Accent – the emphasis through rhythm or dynamics on a particular note (notated by a < over the note on the staff.

Accidental - a symbol (e.g. flat ?, sharp # or natural ?) indicating that a pitch is to be raised up or lowered by a half step.

Agent – a hired artist representative to book shows, negotiate contracts, etc.

Alto – usually the second part on a four part choral group, and the second female part.

Arpeggio – the notes of a chord played in sequence instead of simultaneously.

Arrangement – 1) the adaptation of a piece from an original form to a new medium. 2) the order in which elements or sections of a song are played (i.e. AABA or intro-verse-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus).

Articulation - a symbol appearing above or below a note or chord indicating how it should be played - e.g. staccato, tenuto, up-bow, accent, fermata, etc.

Bar – a bar is the same as a measure is the same as a bar; on the printed staff, a measure is the space between any two vertical lines. In 4/4 time, a bar is four beats long. In 6/8 time, a measure is 6 beats long, etc.

Baritone – the male voice between tenor and bass.

Bass – the lowest male voice.

Bass Clef – the lower clef of traditional sheet music, also called the F clef, where the fourth line indicates an F.

Beams – the thick lines connecting groups of notes.

Beat – 1) the basic unit of musical rhythm, in 4/4 time, there are four beats in a measure or bar; 2) the snap or count used to communicate to the pulse.

Bracket – 1) a the thick vertical [ which groups together the staves of instruments in the same section. 2) the horizontal [ which sometimes groups notes in tuplelts.

Bridge – traditionally a bridge connects two different musical ideas or melodic themes, often the bridge would transition from one key to another. In pop, jazz, rock and other modern genres, a bridge doesn’t necessarily change keys but should be substantially different from other sections of the song.

Chart – 1) in jazz, a chart is the melody of a song written out on the staff with the chords written over the staff; 2) in pop and rock music, a chart can be just the lyrics and the chord progression.

Chord – 1) the simultaneous play of three or more notes; 2) two or more note heads on a single stem.

Chord Progression – 1) a series of chords; 2) a notation of the progression of chords for a composition.

Chord Symbol - the text above the staff specifying a chord for the performer to play (e.g. Bbm meaning B flat minor).

Chorus – 1) a group of singers; 2) traditionally called the “refrain”, the chorus is generally a section of a song that repeats both musically and lyrically.

Coda – 1) a concluding section of a song; 2) a segue into a new section or theme.

Commission – 1) an amount of money received for composing a song; 2) order for a song to be written usually to commemorate an occasion or event.

Count – 1) the snap and/or count to indicate the tempo; 2) the number of beats in a measure.

Crescendo – an increase in dynamic level or “musical volume”.

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Decrescendo – a decrease in dynamic level or “musical volume”.

Double-stop – on the violin or other stringed instrument, playing two notes simultaneously.

Dynamics – musical volume i.e. how quietly or loudly to play or sing.

Ending – often, repeats incorporate multiple endings; a first ending would be played the first time through the song, the second ending played the second time, etc.

Feedback – that awful, high pitched, screechy noise you sometimes hear when a public address system (PA) is being used; feedback is caused by sound cycling through the PA speakers back into a microphone or instrument or by covering the head of a microphone.

Feel – the form underlying a piece of music (i.e. Rumba or waltz, blues rock or baroque).

Fermata – the musical symbol (?) placed over a note on the staff instructing the players to hold or pause on that note longer than its indicated duration.

Flag - or tail more denotes the curved hook of an eighth note or shorter note.

Forte – 1) the musical volume level for loud (about 6 in a 1-10 scale); 2) the musical symbol (?) that indicates the piece or section should be played forte.

Fortissimo - 1) the musical volume level for loud (about 8 in a 1-10 scale); 2) the musical symbol (?) that indicates the piece or section should be played fortissimo or double forte.

Grace note - 1) a small note on the staff attached to a larger note; 2) when played, a grace note does not subtract from the duration of a bar, sort of 'crushed' into the previous or following note.

Groove – the magical feeling when a performance lines up in just the right way and you feel in the “groove”

Guitar tabs – or tablature, is a system of notating a guitar part where the chords and fingering are placed over the staff or lyrics of a song.

Hairpin - a crescendo or diminuendo written as a hairpin-shaped double line.

Harmonic – a harmonic is produced on a string instrument by stopping the string without fully depressing the string; this causes the string to vibrate at a different frequency than when it is allowed to vibrate along its entire length.

Improvisation – is the creation of a musical part based on the cord progression and sometimes the vocal melody of the song; vocal improvisation is called scat.

Intro – 1) an instrumental introduction to a song commonly in four or eight bars; 2) a lyric verse that introduces a song, usually the intro is not related to the main melodic themes of the song.

Key - the key or key signature is defined by the markings at the beginning of every staff in a piece of music. This is the “tonal center” of a song. So, if a “tune is in the key of Bb,” Bb is the tonal center of the piece.

Legato – performed or sung smoothly without interruption of the tone (even on a change of bow direction).

