Entry group
In a fugue, two or more statements of the subject in immediate or nearimmediate succession, in a manner similar to the exposition but appearing at later points in the fugue.
Episode
In a fugue, a short passage in free counterpoint that separates those sections containing complete statements of the subject. The material of an episode may be derived from the subject or countersubject or may use unrelated material, but by definition, an episode does not contain a complete statement of the subject.
Equal temperament
A system of tuning the octave such that every half step is slightly smaller than its acoustically pure counterpart so that the twelve half steps of our chromatic scale fit into the octave. It is the system by which the modern keyboard and fretted instruments are tuned.
Escape tone
An embellishing tone approached by step and left by leap.
Expanded tritone substitution
In jazz, the substitution of a harmony or group of harmonies a tritone removed from the original harmony. It most often occurs with dominant 7 th -based chords or with ii-V tonicizations.
Exposition
The first section of a fugue, in which each voice enters in turn with a statement of the subject or its answer.
Extended tonicization
A common procedure in jazz, wherein a secondary pre-dominant is added before a secondary dominant to create a secondary ii-V motion to a tonicized chord.
Fifth relation
Two chords whose roots are related to each other by the interval of a 5 th , as C and G.
Figured bass
A notational method in general use for keyboard instruments during the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Numbers beneath the pitches of the bass line indicate the intervals to be added above those pitches, and thus indicate the harmonies as well.
Finalis
The central tone of a mode, usually the tone upon which melodies in the mode end.
Form
The shape of a musical work as created by cadences, the similarity and contrast of the musical elements, and the interaction of the musical process.
Fragmentation
A technique wherein small portions of a melodic idea are heard in isolation and used in sequences, imitation, or other developmental ways.
French sixth chord
An augmented-sixth chord containing the half step above the dominant (in the bass), the half step below the dominant (in an upper voice), the tonic, and the second scale degree.
Frequency
The rate of periodic vibration, usually expressed as a number of cycles per second, which directly affects or perception of pitch.
Fugue
A contrapuntal composition for a fixed number of voices (usually 2 to 5) in which a subject, stated by all voices in turn at the beginning, recurs at various points in a variety of tonalities and contrapuntal textures.
Functional tonality
A term describing the system by which the chords of a major or minor key are related to each other and to the tonic.
Fundamental
The lowest (and usually loudest) tone in a harmonic series, produced by a string or air column vibrating in its entire length.
Gamut
G on the bottom line of the bass clef, the lowest note in Guido's hexachord system. Generally refers to the entire range of a pitch system.
German sixth chord
An augmented-sixth chord containing the half step above the dominant (in the bass), the half step below the dominant (in an upper voice), the tonic, and the third scale degree.
Grand Staff
The combined treble and bass clef staves on which keyboard music is notated.
Ground Bass
A short, repeated bass line, usually four to eight measures long, that forms the basis of many baroque-era works.
Half Cadence
Most commonly, a harmonic cadence ending on the dominant triad.
Half-diminished 7 th chord
The chord formed by the addition of a minor 7 th above the root of a diminished triad. This chord appears diatonically on the leading tone of a major key and the supertonic of a minor key.
Half step
The smallest interval normally used in Western music and the smallest interval on the piano.
Harmonic minor
The natural minor scale with the seventh degree raised by one half-step. It is the form most often the harmonic basis of music in minor keys.