blues

The blues is a type of music, created by African Americans.

He can play blues or jazz.


key

The key in music is the tonal centre of a piece of music.

Mozart's Symphony No.40 is written in the key of G minor.


sharp

A sharp is a note that is one half step above the one that is named.

The last note that she sang was a D sharp, not a C flat.


major

major (positive)
more major (comparative)
most major (superlative)

A major musical scale is the usual scale for music in western culture. The major scale starts two notes above the minor and more often sounds happy.

That music could be D minor or F major.


flat

A flat makes a note one semitone lower than a natural: it is shown by the symbol ♭.


harmony

Harmony is when two or more notes sound good at the same time.


rest

A mark in music showing counts that are not played.

That quarter-note is followed by three rests.


band

A band is a group of people who play different instruments together. It can be of any size.

The band played loud music.


country

A kind of (mostly American) music started by people who lived far from cities. Short for country music.

I've been listening to a lot of country this month.


dominant

A dominant is the fifth note of a musical scale of eight notes.

In the C Major scale, the dominant is the G.


minor

minor (positive)
more minor (comparative)
most minor (superlative)

A minor musical scale is a scale that starts two notes before the major scale. Music in a minor scale often sounds sad.

That music could be A minor or C major.


register

A register is a particular range of notes.

The piano plays arpeggi in higher registers, accompanying the clarinet that plays the melody in full-blooded lower middle registers.


rhythm

A rhythm is the part of music that drums do. It's the way music goes in time, without thinking about higher or lower notes.

A healthy heart beats with a steady rhythm.

She followed the rhythm of the music by tapping the floor with her foot.


record

A record is a big round black plastic thing with music or other sounds on it.

Now people don't use records any more -- they use cassettes or CDs.


produce

produce (canonical)
produces (third-person singular)
produced (past)
produced (past participle)
producing (present participle)

If you produce a recording, you are in charge of its arrangement, recording, and mixing.


note

In this song, every word is on a different note.


bassist

A bassist is someone who plays a bass instrument or sings bass.

The bassist sat his guitar down.


mode

The Mixolydian mode is a good way for inducing a bluesey kind of mood.


accompany

accompany (canonical)
accompanies (third-person singular)
accompanied (past)
accompanied (past participle)
accompanying (present participle)

If person A accompanies person B on a musical instrument, B sings or plays the main part while A plays along.

Joe Falcon sings and plays the accordion and is accompanied by Cleoma Breaux on guitar.


mix

mix (canonical)
mixes (third-person singular)
mixed (past)
mixed (past participle)
mixing (present participle)

I'll mix the rhythm tracks down to a single track.

To make a finished version of a recording.

I'm almost done mixing this song.


mix

The rhythm mix sounds muddy.

I've almost finished the mix for this song.


score

A copy of written music, usually for an orchestra. Usually, this means all the written music for all the players for a piece of music.

I have the whole score for the Brandenburg Concertos.


musical instrument

musical instrument
musical instruments (plural)

A musical instrument is a tool for making music.

My cousin can play many musical instruments.

Guitars, drums, and horns are all musical instruments.


single

A single is a song that is sold or put out by itself (or with one other song), not on an album.

Today she releases her live version of Birthday, the first single from an upcoming tour album.


saturation

An effect on the sound of an electric guitar that is used mainly in heavy metal music.


platinum

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-platinum.wav

A platinum is a musical recording that has sold over one million copies (for singles), or two million (for albums)


chord

A chord is made of several notes together, usually three or four.

Some singers accompany themselves on guitar by playing chords.


pad

A pad is a low pitched musical sound that fills in the music. This is often in electronica or blues.


string

A string is a musical instrument that makes sounds from strings.


strings

As a group, the stringed instruments in an orchestra.


pitch

A pitch is a sound at a particular frequency, how high or low a note is.

We need to listen for small changes of pitch and rhythm that lie beyond the limits of Western music.

You can hear their worry in the pitch of their voices.

Somebody's pitch is how well they can produce or recognize a specific note.

He has perfect pitch; at age eight he played the entire Bach Toccata in D Minor by ear.


acoustic

An acoustic instrument is played without electricity.

I think music from an acoustic guitar is prettier than music from an electric guitar.


track

A track is a single part of an audio recording that can be separated from other parts of a recording.

You can make digital copies of the CD tracks and save them in MP3 format.

Each instrument is recorded onto a different audio track.

The song is the opening track on the new album.


remix

remix (canonical)
remixes (third-person singular)
remixed (past)
remixed (past participle)
remixing (present participle)

If you remix a song, you create a remix of it.

The music producer remixed a popular song.


fiddle

fiddle (canonical)
fiddles (third-person singular)
fiddled (past)
fiddled (past participle)
fiddling (present participle)

To play traditional songs on a violin in a style not like classical music.


violinist

A violinist is someone who plays the violin.

The violinist played a duet with the cellist.


transcribe

transcribe (canonical)
transcribes (third-person singular)
transcribed (past)
transcribed (past participle)
transcribing (present participle)


rap

A rap is when someone makes a fast song with rhythms.


rap

rap (canonical)
raps (third-person singular)
rapped (past)
rapped (past participle)
rapping (present participle)

If you rap a song, you speak the lyrics rapidly.


jig

A jig is a light, quick musical dance or movement.


accordionist

An accordionist is someone who plays the accordion.


baritone

A baritone is a male voice that is lower than tenor, but higher than bass

Thomas Hampson sings operas with a loud baritone voice


passage

A passage is a short section from a musical work.

