BEC JCE Music (Syllabus 34) key terms

The relative loudness or softness of a sound or passage, shown by symbols such as p, f, crescendo and diminuendo, and realised by the performer through breath, bow or key pressure.

The way individual notes are begun and released, for example legato, staccato, marcato or accent, shaping the character of a melodic line in performance.

The accuracy of pitch in performance, whether notes sit exactly in tune with each other and with the prevailing tuning reference, affected by ear, technique and instrument adjustment.

The blending of simultaneous parts so that melody, accompaniment and inner voices are heard in appropriate proportion, adjusted by performers through volume, tone colour and placement.

The degree to which two or more voices or instruments merge into a unified sound rather than standing out separately, achieved through matched tone, vowel shape and volume.

A short musical thought, usually two to eight bars, that forms a coherent unit within a melody and is shaped by the performer with a natural rise and fall.

The general pitch range in which a part or piece lies most of the time, distinct from its extreme high and low notes, and important when judging vocal or instrumental comfort.

The coordinated use of different laryngeal adjustments, commonly described as chest, mixed and head voice, that gives a singer access to different tone qualities across the range.

A short, recognisable rhythmic or melodic idea that is repeated, varied or developed to build larger musical structures, often serving as a unifying device within a piece.

A melodic or harmonic pattern restated at a higher or lower pitch level, a common device for extending ideas and creating forward momentum in tonal music.

The restatement of a melodic idea in another part shortly after its first appearance, a technique central to canons, fugues and much contrapuntal writing.

The art of combining two or more independent melodic lines so that they sound well together, governed by rules about consonance, motion between voices and voice independence.

The way individual melodic lines move from one chord to the next, favouring smooth steps, avoiding parallel fifths and octaves, and resolving tendency tones in traditional style.

The craft of assigning musical material to instruments, choosing combinations, doublings and registers to achieve a desired colour, weight and clarity of texture.

A harmonic or melodic formula that closes a phrase, such as perfect, imperfect, plagal or interrupted, signalling varying degrees of finality to the listener.

The role a chord plays within a key, typically tonic, subdominant or dominant, which governs how it tends to move and how strongly it implies resolution.

A change from one key to another within a piece, achieved through pivot chords, chromatic alteration or dominant preparation, often marking a new formal section.

A chord shared by the old and new keys that is reinterpreted during a modulation, allowing a smooth transition between tonal centres.

A tuning system that adjusts pure intervals so that instruments with fixed pitch can play in several keys, trading small inaccuracies for practical flexibility and characteristic colour.

The perceived highness or lowness of a sound, determined by frequency and named by letter, with octaves related by doubling or halving that frequency.

The distance in pitch between two notes, measured in diatonic steps and described by quality, such as a major third or perfect fifth.

An ordered set of pitches spanning an octave that provides the melodic and harmonic material for a piece, such as major, minor, pentatonic or modal patterns.

A scale type with a distinctive pattern of whole and half steps, such as Dorian or Mixolydian, that colours the melody and harmony of a passage.

The organisation of music around a central pitch or chord that acts as home, creating expectations of tension and resolution within a key.

How melodic, harmonic and rhythmic layers are combined, described as monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic or heterophonic, and by density and spacing.

The quality of a sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another at the same pitch and volume, arising from its overtone content and attack.

The large-scale organisation of a piece into sections, such as binary, ternary, rondo, sonata or theme and variations, defined by repetition, contrast and return.

A memorable melodic idea that a piece states and returns to, providing the material for variation, development or refrains in a larger structure.

The span from the lowest to the highest note that a voice, instrument or written part can produce or is required to use.

A Baroque accompaniment practice in which a keyboard or plucked instrument realises chords above a figured bass line, supported by a bass melody instrument.

A bass line annotated with numbers and accidentals that specify the intervals and chords a continuo player should improvise above each note.

A large-scale structure common in Classical instrumental music, typically presenting an exposition of contrasting themes, a development exploring them, and a recapitulation resolving them in the tonic.

Describes a song or movement whose music is newly composed for each stanza rather than repeated, allowing the music to follow changing text closely.

Describes a song in which the same music is repeated for each stanza of text, a common form in folk song, hymnody and art song.

A short rhythmic or melodic pattern repeated persistently throughout a passage or piece, often underpinning variation and dance-based forms.

The simultaneous use of two or more contrasting rhythmic patterns or metres, a feature common in West African drumming and much twentieth-century music.

A rhythmic effect in which the perceived beat conflicts with the stated metre, created by accents placed against the prevailing pulse.

The deliberate stressing of weak beats or off-beats, or the holding of a note across a strong beat, producing rhythmic tension and drive.

A melodic framework in Indian classical music that supplies a scale, characteristic phrases, ornaments and mood, used as the basis for improvisation and composition.

A cyclical rhythmic framework in Indian classical music, organised into beats and grouped divisions, within which performers improvise and compose.