Musical Glossary For Kids

To gain speed gradually.

Emphasis or stress placed on specific notes or set of notes.

Play music in slow, stately tempo. A common example is “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber.

Play it in a lively, brisk, and upbeat way. Listen to Mozart’s “Turkish March”.

Between Slow and Fast. Play it at a walking tempo. 

A song with stories and poetry. Brahms’ “Fantasias, Op 116” comes to mind.

Usually performed in a theater, it’s an elegant dance, accompanied by music.

Vertical line in musical notation denoting the number of beats, organized into sections.

Extravagant and majestic, it’s the music during the Baroque period in Europe. The movement kicked off in the early 17th century and lasted up to the middle of the 18th century. That’s why you have Baroque literature, Baroque art, Baroque theater, and Baroque architecture. Some of the famous Baroque composers are Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Pachelbel.

Standard pattern in measure or bar.

A sort of “punctuation” with two chords to signify a pause or “full stop” at the end of a musical phrase.

A part of the concerto where a soloist plays alone.

Playing two or more notes at the same time.

The symbol denotes the pitch of a note in music notation. There are five types: alto, bass, tenor, soprano, and treble.

Solo play for one or more instruments, accompanied by the ensemble. Listen to Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”.

The conductor instructs every musician to play the right notes at the right time, in the right pitch and forte. Some famous conductors are Nadia Boulanger, Herbert von Karajan, Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner, and Arturo Toscanini.

Play louder in “rising” way, meaning gradually.

It means to play from the beginning, once again.

Player softer in “shrinking” manner.

Musical piece for two performers.

The level of loudness and intensity of music

Assembly of musicians playing together, usually with a conductor.

To play a passage in an expressive manner.

Meaning “pause”, the symbol denotes that a certain note is to be held longer than usual.

To play loudly. Denoted by “f” meaning loud, the level increasing two-fold when it’s “ff” or three-fold when it’s “fff”, which is fortississimo, meaning play it as strongly as possible.

A dance created by French peasants in the Baroque era.

 Slow, sorrowful, and solemn, the feeling of loss and regrets.

Also known as minor second or semitone, it’s the smallest interval in classical music.

In music, it’s the perfect union of chords and pitches to produce a sound which is beautiful.

To play spontaneously. Be in the moment.

Spatial difference between a duet of notes or pitches.

The standard scale and tonality of a piece of music.

Iin a tempo between adagio and largo.

To play regally, slowly, and widely.

Playing smoothly and “tied together”, like a calm river.

Comprising of seven notes, the interval sequence begins with two whole steps, one-half step, three whole steps, and one-half step. Major keys sound brighter and more positive in comparison to minor keys.

If you are thinking of any part in a song, you are thinking of the melody. It’s the part of the song which makes it musically pleasing.

Here, the interval sequence goes one whole step, one-half step, two whole steps, one-half step, and two whole steps.

A musical performance involving singers and orchestra. It’s usually held in a theater.

Gentle and soft.

Refers to the low frequency or high frequency of a note.

Meaning "always".

The speed at which music is to played.