There was a long oboe solo is the passage we listened to from Bach's work.


coda

A coda is a short passage at the end of a piece of music, sometimes summarizing the main themes or bringing the piece to a brilliant conclusion. A very short coda is called a 'codetta'.


adagio

/əˈdɑːdʒiəʊ/

The second movement of a symphony is sometimes an adagio.

An adagio is a type of marking in music meaning to play slowly.

There is an adagio mark at bar 12.


cellist

A cellist is someone who plays the cello.

Pablo Casals was a famous cellist.


mandolinist

A mandolinist is a person who plays the mandolin.

Fred Tackett is the mandolinist in the band Little Feat.


viola

A viola is a sound on an organ which is like the sound of a stringed instrument.

The organist used the viola stop when playing.


piper

A piper is a person who plays the bagpipes.

The piper played on the castle wall to signal the end of the day.

A piper is a person who plays the pipes.


tone

"What's your favourite tone?" asked the teacher of music.


trope

A short section at the end of the melody in some early music.

A phrase or verse added to the mass when sung by a choir.


arrangement

An arrangement is an adaptation of a piece of music.

Percy Grainger wrote a piano arrangement of an English folk song called "Country Gardens"


retard

A retard in music is an instruction to slow down the tempo.


tremolando

A tremolando is a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes.

Molly played the notes tremolando , much to the surprise of her friends.


tonic

The keynote of a song (the note that says what other notes will be sharp or flat)


intone

intone (canonical)
intones (third-person singular)
intoned (past)
intoned (past participle)
intoning (present participle)

To intone is to sing the opening phrase of a plainsong.


songwriter

A songwriter is someone who writes songs.


funk

My brother likes jazz music, but I like funk.


funky

funky (positive)
funkier (comparative)
funkiest (superlative)


mediant

The mediant is the note above the supertonic, and the third note in a scale.


submediant

The submediant is the sixth note in a scale.


contrabass

A contrabass instrument is something that plays an octave lower than normal.

The contrabass clarinet is very large.


bassoonist

A bassoonist is a person who plays the bassoon.


contrabassoonist

A contrabassoonist is a person who plays the contrabassoon.


unison

If two notes are in unison, they are the same pitch.


trombonist

A trombonist is a person that plays the trombone.

The jazz trombonist can play very well.


symphony

A symphony is music that is written for an orchestra.

Beethoven's most famous symphony was Symphony No. 5.


discord

Discord is when notes in music don't sound good when played at the same time.


metronome

A metronome is something that musicians use to make sure they are playing on time.

Set your metronome to 104.


ambient

ambient (positive)
more ambient (comparative)
most ambient (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-ambient.wav

Music that is ambient is very relaxing and peaceful.


fortissimo

If something is played fortissimo it is played very loud.

Play the opening section fortissimo instead of forte.


banger

If a song is a banger, it is an energetic song that particularly stands out.

The DJ at the club last night played some real bangers!


guitarist

A guitarist is a person that plays the guitar.

The guitarist can play very well.


rackett

A rackett is an old wind instrument that has ventages.


clarinetist

A clarinetist is a person that plays the clarinet.

The clarinetist can play very well.


pluck

pluck (canonical)
plucks (third-person singular)
plucked (past)
plucked (past participle)
plucking (present participle)

If you pluck a guitar, violin etc., you pull a single string and then let it go to make a sound.

She picked up her guitar and plucked it idly.


drummer

A drummer is a person who plays the drums.


arpeggio

An arpeggio is the notes of a chord played individually instead of simultaneously, usually moving from lowest to highest.


suspension

A suspension is a discord produced by prolonging a note in the chord into following chord.


harmonize

harmonize (canonical)
harmonizes (third-person singular)
harmonized (past)
harmonized (past participle)
harmonizing (present participle)

If you harmonize, you play notes or sing in harmony.


harmonise

harmonise (canonical)
harmonises (third-person singular)
harmonised (past)
harmonised (past participle)
harmonising (present participle)

If you harmonise, you play notes or sing in harmony.


impromptu

An impromptu in music is something played without forethought of what beats are going to come next it is playing in the moment.


accompaniment

Accompaniment is music played as background to a featured musician.

She has produced 10 new songs recorded with orchestral or big-band accompaniment.


ow

In music, singers say ow to show that they are feeling strong emotions.

1987, Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal (song)


remaster

remaster (canonical)
remasters (third-person singular)
remastered (past)
remastered (past participle)
remastering (present participle)

If you remaster something, you create a new version of a it by enhancing sound, picture quality.


rapper

A rapper is someone who says the lyrics of a song rhythmically and rapidly.


shredder

A shredder is a person who plays the guitar very quickly.


solo

A solo is a piece of music for one performer.


solo

solos (third-person singular)
solo (canonical)
soloes (third-person singular)
soloed (past)
soloed (past participle)
soloing (present participle)


rescore

rescore (canonical)
rescores (third-person singular)
rescored (past)
rescored (past participle)
rescoring (present participle)

If you rescore something, you arrange music again.


serenade

A serenade is a song that is sung directly to one's love interest.


percussion

Percussion is the section of an orchestra that contains percussion instruments.


roulade

A roulade is a type of music ornamentation where several notes are sung to one syllable.


scat

Scat is the improvised melodic solo using nonsense syllables.


scat

scat (canonical)
scats (third-person singular)
scatted (past)
scatted (past participle)
scatting (present participle)

If a person scats, they sing an improvised melodic solo using nonsense syllables.


salsa

Salsa is a style of urban music originating from New York that is heavily influenced by Cuban music.


soloist

A soloist is a person who performs a solo.


shaker

A shaker is an rhythm instrument that makes a sound when you shake it.