Pitch/Melody and Accompaniment

Tonality
Major, minor, diatonic, atonal (no home), consonant, dissonant, chromatic, pentatonic
(1,2,4,5,6), modal, Indian raga, gamelan, Blues
Cadences
perfect, plagal, interrupted (IV, vi), imperfect (I, V)
Melody
Pitch range, contour, movement
Range (narrow, wide), interval
Phrases balanced, symmetrical, short, long
Ascending, descending use of glissando
Steps, skips, leaps
Similar motion, contrary motion
Tones, semitones
Scale, arpeggio
Lyrical (easily sung)
Angular (lots of leaps)
Melisma singing of several notes to one syllable
Patterns
12 bar blues
Ice cream chords
A round
Chord progression and rate of harmonic change (harmonic rhythm)
Modulations of key
Tonic, sub-dominant, dominant, leading note, octave
Register
High, middle, low
Accompaniment
Tuned and untuned instruments
Stylistic accompaniment walking bass, Alberti bass
Block chords, broken chords
Drone two long, continuous low pitched notes maintains tonal centre
Pedal point one long, continuous low pitched note
Harmony
Motif, themes, fragments
How pitch affects the mood
Repetitive pitch devices
Riffs, ostinato, sequences, repeating chord progressions, imitation
Ornamentation
Trills, turns
Mordents
Acciaccatura
Portamento
Counter melody
Call and response
Question and answer
Canon
Improvisation
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Duration/Rhythm
Time signature and/or meter

simple/compound time, groups of

Tempo/Speed
Largo, lento, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, vivace, presto
Meno mosso (less movement)
Piu mosso (more movement, quicken)
Accelerando, ritardando, rubato
Beat
Strong, steady, constant, strict, rigid
Indefinite, changing, free
Phrases
Regular/irregular
Anacrusis
Periods of silence
Bars in each section
Note/rest values
Short, long
Dotted rhythms
Any regular specific rhythms (e.g. swing quavers; rhythmic motives)
Syncopation
Backbeat
Accenting weak beats regular or irregular
Multimetre change in time signature in quick succession
Polyrhythm two or more conflicting rhythms
Cross-rhythm two metres at the same time
Free-rhythm indefinite beat
Repetitive rhythmic devices
Riffs, ostinato, sequences
Hemiola pattern of syncopated beats with two beats played in time of three, or three
in the time of two
Anticipation when a note is played/sung before a strong beat
Harmonic rhythm rate at which chords change

Structure/How the piece is organised

Macro structure (and state the name of structure if obvious)
Binary, ternary, rondo, theme and variations
Through composed
Strophic (all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music)
12 Bar Blues form (I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, IV, I, (V7 as turn-around) I)
Verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo
Introduction/Coda
Number of bars in each section
How is it a new section
New melody/reoccurrence of previous melody
Chord progressions 12 bar blues, ice cream chord progression
Micro structure
Phrase lengths
Layers overlapping phrases (e.g. canons)
Motif
Repetitive pitch devices
Riffs, ostinato, sequences
Fugal imitation
Round
Ground bass bass ostinato in opera and Baroque music
Hook/hook line
Da Capo back to beginning
Dal Segno back to sign
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Tone Colour/Performing Media/Sound Sources/Timbre

