I did music 2 however I'll try help regardless
I made this for revision in year 11:
Concepts of music
PITCH
Melody: Contour (shape), tune, intervals
Harmony: Accompaniment, chords, Dissonant/Consonant, Major/Minor/Atonal
Range: Highness and lowness (for the instrument and generally)
Direct movement of pitches
Indefinite and definite pitch
Graphic and traditional notation
Variety of clefs throughout the score
Melodic contour – shape of the melody
Diatonic scales
Other forms of tonality which may include polytonality, bitonality, whole tone, tone row, experimental scale forms, microtonal scales, chromaticism
Diatonic harmony including triads, dominant seventh, secondary sevenths, inversions in both major and minor keys
Modal harmony
Cadences
Modulation and tonicisation
DURATION
Tempo/Time Signature (metre): Speed and beat
Note Values: How spread out the notes are in the bar (ie. Long/short), length of sounds and silences and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, pulse, and absence of pulse
Style: Aspects of rhythm/beat that define the genre (ie. Swing, rock beat , Latino, syncopated (on the off-beat) etc.
Rhythm Patter – the length of a pattern of sounds which is sometimes repeated
Syncopation
use words like: (rhythm) short, medium, long, staccato, detached, rests, semibreve (whole note), minim (half note), crotchet (quarter note), quaver (eighth note), semiquaver (sixteenth note), metronome marks, dotted, triplet; (beat) vivace (very fast), allegro (fast), moderato (moderate), lento (slow), regular pulse, irregular, pause, ritardando (slow down), rallentando (slow down), accelerando (accel) (get faster), dotted rhythms, syncopation, etc
TEXTURE (Layers of sound)
Monophonic (one line/one voice or instrument(s) in unison)
Homophonic: Melody and accompaniment OR one line more important than another
Polyphonic: Many equally important lines
Staggered entry
Tutti
Solos
Individual sections (e.g bass and higher lines/ woodwind and brass, etc)
Influences of articulation
The linear and vertical arrangement of music
The roles of instruments and voices
DYNAMICS
Volume: aspects include the relative softness and loudness of a sound, change of loudness (contrast) and the emphasis on the individual sounds (such as accents), tenuto, marcato, trills, swells, building in sound
AND EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES
Refers to the musical details that articulate a style or interpretation of style.
How the NOTE is played
How the INSTRUMENT is played
Ornamentation
Commonly used terms indicating expression
Tempo, including gradations
Articulation
Phrasing
Stylistic indications
Electronic manipulation of sounds
TONE COLOUR/TIMBRE
The quality of sound describe with adjectives AND identify instruments/voices (eg, coarse, harsh, mellow, pure, clear, bright, dull, dark etc.)
REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING BESIDES STRUCTURE AFFECTS HOW THE NOTE SOUNDS!!!!
Recognition of tone colours of:
Individual voies and instruments
Combinations of voices and instruments
Acoustic sounds
Electronic sounds
Synthesised sounds
Techniques to maniupate tone colour
Commonly used direction for instrumental and vocal techniques
Methods of production of sound
STRUCTURE
Structure relates to the ways in which music sounds the same (or similar) and/or different
The organisation of sound. How all the other concepts of music make the piece fit together.
Macrostructure (overall structure)
Microstructure (structure of smaller sections)
The use of standard patterns
Structures which do not conform to standard patterns
Multimovement structures such as sonata, symphony, suite, concerto
Expressive techniques examples
How the INSTRUMENT is played
Voice: Vibrato (quivering the pitch fast on a single note)
Instrument: Tremolo (producing lots of a single note very fast or a trill between notes that are not next to each other.
Plucking the strings (pizzicato)
Bowing the strings (with a bow) (arco)
Mutes
Pedals (to sustain/mute sound on the piano, to alter timbre on the guitar)
Harmonics (finding the higher natural resonances of the strings)
Learn what you need to write about when you see these words: Contrast, unity, variety, interest
Learn what you need about when you see: pitch, duration, expressive techniques, dynamics, structure, tone colour, texture/layers of sound, performing media
Listen to music in many styles (jazz, pop, classical + more) and analyse them in the concepts - do it for all concepts just for practice
And for some commonly seen terms:
Accelerando - gradually faster
adagio - slowly
agaitato - agitated
allargando - slowing down
allegretoo - fairly fast
allegro - fast
andante - moderately slowly
andantino - faster than andante
a tempo - back to the original speed/tempo
cantablie - singingly
con - with
crescendo - getting louder
da capo - return to the beginning
dal segno - return to the sign
diminuendo/decrescendo - getting softer
dolce - sweetly
fermata - pause/hold the note for longer than its written value
forte - loudly
forte-piano - loudly then immediately softly
fortissimo - very loud
sforzando - with force
grave - slowly
larghetto - slowly
legato - smoothly
lento - slowly
maestroso - magestically
marcato - marked/accented
meno - less
mezzo - half
moderato - moderately
molto - much
pesanta - heavily
pianissimo - very softly
piu - more
poco - little
rallentando - gradually getting slower
ritardanto - gradually getting slower
ritenuto - suddenly getting slower
sempre - always
simile - similar
sostenuto - sustained
sotto voce - soft voice
staccato - short and detached
senzo without
stringendo - faster
subito - suddenly
tranquillo - tranquilly
vivace - very fast
vivo - lively
Hope that helps! if you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!
