratively developed criteria: Qualities or traits for assessing achievement level that have been through a process of collective decision making. complex formal structure: Musical form in which rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and/or other musical materials undergo significant expansion and development, and may be more distantly related across sections while remaining coherent in some way, such as sonata or other novel design with three or more sections. composer: One who creates music compositions.composition: Original piece of music that can be repeated, typically developed over time, and preserved either in notation or in a sound recording. compositional devices: Tools used by a composer or arranger to create or organize a composition or arrangement, such as tonality, sequence, repetition, instrumentation, orchestration, harmonic/melodic structure, style, and form. compositional procedures: Techniques that a composer initiates and continues in pieces to develop musical ideas, such as fragmentation, imitation, sequencing, variation, aggregate completion, registral saturation, contour inversion of gestures, and rhythmic phrasing. compositional techniques: Approaches a composer uses to manipulate and refine the elements to convey meaning and intent in a composition, such as tension-release, augmentation-diminution, sound-silence, motion-stasis, in addition to compositional devices connection: Relationship among artistic ideas, personal meaning, and/or external context.context: Environment that surrounds music, influences understanding, provides meaning, and connects to an event or occurrence. - context, cultural: Values, beliefs, and traditions of a group of people that influence musical meaning and inform culturally authentic musical practice. - context, historical: Conditions of the time and place in which music was created or performed that provide meaning and influence the musical experience. - context, personal: Unique experiences and relationships that surround a single person and are influenced by personal life, family, habits, interest, and preferences. - context, societal: Surrounding something or someone’s creation or intended audience that reflects and influences how people use and interpret the musical experience. craftsmanship: Degree of skill and ability exhibited by a creator or performer to manipulate the elements of music in a composition or performance. creator: One who originates a music composition, arrangement, or improvisation. criteria: Guidelines used to judge the quality of a student’s performance (See rubric). culturally authentic performance: Presentation that reflects practices and interpretation representative of the style and traditions of a culture. culture: Values and beliefs of a particular group of people, from a specific place or time, expressed through characteristics such as tradition, social structure, religion, art, and food. cyclical structure: Musical form characterized by the return or “cycling around” of significantly recognizable themes, motives, and/or patterns across movements. demonstrate: Show musical understanding through observable behavior such as moving, chanting, singing, or playing instruments.
digital resources: Anything published in a format capable of being read by a computer, a web-enabled device, a digital tablet, or smartphone. digital systems: Platforms that allow interaction and the conversion between and through the audio and digital domains. digital tools: Category of musical instruments and tools that manipulate sound using binary code, such as electronic keyboards, digital audio interfaces, MIDI, and computer software. dynamics: Level or range of loudness of a sound or sounds. elements of music: Basic characteristics of sound (pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, texture, form, and style/articulation) that are manipulated to create music.
ensemble: Group of individuals organized to perform artistic work: traditional, large groups such as bands, orchestras, and choirs; chamber, smaller groups, such as duets, trios, and quartets; emerging, such as guitar, iPad, mariachi, steel drum or pan, and Taiko drumming. established criteria: Traits or dimensions for making quality judgments in music of a particular style, genre, cultural context, or historical period that have gained general acceptance and application over time. expanded form: Basic form (such as AB, ABA, rondo, or theme and variation) expanded by the addition of an introduction, transition, and/or coda. explore: Discover, investigate, and create musical ideas through singing, chanting, playing instruments, or moving to music. expression: Feeling conveyed through music. expressive aspects: Characteristics that convey feeling in the presentation of musical ideas. expressive intent: The emotions, thoughts, and ideas that a performer or composer seeks to convey by manipulating the elements of music. expressive qualities: Qualities such as dynamics, tempo, articulation which--when combined with other elements of music—give a composition its musical identity. form: Element of music describing the overall organization of a piece of music, such as AB, ABA, rondo, theme and variations, and strophic form.
formal design: Large-scale framework for a piece of music in which the constituent parts cohere into a meaningful whole; encompasses both structural and tonal aspects of the piece. function: Use for which music is created, performed, or experienced, such as dance, social, recreation, music therapy, video games, and advertising. fundamentals of music theory: Basic elements of music, their subsets, and how they interact: rhythm and meter; pitch and clefs; intervals; scales, keys and key signatures; triads, and seventh chords. genre: Category of music characterized by a distinctive style, form, and/or content, such as jazz, march, and country.
guidance: Assistance provided temporarily to enable a student to perform a musical task that would be difficult to perform unaided, best implemented in a manner that helps develop that student’s capacity to eventually perform the task independently. harmonic sequences: Series of two or more chords commonly used to support melody(ies).
harmonization: Process of applying stylistically appropriate harmony, such as chords, countermelodies, and ostinato, to melodic material. harmonizing instruments: Musical instruments, such as guitars, ukuleles, and keyboards, capable of producing harmonies as well as melodies, often used to provide chordal accompaniments for melodies and songs. harmony: Chordal structure of a music composition in which the simultaneous sounding of pitches produces chords and their successive use produces chord progressions. historical periods: Period of years during which music that was created and/or performed shared common characteristics; historians of Western art music typically refer to the following: Medieval (ca. 500–ca. 1420), Renaissance (ca. 1420–ca. 1600), Baroque (ca. 1600–ca. 1750), Classic (ca. 1750–ca. 1820), Romantic (ca. 1820–ca. 1900), and Contemporary (ca. 1900–to present). |
iconic notation: Representation of sound and its treatment using lines, drawings, and pictures.
