Musical Terms (updated 9/3/14)
Pitch - the high and low sounds / frequency.
Melody - a succession of consecutive pitches. One pitch at a time that forms a tune, or a recognizable musical idea.
The Ball is a concept that I have when listening to music. It is whatever the most prominent sound is in a selection. It might be the melody, the rhythm, a motive, the sound of a voice, a refrain or chorus, etc. Like my analogy for watching sporting events, "Keep your eye on the ball". The ball can change many times in a song. The ball WILL change in a song. Try to follow it!
Phrase (length) - as in literature, a part of a complete thought (like a sentence). A phrase usually extends to a place where it seems natural to breathe when singing it.
Phrase - a part of a melody. Set off by a cadence - the resting place at the end of a phrase. The music is the phrase, the punctuation is the cadence. ĘThe punctuation can be a period, exclamation mark, question mark for a complete cadence, or a comma, semicolon, etc. For an incomplete cadence
Cadence - a resting place in music, may be either complete (the end) or incomplete (just a pause). When listening to a singer, a cadence is usually signaled by a breath. It is similar to a comma, period, or other punctuation mark.
Motive - a short musical idea or "building block" that is easy to recognize. The 3 notes in Santana or the repeating pattern in the "Nuttin but Stringz" example from class. You recognize it when you hear it, and a composer can use it later.
Motive - a "trigger" that identifies a piece of music. Short fragment, not enough to be the whole tune or even a phrase. McDonalds ba ba ba ba baa is a motive. Beethoven ba ba ba bum.
Shape - the contour of a melody (like following a road map). The melody rises and falls.
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".)