Theme |Variation| Imitation | Ornament | Semitone | Tone | Scale | Penatononic | Major | Minor | Scat singing
| The a clear and recognisable melody or tune on which a composition is based. | ||
| The music is varied by altering the rhythm, melody and / or tonality from what has previously been heard. | ||
When a phrase of music is copied by another voice or instrument. |
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| A general term used to describe the various ways of decorating a melodic line by adding extra notes. They are often short and add melodic and rhythmic interest. | ||
| The smallest interval used between any note and the next note, higher or lower. For example the note E up to F or E down to Eb | ||
Consists of two semitones between notes. For example |
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| A progression of notes moving by step ascending or descending. There are different scales combining different intervals details of which follow. | ||
| The five note scale found in folk music. For example Auld Lang Syne or any melody that can be played on the black notes of a keyboard. |
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Eight consecutive notes which move by step and have a bright sounding quality. |
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Minor Scale |
8 consecutive notes which move by step and have a plaintive, sad quality. There are two versions - the harmonic minor and the melodic minor. |
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Melodic minor scale |
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Uses all twelve notes in the octave. For example on a keyboard all twelve notes between low C and high C would be played
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A type of singing in which nonsense syllables are used instead of words. E.g. Shoo wah doobie doo wah. A technique usually used by jazz singers to imitate instruments. |
