IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS

A Word of Advice:
Don't memorize these definitions. They are provided as briefly stated starting points for understanding what the terms mean. It is up to you to conceptualize and internalize the ideas to the point of being able to formulate definitions in your own words instead of mechanically reproducing these.

BEAT
Steady, background pulse, that is, the regular "ticking" of the "clock" in music

TEMPO
The speed of the beat (very slow, slow, medium, fast, very fast)

METER
Pattern of accented and unaccented beats
1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 (quadruple meter: four-beat pattern)
1-2-3, 1-2-3 (triple meter: three-beat pattern)
1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2 (duple meter: two-beat pattern)

MEASURE
One cycle of accented/accented beats

SIMPLE AND COMPOUND METER
Simple: binary (two-fold) division of the beat
Compound: ternary (three-fold) division of the beat

RHYTHM
Series of varying note-durations superimposed on the metrically defined beat pattern

MOTIVE
Short, distinctive (memorable) melodic/rhythmic fragment which, through repetition and permutation, unfolds across a piece of music. The melodic/rhythmic "motivation" for a piece.

CADENCE
A resting point of greater or lesser conclusiveness

PHRASE
A melodic segment, normally 4-6 measures, that leads to a recognizable resting point of greater or lesser conclusiveness

PERIOD
Two complementary phrases, the first of which ends relatively inconclusively, suggesting the need for continuation (in language, analogous to a clause ending with a comma), and the second of which ends conclusively, suggesting termination (in language, analogous to a clause ending with a period).

CHORD
A generic term for a collection of three or more pitches sounded simultaneously.

ROOT
The lowest note in a chord arranged in a stack of thirds.

TRIAD
A three-note chord consisting of a fifth (perfect, diminished, or augmented) and a third (major or minor) above a root.

SEVENTH CHORD
A triad with a major or minor seventh added above a root.

PROGRESSION
A series of chords in which each leads purposefully to the next, creating a sense of harmonic movement toward a goal (cadence).

CADENCE
A point of relative harmonic-melodic closure.

CADENCE TYPES

• Authentic: closing with the chord progression dominant-tonic (V-I).
• Perfect Authentic: stepwise closure in the melody on scale degree 1 (either 2-1 or 7-8), coupled with a progression from a root-position dominant to a root-position tonic chord.
• Imperfect Authentic: melodic closure on a scale degree other than 1, and/or closure on a non-root-position tonic chord.
• Half: provisional harmonic-melodic closure on the dominant (V).

MODULATION
A harmonic-melodic process which carries the music out one key into another one.

FIGURED BASS
A short-hand notation for indicating the intervals formed above a bass note.