etude: A piece of music composed to help a performer develop technical
abilities.finale: The final movement in a multi-movement composition.flag:A curved line added to the stem of a note to indicate a reduced rhythmic
value. Flags are equivalent to beams.form: The overall shape, organization, or structure of a musical composition.
Forms may arise from very persistent genres.front phrasing:Moving a melody to begin earlier than it is expected.genre:A style or manner of music.grand staff:The combination of the bass clef staff and the treble clef staff.half step:The smallest interval in Western music, represented on the piano
by moving one key (black or white) to the left or right from a starting point,
or on the guitar as one fret up or down from a starting point. Also called a
semitone.harmonic overtone: Sympathetic frequencies produced by a tone that are
integer multiples of the fundamental tone (as opposed to inharmonic over-
tones, which are non-integer multiples).harmony:Pitches heard simultaneously in ways that produce chords and
chord progressions.heterophony: Simultaneous use of varied forms of one basic melody. Notes
may be omitted and/or changed.homophony: Layers of musical activity that move at the same rhythm, such
as melody and accompaniment.improvisation: Spontaneous musical creation.incidental music: Music composed to enhance a film or play.interval: The pitch distance between two notes.key:Normally defined by the beginning and ending chord of a musical com-
position and by the order of whole steps and half steps between tonic scale
degrees (in the key of C, for example, this would be represented by the first
C of the scale and the C an octave above the first).Appendix B: Glossary 313
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