Blues | Ragtime | Swing | Romantic | Opera | Musical | Fanfare | Concerto | Symphony | Gaelic Psalms |
| Scots Ballad | Bothy Ballad | Waulking Song | Mouth Music | Slow Air | Ghanaian | Gamelan | Improvisation | Jig | Samba | Salsa |
| Type of slow, sad American Negro song telling of their misfortune. Usually in 4/4 time and is mostly patterned on a 12 bar structure (although 8 and 16 bars are also found) and on a scale where some notes are flattened. Now listen to a Blues scale. | ||
| A style of dance music which became popular at the end of the 19th Century and which helped to influence Jazz. Usually for piano solo in which the left hand plays a vamp while the right hand plays a syncopated melody. Scott Joplin (1868 - 1917) was the most famous composer of ragtime music. | ||
A swing band was usually led by a virtuoso instrumentalist and provided dance music, a style which started in the 1930’s. E.g. Glenn Miller. |
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A term used to describe the music written from about 1830 to 1900. Romantic composers aimed to express more emotion in their music and looked for a greater freedom in form and design. Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Tchaikovsky are all popular Romantic composers. The example is from a Piano Concerto. |
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| A drama set to music which is performed on a stage with solo singers, orchestra, chorus, scenery and performed in a theatre. Usually there is no spoken dialogue and all the singers have trained voices. The example is from the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. | ||
A drama set to music which is performed on a stage with solo singers,orchestra/ band , chorus and scenery. It usually relies on a string of catchy tunes for it’s success. There is spoken dialogue in many, but not all musicals. The singers voices are usually lighter than those used in opera. Well known musicals are ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Oliver’, ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. The example is the title song from 'Hello Dolly' |
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| A flourish for trumpets or other instruments imitating them. Usually used as an introduction or prelude for an important occasion. | ||
| Music written for a solo instrument and orchestra which is usually in three movements (fast slow fast). The example is from a Horn Concerto by Mozart. | ||
| A work for orchestra which is usually in four movements.
The example is from Beethoven's 9th Symphony |
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These are sung by the congregation of the Free Church of Scotland in Gaelic. The psalms are unaccompanied and are led by the minister or a precentor. |
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| A song which tells a story. It is in strophic form which means the same music is repeated for each verse. | ||
| A Scottish song in strophic form which was sung by farm workers. They generally told of life on the farm and had a chorus of nonsense syllables. E.g. ‘Rowtin' owtin' owtin' addie, rowtin' owtin' owtin' aye’ The verses were usually sung by a solo voice while others joined in the chorus. They were performed unaccompanied. | ||
A Gaelic song from the Outer Hebrides which was a work song for waulking (softening) the cloth woven in the crofts. It is distinctive by it’s bumping sound as the cloth is waulked across the table. Listen to an example. |
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| A style of Gaelic singing originally used to imitate instrumental music for dancing. | ||
| A slow traditional Scottish melody in the style of a song. Usually played on a fiddle or bagpipes. Many examples were written by Scott Skinner. | ||
| A group of percussion instruments - drums, shakers and bells which are played together. The music comes from the West African country of Ghana. | ||
A type of percussion orchestra found in Indonesia. The instruments are mainly metal, tuned,percussion items and the music is built up in layers. |
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| The performer creates music during the actual performance. Improvisation is an important part of jazz and popular music. | ||
| A fast dance in compound time, usually with 2 or 4 beats in a bar. | ||
| A very lively syncopated dance with 2 beats in a bar in which a set of percussion instruments provides the foundation. It originated in Brazil. | ||
A musical style which originated in Cuba. The most important element of Salsa is rhythm provided by a large percussion section. |