Covers
A new performance or recording of a previously recorded, commercially released song by someone other than the original artist or composer.
Call and Response
A succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first.
Dal Capo
From the top
Verse
(1) Section of a song in which the melody and harmony repeat, but the lyrics change. (2) A song's section equivalent to the stanza; it is usually placed directly after any introduction, and nearly always appears with two or three (rarely more) different sets of lyrics, but in some cases (Love Me Do and Not a Second Time) it has one set only.
D.S. al coda
From the sign to the coda.
Dynamics
Degrees of loudness or softness in music.
Pitch
Distance between the highest and lowest tones that a given voice or instrument can produce.
Chord
Combination of three or more tones sounded at once.
Bridge
(1) A song's contrasting middle section (2) The contrasting (or "B") section in a song that has repeated "A" sections before and usually after the "B.
Scale
Series of pitches arranged in a specific order from high to low or low to high.
Outro
Closing bit—often a fadeout—at the end of a song.
Key Signature
Indicates how many flats or sharps are in a scale.
Ledger Lines
When you run out of lines on the staff, draw new lines
12-bar blues
One of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration.
Upbeat
An unaccented beat preceding an accented beat.
Downbeat
The first beat of a measure in music.
Time Signature
Indicates how many beats are in a measure (bar) and what kind of note gets one beat.
Clef
A musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.
Measures
Beats grouped by twos, threes, fours, etc.