Music Glossary #1

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Arpeggio

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A chord whose individual pitches are played in succession rather than simultaneously, in the manner that one would strum a guitar or harp.

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Block Chord

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A chord whose individual pitches are played simultaneously rather than in succession.

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Block Voicing (Sectional Writing)

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A jazz arranging technique in which instruments that belong to the same family are assigned similar music to play (e.g., trumpets grouped together, or saxophones, or trombones).

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Blue Note

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A pitch that is deliberately sung "out of tune"; commonly used by jazz and blues musicians, especially on steps 3 and 7 of the scale.

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Book

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A term for the spoken dialogue as well as the overall plot in musical theater.

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Cadenza

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An unaccompanied passage during a concerto where the orchestra has ceased to play, and the solo instrumentalist shows off virtuosity, often through improvisation.

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Call-and-Response

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A performance technique in which a soloist or small group presents a short motif that is answered by another musician or a larger group.

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Changes

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The harmonic progression that underlies a particular piece of popular music.

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Chorus

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In jazz, this term describes one complete statement of the main melody or strain, or the sections of a song that have recurring words (e.g., "verse-chorus" form); also refers to a group of singers.

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Chromatic Mediant

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An altered version of the mediant or submediant triad, achieved by reversing the customary mode of that triad or building a triad on the chromatic neighbor to the mediant or submediant.