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Flashcards by drew.buren, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by drew.buren
about 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Appoggiatura | An embellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic note or tone and usually written as a note of smaller size |
| Aria | An accompanied elaborate melody sung (as in an opera) by a single voice |
| Arpeggio | A chord in which the notes are played separately instead of at the same time |
| Atonal | Not written, played, or sung in a particular key |
| Authentic Cadence | A chord progression where the dominant chord is followed by the tonic chord (V-I or V-i). The "V" represents the chord based on the fifth step of the scale and the "I" represents the chord based on the first step of the scale ("i" being the minor version of the chord based on the first step of the scale. The dominant to tonic progression (V-I) represents the strongest sound of all cadences. In the tonality of "C" major, an authentic cadence would be the dominant (V) G major chord (G-B-D) moving to the tonic (I) C major chord (C-E-G). |
| Augmentation | Statement of a melody in longer note values, often twice as slow as the original. |
| Baroque | The music of the period c. 1600 - 1750 C.E., directly following the Renaissance and preceding the Classical era. This style is characterized by a lot of ornamentation, thus the name; it is also distinguishable by its use of basso continuo and application of the doctrine of the affections. The main composers of this era include Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Dominico Scarlatti, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frederick Handel. |
| Basso Continuo | A characteristic of Baroque music consisting of a bass part that runs continuously throughout a work, also called thoroughbass. If it is figured to indicate the harmony, it is called figured bass. |
| Cadence | A stylized close in music which divides the music into periods or brings it to a full conclusion. They include: • authentic cadence (also perfect authentic cadence, final cadence, full cadence, full close cadence) • plagal cadence (also amen cadence, church cadence) • deceptive cadence (also interrupted cadence) • half cadence (also half close cadence, imperfect cadence) • phrygian cadence. |
| Canon | Strict counterpoint in which each voice exactly imitates the previous voice at a fixed distance. |
| Cantata | A poem set to music to be performed by voices and instruments, which usually has several movements: airs, recitatives, and choruses. |
| Cantus Firmus | The basis of polyphonic compositions of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The tune of the cantus firmus was taken from Gregorian chant; it would move very slowly underneath more rapid vocal or instrumental lines above it. |
| Chant | A sacred song, usually harmonized in four parts to which scripture passages are set, part of the words being recited ad libitum, and part sung in strict tempo. |
| Chorale | A hymn of the Lutheran church, usually written for four voice harmony. Many chorales were written by J. S. Bach, which serve as a basis for the rules of part writing. The melody is usually in the top voice, with supporting harmony in the lower voices. |
| Chord | The sounding of two or more notes (usually at least three) simultaneously. Most chords are based on triads or three notes with the interval of a major or minor third between each of the three notes. The two most common chords are the major and minor chords. A major chord is composed of a major third above the tonic note, and a perfect fifth above the tonic, a minor chord is composed of a minor third and a perfect fifth. |
| Chromatic | 1. Any music or chord that contains notes not belonging to the diatonic scale. 2. Music which proceeds in half steps. |
| Classical | That music which was written in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The chief composers of this style of music are Haydn, Mozart, and early Beethoven. This music flourished chiefly in Vienna, and is characterized by its periodic structure, and the expanded and developed length as compared to that of the Baroque. The term "classical music" is now also erroneously taken to mean any music of the Baroque through late-Romantic eras. |
| Coda | The closing few measures of a composition, usually not a part of the main theme groups of the standard form of a composition, but a finishing theme added to the end to give the composition closure; in sonata form, the coda is anything that occurs after the recapitulation. The coda is sometimes indicated with the notation of a "0" with two intersecting lines (as shown below). This is typically used in compositions that employ a da capo (D.C.) or dal segno (D.S.). Often the terms "D.S. al coda" or "D.C. al coda" are also used which indicate that the performer is to perform the coda portion of the composition after repeating to either the sign (D.S.) or to the beginning of the composition (D.C.). 2. Anything after the last entry of the theme or subject in a fugue. |
| Concerto | This term was originally applied to almost any kind of concerted music for voices and instruments of the Baroque era. Today it is taken to mean a composition that shows off a specific instrument (or instruments) with the orchestra used as accompaniment. The term concerto is the same in English, French and Italian. |
