Music vocabulary (2)

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Binary Form

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musical form in two related sections, both of which are usually repeated.

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Ternary Form

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three-part musical form where the first section (A) is repeated after the second section (B) ends

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Fugue

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a contrapuntal composition in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts.

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Sonata Form

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a type of composition in three sections (exposition, development, and recapitulation) in which two themes or subjects are explored according to set key relationships.

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Ritnornello Form

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a form based on the alternation between tutti and solo sections

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homophonic

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one voice, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony.

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polyphonic

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two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody

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monophonic

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melody line with no harmony

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retrograde

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reverses the order of the motive's pitches: what was the first pitch becomes the last, and vice versa.

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inversion

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the melody turned upside-down. For instance, if the original melody has an ascending major third, the inverted melody has a descending major third