Terms & Concepts

"The Greek language itself made no distinction between art and craft: both were called technē; a great work of art was simply an exceptional piece of workmanship (aristourgēma)."

–  Western painting, in Britannica Academic {BA}

Here is a listing of the terms and concepts we will encounter in the readings and lectures, with links to definitions in online music dictionaries and encyclopedias.

1. Auditory scene analysis {WP} (Bregman 1990)
2. Basso continuo (abbr. continuo) {BA; Grove}
• See also:
• Thoroughbass {Grove}
• Figured bass {Grove}
• Partimento {Grove}
3. Bicinium {WP}
4. Cadence {BA}
5. Canon {BA; HD; Grove}
• Round {BA}
• Prolation canon {WP}
• Puzzle canon {WP}
• Multiple canon
• Double canon, triple canon, etc.
6. Cantus firmus (Lat.) {BA}
7. Chanson {BA; Grove}
8. Chant, plainchant, or plainsong {BA; Grove}
• Gregorian chant {BA; Grove}
• Final {Grove}
  
• Mode (see Mode)
• Reciting tone {WP}
• Syllabic, neumatic, melismatic
9. Chiavette {WP}
   
10. Chorale {BA; Grove}
11. Clausula {BA; Grove}
12. Clefs {WP}
    
13. Counterpoint {BA; HD; Grove; OB}
• 16th-Century Counterpoint (Benjamin 2005; See also Gauldin 2013a)
• Modal, vocal
• Species Counterpoint {HD} (Fux 1725)
• 18th-Century Counterpoint (Benjamin 2003; See also Gauldin 2013b)
• Tonal, instrumental
• Free Counterpoint {Grove} (Kennan 1999)
• 20th-Century Counterpoint (Owen 1992; See also: Searle 1954)
• Block counterpoint
  
• Dissonant counterpoint {Grove; Spilker 2011}
• Linear counterpoint (Kurth 1917; Galkin 2021)
• Twelve-Tone counterpoint {Schoenberg 1984; Krenek 1940; Webern 1963; Mead 1994}
  
• Polyphony in contemporary music idioms (Hanson 2024)
• Micropolyphony {WP}
• Polystylism (Schnittke 1971) {WP}
  
14. Form {BA}
• Before 1600
• Formes fixes {WP} (Taruskin and Gibbs 2012)
• Ballade: aab[C]
• Rondeau: ABaAabAB
• Virelai: AbbaA
• Trecento song forms {WP} (Taruskin and Gibbs 2012, p. 119)
• Ballata: AbbaA
• Madrigal: aa[a]b
• After 1600
• Binary form {BA}
• Ternary form (BA)
• Rondo form {BA}
• Sonata form {BA} (Hepokoski and Darcy 2011)
• Variation form {BA}
15. Free-part style (Ger. Freistimigkeit)
16. Fugue {BA; HD; Grove}
• Precursors of fugue:
• Canzona {Grove}
• Ricercare {Grove}
• Simple fugue
• Multiple fugue
• Double fugue, triple fugue, etc.
• Fugato
17. Galant schemata {WP}
    
18. Homophony {BA; Grove}
    
• Homorhythmic {HD}
• Melody and accompaniment
19. Imitation {HD; Grove}
20. Invention {BA; Grove}
21. Invertible Counterpoint {HD}
• Double counterpoint
• Triple counterpoint
22. Isorhythm {BA; Grove}
23. Layer {Grove}
• Textural layers
• Polyphonic layers
24. Madrigal {BA}
25. Mass {BA; Grove}
• Cantus firmus mass
• Parody mass
• Paraphrase mass
26. Melody {BA; Grove}
27. Mensural notation {BA; WP}
    
28. Minimalism {Grove}
29. Mode {Grove}
30. Modulation {BA}
31. Monody {BA}
32. Motet {BA; Grove}
33. Motif, or motive {Grove}
• Leitmotif {Grove}
  
34. Music of the:
• Middle Ages {HD}
• Renaissance {HD}
• Baroque {HD}
• Classical period {HD}
• Romantic period {HD}
• Twentieth-Century {HD}
35. Notation {Grove}
• Mensural notation {WP}
36. Organum {BA; Grove; WP}
    
37. Partimento {Grove}
38. Phrase {Grove}
    
• Period {Grove}
  
• Sentence {Grove}
  
39. Polyphony {BA}
• Micropolyphony {WP}
• Textural polyphony (Owen 1992)
  
40. Quodlibet {BA}
    
41. Recitative {BA}
42. Rhythm & Mater
• Meter {Grove}
• Hypermeter {Hein 2024}
• Rhythmic modes {BA; Grove}
43. Rule of the Octave {Grove}
    
44. Serialism {Grove}
    
45. Style analysis {Grove} (see LaRue 1970)
• Sound
• Harmony
• Melody
• Rhythm
• Growth
• ---
• Text influence
46. Symphony {BA; Grove}
47. technē (Greek)
• See Western painting {BA}
48. Tessitura {Grove}
    
49. Texture {HD; Grove}
• Monophony {BA}
• Polyphony (see above)
• Homophony (see above)
  
• Hetrophony {BA}
50. Theme {Grove}
    
51. Twelve-note composition {Grove}
• Serialism {BA; HD; Grove}
• Serial operations: P, R, I & RI
• Pointillism {WP}
• Klangfarbenmelodie (Ger.) {Grove}
• Hauptstimme/Nebenstimme signs (Ger.) {Grove}
52. Voice leading [part-writing] {Grove} (Huron 2016)

See also:

1. BAIN MUSC 529 Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint: Terms & Concepts
2. BAIN MUSC 726C The Counterpoint of J.S. Bach: Terms & Concepts

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

1. Britannica Academic {BA}
2. Harvard Dictionary {HD} - *
3. Grove Music Online {Grove} - *
4. Wikipedia {WP}

* - USC proxy server login required

References

MUSC 726A Bibliography

Taruskin, Richard and Christopher H. Gibbs. 2012. The Oxford History of Western Music, College Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. {GB}

Updated: May 17, 2026