Tie Acurved line above or below, connecting notes of the same pitch so that the first note is played only once
and is held for the combined rhythmic value of all the tied pitches.
Timbre The tone quality (“color”) or an instrument or voice; every instrument has its own unique sound or
timbre.
Time signature (sometimes called Meter signature) The two numbers placed at the beginning of a piece that
indicate the number of beats in a measure (top number) and the note value of the basic pulse (lower number).
Tonal music Amusical system based on the major or minor scales.
Tonic The note (or chord) based on the first note of a scale. The tonic note names the key of the piece.
Transposition Changing a piece or section of music from one key to another; for example, in transposing a
piece from D major to E major, all pitches would be written or played a whole step higher.
Treble clef (G clef) The sign ( ) indicating that the second line from the bottom of the staff is the G above
middle C.
Triad In its simplest form, three notes consecutive thirds apart. There are four qualities of triads: major, minor,
augmented, and diminished.
Triple meter The recurring pattern of beats: a strong beat followed by two weak beats. Pieces written in 3/4 or
9/8 are examples of triple meter.
Triplet Division of a note into three equal parts where you normally have two equal parts.
Tritone “Three tones,” an interval spanning three whole steps; for example, C–F#or C–Gb.
Upbeat The last beat preceding the bar line, and before the downbeat.
Whole step The interval consisting of two adjacent half steps. On the keyboard, skip one key between two
notes to create a whole step.
Whole tone scale Asix-note scale consisting only of whole steps. Also called a hextonal scale.
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