A

• A cappella: Singing without instrumental accompaniment.
• Accelerando: Gradually increasing the tempo of the music.
• Accompaniment: Instrumental or vocal background that supports the main melody.
• Adagio: A slow tempo, often used to convey a somber or reflective mood.
• Allegro: A fast, lively tempo.
• Andante: A moderately slow tempo, often described as a walking pace.
• Aria: A solo vocal piece with instrumental accompaniment, typically found in operas.
• Arpeggio: Playing the notes of a chord in succession, rather than simultaneously.

B

• Bar: A segment of time in music, defined by a given number of beats.
• Bass: The lowest range of musical notes; also refers to the instrument or vocal part that plays these notes.
• Bassoon: A large woodwind instrument with a double reed.
• Beat: The basic unit of time in music, the pulse you tap your foot to.
• BPM: Beats per minute, a measure of tempo.

C

• Cadence: A sequence of chords that brings a phrase, section, or piece of music to a conclusion.
• Cello: A string instrument larger than a violin but smaller than a double bass, played with a bow.
• Chord: A group of notes played together, typically consisting of three or more notes.
• Chorus: A repeated section of a song, usually featuring the main theme and lyrics.
• Clarinet: A woodwind instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece.
• Clef: A symbol at the beginning of the staff that indicates the pitch of the written notes.
• Coda: The concluding passage of a piece of music.
• Crescendo: Gradually increasing in volume.

D

• Da Capo: An instruction to repeat the music from the beginning.
• Decrescendo: Gradually decreasing in volume.
• Diminuendo: Another term for gradually decreasing in volume.
• Dissonance: A combination of notes that sounds unstable or tense.
• Do: The first note of the solfège scale (C in fixed-do system).
• Double Bass: The largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra.
• Dotted Note: A note with a small dot after it, increasing its duration by half of its original value.
• Duple Meter: A meter with two beats per measure.

E

• Encore: A repeated or additional performance at the end of a concert, prompted by audience demand.
• Ensemble: A group of musicians performing together.
• Euphonium: A brass instrument similar to a small tuba.
• English Horn: A double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family.

F

• Fermata: A symbol indicating that a note or rest should be held longer than its usual duration.
• Flute: A woodwind instrument that produces sound from the flow of air across an opening.
• Forte: Loud.
• Fortissimo: Very loud.
• Form: The structure or design of a musical composition.
• French Horn: A brass instrument made of a long coiled tube with a flared bell.

G

• Glissando: A continuous slide upwards or downwards between two notes.
• Grave: Very slow and solemn tempo.

H

• Half Note: A note with a duration equal to two beats in common time.
• Harmony: The combination of different musical notes played or sung simultaneously.
• Harp: A string instrument with a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard.
• Harpsichord: A keyboard instrument, precursor to the piano, with strings that are plucked.
• Homophony: A texture in music where multiple parts move together rhythmically.

I

• Impromptu: A short piece of music, especially a solo, that is often improvised.
• Interval: The distance between two pitches.

J

• Jazz: A genre of music characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, and improvisation.

K

• Key: The group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a music composition.
• Key Signature: A set of sharp or flat symbols placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate the key of the music.
• Kodály Method: A music education method developed by Zoltán Kodály that emphasizes the use of folk songs, solfège hand signs, and a sequential approach to teaching music literacy.
• Kodály Hand Signs: Hand gestures used in the Kodály method to represent solfège syllables and help with pitch recognition.
• Kodály Rhythm Syllables: A system of syllables used to teach rhythm in the Kodály method, such as "ta" for quarter notes and "ti-ti" for eighth notes.

L

• Legato: Smooth and connected style of playing or singing.
• Libretto: The text of an opera or other long vocal work.
• Largo: A very slow tempo.

M

• Measure: Another term for bar; a segment of time defined by a given number of beats.
• Melody: A sequence of notes that is musically satisfying; the main theme of a piece.
• Meter: The pattern of beats in a piece of music.
• Modulation: Changing from one key to another within a piece.

N

• Natural: A symbol that cancels a previous sharp or flat.
• Notation: A system of writing music so that specific pitches and rhythms can be communicated.

O

• Octave: The interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency.
• Oboe: A double-reed woodwind instrument with a high pitch.
• Opus: A term used to denote the works of a composer, usually numbered according to the order of publication.
• Orchestra: A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, typically including strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
• Orff Approach: A method of teaching music that combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to a child's world of play.
• Orff Instruments: Percussion instruments used in the Orff Approach, such as xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels.

P

• Piano: Soft in dynamics; also refers to the keyboard instrument.
• Pianissimo: Very soft.
• Piccolo: A small, high-pitched woodwind instrument, similar to a flute but an octave higher.
• Pitch: The frequency of a sound; how high or low a note sounds.
• Prelude: A short piece of music that introduces a larger piece or set of pieces.

Q

• Quarter Note: A note with one-fourth the duration of a whole note.

R

• Refrain: A repeated line or section of music.
• Rest: A symbol indicating a period of silence in music.
• Ritardando: Gradually slowing down the tempo.

S

• Scale: A series of notes in a specific, sequential order.
• Sforzando: A sudden, strong accent on a note or chord.
• Si: The seventh note of the solfège scale (B in fixed-do system).
• Snare Drum: A small drum with metal wires stretched across the bottom head.
• Sol: The fifth note of the solfège scale (G in fixed-do system).
• Solfege: A music education method used to teach pitch and sight-singing with syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti).
• Solo: A piece or section performed by a single musician.
• Staccato: A style of playing notes in a short, detached manner.
• Symphony: An extended musical composition for orchestra, typically in four movements.

T

• Timpani: Large percussion instruments, also known as kettledrums, played with mallets.
• Trombone: A brass instrument with a slide mechanism.
• Trumpet: A brass instrument with a bright, penetrating sound.
• Tuba: The largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument.
• Tempo: The speed at which a piece of music is played.
• Timbre: The quality or color of a musical sound.
• Ti: The seventh note of the solfège scale (B in fixed-do system).
• Trill: A rapid alternation between two adjacent notes.
• Triplet: A group of three notes played in the time of two.

U

• Unison: Two or more musical parts sounding the same pitch or at an octave interval.

V

• Vibrato: A slight fluctuation in pitch used to enhance or intensify a sound.
• Viola: A string instrument slightly larger than a violin, tuned a fifth lower.
• Violin: A high-pitched string instrument, played with a bow.
• Virtuoso: A musician with exceptional technical skill.

W

• Whole Note: A note with a duration equal to four beats in common time.
• Woodwind: A family of instruments, typically made of wood or metal, that produce sound by the vibration of air, often using a reed.

X

• Xylophone: A percussion instrument with wooden bars struck by mallets to produce sound.

Y

• Yodel: A form of singing involving a rapid alternation between the normal voice and falsetto.

Z

• Zither: A stringed instrument with a flat body and numerous strings, played by strumming or plucking.