A12 GLOSSARY
texture. The interactions between multiple melodic,
harmonic, and rhythmic layers.
theme and variations. Musical form in which an ini-
tial section, or theme, is repeated in a series of var-
ied versions.
third. The interval between two scale degrees sepa-
rated by one intervening degree.
Third Stream. An aesthetic movement that sought to
bring jazz techniques into the classical sphere and
vice versa.
through-composed form. A musical structure in which
the composer continually spins out new music
instead of literally repeating sections of music.
timbre. See tone color.
Tin Pan Alley. Nickname for the publishing district
around W. 28th St. in New York City, and by exten-
sion for the popular music industry ca. 1890–1950s.
title music. Music played under the opening credits of
a fi lm and often functioning as an overture.
toasting. Traditional African American practice of
telling humorous stories often boasting about the
narrator’s exploits.
tonal. Having or using tonality.
tonality. The perceived hierarchy among scale
degrees and the chords built on them, centered on
the tonic.
tone. A single musical sound; a note.
tone cluster. A chord consisting of several closely
spaced pitches, such as those created by pressing
adjacent piano keys.
tone color. The quality of sound that enables a listener
to distinguish between different musical instru-
ments or voices; also called timbre.
tone poem. A single-movement symphonic work
whose multiple sections, in contrasting tempos and
characters, suggest a program.
tone row. In serialism, an ordering of the twelve
pitches of the chromatic scale into a sequence that
is then manipulated to produce the pitch content of
a composition.
tonic. The fi rst degree of a diatonic scale or the chord
built on that degree; the generating note from
which the other notes are built.
topical song. In the urban folk revival, a song, often
using a preexisting melody, with new words that
comment on current political or social issues.
total serialism. See integral serialism.
trading fours. A device in which two jazz soloists, or a
soloist and the full band, alternate four-bar phrases.
traditional sphere. The realm of musical activity con-
nected with particular customs and ways of life,relying on oral transmission and preserved as “folk
music” in the name of cultural continuity; cf. classi-
cal sphere, popular sphere.
transcription. 1. A notated documentation of a perfor-
mance. 2. An arrangement of a composition for dif-
ferent instrumental forces.
tremolo. 1. A fi gure of rapidly repeated notes, executed
on bowed instruments with a rapid back-and-forth
motion of the bow, and on keyboard instruments,
with a rapid alternation of two notes, often an
octave apart.
triad. A chord consisting of a root and pitches a third
and fi fth above it.
trill. A rapid, unmeasured oscillation between two
tones a scale degree apart.
trio. A middle strain of a multisectional march or rag
form, typically marked by a modulation to the sub-
dominant key.
triple meter. A meter of three beats per bar.
tritone. The interval of three whole steps (six half
steps), which divides the octave symmetrically.
tritone substitution. The replacement of a chord
with a chord whose root lies a tritone away from
the original chord’s; a signature feature of bebop
harmony.
truck driver modulation. See pump-up.
tune. See melody.
tunebook. A published collection of psalm or hymn
tunes.
turnaround. A dominant chord (V), or a series of
chords ending on the dominant, played at the end
of a blues chorus or other musical section to signal
a repetition.
turntablism. The techniques of a hip-hop DJ, such as
scratching, cutting, and beat matching.
twelve-bar blues. A common chorus structure in the
blues, consisting of three four-bar phrases and fol-
lowing a standard blues progression.
twelve-tone music. See serialism.
ultramodernism. A twentieth-century aesthetic
movement that called for a radical break with tradi-
tional musical styles.
ululation. A high-pitched, wavering howl.
underscoring. See nondiegetic music.
unison. Multiple voices or instruments sounding the
same pitch; monophony.
upbeat. The beat preceding a downbeat.
urban folk revival. The twentieth-century aes-
thetic movement in which traditional music was
embraced by people outside the communities in
which it originated.172028_99a_A1-A13_GLO_r1_ka.indd A12 23/01/13 11:22 AM