Dictionary of musical concepts starting with C

Concept	Level	Listen	Definition
Cadence	Int 2	You don't have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. This website makes use of Adobe Flash Player, you have an old version which cannot play the content we've created. Why not download and install the latest version now? It will only take a moment.	This is an imperfect cadence which comes just before the cadenza in the next excerpt.
Cadenza	Int 2		A passage of music which allows soloists to display their technical ability in singing or playing an instrument. Performers used to improvise cadenzas themselves but eventually composers began to write them into the score. In a concerto the end of the cadenza is marked by a dominant 7th chord.
Canon	Int 1		Strict imitation. After one part starts to play or sing a melody, another part enters shortly afterwards with exactly the same melody. See Round.
Cantata	Int 2		A small-scale oratorio for soloist, chorus and orchestra. The excerpt is from a Cantata by Bach which also has an instrumental obbligato.
Ceilidh band	Int 1		A band which plays music for people to dance to. The instruments may include fiddle, accordion, piano, bass and drumkit as well as modern accompanying instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards.
Chaconne	H		Variations over a repeated progression of chords. See Passacaglia.
Chamber music	Int 1		Music written for a small instrumental ensemble with one player to a part.
Change of key	Int 1		A move from one key to another.
Chant	H		A series of chords to which the words of psalms are sung in the Church of England.
Choral	Acc 3		Music for voices with more than one singer on each part. The example is a South African hymn which is unaccompanied or a cappella.
Chorale	Int 2		A German hymn tune. Written in four parts for soprano, contralto (alto), tenor and bass, some of these chorales were used by Bach in his oratorios and cantatas. Usually homophonic in texture. See Homophony.
Chorale prelude	H		An extended composition for organ based on a chorale melody. The melody can be treated in a variety of ways, e.g. fugal style and variation form. See Chorale, Fugue and Variation.
Chord	Acc 3		Two or more notes sounding together. See Harmony.
Chord progressions (Int1-H)	Int 1		A series of related chords built on the 1st, 4th and 5th notes of a major or minor scale. Listen to a song using chords I (1), IV (4) and V (5).
Chord progressions (Int2-H)	Int 2		Different progressions using the chords built on the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th notes of a major or minor scale. Listen to a song using chords I (1), IV (4), V (5) and VI (6) . Notice the order of use is I, VI, IV,V.
Chorus	Int 2		1. A group of singers with several people to each part. 2. The music written for these singers. 3. The refrain between verses of a song.
Chromatic scale	Int 1		A stepwise series of notes built up entirely of semitones. This is a chromatic scale beginning on C.
Classical	Int 2		1750 to 1810 approximately. The era of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. (Extended definition - See Symphony, Concerto, Sonata form, Minuet and trio, Alberti bass.) This excerpt is by Mozart.
Cluster	Int 1		A term used to describe a group of notes played on a keyboard instrument with the palm of the hand or even with the forearm. Here is an example with an orchestra playing a cluster of notes.
Coda	Int 2		A passage at the end of a piece of music which rounds it off effectively, with this excerpt the coda at the end of the first movement of a concerto by Mozart.
Col legno	Int 2		Instruction given to string players to turn the bow over and to bounce the wood on the strings. See Arco, Pizzicato.
Coloratura	H		Term for high, florid vocal singing involving scales, runs and ornaments. Sometimes these passages were written down, but often were extemporised by the performer.
Compound time	Int 1		The beat is divided into groups of three pulses. See Simple time. The example is a Jig.
Compound time groupings	Int 2		The beat is a dotted note which divides into three, e.g. 6/8 = two dotted crotchet beats in a bar and each beat can be divided into three quavers. See Simple time. Different compound time groupings.
Concertino	H		In a Concerto grosso this is the name given to the small, solo group of instrumentalists as opposed to the main group, the Ripieno.
Concerto	Int 1		Work for solo instrument and orchestra, e.g. a flute concerto is written for flute and orchestra. It is normally in three movements, with this example from a cello concerto by Dvorak.
Concerto Grosso	H		A type of concerto in which a group of soloists (concertino) is combined and contrasted with a larger group (ripieno). See Ripieno and Concertino.
Consonance	Int 2		Notes which sound well when heard together. Compare Dissonance.
Consort	H		A small group on instruments of the same family playing together, e.g. a consort of viols. The term usually applies to music from the Renaissance period. Listen to a consort of viols accompanying a soprano voice.
Continuo	H		See Basso Continuo.
Con Sordino - Muted	Int 2		Creating around half the sound normally expected on an instrument, with the example a muted trumpet. Now listen to an orchestra, this time with the string section muted.
Contrapuntal	Int 2		Texture in which each of two or more parts has independent melodic interest; similar in meaning to polyphonic. Listen to the contrary motion in the string parts and a further countermelody in the bassoon part.
Contrary motion	Int 1		Two parts which move in opposite directions, e.g. as one part ascends the other part descends. Listen to just the string parts and notice how the low strings play a melody which descends while the high strings play the melody inverted and ascending (upside down and going upwards).
Contrast	Acc 3		Difference, e.g. Legato changes to Staccato, brass changes to woodwind in this excerpt.
Countermelody	Int 2		A melody played against the main melody. In this excerpt, heard above as well, the bassoon plays a counter melody against the strings.
Counter subject	H		In a fugue, after the subject or answer is played, the continuation of that same instrument or voice is called the countersubject. Listen to the excerpt played by an organ which plays the subject and then continues with the counter subject while the answer appears in a lower sound.
Countertenor	Int 2		A male adult voice whose range is higher than a tenor's. The strong and pure tone is produced by resonances mainly in the head. This type of voice was very popular until the end of the 18th century. See Tenor. Listen to the excerpt from an ayre from the Renaissance period with the voice accompanied by a lute.
Country	Int 2		An American style of popular music derived from rural folk music. Features fiddle, banjo, piano, guitar and drums.
Crescendo	Int 1		The music gradually becomes louder. Compare Diminuendo. The excerpt is played by a miltary band.
Cross rhythm	Int 2		1. Term used to describe the effect of two notes being played against three (e.g. in piano music it might be groups of two quavers in the right hand and groups of triplets in the left). 2.The term is also used to describe the effect that occurs when the accents in a piece of music are different from those suggested by the time signature (e.g. the division of 4/4 time into 3+3+2 quavers). The excerpt is from Jazz, in 9/8 time and also has an irregular rhythm.