Glossary of Musical Terms
TEXTURE: HOW DIFFERENT
SOUNDS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER
Monophony: A single melody.
Heterophony: The same melody played by two or more voices or instruments
but one person slightly varies from the main melody.
Polyphony: Two or more different sounds performed simultaneously but
independent of each other.
Polyrhythm: Two or more independent rhythms that are performed
simultaneously.
Homophony: Two or more melodies performed in harmony in a chordal
fashion.
Homophonic parallelism: Term used to describe harmony as it is produced
in some African societies; the harmony is conceived horizontally rather than
vertically.
FORM: THE STRUCTURE OR ORGANIZATION OF A MUSICAL PIECE
Strophic: Repetition.
Through composed: No repetition.
Call and response: A structure in which there is leading and responding
Responsorial call and response: An unequal number of people leading and
responding.
Antiphonal call and response: An equal number of people leading and
responding.
TERMS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF SOUND SOURCES (INSTRUMENTS)
Aerophone: Sound produced by a vibrating column of air.
Chordophone: Sound produced by a vibrating string.
Membranophone: Sound produced from a flexible stretched membrane.
Idiophone: Sound produced by a resonant solid material.
Electrophone: Sound produced or modified by electricity.
OTHER TERMS
Pitch: The highness and lowness of a sound.
Melody: Any two or more pitches performed sequentially.
Scale: The linear arrangement of pitches from a musical piece.
Harmony: Two or more different pitches sounded together to form a chord.
Interval: The distance between two pitches.
Microtone: An interval smaller than a semitone.
Drone: A sustained pitch used to support a melody.
Timbre: The quality of a sound.
Hocketing: A short melodic or rhythmic pattern divided among different
musicians or instruments and performed in an interlocking fashion.
Timeline: A repeated pattern that serves as the foundation for a piece of
music.
Time span: The length of time (or number of beats) to perform the
timeline.
Organology: The study of musical instruments.