| Consonance | An accord of sounds sweet and pleasing to the ear as opposed to dissonance. Perfect consonances are the perfect fourth, perfect fifth, and octave, imperfect consonances are the major and minor thirds and sixths. |
| Counterpoint | The art of combining two or more melodies to be performed simultaneously and musically. In counterpoint, the melody is supported by another melody rather than by chords. |
| Deceptive Cadence | A chord progression where the dominant chord is followed by a chord other than the tonic chord usually the sixth chord or superdominant chord or submediant chord (V-VI), but sometimes something else. The "V" represents the chord based on the fifth step of the scale and the "VI" represents the chord based on the sixth step of the scale. The dominant to superdominant progression (V-VI) is deceptive to the listener, because the tendency is for the dominant chord to resolve to the tonic chord. In the tonality of "C" major, a deceptive cadence would be the dominant (V) G major chord (G-B-D) moving to the superdominant (VI) A minor chord (A-C-E). |
| Development | The second major division of the sonata-allegro form. The development is based upon the themes in the exposition and elaborates upon them by making new combinations of the figures and phrases while moving through a series of foreign keys. |
| Diatonic | Proceeding in the order of the octave based on five tones (steps) and two semitones (half steps). The major and natural minor scales and the modes are all diatonic In the major scale, the semitones (half steps) fall between the third and fourth tones (steps) and the seventh and eighth tones (steps). In the minor scale, the semitones (half steps) fall between the second and third tones (steps) and the fifth and sixth tones (steps). |
| Diminution | A Renaissance and Baroque ornamentation which consists of the restatement of a melody in which the note values are shortened, usually by half. |
| Dissonance | Two or more notes sounded together which are discordant, and, in the prevailing harmonic system, require resolution to a consonance. |
| Dominant | The fifth tone of a scale. |
| Drone | 1. Any note performed throughout a composition as a sustaining bass note. Drones are common in folk music and in Medieval music. 2. The largest of the three pipes in a bagpipe which sounds one deep note acting as a perpetual base to every tune. |
| Dynamics | The loudness or softness of a composition. The term piano (p) is used to indicate softness and forte (f) to indicate loudness. Each of these is augmented if the letter symbolizing it is doubled or tripled (e.g. "pp" - "pianissimo", "very soft"; "ppp" - "pianississimo", "very, very soft"). Each is also lessened if proceeded by mezzo (m) (e.g. "mf" - "mezzo forte", "somewhat loud"). Also included in dynamics are the crescendo ("slowly growing louder"), decrescendo ("slowly growing softer"), and the sforzando ("sudden loudness"). |
| Enharmonic | The phenomenon that two separate pitch notations stand for the same sound. For example, the enharmonic spelling of F sharp is G flat. Both represent the same pitch frequency. |
| Episode | An element found in music that is a digression from the main structure of the composition. It is a passage that is not a part of the main theme groups of a composition, but is an ornamental or constructive section added to the main elements of the composition. In a fugue, it is a connective passage or area of relaxation between entrances of the subject. |
| Etude | A study or an exercise (typically a short composition) designed to train a musician technically as well as musically (1). |
| Exposition | In sonata form, the exposition is the first statement of the theme; it is the first of the three major sections in sonata form. Usually there are two major theme groups in the exposition, possibly followed by a codetta. The exposition is followed by the development, in which the themes presented in the exposition are expanded, reshaped, and manipulated. Finally the same themes are presented in very nearly their original form in the recapitulation, which is the last section of the sonata form. |
| Fugue | A form of composition popular in, but not restricted to, the Baroque era, in which a theme or subject is introduced by one voice, and is imitated by other voices in succession. Usually only the first few notes of the subject are imitated exactly, then each voice deviates slightly until the next time it enters again with the subject. Generally the voices overlap and weave in and out of each other forming a continuous, tapestry-like texture. |
| Half Cadence | A chord progression where the dominant chord is the final chord of the cadence and is preceded by the tonic chord in second inversion (6/4-V). It should be noted that this pattern produces two chords with the same bass note in both chords. The "I" represents the chord based on the first step of the scale (with the 6/4 indicating second inversion) and the "V" represents the chord based on the fifth step of the scale. In the tonality of "C" major, a half cadence would be the tonic in second inversion (I 6/4) C major chord (G C E) moving to the dominant (V) G major chord (G B D). |
