Music KS3 Vocab
MELODY:
- Pitch (High or Low)
- Range (Wide or Narrow)
- Sequence (Ascending or Descending)
- Scalic or Broken Chords
- Steps or Leaps
- Ornaments
- Ostinato
- Leaps / Intervals
ARTICULATION:
- Strummed
- Finger-picked
- Sustained (held notes)
- Staccato (short & spiky)
- Legato (smooth)
- Slurred (notes joined together)
- Pizzicato (plucked strings)
- Arco (bowed strings)
- Accents (played with emphasis)
DYNAMICS:
- Pianissimo (pp) – very quiet
- Piano (p) – quiet
- Mezzopiano (mp) – medium quiet
- Mezzoforte (mf) – medium loud
- Forte (f) – loud
- Fortissimo (ff) – very loud
- Crescendo (gradually get louder)
- Diminuendo (gradually get quieter)
TEMPO & METRE:
- Tempo = Speed
- Metre = number of beats in a bar (time signature e.g. 4/4)
- Accellerando – gradually get faster
- Rallentando – gradually get slower
- Allegro – fast & lively
- Andante – walking pace
- Adagio – slow and stately
STRUCTURE:
- Sections
- Order
- Repetition/Repeats
- Ternary Form = ABA
- 12 Bar Blues
- Introduction
- Verse
- Chorus
- Bridge
- Outro
- Strophic (Verse Form)
HARMONY:
- Major Chord
- Minor Chord
- Root Position
- Inversion
- Consonant (fits together)
- Dissonant (clashes)
- Added notes (e.g. C7 chord)
- Harmonic Rhythm (how many chords per bar)
- Drone
- Pedal Note
- Blue Notes
INSTRUMENTATION:
- Strings- violin / viola / cello / double bass / harp
- Woodwind – flute/ oboe / clarinet / bassoon
- Brass – trumpet / french horn / trombone / tuba
- Percussion – timpani / snare / cymbals / glockenspiel / xylophone
- Voices – Soprano / Alto / Tenor / Bass
- Keyboards – piano / keyboard / organ / synthesiser
- Rock/Pop
RHYTHM:
- Duration (long or short notes)
- Even or uneven note lengths
- Dotted rhythms
- Triplets
- Syncopation
- Which beat of the bar?
- Rests
- Pauses
- Rhythmic Ostinato
TEXTURE:
- Thick
- Thin
- Sparse
- Dense
- Melody + Accompaniment
- Countermelody
- Unison
- Imitation
- Call & Response
