NSMA · Ovation Performer · Music terms
Ovation Performer terms
Study advanced language for texture, tempo, form, and ensemble technique.
Key terms
- Alla breve — cut time, with two beats per measure
- Canon — imitative parts entering with the same music at different times
- Cantabile — in a singing style
- Countermelody — a secondary melody accompanying the main theme
- Counterpoint — two or more simultaneous independent melodies
- Divisi — divide one ensemble part among multiple performers
- Glissando — slide continuously from pitch to pitch
- Homophonic texture — a principal melody supported by chords
- Improvisation — creating music during performance
- Motet — sacred choral composition using contrapuntal writing
- Polyphonic texture — simultaneous independent melodic lines
- Rondo — form built from a recurring principal section
- Tremolo — rapid repetition producing a trembling effect