| The harmonic minor scale is the same as the natural minor scale, except that the seventh tone is raised by a semitone (half step) both ascending and descending, e.g.: C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B, C (ascending) C, B, A♭, G, F, E♭, D C (descending). | |
| Harmony | 1. The combination of notes sounded simultaneously to produce chords. Usually, this term is used to describe consonance, however, it can also be used to describe dissonance. 2. Countermelodic notes to accompany a tune. |
| Hemiola | In early music, this term meant the ratio of 3:2 (3 to 2), employed musically in two senses. First is the ratio of the perfect fifth, whose musical value is 3:2. If you were to divide the string of a monochord at the ratio of 3:2, you would produce a perfect fifth. Another way to think of it is that two strings at lengths of 3 to 2, one string would make 3 vibrations in the same time that the other string would make 2 vibrations. Second, it represented the rhythmic relation of three notes in the time of two, i.e., the triplet. In the Baroque era hemiola was used in dance music in the sense that it denoted the articulation of two measures of triple meter as if they were three measures of duple meter. In later music, especially Viennese waltzes the use of hemiola was common, in the sense of playing duplets in one part of the music, over which another part of the music is playing triplets. |
| Heterophony | The practice of two or more musicians simultaneously performing slightly different versions of the same melody. Each version would be characterised as improvised or ornamented versions of the melody as opposed to harmonized versions of a melody as in polyphonic music. The term heterophony was coined by Plato and is practiced in many areas of the world today including China, Japan, and Java. |
| Hocket | A Medieval practice of composition in which two voices would move in such a manner that one would be still while the other moved and vice-versa. Sometimes this was achieved by taking a single melody and breaking it into short, one or two note phrases, and dividing the phrases between the two voices so that a quick back-and-forth movement of the melody would be heard. |
| Homophony | A style of composition in which there is one melody, and all the voices and accompaniments move rhythmically together. This is opposed to polyphony, in which each voice may move independently. Homophony is not to be confused with monophony, in which all the voices and accompanying instruments are performing exactly the same notes, in homophony there is a distinct melody with accompanying harmony, but all move in the same rhythmic pattern. |
| Imitation | The repetition in a second voice or part of a theme, motif, or phrase presented by a first voice or part. The first presentation of the theme is called the antecedent, the answer is called the consequent, and is usually a different pitch from the antecedent. The antecedent usually continues while the consequent is coming in, and the consequent need not imitate the antecedent exactly, but may vary the tune slightly. |
| Improvisation | Term referring to the spontaneous performance of music without previous preparation or any written notes. Improvisation can be seen in music of the Medieval era, where singers were trained to improvise additional lines to liturgical chant while it was being performed, in the Renaissance era where a musician would improvise over the written chords usually on a keyboard instrument or on a viol, in the Baroque, where ornamentation and realization of figured bass was common, in the Classical and Romantic eras, where cadenzas of concertos were expected to be improvised, and in 20th century jazz. |
| Inversion | The position of a chord when the fundamental (or base pitch of a chord) is not the lowest note. When the lowest note is the fundamental, the chord is said to be in root position. When the third of the chord is in the lowest voice of the music, the chord is a "first inversion", when the fifth of the chord is in the lowest voice, the chord is said to be a "second inversion". (See chart below). See also root position, first inversion, second inversion. The complement of an interval. Within an octave, the inversion of a second is a seventh, the inversion of a third is a sixth, the inversion of a fourth is a fifth. The mirroring of a tune about a fixed note. This is to say, the imitation of the melody performed upside-down from the original. This is used in Medieval and Renaissance counterpoint, in Baroque fugues, and in 20th century twelve-tone music. |
| Leading Tone (Note) | Also called "leading tone"; the major seventh of a scale, so called because it lies a semitone below the tonic and "leads" towards it. |
| March | A processional or military air especially suited to parades, processions, or martial affairs. It is generally written in 2/4, 6/8, or 4/4 time. Usually a march is an ornamentation of a regular and repeated drum rhythm, and is performed on brass instruments, woodwind instruments, drums, pipes, and other martial instruments. Many exceptions to the strict march style provide a wide range of acceptable derivations. For example, the Italian march genre of the 19th and 20th centuries tended to include very lyrical sections. Also, several 20th century composers have gone outside the traditional march genre in their compositions using atonal techniques. |
