High

Mid

Low

Clef

• • Treble (G clef) - A common clef. Generally used for higher-pitched instruments.

  • Alto and Tenor (C clef) - Less-common clefs. Mainly used for viola and cello, respectively.

  • Bass (F clef) - Another common clef. Generally used for lower-pitched instruments.

  • Other (neutral, octave, etc.)

Instrument-specific terms

• • Vocal terms may include: Chest voice, head voice, falsetto, whistle, etc.

  • Woodwind terms may include: Low, mid, high, altissimo

  • Tessitura - Most comfortable range for a singer or instrument

Choir voices

• • Soprano

  • Alto

  • Tenor

  • Bass

Narrow

Wide

Ambitus - The range between the highest note and lowest note of a melody. For example, a melody that uses notes from middle C to high C has an ambitus of an octave 

Flat

Ascending

Descending

Stepwise (or conjunct)

Leaps (or disjunct)

Jagged

Arpeggiated (or broken chord)

Similar motion - Two voices that move in the same direction

Parallel motion - Two voices that move in the same direction and maintain the same intervalic relationship (e.g. parallel 3rds, parallel 5ths, parallel 8ves, etc.)

Contrary motion - Two voices that move in opposite directions

Oblique motion - One voice that moves up or down, with the other voice maintaining the same pitch

Letter notation (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) - Note: In Germany and several other areas of Europe, B♭ is named B, and B♮ is named H

• • Scientific pitch notation – System that combines letter notation with a number to indicate which octave the note is part of. The number increases upon ascension from B to C (e.g., A3, B♭3, B3, C4, C♯4, etc.). Middle C is C4.

  • Helmholtz pitch notation – System that uses uppercase and lowercase letters in addition to sub- and super-prime symbols to indicate which octave the note is part of. As with scientific pitch notation, each octave format changes upon ascension from B to C. The notes of C0 to C9 would be indicated as follows: C,,  C,  C  c  c′  c′′  c′′′  c′′′′  c′′′′′  c′′′′′′. Middle C is c′.

Accidentals (double flat, flat, natural, sharp, double sharp)

Enharmonic - A note, interval or chord with the same actual pitch/es (sounds the same aurally) but is notated with different letter name/s (e.g., C♯ and D♭ are enharmonically equivalent, or the intervals of an augmented 4th and diminished 5th are enharmonically equivalent).

Definite pitch -  Any sound that has a clearly identifiable pitch

Indefinite pitch - Any sound that doesn't have a clearly identifiable pitch (e.g. bass drum, snare drum, or crash cymbals)

Transposing instrument - Any instrument that produces a different note to what is written on the sheet music (e.g. saxophone, clarinet, trumpet)

Concert pitch - Describing instruments that are non-transposing instruments or describing the actual pitch produced by transposing instruments.

Solfège - A system that assigns syllables to each note (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti), widely known from The Sound of Music. 

• • Moveable do - "Do" changes to match the tonic note of the piece (e.g., in F major, F is "do"). 

  • Fixed do - "Do" is always C, regardless of the key of the piece (e.g., in F major, F is "fa").

Theme

Motif

Subject

Answer

Antecedent

Consequent

Melody

Countermelody

Lick

Chord tone

Non-chord tones (or nonharmonic tones)

• • Passing tone

  • Neigbour tone

  • Double neighbour tones

  • Escape tone

  • Anticipation

  • Suspension

Melisma - Singing multiple notes on the one syllable

Word painting

Blue note

Semitone (or half step) - The smallest interval in Western tuning (e.g., C to C♯)

Tone (or whole step) - Two semitones (e.g., C to D)

Number and quality (e.g., Major 2nd)

• • Perfect - Used to describe intervals of unison, a 4th, a 5th, or an octave of a major scale (e.g., C to G is a Perfect 5th)

  • Major - Used to describe intervals of 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths of a major scale (e.g., C to E is a Major 3rd)

  • Minor - A Major interval that has been reduced by a semitone (e.g., C to E♭ is a Minor 3rd, and C to A♭ is a Minor 6th)

  • Diminished - A Minor or Perfect interval that has been reduced by a semitone (e.g., C to E𝄫 is a Diminished 3rd, C to G♭ is a Diminished 5th)

  • Augmented - A Major or Perfect interval that has been expanded by a semitone (e.g., C to E♯ is an Augmented 3rd, C to F♯ is an Augmented 4th)

Compound intervals - Any interval bigger than an octave. For example, a Major 9th from C4 to D5 is a compound of a Perfect 8ve from C to C, then a Major 2nd from C to D.

