Listening to Music

Tempo:
Steady, fast, slow, changing speed, free tempo, accelerando, rallentando

Rhythm:
Straight (like a march), two different rhythms playing at the same time, bouncy, off beat, syncopated,
improvisation, waltz, 3 beats in a bar, oom cha cha, 4 beats in a bar, 6/8 (pineapple) rhythm,
polyrhythm

Pitch & Melody:

High, low, rising = ascending, falling = descending, smooth, jumpy, stepwise, leaps, rhythmic, sparse,
improvisation, ornamentation, sequence

Bass:
1 long held note (pedal), 2 long held notes (drone), on/off beat riff, walking bass, repeated notes

Chords & Tonality:

On/ off beat, broken chords = arpeggio, major, minor, inversion, sus chord, diminished chord,
dominant 7, pentatonic chromatic, whole tone, modes (dorian & lydian), dissonant, consonant

Structure:
Beginning middle end, contrast, repetition, ostinato, question & answer, call & response,
Round, pop song (verse, bridge, chorus), 12 bar blues, binary A B, ternary ABA, rondo ABACA

Timbre ( = Sound Quality):

Harsh, soft, metallic, piercing, breathy, vocal, instrumental, tuned & unturned, environmental sounds,
electronic

Dynamics:
Soft vs. loud (piano, forte), gradually getting louder/ quieter (crescendo, diminuendo), suddenly getting
loud/ quiet

Texture:
Thin = one or two parts only, Thick = many different parts, solo, accompaniment, vocal/ instrumental
ensemble, chords, ensemble, monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic

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Mood:
Scary, relaxing, happy sad mysterious magical

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Instruments & voice:

Pop: guitar (electric/ acoustic) bass, guitar, drum kit, keyboard synthesizer
Orchestral: violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, French horn,
trombone, tuba, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, timpani, triangle
World: maracas, claves, tambourine, djembe, balophone, djembe, talking drum, steel pans, kora, table,
sitar

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Periods & Genres:

Medieval (plain chant), baroque, classical, romantic, 20th Century, minimalism, gamelan, African
music, Indian classical music (raga), bhangra, waltz, disco, Brazilian samba, cuban salsa, Caribbean
calypso, reggae, folk, British folk music, musicals, film music, blues, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, rock,
electronic music, indie, club dance, heavy metal

Listening to Music
YOUR NAME:
The piece of music I suggest for listening is called :

It links to our topic because:

I will ask the class the following three questions:

Question
1.

2.

3.

Answer