| Measure | 1.American term, equivalent to the English term "bar ", signifying the smallest metrical divisions of a composition, containing a fixed number of beats , marked off by vertical lines on the staff. 2.English term of the Renaissance and Baroque eras signifying a group of dance steps that could be performed to one strain of dance music. |
| Melodic Minor Scale | The melodic minor scale is the same as the natural minor scale with the exception that the sixth and seventh tones are raised by a semitone (half step) when the scale is ascending. When the scale is descending, the melodic minor is the same as the natural minor, e.g.: Ascending: C, D, E♭, F, G, A, B, C Descending: C, B♭, A♭, G, F, E♭, D, C |
| Melody | A tune; a succession of tones comprised of mode, rhythm, and pitches so arranged as to achieve musical shape, being perceived as a unity by the mind. In a piece of music where there is more than one voice, or where harmony is present, the melody is the dominant tune of the composition. |
| Meter | Measure of time; arrangement of poetical feet; the grouping of beats into regular patterns. The organization of rhythmic patterns in a composition in such a way that a regular, repeating pulse of beats may continue throughout the composition. |
| Minimalism | A term applied to music of the late 20th century which aim at reducing the range of compositional materials through the use of repetition and static harmony. |
| Mode | From the Latin modus meaning 'measure' or 'standard.' A series of notes into which the octave is divided according to specific systems. These systems or modes are used as the basis for composing music. The major and minor scales are modes, as well as the gypsy scale, the Gregorian modes, rhythmic modes, etc. |
| Modulation | The process of changing from one key to another. In electronic music, the term is applied to a change of frequency, amplitude, or other changes of similar nature possible through electronics. |
| Monophony | Music that is written for only one voice or part is said to be monophonic (the music itself is called "monophony"). This is in contrast to polyphonic music (polyphony), which has more than one part or voice. |
| Motive | A leading phrase or figure that is reproduced and varied through the course of a composition or movement. See melody. |
| Musique Concréte | A term describing the 20th century practice of recording natural or artificial sounds and treating them electronically to produce music. |
| Natural Minor Scale | The natural minor scale has the same tones as the major scale, but uses the sixth tone of the major scale as its tonic. Thus, the semitones (half steps) are between the second and third tones and the fifth and sixth tones, e.g.: C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, B flat, C (ascending) C, B flat, A flat, G, F, E flat, D, C (descending) |
| Neighboring Tone | A neighboring tone (NT) is approached by step and then returns by step to the original note. |
| Neo-Classism | Term applied to 20th century composers who use the forms and thematic processes of the Classical era of music. |
| Non-Harmonic Tone | A note that is dissonant with other notes in the same chord, usually resolved in the next chord. Usually, but not always, a non-harmonic note is a style of ornamentation, such as an appoggiatura, anticipation, auxiliary tone, etc. |
| Opera | A drama set to music, usually sung throughout, originating in 17th century Italy. Opera is a combination of music, drama, scenery, costumes, dance, etc., to create a complete art form. |
| Opus | A term used to classify a composition in relation to the composer's other compositions. Abbreviated as "Op." (work) or "Opp." (works), compositions are typically given an opus number in chronological order (i.e. "Op. 1", "Op. 2", etc.). Because the Opus numbers are often assigned by publishers, they are not always a reliable indication of the chronology of the composition. |
| Ordinary | Chants and prayers from the Mass and other services that remain the same from day to day throughout the Church year. The Ordinary is opposed to the Proper, which consists of those chants and prayers that vary from day to day according to the particular liturgical occasion. |
| Organum | Term referring to the earliest kind of polyphonic music. Organum developed from the practice of adding voices above a plain chant (cantus firmus); these added voices at first ran parallel to the plainchant at an interval of a fourth or fifth. Later they began to move about more freely. Organum was in use from about the 12th through the 13th centuries. |
| Ornament | Musical ornaments (or embellishments) are symbols that provide direction for performers to embellish the written musical notation in specific ways. Each musical period (2) through history has specific ways that the performer is expected to perform each of the ornaments. Also, different countries and even different composers have their own interpretation of how each ornament is to be performed. Since ornaments are part of the written music, they must be performed, and they must be performed using the performance practices of the period and country in which the music was written. Many treatises have been written over the years to detail these performance practices, which is how the modern musician is able to interpret and perform the ornaments as the composer would have intended. Although there have been many ornaments and their variants used through the years, the most commonly used ornaments today include the trill, grace note, arpeggio, mordent, and turn. |
