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Understanding MusicConcepts

National 3

National 4

National 5

Styles/Forms (National 3)

Blues Black American folk music developing from spirituals and work songs. They are mostly based on a 12 – bar structure.

Jazz music played by either a small jazz band or by a big band.

Rock/Pop music played by either a rock or pop band.

Rock ‘n’ Roll A style of music that originated in the late 1940’s. An early example of this style is “Rock Around The Clock”.

Scottish music played by either a Scottish Country Dance Band or a traditional folk group.

Latin American a style of dance music from South America, e.g. bossa nova, tango.

Melody/Harmony (National 3)

Ascending becoming higher in pitch.

Descending becoming lower in pitch.

Stepwise melody that moves about in steps.

Leaping melody that jumps about.

Repetition a pattern or passage of notes that are repeated.

Sequence a repetition of notes or chords at a different pitch from the original.

Question the opening phrase in a section of music that falls into two balancing phrases.

Answer the closing phrase in a section of music that falls into two balancing phrases.

Improvisation This is music that is made up during performance. This may involve the musicians playing above the chord scheme of a song, as in rock, blues or jazz music.

Chord a combination of two or more notes played at the same time.

Dischord This is a chord in which certain notes clash.

Chord change moving from one chord to another.

Rhythm / Tempo (National 3)

Accented a note is accented if it is stressed – often the first beat of a bar.

Beat/pulse the way of measuring time in music, e.g. beats in a bar.

Bar the standard way by which blocks of music are measured. The most common numbers of beats in a bar are 2, 3 or 4.

On the beat the accent falls on the strong beat.

Off the beat the accent falls on the weak beat.

Repetition rhythmic patterns that are repeated.

Faster/slower tempo changes that occur within rhythms.

Pause a point in the music where everything stops.

March music used for marching, usually containing 4 beats in a bar – often played by a pipe band.

Reel a traditional Scottish dance with the following features:

quick tempo. 4 beats in a bar.

Waltz a traditional Scottish dance with the following features:

moderate tempo. 3 beats in a bar.

Drum fill a break in the pattern where the drummer can play different rhythms round the kit.

Adagio to be performed slowly.

Allegro to be performed at a lively tempo.

Texture / Structure / Form (National 3)

Unison/Octave a passage of music where the performers are singing or playing either the same note, or notes one octave apart.

Harmony / Chord two or more notes sounding together or an accompanying vocal line.

Solo a section of music played or sung by the main performer.

Accompanied a melody is accompanied if there is at least one instrument playing in the background.

Unaccompanied a melody is unaccompanied if there are no instruments playing in the background.

Repetition a pattern or passage of notes that are repeated.

Ostinato a short pattern of notes constantly repeated.

Riff a short pattern of notes constantly repeated- used in rock, jazz and other popular musical styles.

Round a theme is started in one part and is then copied exactly in each part in turn.

Timbre / Dynamics (National 3)

Striking / hitting producing a sound by hitting an instrument with a stick or beater, e.g. drum.

Blowing producing a sound by blowing into the instrument, e.g. woodwind, brass.

Bowing producing a sound by drawing a bow across the strings.

Strumming producing a sound by playing many strings on a stringed instrument, e.g. guitar, banjo, mandolin.

Plucking producing a sound by playing the strings with the fingerse.g. guitar, harp, violin.

Orchestra The four sections of the orchestra are :

strings woodwind brass percussion

Strings a section of the orchestra; mainly violins, violas, ‘cellos and double basses.

Woodwind a section of the orchestra; mainly flutes, clarinets, oboes and bassoons.

Brass a section of the orchestra; mainly trumpets, trombones, french horns and tubas.

Percussion a section of the orchestra; mainly timpani, bass drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, triangle, cymbal and snare drum.

Instruments You should be familiar with the sound of the following folk instruments :

accordian fiddle bagpipes

You should be familiar with the sound of the following rock and pop instruments :

acoustic guitar electric guitar piano organ drum kit

Steel Band a band using oil drum tops, tuned to different pitches.

Dance Band a band playing traditional Scottish dances.(Scottish)

Folk Group a group playing traditional folk songs and tunes.

Choir a group of singers

Staccato to be performed in a detached way

Legato to be performed smoothly


Baroque music for orchestra, small ensembles and soloist written by composers such as J.S Bach, Handel and Vivaldi.

Ragtime A style of dance music that features a strongly syncopated melody against a steady vamped accompaniment. A well known example of ragtime is “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin.

Romantic A style of music associated mainly with composers in the 19th century. This music is more openly emotional than the classical music that came before it and the 20th century music that followed it.

