Accompaniment: the secondary music atmosphere that is heard in the background of a melody that supports a melody that is in the foreground
Accent: an emphasis, rhythmic or melodic, on a part of a song or interlude. I.E. a ‘stressed’ part of a rhythm or melody
Alaap: the slow, unmetered and unaccompanied ‘introduction’ to an Indian classical composition that is used to unfold the essence of the raag
Anthara – the three-line verse from a film song, heard in conjunction with the Mukhada.
Arrangement: how the instruments are put together in a piece to convey the music. The arrangement of instruments may vary at different points in the piece
Call and response: when the melody of a specific singer or instrument is followed by a short melody by another singer/instrument or group that appears to answer it. The second melody sounds like it ‘completes’ the first, like a musical ‘question and answer’.
Carnatic: refers to South Indian classical music
Chords: the simultaneous or near-simultaneous sounding of three or more notes. Chords are one type of application of harmony.
Coloratura: ornate, flowery, ornamented style (usually refers to singing)
Counter-melody: an independent, distinct melody that is heard at the same time as
another melody, and that may or may not compliment it. Together, they create the effect of melodic counterpoint. This may also apply to rhythm (see counter-rhythm)
Counter-rhythm: an independent, distinct rhythm that is heard at the same time as
another rhythm, and that may or may not compliment it. Together, they create the effect of rhythmic counterpoint. This may also apply to melody (see counter-melody)
Counterpoint (Rhythmic): effect created when two or more different and distinct pitchless (without notes) rhythms are played/sung simultaneously. Rhythmic counterpoint will not be in rhythmic unison.
Counterpoint (Melodic): effect created when two or more different and distinct melodies are played/sung simultaneously. Rhythmic counterpoint would occur as a result of this. Melodic counterpoint may not be in melodic unison.
Contrapuntal: the description of something that uses counterpoint.
Dadra: a 6 or 3 beat rhythm (rhythmic cycle) that is common in light classical and folk styles of music.
Doubling/tripling, etc.: when more than one voice or instrument plays the same part. Melodic doubling may or may not be in unison.
Drone: in Indian classical music; the consistent repetition of a single pitch or more than one pitch that provides the harmonic ‘atmosphere’ over which the raag and taal is heard. Often provided by an instrument like the ‘tanpura’
Dynamics: refers to the volume of the music, as well, the range in volume from quiet to loud
Echoing (Echo): when a melody (or rhythm) or part of it, played by one instrument or voice is repeated exactly by another instrument immediately afterward.
Elaboration: ‘addition’ to, or ornamentation of a rhythm or melody. Also referred to as embellishment.
Extension: when a complete melody or rhythm played/sung by one instrument or voice is ‘extended’ to make a longer melody/rhythm.
Gamak: a melodic embellishment that is added to a melody (usually vocal) – this is the ‘shake’ that is employed most frequently in Indian classical and semi-classical styles
Ghazal: a semi-classical style of singing, originating in Persia. Means ‘to talk with women’
Harmony: a description of the sound that results when more than one note is heard simultaneously. Chords (on guitar or piano, etc.) are the most obvious example of harmony.
Harmonized melody: when a melody is doubled by another voice(s) or instrument(s) that is not in melodic unison, nor melodic doubling. A harmonized melody will, however, be in rhythmic unison.
Hertz: a unit of measurement of vibrational frequency. Also notated as Hz.
Hindustani: refers to North Indian classical music
Imitation: essentially, when a portion of a song or melody (or rhythm) is repeated with variation. This might not occur immediately after the first melody/rhythm, but possibly later in the piece.
Improvise: to create a melody, rhythm or harmony in real time – in other words, ‘make it up’ on the spot.
Interlude: a ‘filler’ section between vocal melodies – usually instrumental
Instrumentation: the instruments that are used in a specific song or piece. The instrumentation may vary at any given time; this then moves into the domain of arrangement
Laggi: double tempo rhythmic pattern (i.e. twice as fast tempo)
Meend: a slide from one note to another. A type of ornamentation.
Melody: a musical idea that results from a series of notes played or sung in succession.
