Glossary
Glossary of Musical Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Accent | To emphasize a beat or series of beats |
| Accompaniment | Music played in support of the melody, whether composed or improvised. Typically, the rhythm section (piano, bass, drums) provides the accompaniment. |
| Acid jazz | A fusion of jazz improvisation and hip hop rhythms |
| Acoustic bass | A stringed instrument also known as the double bass, acoustic bass, string bass, or contrabass; typically used as a bass instrument in most styles of jazz. |
| Afro-Cuban jazz | A clave-based, mostly non-vocal music that integrates modern jazz practice and style with the rhythmic elements of Cuban folkloric music. |
| Alto saxophone | A woodwind instrument of the saxophone family, pitched higher than the tenor but lower than the soprano |
| Arrangement | A set of written or verbal instructions that specify the nature of the various components of a performance of a composition (intro, head, accompaniment, solos, interludes, coda, etc.) and the order in which they are put together; the organization of a musical work for a given ensemble; determines which instruments play when, what harmonies and what rhythmic groove will be used, and where improvisation occurs. |
| Articulation | Specifics on how a note is played, e.g., whether the tongue is used to start or stop the note on wind instruments, or whether it is plucked or bowed on stringed instruments, etc. |
| Atonal | Music that has no well-defined tonal center |
| Avant-garde | A style of music on the forefront of experimentation; originally applied to jazz styles such as freebop and expressionism |
| Backbeat | The second and fourth beats of a four beat measure. The term also refers to a rhythmic pattern that strongly emphasizes these beats. |
| Banjo | A stringed instrument similar to a guitar; often used as a chordal instrument in traditional jazz styles |
| Bar | A musical unit consisting of a fixed number of beats—also known as a measure. |
| Baritone saxophone | A woodwind instrument of the saxophone family, pitched lower than the tenor, used as either a melody instrument or a bass instrument |
| Bass | The low notes; the role of any instrument that typically plays low notes. The term often refers specifically to the acoustic bass |
| Bass guitar | A larger, lower pitched version of an electric guitar. It is used as a bass instrument, particularly in soul jazz and fusion styles. |
| Beat | A regular subdivision of time that forms the basis for the pulse; the unit by which musical time is measured. |
| Bebop | A style of jazz that developed from swing; characterized by challenging harmonies and heavily syncopated rhythms demanding a new standard for virtuoso soloing |
| Bent pitch/bent note | A note that is made to rise or fall in pitch while it is being played, generally a half step away from the diatonic note |
| Big band | A style of orchestral jazz that surfaced in the 1920s; any ensemble, generally of greater than ten or so players, that plays this type music (i.e., a band consisting of a brass, woodwind, and rhythm section that plays carefully orchestrated arrangements). The standard number of players is around seventeen. |
| Blue note | A note that is flat (low in pitch) compared to its counterpart in a standard major scale |
| Blues | A style of music derived in part from work songs used during slavery; a precursor and component of jazz. |
| Blues progression | A twelve measure chord progression, divided into three four-bar phrases and usually based on the I, IV, and V chords; often the first section is a call or question, the second section repeats the question, and the third section resolves the question. |
| Blues scale | A scale that includes one or more blue notes and is typically used in blues |
| Boogie-woogie | A style of jazz, typically played on piano, that uses a repeating left hand bass line pattern |
| Bop | See bebop |
| Bossa nova | A style of jazz derived in part from the Brazilian samba |
| Brass | A family of instruments, usually made of brass, in which sound is produced through the vibration of the lips. |
| Break | An established pause in the form of a tune during which an improvised phrase is usually played |
| Bridge | The "B" section in a AABA form, or any theme that serves as a secondary theme to the main theme in a head |
| Call and response | A musical device in which one musician plays a phrase and another musician plays a related phrase in response |
| Chamber jazz | A fusion of impressionistic jazz and European classical music |
| Chicago jazz | A style of traditional jazz that emphasizes solos and four-beat rhythms |
| Chord | A set of notes sounded together, formed according to certain rules of harmony |
| Chord progression | A series of chords used to harmonize a melody or to provide a basis for improvisation |
| Chorus | One time through the chord progression for a composition |
| City blues | A form of blues that emphasizes jazz elements, also known as classic blues |
| Clarinet | A family of woodwind instruments with a straight bore in which sound is produced by a vibrating reed. The term usually refers to the soprano clarinet, but the bass clarinet is also not uncommon in jazz. |
