Glissando
A rapid sliding up or down scale
Impressionism
A late nineteenth century article movement that sought the capture the visual impression rather than the literal reality of a subject. Also in music a style belonging primarily to Debussy, characterized by an emphasis on mood, and atmosphere, sensuous ton
Symbolism
A subtle French poetic style from the late nineteenth century that stressed the sound and color of the words and suggested rather than clearly outlined the meaning or story behind the text
Neoclassicism
In music of the early twentieth century, the philosophy that musical composition should be approached with objectivity and restraint. Composers were attracted to the textures and forms of the baroque and classical periods
Primitivism
In music, the use of frenzied, irregular rhythms and percussive effects to evoke a feeling of primitive power, as in stravinskys the rite of spring
Atonal
Lacking a recognizable tonal center or tonic
Avant-garde
Very current modern and experimental
Expressionism
An artistic school of the early twentieth century that attempted to represent the psychological and emotional experience of modern humanity
Twelve tone
Also serialism. A system of composition developed by Schoenberg that consists of arranging the twelve pitches of the chromatic scale in a particular order
Sprechstimme
Speech voice". A vocal technique in which a pitch is half sung , half spoken. Developed by Schoenberg
Fuging tunes
Psalm or hymn melodies that are sung as canons or written to contain imitation, popular in Britain and the U.S. During the 1700s
Psalms
The sacred poems from the book of psalms in the bible
Blue notes
In blues and jazz, any of the notes produced by flatting the third, fifth, or seventh notes of a major scale.
Blues
A lamenting melancholy song characterized by a three line lyrical pattern in AAB form, a twelve bar harmonic progression and the frequent use of blue notes
Bridge
In a musical composition a section that connects two themes. A section between repetitions of the main melody (AABA in which B is the bridge)
Call and response
A song style in which phrases sung by a leader alternate with responding phrases sung by a chorus
Front line
I jazz bands the instruments that carry the melodic material
Griots
African singers who memorized their tribe's history through their songs
Improvisation
The practice of making up music and performing it on the spot without first having written it down
Jazz
Improvisatory music based on African American musical traditions. Developed into many styles through the twentieth century and beyond and has come to be widely popular all over the world
New Orleans Jazz
The first jazz to be recorded and therefore the root of later jazz styles
Polyrhythms
Two or more contrasting and independent rhythms used at the same time
Ragtime
A composed music of the 1890s usually for piano
Rhythm section
In jazz or rock bands, the instruments that supply the harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment
Scat singing
A jazz vocal style in which the singer uses nonsense syllables in the place for words
Swing
A big band jazz style particularly popular for dance music during the 1930s through the middle 1940s
Bebop
A jazz style that emphasizes small ensembles playing very active and complex music. Also called bop
Cool jazz
A restrained, controlled jazz style that developed during during the late 1940s
Free jazz
A post bebop jazz style that freely changed rhythmic patterns and disposed of repeating melodies in favor of free flowing improvised playing
Fusion
A style of jazz developed in the late 1960s that has been influenced by rock music through the inclusion of amplified instruments short riffs and even beat subdivisions
Poly tonality
The simultaneous use of two or more keys
Unison
Two notes that are the same pitch, or two or more instruments or voices producing the same pitches at the same time