Melody/Harmony

Melody/Harmony

1. Acciaccatura

   • An ornament which sounds like a crushed note played very quickly on the beat or just before it.

2. Added 6th

   • Root, 3rd and 5th of a chord with the 6th added, e.g. C, E, G, A. This chord is used frequently in jazz and popular music.

3. Diminished 7th

   • A chord consisting of three intervals of a minor 3rd built one on top of the other, the interval between the lower and top note being a diminished 7th, e.g. D, F, Ab, B. The chord sounds a bit ‘spooky’. This can be a very useful chord for modulation to distant keys.

4. Dominant 7th

   • Chord built on the dominant (5th) note of a key, with an added 7th note above its root. It is sometimes written as V7 or, in the key of C major, G7 (G, B, D, F)

5. Harmonic minor scale

   • Scale which shares the same key signature as its relative major but raises the 7th note by a semitone, e.g. A, B, C, D, E, F, G#, A.

6. Interrupted cadence

   • A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a phrase. An interrupted cadence is usually formed by the chords VVI, e.g. in the key of C major, chords G to A minor. It is known as the ‘surprise cadence’ as the listener may be expecting V-I which has a more final sound.

7. Interval

   • The distance in pitch between two notes, e.g. C – F is a 4th.

8. Melodic minor scale

   • Scale which shares the same key signature as its relative major but raises the 6th and 7th notes by a semitone ascending and lowers them descending, e.g. A, B, C, D, E, F#, G#, A (ascending) and A, G, F, E, D, C, B, A (descending).

9. Mode/modal

   • Usually refers to any of the early scales called modes, e.g. Dorian mode. It can also be used more generally as a reference to major mode (in a major key) or minor mode (in a minor key).

10. Mordent

    • An ornament which sounds the main note, the note above and then the main note again. An inverted mordent sounds the main note, the note below and then the main note again.

11. Obbligato (instrumental)

    • A prominent solo instrument part in a piece of vocal music

12. Plagal cadence

    • A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a phrase. A plagal cadence is the subdominant to tonic chords (IV-I). In the key of C major, chords F to C.

13. Relative major

    • A change from minor to major key with the same key signature. To find the relative major from the minor key, go up 3 semitones from the tonic, e.g. D minor to F major.

14. Tierce de picardie

    • The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is changed to major.

15. Relative minor

    • A change from major to minor key with the same key signature. To find the relative minor from the major key, go down 3 semitones from the tonic, e.g. C major to A minor.