| Classic blues | A form of blues that emphasizes jazz elements, also known as city blues |
| Clave | A rhythmic pattern that underlies Afro-Cuban music |
| Coda | A section of an arrangement that follows the last performance of the head and serves to conclude the piece |
| Collective improvisation | Several musicians improvising at once |
| Combo | A small ensemble, typically referring to groups of three to seven players |
| Conduction | A type of performance in which the leader directs the improvisations of the other players through hand gestures |
| Conga | A tall drum played with the bare hand, typically found in Afro-Cuban music |
| Contemporary jazz | See smooth jazz |
| Contrafact | A composition based on the chord progression of another composition |
| Cool | A relaxed, understated style characterized by spare lyricism and an emotionally detached mood |
| Cornet | A brass instrument similar to the trumpet but shorter and fatter, employing a conical rather than cylindrical bore |
| Countermelody | A secondary melody played simultaneously with the main melody |
| Counterpoint | The act of playing several melodic lines at once |
| Country blues | An early and relatively simple form of the blues, usually played and sung by a single performer |
| Cymbal | A large, round percussion instrument made of metal |
| Dissonance | A combination of notes that is heard as harmonically unstable or unpleasant and that can suggest unresolved tension. |
| Dixieland | Slang term for traditional (New Orleans / Chicago) jazz |
| Drum | A percussion instrument consisting of a skin stretched across a frame. |
| Duo | An ensemble consisting of two musicians |
| Dynamics | Loudness; often referring to variation and contrast in the loudness and softness of a piece of music |
| Embouchure | The manner in which one must form the mouth in order to play a wind instrument |
| Ensemble | A group of more than two musicians performing together |
| Expression | Any of hundreds of different variables a musician can control when playing a note, including dynamics and articulation |
| Expressionism | A high energy form of music in which soloists stretch out over simple themes |
| Extended effects | General term for any of a number of ways musicians can alter the sounds of their instruments, such as removing a valve, plucking the strings inside the piano, and so forth |
| Fall | A musical effect in which the pitch of a note is made to fall dramatically after the initial sounding |
| Flat fifth | An interval consisting of six semitones, such as between C and F#. It is relatively dissonant and gained notoriety through its use in bebop |
| Flute | A woodwind instrument in which the sound is produced without a reed. |
| Four-beat | A rhythm that emphasizes all four beats in a measure more or less equally |
| Fours | A musical device in which two or more soloists take turns improvising four measure phrases. |
| Free improvisation | Improvisation with no chord progression or other predetermined structure to guide the process |
| Free jazz | Any form of jazz that uses free improvisation |
| Freebop | A form of jazz that is similar to bebop but in which predetermined chord progressions are not used to guide the improvisation |
| Funk | Originally, jazz with a pronounced gospel influence. Later, a style of R&B music or jazz-rock fusion. |
| Fusion | A hybrid of jazz and rock |
| Gospel | Music played in black Christian churches, usually ecstatic in nature |
| Groove | An underlying pattern behind a musical performance, consisting of a rhythmic component and perhaps a melodic riff as well |
| Growl | A musical effect in which the player vocalizes through his instrument to emulate a growl |
| Guitar | A stringed instrument capable of playing chords as well as melodies |
| Hard bop | A form of jazz related to bebop but with a stronger gospel influence; characterized by intense, driving rhythms and blues-based melodies with a bebop sensibility. |
| Harmolodics | The theory that melody, harmony, and rhythm should be of equal importance in collective improvisation. In harmolodics, any musician might be responsible for any of these roles at any time. |
| Harmony | The perception of notes sounded at once. The term often refers to the chords that underlie a melody, or to the theory that underlies the construction of these chords |
| Head | The composed theme or themes in a composition |
| Head arrangement | A simple arrangement in which the ensemble plays the head, then takes turns soloing over the chord progression, then plays the head again |
| Horn | Literally, a brass instrument, but commonly used by jazz musicians to refer to any wind instrument, and occasionally other instruments as well |
| Horn section | A grouping of musical instruments in a band or orchestra that generally includes saxophones, trumpets, and trombones. |
| Hot | An excited mood |
| Impressionism | A form of jazz involving collective improvisation in which the musicians often forego their standard ensemble roles and instead contribute whatever the music seems to need in the moment |