| Ostinato | A short melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or some portion of a composition. |
| Overture | An introductory movement for orchestra intended to introduce an opera, oratorio, or other dramatic vocal composition by presenting themes to be heard later in the composition. Also, an independent composition for orchestra; in this case, it is called a "concert overture." |
| Parallel Keys | Two keys, onemajor and one minor, having the same tonic. For example, A major and A minor are parallel keys. |
| Passing Tone | A passing note is a non-harmonic note that appears between two notes in stepwise motion in part writing. Usually a passing note is a link between a melodic interval of a third in one of the voices. |
| Phrase | A musical unit, often a component of a melody. The phrase may be regarded as a dependent division of music, such as a single line of poetry; it does not have a sense of completion in itself. Usually two or more phrases balance each other, as in a period. |
| Picardy Third | A practice from the 16th century and the Baroque era of ending a composition with a major chord, when the rest of the composition is in a minor key, thus giving the composition a sense of finality. This is accomplished by raising the third of the final chord one half step or adding a sharp. In the key of A minor (A - C - E), the final chord would be (A - C-sharp - E). |
| Polychord | The simultaneous use of two or more simple chords (such as triads), a technique used in 20th century compositions. |
| Polyphony | Music composed for many parts or voices, each with its own melody, thus creating a rich texture of sound. The music itself is called polyphony. This is in contrast to monophonic music (monophony), which has only one part or voice. |
| Polyrhythm | The use of several patterns or meters simultaneously, a technique used in 20th century compositions. |
| Polytonality | The use of two or more keys simultaneously, used in 20th century compositions. |
| Recapitulation | In sonata-allegro form, the recapitulation (or Recap) is the final presentation of the original theme group (first and second theme), first presented in the exposition. Usually, the recapitulation is entirely in the tonic key of the composition. This is the third and final main division of sonata-allegro form. |
| Recitative | In an opera, oratorio, cantata, or other multi-movement vocal compositions, a recitative is a narrative song that describes some action, thought, or emotion. The recitative follows the natural flow of the language, and is more a speaking composition than a singing composition. The two styles of recitative are the dry (secco) style and the accompanied (accompagnato) or measured recitative (recitative misurato or stromentato) style. See also Recitative; secco; accompanied; accompagnato; measured recitative; recitative misurato; stromentato. |
| Refrain | A verse which repeats throughout a song or poem at given intervals. |
| Relative Keys | Keys (3) that share the exact same key signature. For example, C major and A minor are relative keys. |
| Renaissance | That era of music covering the 15th through 16th centuries (c. 1450-1600 C.E.), following the Medieval and preceding the Baroque era. The Renaissance saw the arrival of modes similar to modern major and minor scales, and of tonal harmony. Music of this era is characterized by its smoother, more charming melodies, rich, many-voiced, imitative harmonies, brilliant energy, and lively ornamentation. The instruments in use during this time included the lute, viol, harp and virginal, organ, recorder, oboe, and crumhorn. Major composers of the era include Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlande de Lassus, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Tomés Luis de Victoria, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Morley, Giles Farnaby and others |
| Resolution | In part writing, the resolving of a dissonant sound to a consonant sound in the following chord. Also, the conclusive ending to a musical statement. |
| Rhythm | The subdivision of a space of time into a defined, repeated pattern. Rhythm is the controlled movement of music in time. It may be defined as the division of music into regular metric portions; the regular pulsation of music. |
| Romantic | That era of music following the Classical era and ending around 1900. The compositions of the Romantic era are characterized by great, large ensembles, great dynamic fluctuations from fff to ppp , less tonal and melodic tunes, more discordant, atonal pieces, and immense, long compositions. The piano is a prominent instrument of the Romantic era. Major Romantic composers include: Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Hector Berlioz, Franz Schubert, etc. |
| Root | The tonic or fundamental note of a chord. |
| Rubato | A practice common in Romantic compositions of taking part of the duration from one note and giving it to another. It involves the performer tastefully stretching, slowing, or hurrying the tempo as she/he sees fit, thus imparting flexibility and emotion to the performance. |