Intervallic inversion - Moving the lower note of an interval up by an octave, or the higher note down by an octave to invert the interval. For example C to E is a Major 3rd. Moving the C up an octave results in E to C which is a Minor 6th.

Melodic intervals - The two notes of an interval being played one after the other (i.e., like, or as part of, a melody).

Harmonic intervals - The two notes of an interval being played simultaneously, like a block chord.

Diatonic - Any interval in which both notes belongs to the key.

Chromatic - Any interval in which either one or both notes do not belong to the key.

Consonant - Intervals in which the two notes compliment one another and may be described as having a "pleasant" sound. Some of the most consonant intervals include Perfect 4ths, 5ths and 8ves, as well as Major and Minor 3rds and 6ths.

Dissonant - Intervals in which the two notes clash with one another and may be described as having a "unpleasant" sound. Some of the most dissonant sounding intervals include Minor 2nds and Minor 9ths, Augmented 4ths/Diminished 5ths (aka tritones), and Major 7ths.

Enharmonically equivalent - An interval with the same sounding pitches but notated with different letter name/s and, thus, labeled differently (e.g., an augmented 4th from C to F♯ is enharmonically equivalent to a diminished 5th from C to G♭)

Intonation - The pitch accuracy of an interval.

Microtone - An interval smaller than a semitone.

Quarter tone - An interval that is half a semitone (e.g., C to C half sharp). An octave divided into quarter tones contains 24 pitches.

Key

Transposition

Modulation

Related keys

Circle of fifths

Parallel key

Scales

• • Major 

  • Minor

    • • Natural

      • Harmonic

      • Melodic

  • Chromatic  - Scale that contains all twelve pitches of the Western 12-tone equal temperament system. Each note is spaced a semitone apart

  • Whole tone - Hexatonic (6-note) scale which ascends by tones

  • Pentatonic - Any scale that contains five pitches within each octave. Common types include the major pentatonic scale and the minor pentatonic scale

  • Octatonic - Any scale that contains eight pitches within each octave. The most common are the two types of diminished scale which are built by alternating tones and semitones, or alternating semitones and tones

  • Blues - Scale with scale degrees 1, ♭3, 4, ♯4, 5, ♭7. The presence of the ♯4 (which can also be spelled as a ♭5) creates an "out of key" blue note which is evocative of the sound used in blues music

  • Other

Modes

• • Ionian - Same as a major scale

  • Dorian - Natural minor scale with a raised 6th scale degree

  • Phrygian - Natural minor scale with a lowered 2nd scale degree

  • Lydian - Major scale with a raised 4th scale degree

  • Mixolydian - Major scale with a lowered 7th scale degree

  • Aeolian - Same as a natural minor scale

  • Locrian - Natural minor scale with both a lowered 2nd and lowered 5th scale degree

  • Other 

Scale degrees

• • Tonic (1)

  • Supertonic (2)

  • Mediant (3)

  • Subdominant (4)

  • Dominant (5)

  • Submediant (6)

  • Subtonic or leading note (7)

Diatonic

Chromatic

Polytonality - The use of two or more contrasting keys simultaneously

Atonality

Twelve-tone row

Tetrachord

Tonicisation

Theoretical key - A key with more than seven sharps or flats (e.g., G♯ major contains F𝄪 (F double sharp), C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, and B♯)

