Talking about Music: English Vocabulary List

the persistence of sound in an enclosed space after the original sound source has stopped

"The reverberation filled the room."

"The deep reverberation of the gong echoed for several seconds in the large, empty chamber."

a musical technique where the notes of a chord are played individually in a sequence rather than simultaneously

"The pianist played a fast arpeggio"

"The pianist played a beautiful arpeggio, letting each note of the chord ring out clearly before moving to the next."

the quality that marks the absence of a key in a musical composition

"Atonality has no central key."

"The composer's atonality made the music sound strange because it had no traditional key center."

a musical composition in which two or more independent melodies are played or sung simultaneously, creating harmony and interplay

"In counterpoint two melodies play together beautifully."

"The composer used counterpoint to weave two beautiful melodies together, creating a rich and harmonious piece of music."

the text of a musical play, an opera, or other extended vocal works

"The libretto contains the opera's text."

"A libretto is the complete text of an opera or musical"

a performance of a musical composition, dramatic role, or other artistic work

"Her rendition of the song was beautiful."

"The singer's unique rendition of the national anthem brought tears to many people's eyes."

all of the records or a list of the records that have been created by a particular singer, composer or musical band

"The band's discography includes ten studio albums and many live recordings."

"A discography is a comprehensive listing of all the recorded musical works by a particular artist"

a set of musical pieces or songs listed in the same order in which they appear on a recording

"The album tracklist has twelve songs."

"A tracklist is an ordered inventory of the individual songs or compositions contained on a record album"

a person whose job is to introduce and play music videos on TV, at a party, etc.

"The video jockey introduced the next music video with a big smile."

"The video jockey introduced the next music video and talked about the band's new album."

a solo section at the end of a musical piece for the performer to show their skill and creativity

"The soloist played a brilliant cadenza."

"During the cadenza, the pianist improvised a stunning solo that left the entire audience speechless."

a short and simple song or poem

"He hummed a cheerful ditty."

"She wrote a little ditty about her cat and sang it to her friends at the party."

an instrumental composition marked with irregular form and improvisation, expressing strong emotions

"The piano played a rhapsody."

"A rhapsody is an episodic yet integrated instrumental composition of an irregular form suggesting the free expression of extemporaneous"

a stock of plays, songs, dances, etc. that a company or a performer is prepared to perform

"The pianist has a large repertoire of classical pieces she can play."

"A repertoire is the complete stock of works that a performer or company has prepared and is ready to present at any given time to an audience."

the interval between the first and the last notes in eight diatonic degrees

"He sang one octave higher."

"The singer's voice jumped an entire octave when she hit the high note at the end of the song."

any of the signs written on the left-hand end of a staff indicating the pitch of the notes

"The treble clef is for high notes."

"A clef is a musical symbol placed at the beginning of a staff to indicate the pitch of the written notes"

a full-length album

"The long play record had great sound."

"The band released their new album on a long play vinyl record for collectors who enjoy analog sound."

a music recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer tracks than a full album

"The extended play has six songs."

"An extended play is a musical recording containing more tracks than a single release but too few to be classified as a full-length studio album"

a person who is an expert or master in conducting or directing an orchestra or musical performance

"The maestro raised his baton and the whole orchestra began to play."

"The orchestra listened carefully as the maestro raised his baton to begin the beautiful symphony."