improvisation: Music created and performed spontaneously or “in-the-moment,” often within a framework determined by the musical style. independently: Working with virtually no assistance, initiating appropriate requests for consultation, performing in a self-directed ensemble offering ideas/solutions that make such consulting collaborative rather than teacher-directed. intent: Meaning or feeling of the music planned and conveyed by a creator or performer. interpretation: Intent and meaning that a performer realizes in studying and performing a piece of music. melodic contour: Shape of a melody created by the way its pitches repeat and move up and down in steps and skips.
melodic pattern: Grouping, generally brief, of tones or pitches. melody: Linear succession of sounds (pitches) and silences moving through time; the horizontal structure of music. meter: Grouping of beats and divisions of beats in music, often in sets of twos (duple meter) or threes (triple meter). mood: Overall feeling that a section or piece of music conveys. motive (motif): Brief rhythmic/melodic figure or pattern that recurs throughout a composition as a unifying element. movement: Act of moving in non-locomotor (such as clapping and finger snapping) and locomotor (such as walking and running) patterns to represent and interpret musical sounds. music concepts: Understandings or generalized ideas about music that are formed after learners make connections and determine relationships among ideas. music theory: Study of how music is composed and performed; analysis of the elements of music and the framework for understanding musical works. musical idea: Idea expressed in music, which can range in length from the smallest meaningful level (motive or short pattern) through a phrase, a section, or an entire piece. musical work: Piece of music preserved as a notated copy or sound recording or passed through oral tradition. notation: Visual representation of musical sounds.
perform: Process of realizing artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation.
performance decorum: Aspects of contextually appropriate propriety and proper behavior, conduct, and appearance for a musical performance, such as stage presence, etiquette, and appropriate attire. personally developed criteria: Qualities or traits for assessing achievement level developed by students individually. phrase: Musical segment with a clear beginning and ending, comparable to a simple sentence or clause in written text. phrasing: Performance of a musical phrase that uses expressive qualities such as dynamics, tempo, articulation, and timbre to convey a thought, mood, or feeling. piece: General, non-technical term referring to a composition or musical work. pitch: Identification of a tone or note with respect to highness or lowness (i.e., frequency). present: Share artistic work (e.g., a composition) with others. program: Presentation of a sequence of musical works that can be performed by individual musicians or groups in a concert, recital, or other setting. purpose: Reason for which music is created, such as ceremonial, recreational/social, commercial, or generalized artistic expression. refine: Make changes in musical works or performances to more effectively realize intent through technical quality or expression.
repertoire: Body or set of musical works that can be performed. respond: Understand and evaluate how the arts convey meaning. rhythm: Duration or length of sounds and silences that occur in music; organization of sounds and silences in time. rhythmic passage: Short section or series of notes within a larger work that constitutes a single coherent rhythmic idea. rhythmic pattern: Grouping, generally brief, of long and short sounds and silences.rondo: Musical form consisting of three or more contrasting sections in which one section recurs, such as ABACA. rubric: Established, ordered set of criteria for judging student performance; includes descriptors of student work at various levels of achievement. score: Written notation of an entire music composition.
section: One of a number of distinct segments that together comprise a composition; a section consists of several phrases. select: Choose music for performing, rehearsing, or responding based on interest, knowledge, ability, and context. sensitivity: Skill of a creator, performer, or listener in responding to and conveying the nuances of sound or expression. setting: Specified or implied instrumentation, voicing, or orchestration of a musical work. setting of the text: Musical treatment of text as presented in the music. share: Present artistic work (e.g., a composition) to others. sonic events: Individual sounds (or sound masses) and silences whose succession forms patterns and contrasting units that are perceived as musical. sonic experience: Perception and understanding of the sounds and silences of a musical work and their interrelationship. standard notation: System for visually representing musical sound that is in widespread use; such systems include traditional music staff notation, tablature notation (primarily for fretted stringed instruments), and lead-sheet notation. storyline: Extra-musical narrative that inspires or explains the structure of a piece of music. structural: (See structure). structure: Totality of a musical work. style: Label for a type of music possessing distinguishing characteristics and often performance practices associated with its historical period, cultural context, and/or genre. stylistic expression: Interpretation of expressive qualities in a manner that is authentic and appropriate to the genre, historical period, and cultural context of origin. teacher-provided criteria: Qualities or traits for assessing achievement level that are provided to students by the teacher.
technical accuracy, technical skill: Ability to perform with appropriate timbre, intonation, and diction as well as to play or sing the correct pitches and rhythms at a tempo appropriate to the musical work. technical challenges: Requirements of a particular piece of music that stretch or exceed a performer’s current level of proficiency in technical areas such as timbre, intonation, diction, range, or speed of execution. tempo: Rate or speed of the beat in a musical work or performance. tension and release: Musical device (musical stress, instability, or intensity, followed by musical relaxation, stability, or resolution) used to create a flow of feeling. ternary form: (See ABA). theoretical: (See fundamentals of music theory). timbre: Tone color or tone quality that distinguishes one sound source, instrument, or voice from another. tonality: Tonic or key tone around which a piece of music is centered, such as major or minor. unity: Presence of structural coherence within a work, generally achieved through the repetition of various elements of music (See variety).
variety: Presence of structural contrast within a work for the purpose of creating and sustaining interest, generally achieved through utilizing variations in the treatment of the elements of music (See unity). venue: Physical setting in which a musical event takes place. |