MATSEC IM Music flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Perfect cadence

A cadence moving from chord V to chord I with the leading note rising to the tonic and the tonic in the top voice at the final chord, giving a conclusive close.

Imperfect cadence

A cadence ending on chord V, approached from I, ii, IV or vi. It sounds unfinished and is typically used mid-phrase rather than at the end of a section.

Interrupted cadence

A cadence moving from chord V to chord vi instead of I, also called a deceptive cadence. It delays resolution and is common at dramatic or structural turning points.

Plagal cadence

A cadence moving from chord IV to chord I, often called the amen cadence. It closes convincingly but with less strong leading-note pull than a perfect cadence.

Tierce de Picardie

The practice of ending a minor-key piece or section with a major tonic triad, common in the Baroque period, achieved by raising the third of the final chord.

Figured bass realisation

The performance or writing out of chords from a bass line with numerical figures indicating intervals above the bass, determining chord quality, inversion and added notes.

Second inversion triad

A triad with the fifth in the bass, figured 6/4. It is normally used as a cadential, passing or auxiliary chord rather than as a free harmony.

Cadential 6/4

A tonic second-inversion chord resolving to root-position dominant at a cadence, figured I6/4 to V. The sixth and fourth above the bass resolve downwards by step.

Suspension

A non-chord tone held over from the previous chord, creating a dissonance that resolves downwards by step, usually prepared, suspended and resolved in the same voice.

Pedal point

A sustained note, usually in the bass, held while the harmony above changes, creating tension through dissonance before the harmony realigns with the pedal.

Sequence

A melodic or harmonic pattern repeated at a different pitch level, often a step higher or lower, used to extend phrases and build harmonic momentum.

Sonata form

A large-scale structure with exposition presenting two contrasting key areas, a development section exploring and fragmenting the themes, and a recapitulation returning to the tonic key.

Ground bass

A repeated bass pattern over which variations are built, characteristic of the Baroque period and related to the chaconne and passacaglia forms.

Stretto

The overlapping entry of a fugue subject in close succession before the previous statement has finished, increasing density and tension, especially near the end of a fugue.

Augmentation

The rhythmic enlargement of a theme, usually doubling note values, so the melody moves at half speed while retaining its shape and intervals.

Through-composed

A song or piece in which new music is written for each successive section, with no substantial repetition of earlier material, as opposed to strophic form.

Basso continuo

A Baroque accompaniment provided by a bass instrument and a chordal instrument reading from a figured bass line, forming the harmonic foundation of the ensemble.

Da capo aria

A Baroque aria in ternary form in which the singer returns to the opening section after a contrasting middle section, typically adding improvised ornamentation on the repeat.

Ritornello form

A Baroque structure in which a recurring orchestral passage alternates with contrasting solo episodes, typical of Vivaldi and Bach concertos.

Antecedent and consequent

A pair of phrases forming a period: the antecedent ends with an imperfect or half cadence, and the consequent answers it with a stronger, usually perfect, cadence.

Modulation to dominant

A change of key to the key a fifth above, usually prepared by the dominant seventh of the new key and often signalled by the first sharp in the signature.

Pivot chord modulation

A modulation in which a chord shared by the old and new keys is reinterpreted as a function of the new key, smoothing the transition without a chromatic jolt.

Neapolitan sixth

A major triad built on the flattened second degree, used in first inversion, most often to prepare the dominant and common in minor-key harmony.

Augmented sixth chord

A chromatic chord containing an augmented sixth interval resolving outwards to the dominant, appearing in Italian, French and German forms and common in Romantic harmony.

Diminished seventh chord

A chord built from stacked minor thirds, sounding ambiguous and functioning as a dominant substitute; it can resolve to four different keys by enharmonic reinterpretation.

Secondary dominant

A dominant seventh chord applied to a degree other than the tonic, notated V7 of X, adding chromatic colour and strengthening a local harmonic arrival.

Syllabic and melismatic

Syllabic text setting gives one note per syllable, while melismatic setting stretches a single syllable over several notes, common in plainchant and Renaissance polyphony.

Word painting

The musical illustration of a text's meaning through devices such as rising melody for ascent, chromaticism for grief, or rapid notes for flight, common in madrigals.

Imitation and canon

Imitation restates a melodic idea in another voice; when the imitation continues strictly throughout, the texture is a canon, with entries at a fixed interval.

Homophonic and polyphonic

Homophonic texture sets one melody against chordal accompaniment, while polyphonic texture combines independent melodic lines of equal importance sounding simultaneously.

Programme music

Instrumental music that follows an extra-musical narrative, scene or idea, often titled and explained, characteristic of much Romantic orchestral writing.

Sprechgesang

A vocal technique between speech and song, with pitch indicated but not sustained fully, associated with early twentieth-century expressionist opera and song.

Atonality and twelve-tone method

Atonality avoids a tonal centre; the twelve-tone method organises all twelve pitch classes into a row, used in original, inverted, retrograde and retrograde-inverted forms.