Swing A popular style of dance music created in the 1930’s by Big Bands. A well known example of swing is “In the Mood” by the Glenn Millar Band.

Concerto A work, usually in three movements, for soloist and orchestra.

Opera A musical drama featuring vocal soloists and chorus accompanied by an orchestra. Operas are often sung in foreign languages such as Italian, French or German, but can be sung in English also. In an Opera there is very little, if any speaking at all. The words (i.e the libretto) are generally sung.

Scots Ballad A traditional Scottish folk song that tells a story.

Mouth Music Gaelic nonsense words sung in imitation of the sound of bagpipes as an accompaniment to dancing.

African Music Vocal and instrumental music from this continent. This oftens features percussion, e.g. Ghanaian drum ensembles.

Rapping This is spoken lyrics or poetry performed in time to a beat. Rapping is often associated with reggae and hip hop music.


Major tonality a piece has major tonality if it is in a major key.- this means that the home chord is a major chord.

Minor tonality a piece has minor tonality if it is in a minor key.- this means that the home chord is a minor chord.

Drone a long held note in the bass, as played on bagpipes.

Arpeggio to hear the sound of an arpeggio in C major, find the notes C, E and G over the range of the keyboard, then play them ascending and descending.

Broken Chord a broken chord uses the notes of the chord in a similar manner to an arpeggio, but can play then in any order.

Chords I, IV & V in this exam, chords I, IV, and V have to be recognised. - in the key of C major these chords are C major, F major and G major.

Change of Key this means that the home chord changes during a piece.

Pedal a sustained or repeated note in the bass.

Scale a succession of notes which usually move in stepwise motion.

Pentatonic Scale a scale made up of five different notes.

Octave notes which are played or sung 8 pitches apart.

Vamp a simple accompaniment, usually played on piano, consisting of repeated bass notes and chords.

Scat singing a style of jazz singing where the lyrics are used for their sound and are not intended to make sense.

Ornament additional notes that are added to decorate a melody.

Rhythm / Tempo (National 4)

Syncopation accents occuring between the beats.

Scotch Snap a short note on a beat followed by a longer one.

Strathspey a traditional Scottish dance with the following features:

moderate tempo. 4 beats in a bar contains a Scotch Snap.

Jig a traditional Scottish dance with the following features:

quick tempo. 2 or 4 beats in a bar. played in compound time.

Simple Time 2 two crotchets in a bar 4

3 three crotchets in a bar4

4 four crotchets in a bar4

Compound Time each beat or pulse can be divided into 3, as in a jig.

Anacrusis notes played before the first strong beat of the bar.

Andante at a walking pace

Accelerando gradually becoming faster

Rallentando gradually slowing down

A tempo returning to the original speed.

Dotted Rhythms rhythms in which one of the notes in the grouping is dotted e.g. a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver.


Canon repetition of a phrase previously played by another instrument or sung by another voice - this phrase is played or sung at the same pitch as the original.

Ternary a musical form consisting of three sections, e.g. ABA.

Verse and Chorus a simple structure involving repetition of musical materials – often found in songs.

Middle 8 a section occurring in the middle of a song that is distinct from either the verse or the chorus – usually lasts for eight bars.

Theme a piece of music consisting of a theme followed by variations &Variations of that theme.

Cadenza A passage of music that allows soloists to display their technical ability in singing or playing an instrument.

Imitation repetition of a phrase previously played by another instrumentor sung by another voice - this phrase can be played or sung at a different pitch from the original.


Brass Band a musical ensemble consisting of brass instruments and percussion.

Wind Band a musical ensemble consisting of brass instruments, woodwind instruments and percussion.

Instruments You should be familiar with the sound of the following orchestral and folk instruments :

violin, ‘cello, double bass, harp flute, clarinet, saxophone, pan pipes, recorder trumpet, trombone timpani, snare drum bass drum, cymbals triangle, tambourine, guiro xylophone, glockenspiel harpsichord, bass guitar

Distortion An effect that gives notes an indistinct and harder edge to electronic instruments.

Muted The instrument is played with a mute or the sound is dampened in some way.

Soprano a high female voice.

Alto a low female voice.

Tenor a high male voice.

Bass a low male voice.

Backing vocals the voice or voices that sing the accompanying vocals.


Symphony A large–scale orchestral work, usually written in four movements.

Gospel African American religious music characterised by strong solo vocals and chorus. Many gospel music ensembles use rock and jazz instruments, such as electronic organs, electric guitars, bass guitars, and drums.

Classical This is the period of music that we associate with Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

Pibroch The classical music of the solo bagpipe. It is always in theme and variation form.