The song in a Bollywood piece may be referred to as the ‘main’ melody (inclusive of Mukhada and Anthara)
Melodic unison: when two or more instruments or voices are playing the exact same notes (this would imply that as a result there is rhythmic unison as well)
Meter: the grouping of beats into regular patterns (in the case of Bollywood compositions, we have been hearing songs in ‘4’ and ‘3’ almost exclusively)
Mukhada: the repeated refrain from a film song – usually contains the title of the song.
In Western popular music is known as the ‘hook’.
Note: a specific pitch in music used in the formulation of melody
On-beat: also known as ‘strong beat’ or ‘down beat’, this refers to the most heavily accented beats of a metered piece. Eg. if a piece is in ‘4’, beats 1 and 3 would be the ‘on-beats’
Off-beat: also known as ‘weak beat’ or ‘up beat’, this refers to beats that are not heavily accented. Eg. if a piece is in ‘4’, beats 2 and 4 would be the ‘off-beats’
Ornamentation: the use of devices like gamak and meend to embellish a melody
Ostinato pattern: a short rhythmic, melodic or harmonic pattern that is repeated without change over some period of time within a composition.
Phrase: A short part of a complete melody that represents a musical idea. An example is a stanza in poetry. It does not represent the whole poem, but a smaller idea within the poem. This can be vocal or instrumental. There can also be rhythmic phrases (phrases that are based on rhythm, without pitches).
Pitch: defines the location of a musical note in relation to others, thus giving it a sense of being high or low. Has a specific vibrational frequency (hertz) associated with it.
Pre-Composed: a piece of music that has been put together before hand – not improvised.
Quwwali: A semi-classical vocal style with ecstatic religious focus (Islamic)
Pulse: the rhythmic ‘heartbeat’ of a composition
Raag: a group of notes put together in Indian classical music to create a scale. There must be at least 5 different notes to create a raag. Each raag has its own characteristic performance requirements and mood
Raas: the pervading emotional ‘flavor’ of a raag
Range: the scope of notes that a singer or instrument can produce. When a singer sings near her lowest pitches, this is referred to as singing in the ‘low’ range. The same applies to the use of the ‘upper’ part of a range.
Register: the way in which an instrument’s or vocalist’s range is divided
Repetition: when a portion of a song or melody (or rhythm!) is repeated; basically the same as echo. Repetition doesn’t have to occur right after the first melody, however, as in echo, but can come up later (e.g. the Mukhada is often repeated later in the song exactly like the first time it is heard)
Rhythm: the subdivision of a space of time into a defined, repeated pattern. Rhythm is the controlled movement of music in time
Rhythmic unison: when two or more instruments or voices are playing the exact same rhythms
Scale: a series of notes in succession
Stanza: repeating line within a song. In poetry, this is a unit with the larger poem.
Strophe: a stanza that has an alternating form
Solo: music performed by a single performer.
Syncopation: when a note or notes is placed on the offbeat and so is contrary to the pulse
Taal: refers to the use of rhythm in Indian music (comes from the classical tradition)
Tempo: rate of speed of a piece of music
Texture: this refers to how many voices or instruments are heard together at the same time (layering), and how they interact with each other. A portion of a piece may be described as having a ‘dense’ or ‘sparse’ texture. This can be a description of melody (melodic texture) or rhythm (rhythmic texture) and how dense or sparse the melody and rhythms are.
Theme: the primary melody in a piece, (the song, in the case of Bollywood musicals), that might also be known as the ‘main melody’. Inclusive of the mukhada and anthara.
Timbre: Refers to the ‘tone’ colour of an instrument or music. One may sound ‘darker’, while another may sound ‘brighter’. For example, a trumpet has a different ‘timbre’ than a saxophone; even when playing the same note they sound different.
Unison: Melodic unison: two or more instruments/voices singing or playing the exact same notes. This implies rhythmic unison as well.
Rhythmic unison, however, means the rhythms are exactly the same, and if there is melody attached to this, that it may or may not be in melodic unison. It could be a doubled or a harmonized melody.
Non-unison is when the notes or rhythms are not exactly the same.
refer to http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/instruments.html
for a description and photos of Indian instruments
As noted, many of the songs heard in class may be accessed on
www.raaga.com
questions?
