GLOSSARY A7
key. A way to characterize a passage of music accord-
ing to the diatonic scale it uses and that scale’s tonic
pitch; e.g., F-sharp major, G minor.
Klangfarbenmelodie. Literally, “tone color melody”; a
melody that is a succession of not only pitches but
also timbres.
klezmer. A living repertory of traditional Eastern
European Jewish songs and dances, and the style of
playing that repertory.
leap. An interval larger than a step.
legato. Smooth, connected (notes of a melody, etc.).
leitmotif. In opera or fi lm music, a recurring theme
associated with a specifi c character, object, or
situation.
libretto. (Lit. “little book.”) The words for an opera.
lick. A jazz term for a melodic gesture longer than a
motive and shorter than a phrase.
light opera. See operetta.
lining out. The practice of singing with a deacon or
precentor.
looping. See cutting.
LP. The 33^1 / 3 -rpm long-playing phonograph record,
developed in the late 1940s initially for classical
music and accommodating roughly twenty-fi ve
minutes of music per side.
mainstream. That segment of the nation’s culture
considered to be predominant or a norm at a par-
ticular time.
major scale. A diatonic scale with steps in the pattern
whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half, corre-
sponding to the white keys of the piano from C to C.
major triad. A chord consisting of a root and the
pitches a major third and perfect fi fth above it, cor-
responding to the fourth, fi fth, and sixth partials of
the overtone series, or to the fi rst, third, and fi fth
degrees in the major scale.
mambo. A Caribbean dance, popular in the United
States in the mid-twentieth century.
mash-up. An artistic product in which tracks from
two or more prerecorded songs are combined to
create a new song.
mass media. All forms of communication directed to
a broad audience, such as radio, television, newspa-
pers, and magazines.
MC. In hip-hop, a master of ceremonies, someone who
takes over a DJ’s job of providing patter.
measure. See bar.
medicine show. Free entertainment designed to
attract customers for a traveling patent medicine
peddler’s sales pitch.
melisma. Multiple notes sung on a single syllable.
melodic contour. A melody’s rise and fall.melodrama. A nineteenth-century stage genre featur-
ing sparse dialogue and music to accompany the
stage action.
melody. The succession of tones in a piece of music
that, by virtue of its coherence, intelligibility, and
attractiveness, most readily catches a listener’s ear.
melody and accompaniment. A texture in which one
melodic line is supported by other musical activity
that is subordinate to it.
meter. The number of beats per bar, e.g., duple (for two
or multiples of two) or triple (for three or multiples
of three).
metric modulation. A twentieth-century composi-
tional device for coordinating different tempos by
means of a common note duration.
metrical psalm. A psalm translated into metrical,
rhymed English.
mickey-mousing. In fi lm, matching the music
extremely closely to the screen action, an effect
more appropriate for cartoons than for live action
pictures.
microtonality. Any system of intonation that uses
pitches other than the twelve pitches of equal
temperament.
minimalism. A style of music composition based on a
radically reduced amount of musical material, thus
relying on static harmony, patterned rhythms, and
repetition.
minor scale. A diatonic scale with steps in the pat-
tern whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole,
corresponding to the white keys of the piano from
A to A.
minor triad. A chord consisting of a root and the
pitches a minor third and perfect fi fth above it, cor-
responding to the fi rst, third, and fi fth degrees in
the minor scale.
minstrelsy. Blackface entertainment, originating in
the nineteenth century, that purports to represent
the lives of southern slaves.
modal jazz. Modern jazz style featuring harmonically
static stretches based on a single scale or mode.
mode. Any of the diatonic scales used in older Euro-
pean music and in folk music; in addition to the
minor and major scales, these include two other
somewhat major-sounding modes and two some-
what minor-sounding modes.
modern jazz. An umbrella term for all of the jazz styles
developed after World War II.
modernism. Twentieth-century aesthetic movement
that, in music, emphasizes fragmented melodies,
dissonant harmonies, and irregular rhythms.
modulation. The movement from one key to another.172028_99a_A1-A13_GLO_r1_ka.indd A7 23/01/13 11:22 AM