Celtic Rock This is a style of music where distinctively Scottish lyrics and tunes are performed using rock instruments.

Bothy Ballad A traditional Scottish folk song about work. Often sung with a pronounced dialect.

Waulking Song A rhythmic song sung in Gaelic by women in the Western Isles of Scotland while they beat cloth to soften and shrinken it.

Gaelic Psalms A religious song, sung in Gaelic, in which texts from the bible are set to popular folk songs. Each phrase is started by a cantor before the congregation joins in.

Aria A song in an opera, oratorio, or cantata, with orchestral accompaniment.

Chorus This term has the following meanings

A group of singers with several people to each part. The music written for these singers. The refrain between verses of a song.

Minimalist A style of composition based on repetition of rhythmic and melodic figures .

Indian Music from India that uses instruments such as the sitar and tabla.


Atonal Music that is not based on a major or minor key.

Cluster to hear the notes of a cluster, play a few notes from a chromatic scale at the same time.

Chord progressions Different chord progressions using chords built from the first,fourth, fifth, and sixth degrees of a major scale.

Perfect cadence A cadence consists of two chords at the end of a phrase.A perfect cadence is the dominant to tonic chords (V – I).

Imperfect cadence A cadence consists of two chords at the end of a phrase.An imperfect cadence is the tonic to dominant chords (V – I).

Inverted pedal A long sustained note in an upper part.

Chromatic to hear the sound of a chromatic scale, start at “C” and finish at the “C” above, without missing out any white or black notes on a keyboard. - on a guitar, play an open string then play each fretted note in turn up the fretboard.

Whole tone scale A scale built entirely of tones.There are only two different whole tone scales.

Grace note This is a quick note played before the main note of a melody.

Glissando A slide from one pitch to another.

Modulation A change of key.

Contrary Motion two melodic lines moving in opposite directions.

Trill Rapid and repeated movement between two adjacent notes.

Syllabic Vocal music where each syllable is given one note only.

Melismatic Vocal music where each syllable can be given many notes.

Descant A melody that is sung above the main melody.

Countermelody A melody played against the main melody.

Pitch bend Making a small adjustment to the pitch of a note. This is done on an electric guitar by pulling the string down while playing the note.

Tone/ two steps on a keyboard, or two frets on a guitar.Semitone one step on a keyboard, or one fret on a guitar.Rhythm / Tempo (National 5)

Rubato not played in strict time.

Ritardando slowing down.

Moderato at a moderate pace.

Cross rhythms This term has the following meanings:

Two notes being played against three.

The accents in a piece are different than those suggested by the time signature. ( e.g the division of 4/4 into 3+3+2 quavers).

Compund time Each beat can be subdivided into multiples of three.groupings The beat is dotted.


Strophic A vocal/choral piece in which each verse has the same music.

Binary a musical form consisting of two sections, e.g. AB.

Rondo a piece of music consisting of a recurring rondo theme with episodes in between – it has the following form:

A rondo theme B first episode A rondo theme C second episode A rondo theme etc.

Episode These are the sections that take place between the recurring rondo theme.

Alberti bass An accompaniment style consisting of broken chords.Typically the pattern would be lower note, top note, middle note, top note.

Walking bass A type of bass playing where at least one note is played every beat.

Ground bass A repeated pattern played in the bass. See also riff and ostinato.

Homophonic This term has the following meanings:

Musical texture where you can hear melody with accompaniment.

Musical texture where all the parts move together rhythmically.

Polyphonic Texture which consists of two or more melodic lines.Music that contains imitation will be polyphonic.

Contrapuntal This is a texture in which two or more musical lines are being played or sung.

Coda A short passage at the end of a piece of music that rounds it off.


Instruments You should be familiar with the sound of the following orchestral and folk instruments:

piccolo, oboe, bassoon french horn, tuba viola castanets, hi-hat, cymbals, bongo drums, clarsach, bodhran

Sitar A plucked, stringed instrument from India.

Tabla Two Indian drums tuned to different pitches, and often used to accompany the sitar.

Arco Instruction given to string players to use the bow.

Pizzicato Instruction given to string players to puck the strings.

Con sordino Played with a mute.

Flutter tonguing A method of tonguing in which the player rolls the letter “r”.It is particularly effective for flute and brass.

Rolls A rapid succession of notes played an a percussion instrument e.g. drum roll, cymbal roll.

Reverb An effect that produces degrees of echo on electronic instruments.

Mezzo soprano A female singer whose range is between a soprano and an alto.

Baritone A male singer whose range is between a tenor and a bass.

A capella Unaccompanied singing.

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