Musical Terms (updated 9/11/14)

Definition of music: The organization of sound in time
Active listening (real listening - requires concentration) vs. passive listening (hearing in the background without focused attention)

Pitch - the high and low sounds
Melody - a succession of consecutive pitches. One pitch at a time that forms a tune, or a recognizable musical idea.
Motive - a short fragment of a melody. Just enough to be a "trigger" for an idea, or a recollection. Commercial jingles in popular culture are nearly always motives (McDonald's I'm Lovin' It, Nationwide is on your side, etc.).
Harmony - a combination of different pitches. More than one pitch at a time - creates harmony.
Consonant - a stable sound in harmony. The harmony sounds resolved.
Dissonant - an unstable sound in harmony. The harmony sounds like it needs to be resolved, or go somewhere.

Duration - The element of time in music
Beat - the basic element of time in music. The steady "pulse" or "guide" to the music - like the lines on your notebook, the content is more significant, but the lines keep your notes looking uniform.
In music, the beat is the guide that keeps the rhythms and pitches progressing together. Sometimes the beat is heard, but not unless someone is playing it. Usually the beat is simply implied by the summary of all the different rhythms.
When you nod your head to the music, that is the actual beat. You're moving in response to the different rhythms, pitches, timbres, etc., but NOT in response to the beat. That would be like telling a classmate that you really like the notepaper that her notes are on, it helps the class notes to really come alive!
"Groove". This term is not recognized by many authors of music textbooks. Not so in my classes! Groove is essential!
Groove is the energy that a piece of music gives off or stirs up in a listener. It's very subjective, as two people can listen to the same song together, and one person might get very little from it while the other is completely moved by the emotion, energy, message, and delivery of the same song. Each person will experience a different groove for each piece of music they hear.

Dynamics - The relative loudness or quietness of musical sound (Volume)

Timbre - The "color" of musical sound. Or more specifically, what actual sounds you are hearing (guitar, keyboard, female voice, etc.)


Duration - The element of time in music
Beat - the underlying pulse in a piece of music.Steady, and not always "heard", but more "felt".

Rhythm - an organized and repeating pattern of beats and syncopations forming a musical idea. (I've modified this to " an organized and repeating pattern of shorts and longs forming a musical idea".)
Dynamics - The relative loudness or quietness of musical sound (Volume)

Timbre - The "color" of musical sound.Or more specifically, what actual sounds you are hearing (guitar, keyboard, female voice, etc.)