Reference
Glossary C
A
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Chord
Accidental These are small symbols within the music that alert the player that they need to alter a note into a sharp or a flat or a natural.
A chord is a group of notes, usually three or four, played all at the same time.
Arpeggio
The symbol right at the start of each stave. It tells you which pitch to allocate to the notes of the stave.
A collection of notes in a chord, played one by one up or down the keyboard, instead of at the same time as you would play a full chord.
Clef
D
Articulations
Dynamics
Articulations tell you to play each note in a particular style, expressed by little symbols near the note. Some of these include:
Instructions within the music relating to its volume. They will be in the form of symbols (such as a crescendo) or Italian words such as piano (quiet) or forte (loud).
t 4UBDDBUP To play in a clipped, short fashion, shown by a small dot either above or below a note. To smoothly slur the notes together, shown by curved lines which link notes.
t "DDFOU
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Tells you to add some extra oomph to a note, shown with a right-facing ‘open-wedge’ shape.
B
It is not uncommon to see a fair number of ‘iss’ added to a word, which exaggerate its effect. Eg, fortississimo means very, very loud and pianissimo means very quiet.
Beat A measured unit of time in a piece of music. The time signature organises the number of beats per bar and also dictates the length of a beat. The speed of the beat is dictated by the song’s tempo.
J K ,FZ TJHOBUVSF A collection of sharps or flats expressing the key of the song, found at the beginning of the stave. Symbols are on the line or in the space that the note occupies. If a flat symbol is placed on the centre line on the treble clef, every B note that you play will be a B flat, unless its cancelled out by an accidental.
E
Bar Divide the stave into measured sections. Each measure ties in with the time signature, for example in 4/4 time, each bar will contain four crotchet/ quarter note beats.
I
t.F[[P GPSUF Mezzo means ‘medium’ and it’s often added before a word for a moderate effect, for example mezzo forte means ‘medium loud’ and mezzo piano ‘medium quiet’.
t -FHBUP
H
F Flat An accidental that looks like a squashed b, which alters a note by decreasing its pitch by a semitone.
G
L -FEHFS MJOFT When notes are higher or lower than the reach of the stave lines, they are placed with ledger lines that extend the stave.
M .BKPS Jolly, happy-sounding notes characterise a major scale or key.
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.JEEMF $ The middle-most C key on your keyboard, it sits in the middle of the grand stave in notation and it’s also generally the divide between the notes played by your right and left hands.
