Chord (music)A chord is the simultaneous sound of two or more musical notes. The most common chord has three notes and is known as a triad. Added tone chords, extended chords, and tone clusters can have more than three notes and are common in contemporary classical music and jazz. An arpeggio is a chord where notes are sounded separately. A series of chords is sometimes called a chord progression.
Chord progressionIn a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of popular music styles (e.g., pop music, rock music), traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz.
Resolution (music)Resolution in Western tonal music theory is the move of a note or chord from dissonance (an unstable sound) to a consonance (a more final or stable sounding one). Dissonance, resolution, and suspense can be used to create musical interest. Where a melody or chordal pattern is expected to resolve to a certain note or chord, a different but similarly suitable note can be resolved to instead, creating an interesting and unexpected sound. For example, the deceptive cadence.
Phrase (music)In music theory, a phrase (Greek: φράση) is a unit of musical meter that has a complete musical sense of its own, built from figures, motifs, and cells, and combining to form melodies, periods and larger sections. A phrase is a substantial musical thought, which ends with a musical punctuation called a cadence.
Conclusion (music)In music, the conclusion is the ending of a composition and may take the form of a coda or outro. Pieces using sonata form typically use the recapitulation to conclude a piece, providing closure through the repetition of thematic material from the exposition in the tonic key.
MelodyA melody (from Greekμελῳδία (melōidía)'singing, chanting'), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term can include other musical elements such as tonal color. It is the foreground to the background accompaniment. A line or part need not be a foreground melody.
RhythmRhythm (from Greekῥυθμός, rhythmos, "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions".
Classical musicBroad tradition of Western art musicMembers of a youth orchestra standing to acknowledge applause after performing.Classical music is a tradition of art music in the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can also be applied to non-Western art musics.
HarmonyIn music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harmonic objects such as chords, textures and tonalities are identified, defined, and categorized in the development of these theories.
Section (music)In music, a section is a complete, but not independent, musical idea. Types of sections include the introduction or intro, exposition, development, recapitulation, verse, chorus or refrain, conclusion, coda or outro, fadeout, bridge or . In sectional forms such as binary, the larger unit (form) is built from various smaller clear-cut units (sections) in combination, analogous to stanzas in poetry or somewhat like stacking Lego.
MusicMusic is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of music vary widely in substance and approach. While scholars agree that music is defined by a small number of specific elements, there is no consensus as to what these necessary elements are.
Music theoryMusic theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.