Dictionary of musical concepts starting with T

Concept	Level	Listen	Definition
Tabla	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.	Two Indian drums tuned to different pitches and often used to accompany the sitar.
Tenor (voice)	Int 1		A high adult male voice. See Soprano, Mezzo soprano, Alto, Baritone, Bass.
Ternary	Int 1		A B A. - A form where the first section is always repeated at the end. It could begin with a short introduction and end with a Coda. Listen to this aria which has a quite distinct A B A shape and is in ternary form.
Theme	Int 1		A clear recognisable melody which is the main idea for a composition or section of a composition. It can be the basis of a longer piece of music, e.g. theme and variations. Listen to a theme.
Theme and variations	Int 1		The theme is a melody, a tune which is the main idea for a composition. In theme and variations, the theme may form a whole section of the composition. The variations occur when the main theme or tune is altered perhaps by adding extra notes, changing from major to minor or vice versa, changing harmony, rhythm, time signature, or when the theme is played in the bass, etc. Listen to a variation on the theme above.
Three against two	H		One line of music may be playing quavers in groups of two whilst at the same time another line of music will be playing triplets. Other note values can be similarly used. See Cross rhythms.
hrough-composed	Int 2		A vocal/choral composition in which there is little or no repetition of the music.
Tierce de Picardie	Int 2		The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is changed to major.
Tonal	Int 2		Based on a key. The tonality of a piece may be major or minor. Compare Atonal. The excerpt is from a Classical symphony.
Tonality	Int 1		The key. See Major, Minor. The excerpt is in the major key.
Tonal answer	H		In a fugue, after the subject is played, the same tune appears in another voice or part in the dominant (a 5th higher or a 4th lower). This is called the answer. If the intervals of the answer are not exactly the same as the subject, the answer is said to be tonal. See Real answer and Tonal sequence.
Tone	Int 1		An interval of two semitones making a major 2nd, e.g. G to A on a keyboard, two frets on a guitar. Listen to this piece of piano music which uses whole tones most of the time.
Tone poem	H		A one-movement piece for orchestra which tells a story or maybe relates an experience from the composer’s life. Tone poems were found in the Romantic era and were also known as symphonic poems.
Tone row	H		An arrangement of the 12 notes of the octave which forms the basis of a composition. Each note is as important as another; there are no important notes such as the tonic and dominant. The row can also be used in inversion or retrograde. See Serial.
Transition	H		A passage which leads from one well-defined section of a piece to another. In sonata form the transition or bridge passage links the first subject-group to the second subject-group and also modulates to the key of the second subject.
Tremolando	Int 2		Trembling, quivering. See Tremolo below.
Tremolo	Int 2		Term for the rapid up-and-down movement of a bow on a stringed instrument creating an agitated, restless effect. The term also describes rapid alternation of two different notes at least a 3rd apart played on piano, strings or wind instruments. Listen to the excerpt with tremolo/tremolando in the upper strings creating an inverted pedal.
Trill	Int 2		Trill - Rapid and repeated movement between two adjacent notes.
Triplet	Int 2		Three equal-value notes within one beat. The excerpt has triplets against duplets.
Tritone	H		Interval of an augmented 4th, e.g. C–F sharp or F–B. It is made up of three whole tones.
Turn	H		Four notes which turn round the main note with the note above, the main note, the note below, and the main note again. An inverted turn starts with the note below reversing the process.
Twelve-string guitar	Int 2		A guitar which is double strung, i.e. two strings per pitch.