A Brief Glossary
A few common musical terms.
Note: most of these words originated before the age of standardization.
Spellings may vary.
Musical Forms (kinds of pieces)
Concerto
[cone-CHAIR-toe] |
Music that features one instrument or a group of instruments, usually playing with an orchestra. |
Oratorio
[oh-rah-TOE-ree-oh] |
Vocal soloists and chorus join the orchestra to tell a story in music, but without the staging and costumes of an opera. |
Sonata
[soh-NAH-tah] |
A piece for a single instrument, for an instrument with piano or for a small group of instruments, which draws out the capabilities of that instrument or combination. |
Suite
[sweet] |
A collection of several movements, often dance movements. |
Symphony
[SIM-fo-nee] |
The musical equivalent of a novel, meant to show off the many moods and sounds of the orchestra. |
Overture
[OH-ver-cherr] |
A piece for beginning an opera, ballet, or concert. |
Kinds of Movements
| Movement |
A piece of music within a larger piece. Most symphonies, for instance, have several movements: each movement is in a different mood, and each has its own beginning and end. |
| Finale |
A final movement. It might be in any form: a rondo, a minuet, a theme and variations, or something else. |
| Minuet |
Probably the most popular dance of all time. It is really two dances: you hear the first one, then a second dance that has a different sound and feeling, then the first one again. Many symphonies have a Minuet movement. The Minuet is often called "Minuet and Trio," because the second dance, the "Trio," traditionally used a smaller group of instruments. The Minuet has this rhythm: ONE, two three, ONE, two three. |
| Rondo |
A piece in which there is a melody that keeps coming back. In between appearances of the melody, there will be other music, and the melody often returns in sneaky, surprising, or entertaining ways. |
Scherzo
[SCARED-so] |
Beethoven and many of the composers who came after him put Scherzos in their symphonies instead of Minuets. Scherzo means "joke," but the character of a scherzo movement is often ironic, turbulent, dark, or fierce. |
| Sonata (or sonata-allegro) movement |
A typical first movement of a symphony, concerto, or sonata, in which the composer introduces musical ideas at the beginning, then creates excitement and surprise by playing around with the ideas. Later, in a sort of homecoming, the ideas return in their original form. |
| Theme and Variations |
The musicians play some music, and then that music is transformed in different ways, as though the same music kept coming back in different costumes. |
Other Musical Terms
Allegro Lively
Andante Walking speed; medium
Adagio Slow
Crescendo Getting louder
Diminuendo Getting softer
Largo Slow
ma non troppo but not too much
Moderato Moderate
molto very
Presto Very fast
Vivace Vivacious
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