
Second Grade
Music Vocabulary Words
Sixteenth notes - Four equal sounds on a beat
Conductor - The person who directs or leads the ensemble
Half note - A note that lasts 2 beats
Tie - A line that links tow notes of the same pitch causing them to sound as one note
Do - The tonal center in major, a major 3rd lower than mi
Re - A pitch between do and mi
Pentatonic - A scale using five pitches, usually drm sl
Notation - Written music
Tempo - The speed of the beat
Allegro - Fast tempo
Andante - Slow (walking tempo)
Dynamics - The level of loud and soft of pitches
Crescendo - To gradually get louder
Decrescendo - To gradually get softer
Fortissimo - Very loud
Pianissimo - Very soft
Meter - The pattern of strong and weak beats in music
Meter in 2 - Beat pattern in sets of two (strong, weak, strong, weak)
Bar line - Vertical line which divides the staff into measures
Double Bar - Two vertical lines at the end of a piece of music
Measure - The space between two bar lines which contains a set of beats according to the time signature (meter signature)
Time signature - (meter signature) The numbers at the beginning of a song that indicate how many beats are in each measure (top #) and what kind of note gets 1 beat
Repeat sign - A symbol made of two vertical lines and two dots, indicating that the music in between should be performed once more if there are two facing each other. One repeat sign indicates to repeat from the beginning
Call & Response - A type of song in which a phrase is performed by a soloist followed by a response by a group. The response is usually repetitive. Sea shanties, field hollers and work songs include many examples of call and response form
Brass - Family of instruments played by buzzing the lips into a cup-shaped mouthpiece
Strings - Family of orchestral instruments played by bowing or plucking strings
Woodwinds - Family of orchestral instruments played with a single or double reed, or by blowing across a mouthpiece
Percussion - Family of orchestral instruments played by shaking or striking
Band - Performance group including percussion, brass and woodwinds only
Orchestra - Performance group including percussion, brass, woodwinds and strings
Style/Genre - The type of musk characterized by its melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre and performance practices, often originating from a specific time in history, in a specific place on earth, or by a specific culture or group of people
Patriotic - Music that is about and/or supportive of one's country
Classical - Music, usually performed by instrumental or vocal of the Baroque through late-Romantic eras
Folk - Music created in non-formal setting often by non-musicians passed down through generations by rote. Music indigenous to a certain country or people
Posture - Sitting or standing tall, relaxed shoulders and neck free of tension
Head voice - The higher register of the voice (as opposed to the chest voice)
Improvise - To make up music as one is playing or singing it