Category: Music Terms

Accidentals are symbols written before notes to alter their pitch. A sharp raises a natural note by a semitone, a flat lowers it by a semitone, and a natural restores …

A backbeat in music is a sound that emphasizes the second and fourth beat in a 4-beat bar. Many different instruments, including drums, cymbals, and guitars, can be used to …

The word “tonic” can be used to describe a chord, note, or key. The tonic chord or tonic note is the first chord or note of a major scale, and …

If you’re new to the music world or simply want to know what makes a piece of music sound so authentic, you might be wondering: what is acoustic music? Acoustic …

Tone color in music refers to Timbre, which is the individual sound of an instrument or voice that distinguishes it from other instruments or voices. In other words, tone color …

Sforzando is an Italian musical direction for a sudden, forceful emphasis on a note or chord. It is commonly written sfz or sf near the relevant note; it is not …

A coda is the concluding passage of music, which brings the composition to a formal close. It can also be used in other types of compositions when it is appropriate …

The bass in music is what gives it its rhythm. It’s what you tap your foot to, what puts a bounce in your step, what makes you move. If the …

A stanza is a group of lines in a poem or song, often following a recurring pattern of rhythm or rhyme. A “strophic” song has successive stanzas set to the …

A film score, often known as film music, is an original composition for a movie that is composed and recorded especially for it. On the other hand, a soundtrack is …