HELPFUL MUSIC VOCABULARY
(Some are loosely adapted from "The New Harvard Dictionary of Music", edited by Don Randel, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1986; and "The American Heritage College Dictionary", 3rd edition, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.)
RHYTHM a pattern or flow of sound in time, regular or irregular.
BEAT a pulse.
COUNT the position of the beat within a measure.
BEAT a pulse.
COUNT the position of the beat within a measure.
MEASURE/BAR a unit of time in music consisting of a fixed number of note values.
TEMPO speed of beat/count in music, regular or irregular.
RUBATO rhythmic flexibility, accelerating and/or slowing of the tempo. (Loosely translated from Italian: stolen time)
MELODY a pleasing succession of tones.
TEXTURE the way in which musical tones are woven together,
ie, monophonic, homophonic, heterophonic, and/or polyphonic. Musical texture is often described with vague adjectives such as sparse, dense, heavy, transparent, etc.
ie, monophonic, homophonic, heterophonic, and/or polyphonic. Musical texture is often described with vague adjectives such as sparse, dense, heavy, transparent, etc.
FORM the structural pattern/template of a musical selection.
4/4 TIME (C)
4 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat (designated
bottom number).
3/4 TIME
3 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat ( number).
2/4 TIME
2 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat ( number).
4/8 TIME
4 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
an eighth note is worth 1 beat (designated by the bottom number).
3/8 TIME
3 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
an eighth note is worth 1 beat (designated by number).
4 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat (designated
bottom number).
3/4 TIME
3 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat ( number).
2/4 TIME
2 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
a quarter (fourth) note is worth 1 beat ( number).
4/8 TIME
4 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
an eighth note is worth 1 beat (designated by the bottom number).
3/8 TIME
3 beats/counts in a measure (designated by the top number);
an eighth note is worth 1 beat (designated by number).
MOST COMMONLY TIME SIGNATURES
USED TO NOTATE ARGENTINE TANGO MUSIC
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DEMYSTIFYING THE RHYTHMS OF TANGO
THE DANCE AND SONG OF ARGENTINA
CONCLUSION
Rebecca Schwan. BA, MM, DePaul University., author of this article, provides the following definitions for the reader’s added reference. She may be contacted at rschwan@depaul.edu.
Further explanation and accompanying notation has been documented by harpist Maria Luisa Rayan-Forero.
