Duration/Rhythm

Metre
>Time signature-simple, compound, changing
>Duple/triple/quad
>Anacrusis (upbeat)?
>Regular/irregular (isometric/mutlimetric)
Patterns & Features
>Riffs
>Polyrhythms, their effect-simple/complex
>Swing, straight, jazz?
>Syncopation
>Unusual figures- couplets, duplets etc.
>Main melody and note values vs. Accompaniment
Note Values
>Unity, contrast, repetition?
>Long/short lengths- crotchets, semi-quavers etc.
>Dotted notes, swung notes, sustain, irregular patterns/consistency
>Pauses, rest values
Tempo
>Fast vs. slow- allegro, lento, moderato etc.
>Altering- accelerando, ritenuto, rubato
Articulation
>Staccato
>Accents (on main or off-beat?)
>Slurs
>Fade out
>Attack/decay
>Tenuto
>Vibrato
Performance Media
>Each layer
>Relationship between/interaction
Beat/Pulse
>Regular, syncopated
>Constant/changing
>Strong and definite/weak and relaxed
>Back beat
Phrasing
>Balanced/Imbalanced
>4 bar?
>Extended

Dynamics/Expressive Techniques
How is the instrument played?
>Stylistic indications- swing, electronic etc.
>Ornamentation?
>Description: dolce (sweetly), cantabile, tranquillo (calmly) etc.
>Instrumental techniques [mentioned below]
Techniques/Effects
>Glissando
>Tremolo
>Vibrato
>Trill
>Mute
>Pizzicato
>Leggiero (played lightly) vs. Pessante (played heavily)
>Harmonics
>Double stop (two notes played at once by a stringed instrument)
Dynamics
>Volume- terraced (each section gradually getting louder/softer), forte, piano, mezzo piano etc.
>Crescendo, diminuendo, decrescendo
>Movement with pitch/texture
Articulation
>Legato
>Staccato
>Tenuto
>Accents (on main or off-beat?)
Electronic Manipulation
>Distortion
>Guitar pedal effects
>Wah wah
Note Values
>Use of silence- pause, rests, highlighting, tension/resolution
>Rubato

Texture
Level of activity
>Sparse/dense, bare/cluttered
>Confused/well defined
>Antiphonal (question and answer)
>Canon?
>How many parts and how many instruments playing each part?
Role
>Monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic
>Solo/ensemble
>Opposition/complimentary, supporting
>Pulse reinforcing
>Accompaniment
Contrast?
>Removal of instruments
>New motif/voice
>Foreground, background emphasis- does this change throughout piece?
>Differing rhythms
Performing Media
1) Identify instrument
2) Describe role (rhythmic, harmonic, melodic)
3) Effect

Pitch/Melody
Contour
>Angular/smooth
>Ascending/descending direction
>Predictability? Consistent/Inconsistent
>Arpeggio (harmony, broken chord)/triadic
>Intervals- tone, semitone, stepwise/leaps, chromatic
>Leaps- small (2-5 notes), large (5+ notes)
Harmony
>Higher, lower
>Unison?
>Sparse, distant/compact, close
>Block
>Repetitive
>Reinforcing/individual tune- polyphonic, homophonic, monophonic
>Dissonance?
Mood and Tonality/Style
>Diatonic-Major/minor
>Atonal
>Blues
>Pentatonic
Performing Media
>Who is playing the melody?
countermelody?
harmonies?
>Relationship to melody
Features
>Melisma
>Slide/Glissando
>Vibrato
>Ornamentation: e.g. trill, grace note (acciaccatura), mordent
>Double stopping
>Bend
Range
>Narrow/broad (piano 8 octaves, guitar 3.5)
Pitch
>Definite/indefinite (e.g. drums)
>Voice register- soprano, alto etc.
Structure
>Musical phrases- 4 bar, balanced/imbalanced, extended
>Sequences
call and response

 fills
climaxes
repetition
contrast
imitation
motifs, riff
cadence points
>Predictable/sporadic
>Melodic variation?
Rhythmic Features
>Dotted
>Regular/Irregular
>Repeated, ostinato
>Pedal point (bass or treble note played for an extended period around which harmonies in the
piece change)
>Drone (Generally sustained, repeated note)
>Rapid/slow
Theme (Melody) Development
>Modulation
>Change in melody tone? Different key, extra notes
>Shaping

Tone Colour/Performing Media

1)
2)
3)
4)

List performing media

Describe quality of sound
Explain role of each source (harmonic, melodic, rhythmic)
How the sound is created (e.g. dynamics)

Category
>Brass- vibrant, rich, strong
>Woodwind- thin, airy, smooth
>Strings- acoustic, warm, sonorous (i.e. resonant)
>Percussion- dominant or supportive role, harsh, bland
>Electronic- resonant, piercing
>Vocal- (harmonies) dissonant, perfect, unified
Vocabulary
>Breathy
>Silvery
>Mellow
>Colourful
>Shrill
>Dark
>Majestic
>Bright
>Scratchy
>Light
>Nasal
>Sombre
>Icy
>Distorted
>Sharp
>Flowing
Technique/effects
>Pizzicato
>Vibrato
>Mute
>Glissando, melisma
>Distortion
>Bend
>Flutter tonguing, trill
>Double stopping
>Tremolo
Roles
>Individual, solo (where occurring?)
>Ensemble, pairs, grouping
(The effect of each- full, rich [unison], thin, sparse)
>Accompaniment

Instrumentation
>Orchestra, rock band, string?
>Amplified, electric/acoustic, natural
>Traditional/non-traditional (e.g. didjeridoo in rock, everyday sounds- car brakes, birds, kettle
boiling)
>Pre-recorded/sampler (sections of pre-recorded parts put together using computer
technology)/live
Miscellaneous
>Attack (smooth, explosive)/decay (dying away swiftly, slowly, sustained?)
>Register, key change?
>Monophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic (one part closely doubles another, however main part
differs slightly), homophonic
>Discordant chord
>Build up of instruments- sudden/gradual

Structure
Form
>Binary (two sections e.g. AAB, ABA), ternary (three sections, returning to A), rondo (a number
of sections separated and ended by A e.g. ABACA)
>Verse chorus form (popular style)
>Codas
>Sonata
>Through composed (all verses have totally different music)/strophic (only verses-all the
same)/episodic
>Progressive (e.g. 12 bar blues)
Development
>Theme variation
>Imitation
>Symmetrical
>Digression
>Recurrence
>Variation
>Call and response
>Links between sections
Unity
>Melodic, phrase repetition
>Rhythmic motif
>Consistent style and concepts
>Repetition on harmonic patterns (e.g. ground bass, rhythmic/melodic ostinato)
>Drones/pedal point
>Static instrumentation
>Structural repetition (e.g. rondo, theme, instrumentation changing roles but using previously
heard material)
Contrast
>Modulation
>Introduction of new material
>Change in metre, tempo, rhythmic patterns
>Change in accompaniment or other parts
>Change in register
>Tonality- major/minor/modal/pentatonic
>Harmony- dissonance
>Structural- new section
>Stylistic contrast
>Phrase variation
>Dynamics