MTEL Music key terms

A large-scale structure built on exposition, development, and recapitulation, often with an introduction and coda. Themes are stated in related keys, worked over, then restated in the tonic.

A harmonic formula that closes a phrase. Authentic, half, plagal, and deceptive types differ in which chords end the motion and how final the arrival sounds.

A labeling system that names chords by scale degree relative to the key, with case showing quality (uppercase major, lowercase minor) and symbols for inversions and sevenths.

Numbers written under a bass line that specify intervals above it, indicating chord inversion and added tones. It originated in Baroque continuo practice and remains a shorthand for harmony.

A change of tonal center within a piece, usually prepared by a pivot chord or a dominant of the new key. It differs from a brief tonicization of a single chord.

A dominant chord borrowed from another key to tonicize a diatonic chord, written V/x. It briefly makes a non-tonic chord sound like a temporary tonic.

The technique of transforming a short melodic or rhythmic idea through sequence, inversion, augmentation, diminution, fragmentation, or reharmonization to build larger structures.

The art of combining independent melodic lines that sound well together. Species exercises train intervals and motion; invertible counterpoint lets lines exchange positions above and below.

A contrapuntal composition built on a subject announced in successive voices, joined by an answer, with episodes of sequential imitation and entries in related keys.

The grouping of melody into phrases, often paired as antecedent and consequent to form a period. Phrases are marked by cadences and balanced in length.

Two-part and three-part designs. Binary states material then moves to a related key and returns; ternary presents a contrasting middle section framed by a returning A section.

Seven scale patterns (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Ionian, Locrian) defined by whole- and half-step order. They underlie much Renaissance polyphony and folk music.

A Baroque accompaniment in which a keyboard or lute player realizes chords over a figured bass line, supported by a bass instrument such as cello or bassoon.

A tuning system that divides the octave into twelve equal semitones, making every key usable though no interval is perfectly pure. It became standard in the nineteenth century.

Tuning based on pure whole-number frequency ratios such as 3:2 for the fifth. It gives beat-free intervals in one key but requires adjustment to change keys freely.

The circle around Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, who moved from late-Romantic chromaticism to atonality and then to twelve-tone serial composition in the early twentieth century.

A method that orders all twelve pitch classes in a row and derives melodies and harmonies from its transpositions, inversions, and retrogrades, avoiding a tonal center.

Compositional control that extends ordered sets beyond pitch to rhythm, dynamics, and articulation, as in total serialism after World War II.

A French style associated with Debussy and Ravel that favors whole-tone and pentatonic scales, unresolved chords, and coloristic orchestration over functional harmonic progressions.

The use of folk songs, dance rhythms, legends, and native language in art music to assert a cultural identity, prominent among nineteenth-century Russian, Czech, and Nordic composers.

Instrumental music that depicts a story, scene, or idea, often through a written program or descriptive title. The symphonic poem and program symphony are typical forms.

A short musical idea tied to a character, object, or concept, transformed as the drama unfolds. Wagner developed the device extensively in his music dramas.

The standard hand motion for each meter: down for strong beats and outward or up for weak beats, with the baton showing tempo, articulation, and cueing.

The ability to follow a full or condensed score, tracking transposing instruments, cues, and entries while conducting or rehearsing an ensemble.

An instrument whose written pitch differs from its sounding pitch, such as clarinet in B-flat or horn in F. Players read a written note and hear another.

Accuracy of pitch in ensemble playing, affected by tuning, instrument tendencies, balance, and listening across the group. Directors diagnose it by sustained chords and unisons.

The adjustment of relative volume and tone color among sections so that melody, harmony, and accompaniment are heard in proper proportion and the ensemble sounds unified.

How a note is attacked and released, indicated by marks such as staccato, legato, accent, marcato, and tenuto. It shapes style and clarity in performance.

A slight periodic variation in pitch used by singers and string, wind, and brass players to enrich tone. Its rate and width are stylistic choices.

Selecting literature and sequencing rehearsal time to address fundamentals, difficult passages, and full run-throughs, with clear objectives and pacing for each session.

Ongoing checks of student understanding during instruction, such as questioning, playing tests, or exit tickets, used to adjust teaching before final grading.

Evaluation at the end of a unit or term that measures achievement against standards, such as a concert performance, portfolio, or written examination.

A scoring guide that lists criteria and describes levels of quality, giving students transparent expectations for performance or written work.

A music education method using speech, movement, singing, and barred percussion, building from simple ostinati to improvised ensemble pieces with student participation.

An approach emphasizing folk song, movable-do solfege, hand signs, and rhythm syllables to develop inner hearing and music literacy in sequence.

Planning lessons and materials so students at different skill levels can work toward the same goals through varied parts, pacing, scaffolding, or grouping.

The ability to read, write, and interpret music notation and to connect symbols with sound, developed through sequential instruction in rhythm, pitch, and terminology.