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N4 Music
A-Z Concepts
N4 Music Concepts
You will find the concepts in alphabetical order under the following headings:
1. melody / harmony
2. rhythm / tempo
3. texture / structure / form
4. timbre / dynamics
5. styles
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Arpeggio
▶ Notes of a chord played one after the other.
▶ Click to watch video.
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Atonal
▶ Atonal music has no feeling of key, major or minor. It is very dissonant and
lacks a 'nice' melody and accompaniment.
▶ Click to watch video.
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Broken Chords
▶ In a broken chord, the notes of a chord are played separately.
▶ Click to watch video. Music until 0:09 are broken chords:
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Drone
▶ One note held on or repeated in the bass. A feature of the bagpipes.
▶ Click to watch video
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Major
▶ The music sounds in a major key – often described as having a cheery, happy feel
to it.
▶ Click to watch video
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Minor
▶ The music sounds in a minor key, often described as having a sad or dark sound.
▶ Click to watch video.
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Ornament
▶ An ornament decorates a melody by adding extra notes. Ornaments are
often short and add melodic and rhythmic interest.
▶ Click to watch video.
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Pedal
▶ A note which is sustained or repeated continuously in the bass.
▶ Click to watch video.
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Pentatonic Scale
▶ Any five-note scale. In practice, the most common one is that on which much folk
music is based, particularly Scottish and Celtic.
▶ Click to watch video
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Scat Singing
▶ Nonsense words, syllables and sounds are improvised (made up) by the singer.
Sometimes the singer is imitating the sounds of instruments.
▶ Click to watch video
1. MELODY / HARMONY
Vamp
▶ A rhythmic accompaniment with a bass note played on the beat and a chord
off the beat. Usually played on piano or guitar.
▶ Click to watch video
1. MELODY / HARMONY
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Anacrusis
▶ The notes which appear before the first strong beat of a musical phrase,
particularly at the start of a piece.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Compound Time
▶ The beat is divided into groups of three. You can say “straw-ber-ry” to each beat.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Jig
▶ A fast dance in compound time. Usually 2 beats in a bar,
with each beat dividing into 3 quavers.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
March
▶ Music with a strong steady pulse with two or four beats in a bar.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Reel
▶ A fast Scottish dance written in simple time with two or four beats in a bar.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Scotch Snap
▶ A very short accented note before a longer note.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Simple Time
▶ In simple time meter the beat is divided into groups of two. You can say “co-la”.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Strathspey
▶ A Scottish dance with four beats in a bar and usually featuring the Scotch snap.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Syncopation
▶ Strongly accented notes playing off or against the beat. Syncopation occurs in
all kinds of music.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
Waltz
▶ A slow dance with three beats in a bar in simple time.
▶ Click to watch video.
2. RHYTHM / TEMPO
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE /
FORM
Binary
▶ A form in which the music is made up of two different sections labelled A and B.
Each section may be repeated.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Cadenza
▶ A passage of music which allows soloists to display their technical ability in singing
or playing an instrument. A cadenza is commonly featured in a concerto.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Canon
▶ Strict imitation. Once one part starts to play or sing a melody, another part
enters shortly afterwards with exactly the same melody. Frere Jacques is
often sung this way.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Chorus
▶ The word chorus has two possible meanings:
1. A group of singers, or the refrain between verses
of a song.
1. A group of singers.
▶ Click to watch videos.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Imitation
▶ Where the melody is immediately copied by another instrument or voice.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Middle 8
▶ In popular music, a section which provides a contrast to the opening section.
It is often eight bars long.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Rondo
▶ A B A C A….. A form where the first section (A) keeps returning,
in between different sections – B, C etc.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Ternary
▶ A B A – 3 part form: Section A, followed by a B section which is a different melody,
than a return to the A section.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Theme and Variations
▶ The structure of a piece where the melody is heard (the theme),
then returns several times with variations (changes).
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
Verse and Chorus
▶ A structure/ form popular in many songs. The music of the verse will repeat,
often with different words, and between verses the chorus will normally
repeat and features different music to the verse.
▶ Click to watch video.
3. TEXTURE / STRUCTURE / FORM
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Backing vocals
▶ Singers who support the lead singer(s), usually by singing in harmony in the background.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Brass Band
▶ A band of brass instruments and percussion.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Distortion
▶ An electronic effect used in rock music to colour the sound of an electric guitar.
It gives a 'fuzzy' sound rather than the usual clean sound.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Harpsichord
▶ A keyboard instrument which looks like a small grand piano.
Popular in the Baroque period.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Instruments
▶ You will be expected to name and identify a wide range of musical instruments.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Muted
▶ Using a device which reduces the volume or alters the sound of an instrument.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Reverb
▶ An electronic effect which can give the impression of different hall acoustics.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
Wind Band
▶ A band with woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.
▶ Click to watch video.
4. TIMBRE / DYNAMICS
5. STYLES
Aria
▶ A solo song sung in an operatic style.
▶ Click to watch video
5. STYLES
African Music
▶ Much African music features voices and/or African drums.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Baroque
▶ The name given to a style of music composed during the period 1600-1750
approximately. The harpsichord was a popular instrument during this period.
▶ Click to watch video
5. STYLES
Bothy Ballad
▶ A folk song, usually with many verses, from north-east Scotland.
Usually tells a story of farm life, and is generally sung a capella.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Celtic Rock
▶ A style of music that mixes Celtic folk music and rock together.
Instruments featured can include electric guitar and drum kit.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Classical
▶ A term used to refer to music composed during the period 1750-1810
approximately; the era of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The piano was a
popular Classical instrument.
▶ Click to watch video
5. STYLES
Concerto
▶ A work for solo instrument and orchestra, e.g. a flute concerto is written for
flute and orchestra.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Gospel
▶ Music written with religious lyrics, often in praise or thanksgiving to God.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Indian
▶ Music from India which uses instruments such as the sitar and tabla.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Minimalism
▶ A development in the second half of the 20th century based on short musical ideas
which are constantly repeated with very slight changes each time.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Mouth Music
▶ Unaccompanied songs with Gaelic or nonsense words, normally sung for
ceilidh dances.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Opera
▶ A drama set to music with soloists, chorus, acting, and orchestral
accompaniment.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Pibroch
▶ Music for solo bagpipe, in theme and variation form, and
with grace notes.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Ragtime
▶ A style of jazz music which became popular at the end of the 19th
century. Usually played on the piano and featuring syncopated rhythms
and a vamped accompaniment.
▶ Click to watch video
5. STYLES
Rapping
▶ Rhyming lyrics that are spoken and performed in time to a beat.
Rapping is popular in hip-hop music.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Reggae
▶ Reggae music was developed in the late 1960s in Jamaica.
It has quite a distinctive sound and has the characteristic of
strong accents on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Romantic
▶ The Romantic period developed from 1810-1900 approximately. During this time
orchestras grew in size and music become more expressive and emotional.
▶ Click to watch video
5. STYLES
Scots Ballad
▶ A Scottish song which tells a story. Examples of Scots ballads are 'Flower of
Scotland' and 'Loch Lomond'.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Swing
▶ A jazz style which started in the 1930s and was performed by a big band.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Symphony
▶ A large work for orchestra, usually in four movements.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES
Waulking Song
▶ A rhythmic song sung in Gaelic by the women in the Western Isles of Scotland
while they waulked woollen cloth to soften and shrink it. It is usually sung a
capella, features call and response, and a beat in the background.
▶ Click to watch video.
5. STYLES