P

See phonation.

A movement that’s really the opening act of the main event. Usually, it comes before a fugue.

A music section placed before the chorus.

Emotional ballads. Songs written in a slow tempo that convey strong emotions. Usually accompanied by instruments used in pop and rock music.

See polyphonic music.

‘Poly’ is many and ‘phony’ is voice. So it’s music written for more than one voice. Back when monophonic music was a thing, it was like saying ‘Let’s perform two…

Music instruments that have strings. The strings oscillate because we pluck the strings either using a pick, our fingers or our fingernails.

Lit.: to pinch. It’s when we pinch or pluck the strings of bowed string instruments (like the violin), instead of using the bow.

Percussion instruments that have distinguishable pitches. Drums and instruments like the xylophone or the glockenspiel can produce sounds with identifiable pitches.

Think of a piano keyboard. The pitch isn’t just the name of the note. It’s where it’s located on the keyboard. Is it towards right or left? So, technically, it’s…

Just like a phrase in English, a music phrase is a series of notes that express an idea. Phrases are not complete on their own, as we need more than…

Broadly speaking, it’s the process of producing a sound with one’s voice.

It’s like watching colors and recognizing them. There’s no trick to it. It’s just the ability to recognize any given pitch without a reference note. You just listen to a tone…

The most consonant of intervals. It’s easy. If you can find your interval in minor scales and in major scales, it’s a perfect interval. See major interval and minor interval.