Music Theory
This term refers to the speed of the beat in a piece of music.
What is tempo?
This genre blends African American spirituals, work songs, and blues, forming the roots of jazz.
What is blues?
A rest that lasts for an entire measure in 4/4 time.
What is a whole rest?
This term refers to matching pitch across the entire ensemble.
What is intonation?
This is the practice of breaking into smaller sections to improve accuracy.
What is a sectional rehearsal?
A symbol that raises a pitch by one half step.
What is a sharp?
This musical era is known for its ornate, detail, contrast, and the use of basso continuo.
What is the Baroque period?
Syncopation occurs when emphasis is placed on these parts of the beat.
What are weak beats or offbeats?
This marking tells singers/players to get suddenly loud or soft.
What is subito piano/forte?
The act of silently hearing and understanding music while reading it.
What is sight-reading?
The term for gradually slowing down the tempo.
What is ritardando?
This composer became deaf later in life but continued to write music.
Who is Ludwig van Beethoven?
A note worth one and a half beats in 4/4 time.
What is a dotted quarter note?
This family of instruments includes trumpet, trombone, and French horn.
What is the brass family?
The shared responsibility of keeping a steady beat within the group.
What is an internal pulse?
This key has no sharps or flats.
What is C major?
The musical era followed by the Baroque period and emphasized clarity, balance, and form.
What is the Classical period?
In cut time (2/2), this note typically gets the beat.
What is a half note?
This genre of music combines singing, acting, and orchestral music.
What is opera?
The ability to adjust tiempo slightly with the ensemble for musical effect.
What is rubato?
This type of minor scale raises both the 6th and the 7th scale degrees when ascending, but lowers them when descending.
What is the melodic minor scale?
This composer of the Classical era wrote the opera The Magic Flute.
Who is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
In 9/8 time, there are typically this many beats per measure.
What is 3?
This term describes music written for a soloist often accompanied by an orchestra, often in three movements.
What is a concerto?
The term that refers to the end of a musical phrase where it feels complete.
What is a cadence?