| Sequence | 1. A style of chant used in the Medieval Church. It was usually syllabic, and the text, which was in Latin, was wide-ranging and extensive. 2. A progression of chords which ends in a cadence. 3. A restatement of an idea or motif at a different pitch level from the original. |
| Serial(ism) | A method of composition in which various musical elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and tone colour may be put in order according to a fixed series. |
| Sonata | An instrumental genre in several movements for a soloist or an ensemble. The original usage for the term "sonata" implied a composition that was to be played rather than sung. Later, the term "sonata" came to be understood as a four movement piece: slow, fast, slow, fast, as was used in the church sonata (sonata da chiesa), or allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, as was used in the chamber sonata (sonata da camera). As the sonata developed, it became longer and adopted the sonata-allegro form for the first movement, which was generally fast. The following movement was generally somewhat slower, and the number of movements varied, but was generally about three. |
| Sprechstimme | A vocal style in which the melody is spoken at approximate pitches rather than sung on exact pitches. The Sprechstimme was developed by Arnold Schoenberg. |
| Strophic (Form) | Song structure in which every verse (strophe) of the text is sung to the same musical tune. |
| Suspension | In part writing, a suspension is a situation in which a single note of one chord is held over into another chord, thus creating a dissonance, which is resolved by step in the following chord. |
| Syllabic | The style of chant which sets one note to each syllable of text. |
| Symphony | In the early 18th century, the term "symphony" was applied to any instrumental prelude, interlude, or postlude. In modern usage, the term is applied to a large composition for orchestra, generally in three or four movements. The symphony may also be defined as a sonata for orchestra. The earlier symphonies, those of the Classical era, were generally simpler, and of a smaller scale. By the late Romantic era, the symphony had grown in number of movements, length of movements, number of instruments, variety of instruments, and dynamic range. |
| Ternary (form) | A compositional form which consists of three major sections, an A section which states the thematic material, a B section which presents a contrasting theme, and a final A section which restates the opening thematic material. Also, any three part form. |
| Texture | Term which refers to the vertical structure of a composition. That is to say, how many parts or voices there are, what the configuration (close, open, etc.) of the voices is, how the voices interact, etc. |
| Through-Composed | Song form that is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of any major sections; each verse having its own, unique melody. |
| Timbre | The quality of a sound; that component of a tone that causes different instruments (for example a guitar and a violin) to sound different from each other while they are both playing the same note. |
| Tonic | The note upon which a scale or key is based; the first note of a scale or key; the keynote. |
| Tonicization | The technique of treating some note other than the true tonic of the composition as the tonic within a section of a composition. |
| Triad | A chord made up of three notes based on the interval of a third. Triads can be major, minor, augmented, or diminished. The major triad consists of the interval of a major third between the root and the third and the interval of a minor third between the third and the fifth. The minor triad consists of the interval of a minor third between the root and the third and the interval of a major third between the third and the fifth. The Augmented triad consists of the interval of a major third between the root and the third and the interval of a major third between the third and the fifth. Finally, the diminished triad consists of the interval of a minor third between the root and the third and the interval of a minor third between the third and the fifth. Triads are often notated with the pitch name of the root of the chord followed by the type of triad. In the figure below, the first triad is a C major chord (also notated as CM, or CMaj). The second triad is a C minor chord (also notated as Cm, or Cmin). The third triad is a C augmented chord (also notated as Caug, or C+). |
| Twelve-Tone Row (music) | Music produced by a compositional procedure of the 20th century based upon the free use of all of the twelve tones of the chromatic scale without a central tone or tonic. |
| Variation | A deviation from a theme that uses the same bass pattern or harmonic progression that the theme used, and usually having the same number of measures as the theme. Generally, a variation is played after a theme with the variation being slightly more ornate; in several cases there are many variations upon a single theme. Variations are often used as accompaniments to songs that are several verses long, or as dance music. In both cases, the repeating structure is beneficial to the nature of the function. |
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