Melody
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Glossary
Anacrusis
A note(s) that come before the first strong beat in a passage of music.
Sometimes called the up-beat’ or ‘pick-up. ’
Conjunct - Stepwise movement in a melodic line (also called scalic)
Disjunct - Angular movement that moves in leaps or contains intervals.
Chromatic movement - Melodic movement is in semitones, like part of the chromatic scale.
Arpeggio/ broken chord
Notes of a chord played separately and in succession, either ascending or descending.
Ornamentation
Decorate or embellish the music: can often make it sound ‘fussier’.
Leitmotif
A musical idea associated with a character, object, feeling or thought.
Counter melody
This is an extra melody played at the same time as the main theme.
Answering phrase
A second phrase of music, which ‘answers’ or balances out the first phrase of music.
Fanfare
Usually played on brass instruments.
This is a loud call to attention, like an announcement.
It uses only a few pitches of one or two simple chords.
Sequence - Repetition of a melodic or harmonic phrase in the same part, but at a higher or lower pitch.
Imitation - A melodic idea (already stated in one part) is copied in another part, while the first tune continues. It may only use the first few notes of the original idea.
Interval - The distance between any two notes.
Octave - The distance from one note to another with the same name (higher or lower). E.g. C-C
Microtone - An interval smaller than a semitone.
Semitone - Smallest interval between two notes
e.g C-C# and E-F
Tone - An interval of 2 semitones e.g. C-D and Gb - Ab
OTHER KEY WORDS
Low/high pitch - Low/ high sounding notes.
Range - Span of pitches on an instrument or in a piece of music.
Motif - A short music idea, melodic or rhythmic.
Thematic - The main musical idea – the important melody in a piece of music.
Contrast - When there is a difference in the music (e.g. melodic, rhythmic or harmonic contrast).
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