Pitch
The first and most important note of a scale. Also known as home note.
Tonic
Structure used to describe contemporary song structures (verse/chorus/bridge etc)
Verse/Chorus Form
The musical part/s which provides the harmonic and/or rhythmic support for the melody.
Accompaniment
Notes played short and detached
Staccato
Gradual decrease in volume
Diminuendo
A 3-note chord of stacked 3rds (major and/or minor).
Triad
ABA structure
Ternary Form
A melody that is used as an embellishment - not of equal importance as the main melody - often used to add interest.
Countermelody
Emphasis on beats 2 and 4
Backbeat
Notes are joined (must be two different notes) - played without any space between them.
Slur
How you would describe a clashing sound (e.g. a 2nd, a 7th, or an augmented or diminished interval).
Dissonant
Term referring to a form of composition in which the first section recurs after the second, third, fourth etc section is performed (ABACADA etc)
Rondo Form
Music that is where two or more core melodic lines of equal importance play simultaneously.
Polyphonic
An emphasis on the weak or off beats. Used in three ways: accents, rests, ties.
Syncopation
Technique term for string instruments plucking their strings.
Pizzicato
The absence of any recognisable key or tonal centre. All pitches are theoretically of equal importance.
Atonal
A short musical idea, with a distinctive melody and/or rhythm - a term most commonly used in classical music, rather than rock.
Motif
The repetition of a musical pattern at a higher or lower pitch.
The simultaneous use of two different rhythmic groupings (e.g. 2 against 3 / crotchets against crotchet triplets).
Cross Rhythm / Polyrhythm
Notes, usually of short duration, that are added to the main melody of a composition to decorate the melody, they may be either written specifically by the composer or added by the performer.
Ornamentation / Embellishment
When two melodies are going in opposite melodic directions to each other at the same time (one ascends, the other descends)
Contrary Motion
A structure of composition that first presents a musical theme and then develops that theme in successive iterations within the same composition.
Theme and Variations
A melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e.g. after four beats)
Canon
Fast, quick tempo (120 - 150 bpm)
Allegro
Rapid alternation between two notes.
Trill