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Document date: 2015

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OpenLearn Study Unit: From Notation to Performance: Understanding Musical Scores
OpenLearn url: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/understanding-musical-scores/content-section-overview
Glossary
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From Notation to Performance:
Understanding Musical Scores
Glossary
Alberti bass chord
This accompaniment figuration, a prominent The simultaneous sounding of notes of different

feature of the keyboard music of Domenico pitch (two-note chords are more commonly
Alberti (c.1710–1746), consists of broken chords referred to as intervals).
where the notes follow the pattern lowest–
highest–middle–highest.
chordal
articulation Where melody and harmony proceed more

or less in the same rhythm as, for example, in
The extent to which performers detach many hymns, the texture can be described as
individual notes from each other. This is chordal. See also ‘homophonic’.
signified by such markings as slurs above or
below notes for legato or dots above or below
notes for staccato. countermelody
An often subsidiary melody that is combined

bar contrapuntally with a principal one.
A bar is a single metrical unit, usually divided

into two, three or four beats, with a stress on counterpoint (adj. contrapuntal)
the first beat.
A term originally conceived to apply to music
that has several simultaneous lines combined
beats according to a system of rules.
The rhythmic organisation of much music doubling

depends on the perception of regularly A texture in which several parts have the same
recurring stresses, called beats. Some beats melody in different registers.
have a stronger stress than others.
dynamic level
canon
The dynamic level of a piece of music refers to
A contrapuntal composition where an extended its volume, its relative loudness or softness.
melody in one part is imitated note-for-note by
one or more parts that enter subsequently.
harmony melody and accompaniment
The chordal structure of a piece of music See homophony.

including both individual chords and
progressions of chords.
metre
homophony (adj. homophonic) The grouping of strong and weak beats into
regularly recurring patterns creates metre,
The term ‘homophony’ is applied to music which, in Western music, is indicated by a time
where all parts move together at the same signature.
pace, i.e. music that is primarily chordal. It is
also used to describe music in which there is
a clear differentiation between melody and
accompaniment. motif
A short recurring musical idea that has a

imitation distinctive rhythmic and melodic shape.
Sometimes a motif can be purely rhythmic;
A texture where different parts in polyphonic sometimes it is predominantly harmonic in
music enter with the same melody in turn. nature, as in a series of chords. Also spelled as
‘motive’.
key
phrases
Western music based on the major and minor
scales is regarded as being ‘in a key’. Thus a The constituent parts of a melody, longer than a
piece based on the C major scale is in the key motif but shorter than a period. Phrase lengths
of C major. vary, although the standard is four bars long.
lead sheet phrase structure
A manuscript or printed version of a piece A melody can be divided into phrases to reveal
of jazz or popular music consisting of the its phrase structure.
melody, lyrics (if any) and chord symbols for the
accompanying harmonies.
pitch
lieder A note’s pitch refers to its highness or lowness,

and is measured in terms of number of
Art song with piano accompaniment, usually vibrations per second, its frequency.
sung in German.
pizzicato
melodic contour
A technique for stringed instruments that are
The overall linear design of a melody, produced normally played with a bow, to pluck the strings
by its rises and falls. with the fingers instead.
melodies
Melodies consist of a succession of different

pitches.
polyphony (adj. polyphonic) rhythmic patterns
The term ‘polyphony’ is applied to music Short sequences of note values that become
that is (1) in several parts, and (2) where distinctive through being repeated.
the simultaneous individual parts move
independently to some degree.
round
pulse A round, often unaccompanied, comprises a

single-line melody that is imitated in turn by
The rhythmic organisation of much music several voices that enter at equal time-intervals,
depends upon the perception of regularly for example, as in ‘Three Blind Mice’. Each vocal
recurring stresses, called beats, and these part, having arrived at the end of the melody,
provide music with a pulse. returns immediately to the beginning.
range
staff (pl. staves)
The interval between the highest and lowest
notes in a melody is its range. Similarly, the The set of lines on which notes are written.
interval between the highest and lowest notes A five-line staff is usual in Western musical
of an instrument or singing voice is its range. notation.
register system
A collection of two or more staves played
A part of the range of an instrument or singing simultaneously.
voice.
rehearsal mark tablature
A type of music notation that uses numbers,

A letter or number placed at a recognisable
letters or other signs, often placed on
point in a score as a reference point for
horizontal parallel lines that represent an
rehearsal for the convenience of conductors
instrument’s strings. Most commonly, tablatures
and players.
have been used for music for plucked string
instruments such as the lute, and are currently
rhythm used for music for guitar and ukulele.
Rhythm refers to music’s temporal structure,

and is the product of (1) how long notes last tempo
and (2) how much notes are stressed. Rhythm
therefore includes such elements as pulse, beat, Tempo depends on the speed of the pulse or
metre and tempo. beat. A quick tempo will have a fast pulse; a
slow tempo will have a slow pulse.
texture
Musical texture can be viewed from several

perspectives. For instance, (1) a texture can
be described as ‘thin’ if it is in only two parts,
whereas a six-part texture is ‘ thick’; (2) even
the same chord placed in an either higher
or lower register will sound respectively
thinner or thicker; (3) a different scoring of
the same chord will also produce a different
texture; (4) a contrapuntal texture, where
the parts are melodically independent yet
harmonically coherent, contrasts with a
chordal or homophonic texture consisting of a
melody supported by accompanying chords. In
practice, musical textures often result from a
combination of these factors.
timbre
The distinctive sound quality that differentiates

one instrument from another, for instance, a
flute from an oboe, or one soprano voice from
another.
time signature
The sign at the beginning of a piece that

indicates the metre, the lower number indicates
the unit of measurement (crotchet, quaver) and
the upper number indicate the number of units
in a bar.
treble
(1) a term applied to a child’s high voice, most

frequently that of a boy; (2) also applied to
higher-sounding instruments, such as the treble
recorder, or the clef used when notating higher-
sounding parts, the treble clef.
variations
A musical form in which a musical theme is

followed by a series of modified restatements
or variations, but each variation always retains
some features in common with the theme.

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Document date: 2015

Alberti bass chord

This accompaniment figuration, a prominent The simultaneous sounding of notes of different

articulation Where melody and harmony proceed more

An often subsidiary melody that is combined

A bar is a single metrical unit, usually divided

The rhythmic organisation of much music doubling

The chordal structure of a piece of music See homophony.

A short recurring musical idea that has a

lead sheet phrase structure

lieder A note’s pitch refers to its highness or lowness,

Melodies consist of a succession of different

pulse A round, often unaccompanied, comprises a

rehearsal mark tablature

A type of music notation that uses numbers,

Rhythm refers to music’s temporal structure,

Musical texture can be viewed from several

The distinctive sound quality that differentiates

The sign at the beginning of a piece that

(1) a term applied to a child’s high voice, most

A musical form in which a musical theme is

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