Music glossary

Keyboard and notes

• Piano keyboardHow the 88 keys are laid out: black keys in groups of two and three
• Note namesSeven letters, C D E F G A B, and the solfège syllables do re mi fa sol la si
• Middle CThe C nearest the middle of the keyboard, written between the two staves
• OctaveThe distance from one C to the next: eight notes, twelve half steps
• Half stepThe smallest distance between two keys: to the very next one, black or white
• Whole stepTwo half steps: from C to D, from E to F♯
• SharpThe ♯ sign that raises a note by a half step: F becomes F♯
• FlatThe ♭ sign that lowers a note by a half step: E becomes E♭
• Natural signThe ♮ sign that cancels a sharp or a flat: F♯ becomes plain F again
• FingeringFinger numbers in the score: thumb 1, little finger 5, and the C major scale

Rhythm and metre

• BeatThe steady pulse of music, the tick you count notes against
• RhythmThe pattern of long and short notes over a steady beat; ta and ti-ti
• Quarter noteA note with a filled head and a stem, lasting one beat (crotchet)
• Half noteA note with a hollow head and a stem, lasting two beats (minim)
• Whole noteA hollow note without a stem, lasting four beats (semibreve)
• Eighth noteA note with a flag, lasting half a beat; two fit in one beat (quaver)
• RestA sign for silence; a rest is counted just like a note
• Dotted noteA dot adds half the note’s value: a dotted quarter lasts 1½ beats
• TieA curve joining two notes of the same pitch into one longer sound
• Measure (bar)A group of beats from one strong beat to the next, marked off by bar lines
• Time signatureTwo numbers at the start: beats per measure, and which note gets one beat
• MetreThe regular pattern of strong and weak beats: in fours, threes or twos
• Pickup (anacrusis)An incomplete first measure: the tune starts before the first strong beat
• 6/8 timeA metre counted in eighth notes: six to a measure, in two groups of three
• TempoThe speed of the beat: metronome marks and Italian words, Adagio to Allegro

Reading music

• StaffFive lines and four spaces on which the notes are written
• Treble clefThe clef that curls around the second line: the G above middle C
• Bass clefThe clef whose two dots mark the fourth line: the F below middle C
• Grand staffTreble and bass staves joined by a brace: right hand above, left hand below
• Ledger linesShort lines above and below the staff for notes that do not fit on it
• Octave numbersC2, C3, C4, C5, C6: how the octaves of the keyboard are numbered
• Key signatureSharps or flats right after the clef, in force for the whole piece
• Chord symbolsLetters above the melody, C, F, G7, that tell the left hand which chords to play

Intervals and scales

• IntervalThe distance between two notes, counted in letter names from unison to octave
• SecondAn interval of two letter names: neighbouring notes, such as C–D
• ThirdAn interval of three letter names: major (4 half steps) or minor (3)
• FourthAn interval of four letter names: a perfect fourth is five half steps (C–F)
• FifthAn interval of five letter names: a perfect fifth is seven half steps (C–G)
• SixthAn interval of six letter names: a major sixth is 9 half steps, a minor sixth 8
• SeventhAn interval of seven letter names: a minor seventh is 10 half steps, a major 11
• ScaleNotes in order, step by step, from the tonic up to the tonic an octave higher
• MajorThe bright mode: scale pattern W W H W W W H; triad with a major third below
• MinorThe darker mode: natural minor W H W W H W W, a triad with a minor third below
• Scale degreeA scale note’s number in Roman numerals from I to VIII; I is the tonic
• TonicDegree I of the scale: the note a key is named after, where music comes to rest
• KeyA tonic plus a mode: C major, A minor; the key signature tells you which
• Relative keysA major and a minor key with the same key signature: C major and A minor
• TranspositionMoving a tune to another key: the same steps, a different starting note

Chords and harmony

• ChordSeveral notes sounding together; the most common chord is the three-note triad
• TriadA three-note chord of two stacked thirds: every other white key, e.g. C–E–G
• InversionThe same chord notes in another order: root position, first and second inversion
• SubdominantDegree IV of the scale and its chord, F (F–A–C) in C major: a step from home
• DominantDegree V of the scale and its chord, G (G–B–D) in C major: it pulls to the tonic
• Dominant seventh chordThe dominant with a fourth note, G–B–D–F (G7), straining to return to the tonic
• CadenceChords that end a musical sentence: I–IV–V–I; stopping on V is a question
• AccompanimentMelody in the right hand (treble staff), chords in the left hand (bass staff)

Dynamics, articulation and form

• DynamicsLoudness in music: p for soft, f for loud, and pp, mf, ff
• Crescendo and diminuendoGradually louder (crescendo) and gradually softer (diminuendo)
• ArticulationHow notes are joined or separated: legato, staccato, accent
• LegatoConnected: each note sounds until the next begins; shown by a slur
• StaccatoShort and detached: a dot above or below the notehead
• AccentOne note louder than the others: a small wedge at the notehead
• Repeat signA double bar line with two dots: play this passage again
• Musical formA piece’s structure: phrases A and B, forms AB, ABA, AABA, verse and chorus

Terms from A to Z

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