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ABRSM
8D

I recommend opening up an additional window with our musical terms page when you first read this page. It has all of the terms you might not recognise on, with helpful explanations and examples. 
Musical Terms

Describe the Music

“Listen carefully to this piece of music and then we will discuss it”


DISCUSSION: 
The examiner can ask you about any of the following features of the music: 
  • Musical period
  • Musical style 
  • Structure
  • Tempo
  • Texture
  • Time signature
  • Tonality
  • Rhythm
  • Articulation
  • Dynamics

The main musical periods are: 
Baroque (1600-1750)
Classical (1750-1790)
Romantic (1790 - 1910)
Early 20th Century (1910 - 1940) 
Contemporary (1940 - present day)

This page will help you understand and be able to look out for general features in order to identify each musical period.
If you are studying music theory, GCSE or A-Level music, these notes will one helpful but they are designed for Aural exams. This means that only relevant information for aural exams has been included and you may need a deeper understanding of terms and musical periods than this page goes into. For example the examples only look at solo piano music as this is what you will hear in an aural exam.  

Musical Features

These identifying features can be used as a base for the discussion in your exam. ​

Style

Musical style is what story the music is trying to tell.
EXAMPLE: Is it a dance, impressionism, jazz, folk, lyrical, influenced by world music, rock etc.? (These will be explained in the next sections)
You can also describe the mood of the music: 
EXAMPLES: 
Agitato (Agitated), Dolce (Sweet), Grazioso (Graceful), Marcato (Accented), Scherzando (Playful), Spiritoso (Spirited), Tranquillo (Calm), Vivace (Lively)

Structure

This is the number of sections in the piece. The two most common forms are Ternary (ABA) AND Binary (AB) 
There are many forms that are much larger such as sonatas, concertos, rondo, theme and variations. These are all worth knowing about and looking into but these are very unlikely to come up in the exam.

Tempo

This is how fast a piece is played. 
It is not the speed/rhythm of the notes.It is how quick the pulse is.
Additional words that are useful when describing tempo: 
Accelerando (gradually getting faster)
Rallentando (gradually getting slower) 
Ritardando (gradually getting slower)
Rubato (fluctuating tempo)
Adagio (Slow)
Moderato (moderate) or Andante (at walking pace),
Allegro (quick)
Presto (very quick)

Texture

Contrapuntal: Two or more melodies playing at the same time
Melody and accompaniment: LH accompaniment, RH melody.

Homophonic: Chords in LH and melody in RH

Time

Simple or compound time. 
Simple time is when a time signature has crotchet beats e.g. 4/4. 
Compound time is when there are quaver beats, eg. 6/8.

Tonality

Major - sounds happy
Minor - sounds sad
Atonal - lots of chromaticism
Modal - folky or medieval sounding

Rhythm

Overall: Regular or irregular 
Rhythmic figures: syncopated, triplets, dotted

Dynamics

How loud or quiet the music is:
Fortissimo: Very loud
Forte: loud
Mezzo Forte: medium loud
Mezzo Piano: medium quiet
Piano: quiet
Pianissimo: very quiet
Sfortzando: Suddenly loud
Terraced Dynamics: Louder or quieter due to texture changes. (Baroque)

Articulation

Staccato - Detached 
Legato - Smooth
Accented notes
Ornamented notes: Turn, grace notes, trills, mordents etc. 

Baroque
(1600 - 1750)

Musical Features

STYLE: 
Dance forms eg. Gavotte, minuet, allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue
STRUCTURE: 
Dance forms are often binary (AB)
TEMPO:
Consistent, 
Regular, Metronomic
​
DYNAMICS:
Terraced Dynamics

​Tonality: 
Major or Minor, Tierce de Picardie
​RHYTHM:
Simple and often dotted.

TEXTURE: 
Contrapuntal

TIME:
Minuet 3/4
Gavotte: 2/4 or 4/4
Gigue - Compound time eg: 6/8

ARTICULATION: 
Ornamentation (Mordants, trills, gracenotes etc)
Often makes use of staccato

Composers

(Click on the composer to hear some music. The music selected is all played by a Piano to help you practice listening to features on a piano, ready for the exam)
Arcangelo Corelli
François Couperin
Jean-Baptiste Lully
​Claudio Monteverdi
Henry Purcell
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Alessandro Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti
Georg Philipp Telemann
Antonio Vivaldi

Harpists and Harp music: 
This section is just if you are interested and would like to play some music!
​
Turlough O'Carolan

Classical
(1750 - 1790)

Musical Features

STYLE: 
​Alberti base
STRUCTURE:
Regular phrases and clearly defined forms.
Typical forms Ternary and Binary form

TEMPO:
Gradually getting slower at the end is typical 
​DYNAMICS:
More contrasted than baroque but still simple

​TONALITY:
Major or minor

​RHYTHM:
Regular and often flowing/scalic/legato

TEXTURE:
Often Homophonic

TIME:
Usual time signatures: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8

ARTICULATION:
Accented notes (e.g. Sfortzando) and some ornaments. Some pedalling.