Lyric line - the horizontal line that follows any work whose final syllable is sung to more than one note. (Sometimes incorrectly called a 'melisma line', in fact, a melisma line is a lyric line under slurred notes. One under tied notes is also called a 'protraction line' or 'extension line'.)

Lyric(s) – the words of a song.

Major (key signatures) – markings at the beginning of the staff indicating the major scale upon which the composition is based.(for more information see the charting page)

Major Scale – is a eight tone scale based on this progression of half steps (½) and whole steps (w): 1 w 2 w 3 ½ 4 w 5 w 6 w 7 ½ 1.

Measure – on the printed staff, a measure is the space between any two vertical lines. In 4/4 time, a measure is four beats long. In 6/8 time, a measure is 6 beats long, etc.

Metronome – a device for keeping exact time using a regularly repeated click.

Mezzo – the Italian word meaning middle or medium applied as a musical symbol (?) to dynamic marking so piano (?) becomes mezzo piano (?).

Mic – short for microphone, a device used to amplify the voice or instruments.

Minor (key signatures) – markings at the beginning of the staff indicating the minor scale upon which the composition is based. (for more information see the charting page)

Minus One – a recording without the lead part (i.e. all parts minus one) similar to karaoke track.

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Pentatonic – a five-tone scale, the blues scale is a commonly used pentatonic scale.

Piano – 1) a large musical stringed instrument; 2) a dynamic marking (?) indicating a volume level of about 2-3 on a scale of 1-10.

Pickup – the note or notes played before the first full measure.

Pizzicato – when the string is plucked instead of bowed.

Progression – see Chord Progression.

Repeats – 1) a musical notation (:?) indicating that a section of music should be played again.

Repertoire – a list of songs that a musician or singer performs.

Root – generating note (bass note) of a chord.

Rubato – out of tempo, being rhythmically flexible; in most cases, this means, the band/ orchestra/ accompanist, follows the soloist who uses the rhythm for expressive purposes.

Scale – notes organized into an ascending or descending series.

Scat – a vocal improvisation.

Slur – a curved line placed above or below a series of notes to indicate that they are to be played legato (with one bow stroke or in one breath).

Solo(s) – a part of the song where one instrument is featured or voice is featured (i.e. guitar solo, piano solo, scat, etc.)

Sonata – a composition for solo piano or a solo instrument accompanied by a piano usually in three or four movements.

Soprano – usually the highest part in a four-part chorus.

Sound Check – a short pre-performance opportunity to check the microphone and instrument levels.

Staccato – a short, detached attack on a note or short choppy bow stroke.

Staff – the series of five lines and four spaces on which notes are placed.

Staff Paper – paper printed with staff lines.

Stem - the vertical line on notes and chords.

Swing – a jazz “feel” that became popular in the 1930s.

Syncopation – the deliberate placement of notes off their natural rhythm.

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Tag – or tag ending is a repetition of a musical phrase at the end of a song.

Tempo – the speed of a piece of music (i.e. in Jazz you might talk about an “up tempo ballad” or in classical music “adagio”, etc.).

Tenor – usually the highest male voice in a chorus.

Tie – a curved line connecting two or more notes of the same pitch indicating that note should be held for the combined duration of the notes under the tie.

Transposition – written or performed music in a different key from the one in which it was originally composed.

Treble Clef – the upper clef in traditional sheet music, also called the G clef where G falls on the center line.

Tremolo – the quick and continuous iteration of a single pitch.

Triplet (tuplet) – a group of three notes played in the place of two of the same kind indicated with a bar over or under the notes and a 3.

Vamp – a musical passage that is repeated; commonly used as an introduction or ending to a song, often played under a spoken introduction to a song.

Verse – a musical theme that is repeated with different lyrics.

Vibrato – 1) in stringed instruments, a slight, rapid fluctuation of the pitch caused by movement in the left hand; 2) in singing, the intentional, slight, and rapid fluctuation of pitch.

Working the Crowd/the House – delivering an excellent performance that really psyches up and audience.

Endings:
Basie Ending – This is a short, four note ending commonly used in swing and other jazz tunes.
Ellington Ending – This is another common ending for jazz tunes where the piano ascends the scale to finish the piece.
Rit. Ending – Short for ritardando, here, the singer/lead cues the musicians to slow down the piece as you hit the last few measures. This is a common ending for many genres.
Tag Ending – This is a common way to end a song where the last two or four measures are repeated.
Vamp Ending – This is a repetition of one to four chords, ending on a cue from the singer/lead.

Intro's:
No Intro - Get your starting note from the piano or guitar and everybody starts together.
4-bar – This four measure intro is a common one to start a song. Often the intro is the last four bars of the song tacked on at the beginning before you start to sing.
8-bar – This eight measure intro is a common intro for swing numbers and some blues and rock tunes,
Rubato – This is an “out of time” or no tempo intro where you get a starting pitch and then sing the beginning of the song with musicians following you.
Rubato Verse – This a verse written by the composer to set the mood of the tune. If you’ve ever heard the song “Makin’ Whoopie”, the beginning lyric (Everytime I hear that march from Loengrin) is a good example of a Rubato Verse.

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