| Improvisation | The act of creating music that has not been predetermined. This term often refers specifically to the act of playing new melodic lines as part of a solo. |
| Interlude | Any musical passage that occurs between choruses in an arrangement, whether between the head and the first solo, within a solo, between solos, or between the last solo and the return to the head |
| Interpolation | The act of playing a phrase taken from another composition or well-known improvisation within the context of one's own improvisation. Also known as quoting. |
| Introduction | A musical passage played before the first statement of the primary theme |
| Key center | The scale that underlies the composition. The term often refers specifically to the note at the root of this scale. This note is the one toward which the other notes and chords seem to be leading. |
| Kick | A composed phrase that is played in rhythmic unison by the accompanying instruments behind a melody, whether composed or improvised |
| Latin jazz | A hybrid of jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms |
| Lead sheet | A written representation of the theme and the accompanying chords for a composition. This is all that is required in order to play a head arrangement. |
| Lick | A phrase that an improvisor has practiced for use in improvisation, or one that sounds practiced |
| Long form | A composition that contains multiple themes interspersed with solo sections, interludes, or other passages |
| Marimba | A pitched percussion instrument consisting of wooden bars struck by a mallet |
| Melody | The perception of notes sounded one at a time; a series of pitches intended to be heard in succession. The melody is the part of a composition that one might sing. |
| Minimalism | A deliberate reduction in complexity of melody, harmony, or rhythm, often involving repetition |
| Modal | A system of harmony based on Greek scales known as modes rather than on the chord changes standard to most jazz |
| Modulation | A transition from one key center to another |
| Mute | A small device inserted into the bell of a brass instrument to alter the timbre of the sound produced |
| New Age music | A genre of meditative music that may involve improvisation |
| New Orleans jazz | A style of traditional jazz that emphasizes collective improvisation and two-beat rhythms |
| Non-idiomatic improvisation | A manner of improvisation in which no concessions are made to the conventions of any specific style |
| Nonet | A nine piece ensemble |
| Octet | An eight piece ensemble |
| Offbeat | The second "half" of a beat (which might actually be shorter than half a beat in a swing rhythm) |
| Organ | A keyboard instrument in which sounds are generated by air blowing through pipes or reeds, or an electronic simulation of such an instrument |
| Ostinato | A musical phrase that is repeated over and over, generally by the bass. |
| Pastiche | A combination of styles in which the component parts are left whole, such as a medley |
| Percussion | A family of instruments in which sound is produced by striking the instrument |
| Phrase | A self-contained portion of melody, such as what would correspond to one line of lyrics |
| Phrasing | The grouping of notes into musical statements. |
| Piano | A stringed keyboard instrument that is considered to be a member of the percussion family because the sound is produced by hammers that strikes the strings |
| Polyphony | The sound or act of playing two or more melodies at the same time. |
| Polyrhythm | Contrasting rhythms played simultaneously. |
| Postmodernism | A style of music that consciously draws from elements of other styles |
| Pulse | The beat; the rhythmic pattern underlying a groove |
| Quartet | An ensemble of four musicians |
| Quintet | An ensemble of five musicians |
| Ragtime | A form of music, usually composed for the piano, that combines European harmonies with syncopated rhythms |
| Restructuralism | The act of breaking convention to create new structures |
| Rhythm | The perception of sounds heard with respect to time. The term often implies a regular division of time that serves as the "beat", and all other sounds are heard relative to the beat. |
| Rhythm section | A subset of an ensemble that is primary reponsible for providing accompaniment. It typically consists of piano or guitar, bass, and drums. |
| Riff | A repeated melodic phrase |
| Root | The defining note of a chord |
| Salsa | Latin jazz; particularly music that favors the Afro-Cuban elements |
| Saxophone | A family of woodwind instruments with a conical bore that produce sound by a vibrating reed. They are usually curved and made of brass. |
| Scat | Improvised vocals using nonsense syllables |
| Score | A written map of a piece of music that is created by the composer and that dictates the notes to be played by each instrument. |
| Septet | A seven piece ensemble |
| Sextet | A six piece ensemble |
| Shake | A musical effect in which the pitch of a note is made to rise and fall rapidly |
| Shout chorus | A passage in a big band arrangement in which the melody instruments play a line (usually highly syncopated) in rhythmic unison. A shout chorus usually serves as an interlude between the head and solos. |