Nonstandard key signature

Chord - A set of two or more different notes played together

Triad - A three-note chord whereby the notes are stacked in thirds

• • Major

  • Minor

  • Diminished

  • Augmented

  • Suspended

7th chord

• • Dominant 7th

  • Major 7th

  • Minor 7th

  • Diminished 7th

  • Half-diminished 7th (or minor 7th flat 5)

  • Other

Extended chord

• • 9th chord

  • 11th chord

  • 13th chord

Added tone chord

• • 6th

  • add9

Altered chord – A chord in which one or more diatonic notes are chromatically altered

Roman numeral analysis – Using Roman numerals to Uppercase letters denote major triads, lowercase letters denote minor triads, lowercase letters with a º symbol denote diminished triads. The capitalisation below is representative of chords diatonic to a major key:

• • Tonic (I)

  • Supertonic (ii)

  • Mediant (iii)

  • Subdominant (IV)

  • Dominant (V)

  • Submediant (vi)

  • Leading tone or subtonic (viiº)

Harmonic function

• • Tonic (T)

  • Subdominant (S) (or predominant)

  • Dominant (D)

Diatonic – A chord or series of chords whose notes belong to the key

Chromatic – A chord in which one or more notes do not belong to the key

Primary triads – Triads built on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant scale degrees (e.g. I, IV, and V in a major key)

Auxiliary triads

Root note - The main/first note of a chord (e.g. the root note of an F minor chord is F)

Root position – A chord in which the root note is the lowest note/bass note

Inversion – A chord in which one of the other notes of the chord is the lowest note/bass note (e.g. C major chord with E as the lowest note is 1st inversion)

Slash chord

Power chord (or 5th chord)

Voicing

Cadences

• • Perfect

  • Plagal

  • Interrupted

  • Imperfect

Tierce de picarde (or Picardy third) – Ending a minor-key piece with the parallel major chord (e.g. a piece in D minor ending on a D major chord). Tierce de picarde was a notably common compositional device in the Baroque era

Secondary dominant

Neapolitan chord

Tritone substitution

Chord progression

Ground bass

Figured bass

Chord cluster

Polychord

Drone

Pedal point

Four-part harmony

Block chord

Arpeggio

Alberti bass

Voice leading

Consonance

Dissonance

Anticipation

Tension and release

Circle of fifths

Tertian harmony – Chords built by stacking thirds

Quartal harmony – Chords built by stacking fourths

Harmonic rhythm

Reharmonisation

Modal interchange (or borrowed chord)

Negative harmony

Retrograde

Inversion

Fragmentation

Interpolation

Extension

Interval expansion (or interval augmentation)

Interval contraction (or interval diminution)

Displacement (e.g., octave displacement)

Repetition

Ostinato (or riff)

Unison

Call and response

Imitation

Sequence

Transposition

Round or canon

Countermelody

Nonharmonic tones

Pedal point

Figured bass

Basso continuo

Alberti bass

Suspension

Tone cluster

Modulation

Glissando

Trill

Mordent (upper or lower)

Turn

Acciaccatura (or grace note)

Appoggiatura

Vibrato

Harmonics

Multiphonics

Pitch bend

Scoop

Doit

Fall

Microtone - An interval smaller than a semitone.

Quarter tone - An interval that is half a semitone (e.g., C to C half sharp). An octave divided into quarter tones contains 24 pitches.

Svara (स्वर) (Indian) - A concept that loosely means "note", but also describes specific elements of tone colour as well as spiritual, cultural, and philosophical meaning. There are seven named svaras that constitute a basic scale: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni.

Saptak, shruti 

Slendro, pelog (Indonesian)

Maqam, jin (Arabic)

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - Technical standard used to record, input, edit, and play back digital musical information. MIDI allows electronic musical instruments (such as synthesisers), computers, and other MIDI-compatible devices to "communicate" with one another. A MIDI event will includes information about the pitch, timing, and velocity of a note. Additional information may be included.

Arpeggiator - Digital device that automatically converts block chords into arpeggios.

Autotune/pitch correction - Digital device that changes the intonation of an audio signal so that it is more in tune . This process may be automatic or manual.

Pitch shifting

Vibrato

Chorus

Portamento

Glide