Learn Listening Online
Dictionary of musical concepts starting with G - H
G
| Concept | Level | Listen | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaelic Psalms | Int 1 |
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. | Psalms which were sung unaccompanied, heard mostly in the Western Isles of Scotland. |
| Galliard | H |
| A Renaissance court dance which follows the pavan. A galliard is quick and lively with three beats in a bar. |
| Gamelan | Int 1 |
| A type of percussion orchestra found in Indonesia. The instruments are mainly metal, tuned, percussion items and the music is built up in layers. |
| Ghanaian | Int 1 |
| A style of music from West Africa. |
| Ghanaian drum ensemble | Int 1 |
| Ghanaian drum ensemble - a group of percussion instruments, drums, shakes and bells, which are played together. They perform music from the West African country of Ghana. Listen to this example of African drumming. |
| Glissando | Int 2 |
| Sliding from one note to another, taking in all the notes in between where possible, withthis example from Indian music played on Sitar.
Now listen to an orchestral harp play glissandi. Here is another example played on a clarinet. |
| Grace note | Int 2 |
| A type of ornament played as a quick note before the main note of a melody. Sometimes there may be a group of grace notes at the start of a phrase and this is particularly evident in bagpipe playing. |
| Ground bass | Int 2 |
| A theme in the bass which is repeated many times while the upper parts are varied. |
H
| Concept | Level | Listen | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harmonic minor | H |
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. | Scale which shares the same key signature as its relative major but raises the 7th note by a semitone.
This is a scale of C harmonic minor.  |
| Harmonics | H |
| The high eerie sounds produced on a bowed string instrument by lightly touching the string at certain points. On a guitar these will sound bell-like. Listen to the harmonics on a harp.
|
| Harmony | Acc 3 |
| The sound of two or more notes made at the same time. See Chord. |
| Hemiola | H |
| A rhythmic device giving the impression of a piece of music changing from duple (2) to triple (3) time, or vice versa. Sometimes placed at the end of a piece to act as a kind of Rallentando. |
| Homophony | Int 2 |
| Texture where you hear melody with accompaniment or where all the parts move together rhythmically. See Harmony (above) and Polyphony. |
| Hymn tune | Int 2 |
| A simple melody for use in church and homophonic in style. |