Composers

(Click on the composer to hear some music. The music selected is all played by a Piano to help you practice listening to features on a piano, ready for the exam)
Bach
Beethoven
Clementi
Dussek
Haydn
Mozart

The main differences between Classical and Baroque music are: 
1. Classical has more dynamic variety and more contrast
2. Classical music has less ornamentation
3. Pedalling is more common in Classical music
4. Classical pieces are more likely to use a rallentando and diminuendo at the end of piece. 
5. There are more likely to be more accidentals and the music may modulate to closely related keys. 
Classical music is Baroque music that is a little more daring and bends the rules.

Romantic
(1790 - 1910)

Musical Features

STYLE:
Dance forms such as Waltz, Mazurkas and Polonaises. Descriptive music - water, rivers, pictures, reflections and myths.

TEMPO:
Rubato is very common
​DYNAMICS:
Lots of contrast and swells

​TONALITY:
Rich harmonies, use of chromaticism, modulations to unexpected keys 

​RHYTHM:
Irregular groupings

TEXTURE:
Usually homophonic

TIME:
​Usual time signatures: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8
ARTICULATION:
Flamboyant flourishes 

Composers

(Click on the composer to hear some music. The music selected is all played by a Piano to help you practice listening to features on a piano, ready for the exam)
Chopin
Faure
Grieg
​Mendelssohn
Schubert
Schumann
Tchaikovsky
Wagner

The main differences between Romantic and Classical music are: 
1. Romantic has lots of dynamic variety and explores the dynamic range of the instrument
2. Romantic music is less likely to have ornamentation
3. Romantic music has lots of pedalling and articulation
4. Romantic music explores the entire pitch range of the instrument
5. There can be lots of accidentals and the music may modulate to unexpected keys.
 

Romantic music bends all of the Classical and Baroque rules.

Early 20th Century
(1910 - 1940)

Musical Features

STYLE: 
Impressionism, Jazz, folk
TEMPO:
Flexible tempos and use of Rubato 
​DYNAMICS:
Wide range of dynamics.
​TONALITY: 
Dissonance common
Atonal (no set key signature)
Serialism - large intervals and jumpy disjointed melodic lines
Modal

​RHYTHM:
Changes of metre and complex rhythms are common. 
​Syncopation in Jazz is very common

TIME:
Frequent changes of the time signature

ARTICULATION:
Articulation is clearly notated and very specific. 

Composers

(Click on the composer to hear some music. The music selected is all played by a Piano to help you practice listening to features on a piano, ready for the exam)
Bartok
Debussy
Gershwin
Prokofiev
Ravel
Shostakovich
Stravinsky
Vaughan Williams

It can be hard to tell the difference between Romantic music and Impressionist music.
​Romantic music has more extreme and sudden changes in dynamics and rhythms.
Impressionism (Early 20th Century music) is more natural and flowing and changes in dynamics etc are more gradual and flowing. Composers got excited to break the rules in the Romantic period and then mellowed a little in the Early 20th Century. 

Contemporary
(1940 - Present Day)

Musical Features

STYLE:
Lyrical, minimalism and influenced by other styles such as world music, jazz or rock. This music can often used in films. 
STRUCTURE:
​Lack of formal structures (this doesn't mean there won't be any it just means their might not too!)

​DYNAMICS:
Lots of dynamic variations

​TONALITY:
Major, minor or modal

​RHYTHM:
Repetition of rhythms, cross-rhythms

ARTICULATION:
Varied

Composers

(Click on the composer to hear some music. The music selected is all played by a Piano to help you practice listening to features on a piano, ready for the exam)
Pierre Boulez
Philip Glass
Michael Nyman
Steve Reich
John Tavener
​

Practice Questions

Before you try any practice questions it is really important to listen to each of the composers of each musical periods and look at the notes on this page in order to really hear and understand what the differences are in each musical period. 

ABRSM

8A
8B
8C

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Location: West Sussex

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