| Shuffle | A four-beat rhythm with a very exaggerated sense of swing |
| Sideman | A member of an ensemble who is not the leader |
| Smooth jazz | A term used by some radio stations and critics to refer to a fusion of jazz and "pop" music |
| Solo | A passage in which one musician improvises new melodies, usually with the accompaniment of a rhythm section |
| Song form | A thirty-two measure head consisting of two related themes, denoted "A" and "B", in the pattern AABA. This was a very popular form for popular songs and show tunes during the first half of the 20th century. |
| Soprano saxophone | A woodwind instrument of the saxophone family, pitched higher than the alto. It is most commonly found in a straight form. |
| Soul jazz | Hard bop with an even stronger gospel influence. |
| Splat | A musical effect in which a note is played with no definite pitch |
| Staccato | A playing or singing style characterized by crisp, short notes. |
| Stanza | A phrase and the successive phrases that relate to it through repetition, variation, call and response, or other devices |
| Stop time | A musical device in which the rhythm section ceases to outline the pulse and instead plays only on the downbeats of successive measures, in order to provide more room for the soloist |
| Stride | A style of piano jazz in which the left hand plays alternating bass notes and chord voicings in a steady pattern |
| Style | Elements common to a number musical performances that identify them as being related |
| Swing | A style of jazz that relies on four-beat rhythms, or the pulse that underlies this music |
| Swing eighth notes | Eighth notes in which the first "half" of each beat is prolonged. The exact ratio depends on style, tempo, and personal preference |
| Syncopation | The act of placing a rhythmic accent on an unexpected beat. |
| Tailgate | A style of trombone playing that combines counterpoint and bass roles; common in traditional (New Orleans / Chicago) jazz |
| Tambourine | A hand drum that often includes small cymbals that shake when the instrument is struck |
| Tempo | The number of beats per minute |
| Tenor saxophone | A woodwind instrument of the saxophone family, pitched higher than the baritone but lower than the alto |
| Tension | An unstable state in music. It is most commonly thought of in terms of harmonic dissonance but may come from many different sources. |
| Texture | The overall sensory effect created by the combined sounds of musical instruments and harmonies. theme: A composed melody in a composition. |
| Third stream | A style of music that combines jazz and European classic influences |
| Timbales | A type of drum that is prominent in Afro-Cuban music |
| Timbre/tone | The tonal quality produced by an instrument or voice (e.g., raspy, rough, smooth, clear, etc.). |
| Time signature | A numeric symbol, expressed as a fraction, at the beginning of a written composition; describes the number of beats per measure and the rhythmic value of each note. |
| Tonal | Harmony in which chords serve in a well-defined relationship to a key center |
| Tonic | The defining note of a scale or key center |
| Traditional jazz | Styles of jazz that were popular at the beginning of the era of recorded jazz. The term includes both New Orleans and Chicago styles. |
| Triangle | A percussion instrument consisting of a metal bar shaped into a triangle and struck with a stick
trio: An ensemble of three musicians |
| Trombone | A brass instrument in which the pitch is determined in part by a slide that changes the effective length of the tubing. The instrument is pitched lower than the trumpet. |
| Trumpet | A brass instrument consisting of a fairly complex network of curved piping. Valves control the effective length of the tubing, and thus the pitch. The instrument is pitched higher than the trombone. |
| Tuba | A very low pitched brass instrument that uses valves to control the pitch. |
| Two-beat | A rhythm in which the first and third beats of a measure are emphasized over the second and fourth |
| Vamp | A short sequence of chords that is repeated over and over again |
| Verse | An introduction to a show tune that serves as a transition between the dialogue and the song form |
| Vibraphone/vibraharp | A pitched percussion instrument in which metal bars are struck by mallets and tubular resonators help to amplify the sound. The resonators contain rotating disks that create vibrato. |
| Vibrato | A slight, often rapid fluctuation of pitch that enriches or dramatizes a note violin: A stringed instrument in which strings are drawn with a box or plucked in order to produce sound |
| Vocalese | A technique in which lyrics are written for an existing recorded solo |
| Walking | A bass line that consists mostly of quarter notes to outline the pulse |
| West coast jazz | Cool jazz, particularly performances that create harmony through counterpoint among melody instruments as opposed to the use of chordal instruments |
| Woodwind | A family of wind instruments in which the vibrations that cause sound occur on or within the instrument |
Outside Shore Music, copyright 2000, www.outsideshore.com, Marc Sabatella
Reprinted with permission.