Vocals
Soprano, alto, tenor, bass
World
Aerophones (wind)
Chordophones (string)
Membranophones (drums covered by membrane)
Idiophones (percussion)
Western
Strings
o Violin happy, bright, warm, powerful, sad, reflective, penetrating
o Viola deeper and richer tone than violin, ponderous, smooth, velvety, dark,
penetrating, brilliant
o Violoncello (cello) smooth, silky, warm, intimate, expressive, heavy, rich
o Double bass low and haunting, dull, foreboding, expressive, melodious
o Pizzicato adds warmth
Woodwind
o Flute haunting, smooth, gentle, full, rich, velvety, clear, bright, harsh,
penetrating,
o Piccolo bright, shrill, octave higher than flute
o Oboe penetrating, nasal, reedy, rich and flexible in middle and high register
o English horn deeper and more gentle, somewhat melancholic in lower notes
o Bassoon strong nasal, can be smooth and warm
o Clarinet smooth, warm, mellow, dark, rich, clear, at high notes can be squeaky
o Bass clarinet rich and mellow
o Saxophone full, powerful
Brass
o French Horn smooth, mellow, serene, high notes can be forced and thin
o Trumpet bright, penetrating, brilliant, at low notes slightly muffled
o Trombone strong, clean, mellow and smooth in high register, strong and bold in
bass range
o Tuba strong and powerful, upper/soft can be smooth and horn-like, loud is rich
o Mutes vary their tone colour
Percussion
Solo/Ensemble
Tone colour words
Mellow, resonant, warm, sweet, sensual, woody, rich, silky
Bright glittering, brilliant, clear, sparkling, shimmering, silvery, pure
Distorted, aggressive, coarse, dark, muddy
Breathy, panting, airy, muffled, wheezing, muted
Majestic, grand, booming, powerful, strong, ringing, strident, penetrating
Nasal, haunting, sombre, murky, reedy, eerie, thin, leaden, melancholic, reflective
Piercing, metallic, brassy, blazing
Dry, hollow, rumbling
Artificial, electronic, buzzing, synthetic, futuristic, beeping
Range of each instrument/voice is using when describing type of sound
Indicate if playing techniques have altered the tone colour
Flutter tonguing, harmonics, distortion, hit, blow, scrape, shake, pluck, strum
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Texture/Layers/Melody and Accompaniment

Role/s of each layer and any changes
Melodic role
Harmonic role
Bass line
Rhythmic role
Interest role
Density of texture
Thick/dense
Thin/sparse
Monophonic
Homophonic
Heterophonic
Polyphonic
Playing techniques that affect texture
Distortion, mutes, unison, doubling (same melody in different octave)
Counter melody
Tremolo, flutter tonguing
Imitation
Call and response
Similar/contrary motion
Canon
Panning
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Dynamics and Expressive Techniques
Volume and how it changes throughout the music
Pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, sfortzando
Suddenly Subito, terraced dynamics
Gradually Crescendo, decrescendo, diminuendo, smorzando (dying out)
Changes in tempo
Accelerando, rallentando, ritardando, ritenuto (immediately slowing down), meno
mosso, piu mosso, a tempo/tempo primo
The effect of playing techniques of the soloist
Vibrato
Legato, staccato, cantabile, masostoso (bold, powerful)
Accents
Tremolo
Tenuto
Glissando
Pizzicato, arco, double stopping, strum, slap, harmonics
Mute
Drum roll/fill
Stabs
Ornamentation trills, turns, mordents, acciaccatura, Portamento, appoggiatura
Distortion, amplification, delay (echo), decay (sound resonates, echoes, dies away)
Scatting, falsetto
Electronic manipulation
Sound and silence relationship
Used to emphasise
Increases mood
Not used/obvious momentum
Accompaniment style
Alberti bass
Walking bass
Brushes

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Unity
Any repetition
Sections
Motif
Riffs
Ostinato
Sequences
Harmonic pattern and rhythm
Playing technique arco, strumming
Drone, pedal points
Constant use of steps/skips/leaps
Same range
Same performing media
Maintenance of one texture
Tonality
Imitation
Constant beat drums or bass
Same dynamic throughout
Contours, range, movement, phrase lengths
Contrast/Variety
Modulation of key
Change of metre and tempo
Dynamic change
Contrasting phrase lengths
Theme and variations
Role changes of instruments
Use of ornamentation
Polyrhythm, cross-rhythm, multimetre
Use of different registers
Melodic or rhythmic variation
Climactic point
Added cymbal crash or drum fill
Contrasting tone colours
Through composed
Ways in which each layer is different
Tuned vs. untuned
Woodwind vs. string
Melody vs. ostinato vs. chord progression
Texture types