Tempo Terms
A very slow tempo
Duration of sounds and silences
How high or low a sound is
Pitch
Distance between the lowest and highest pitch in a section
Range
The language that tempo terms come from
Italian
A moderate tempo
Moderato
Consistent pulse found in music
The Beat
A series of pitches that make sense together
Melody
From one pitch to an adjacent pitch
Steps
Bum bum bum bum from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is an example of this tiny fragment of a melody
Motive
As fast as possible
Prestissimo
The speed of the beat
Tempo
The distance between two pitches
Interval
When a melody moves mostly by leaps
Disjunct
This is when the tempo speeds up gradually
Accelerando
Allegro
Groups of strong and weak beats
When a melody moves mostly by steps
Conjunct
The shape of a melody
Contour
When there are many contrasting rhythms at the same time
Polyrhythm
A slow tempo
Adagio
Emphasis between the beats or on weak beats
Syncopation
Logical segments of a melody, a musical sentence
Phrase
A recurring melody that serves an important role in a larger work
Theme
When beats are organized in groups of 2 or 4
Simple meter