Music

Terminology
Accelerando (Italian: 'getting faster')

Accent an emphasis, stress, or stronger attack placed on a particular note or set of notes, or chord, either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark.

Acciaccatura To crush

Adagio (Italian: 'slow'). Meaning the music should be played slowly. Barber's 'Adagio' is a fantastic example of this.

Allegro (Italian: 'lively'). Meaning the music should be played cheerfully. Upbeat and brisk. Try Rossini's William Tell overture for size.

Andante (Italian: 'walking'). Meaning the music should be played at a walking pace. Not too fast or slow.

Appoggiatura a grace note performed before a note of the melody and falling on the beat.

Aria (Italian: 'air'). An aria is a song, generally used to describe set-piece songs in Opera.

Arpeggio (or broken chord) simply describes when the notes of a chord are played one after the other rather than at the same time.

Atonal Music in which no key can be established. The technique is heard in a lot of 20th Century music. Composers from the Second Viennese School used atonality as a basis for much of their work.

Ballad from the vulgar Latin 'ballare', meaning to dance. A work in dance form imitative of a folk song, with a narrative structure.

Bar A vertical line through the stave, to mark the music into sections, each with a set amount of beats within.

Barcarolle A boating song, generally describing the songs sung by gondoliers in Venice. Chopin, Mendelssohn, Fauré and Offenbach all wrote works imitating the form.

Baritone Male singing voice in the middle range. Gerald Finley is a world class example of a baritone.

Baroque A period in art and music from around 1600-1750. Composers include Monteverdi, Purcell, Rameau, Bach, Vivaldi and Handel.

Basso Continuo (Italian: 'continuous bass'). A form of bass line used in music from the Baroque period. It is usually notated with numbers indicating what chords can be used, so the continuo player can embellish the lines. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are a fine example of this.

Beam a horizontal or diagonal line used to connect multiple consecutive notes (and occasionally rests) to indicate rhythmic grouping. Only eighth notes (quavers) or shorter can be beamed

Berceuse A lullaby. Generally slow and undulating, Chopin's famous Berceuse is the most well known example of the form.

Bolero A Spanish dance. The most famous example is Ravel's Boléro.

Cadence Two chords at the end of a piece which provide a type of 'punctuation' at the end of a musical phrase. Cadences can either suggest the sentence isn't over, or provide a type of musical 'full-stop'.

Cantata A choral work that uses solo voices with an instrumental (usually orchestral) accompaniment. A cantata is generally a choral work of some length that also uses solo voices, usually with instrumental accompaniment. The texts used may be sacred or secular. Some cantatas use solo voices without chorus or choir. Listen to Bach's Cantata No. 140 (Wachet Auf) for a beautiful example.

Capriccio (Italian: 'caprice'). A lively piece of music, usually free in its form and short. Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien is certainly in high spirits.

Chanson (French: 'song'). A French song, from the middle ages to the 20th century.

Chorale A Lutheran hymn. Generally the music moves in block chords. The most famous Chorales of all were written by Bach.

Chord The sounding of two or more notes at the same time.

Chromatic Notes which do not belong to the diatonic scale. For example, in the scale of C major (the white notes on the piano), they black keys (sharps and flats) are the chromatic notes. Rimsky Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee is a particularly exciting example of a work built around the chromatic scale.

Clef Several symbols drawn at the end of a stave, indicating the pitch of the notes written on that stave.

Coda (Italian: 'tail'). The tail end of a piece of music. Usually a section which indicates the end of the piece or section is approaching.

Coloratura (Italian: 'colouring'). A type of decoration, usually in singing that is ornate and richly ornamented. Dame Joan Sutherland was one of the greatest coloratura sopranos of all time.

Concerto A piece of instrumental music for soloist contrasted by an ensemble (either a small group of musicians or a full orchestra). Rachmaninov's epic Piano Concerto No. 2 remains one of the most popular works in the genre.

Countertenor The vocal range of a male alto. Close in range to a female soprano. Iestyn Davies explains here.

Crescendo (Italian: 'growing') A dynamic instruction meaning to gradually play louder.

Da Capo (Italian: 'from the beginning'). Usually abbreviated to 'D.C.' at the end of a section of a piece, meaning go back to the beginning and play either to the end (Da capo al fine) or to the sign, which looks like a stylised "S" (Da capo al segno).

Diminuendo (Italian: Literally 'diminishing'). A dynamic instruction meaning to gradually play quieter.

Dynamics Levels of sound in music. The spectrum of soft to loud.

Elegy A piece of music in the form of a lament.

Ensemble Description of: whether instrumentalists are playing together; a group of performers.

Espressivo (Italian: 'expressive'). An instruction meaning that a passage should be played with expression, or expressively.

Etude (French: 'study'). An instrumental composition intended to improve or tax certain aspects of technique. Some of the hardest instrumental works are large scale etudes by composers such as Chopin and Liszt.

Fagotto The Italian word for Bassoon.

Flat Indicated by a stylised ♭ sign, shows that the note before which it is place should be lowered by a semitone. Flat can also mean that a note is out of tune, sounding lower than it should in this case.

Forte (Italian: 'strong'). A dynamic instruction meaning the music should be played loudly. The instruction appears as either: 'f' loud; 'ff' fortissimo, meaning very loud; or 'fff' very loud. The practice has expanded to allow for any number of 'f's, depending on how loud a composer wants something to be played. Here are some examples of when 'fff' really doesn't describe it...

Fugue A form in which the composition is contrapuntal. A theme introduces the piece, which is then repeat at different pitches throughout the composition, set in counterpoint to other musical lines within the texture. The Fugue has proven a fascinating medium, even penetrating the world of pop music and Lady Gaga...

Grace Note an extra note added as an embellishment and not essential to the harmony or melody.

Gigue A lively dance form from the Baroque period, from the English Jig.

Giocoso (Italian: 'playful', 'cheerful'). Meaning the piece should be played in a cheerful or playful way.

Glissando From the French 'glisser', meaning to slide. An instruction to slide between a group of notes. On the piano, for example, the performer runs a finger down or up the keyboard.

Harmony The sounding of two or more notes at the same time. A composer may be said to have a 'harmonic language', similar in meaning to saying someone has a particular accent.

Humoresque A piece of music with a humorous feel. Notable compositions using the name have been written by: Schumann, Dvořák and Rachmaninov.

Hymn A song of religious worship. The protestant tradition of hymn singing comes from the chorales of Martin Luther. Here is Classic FM's collection of 50 classic hymns.

Impressionism A term describing movements in art and music. Generally French, the impressionist art and music from the late 19th / early 20th Century is characterised by a sense of veiled, blurred images and a palette of rich colour. Both Debussy and Ravel resented their music being described thus, as they felt it suggested their music had little formal and structural value.

Intonation The accuracy or lack of pitch in instrumental playing and singing. For example, 'intonation is off here', meaning the tuning is not exact.

Jig a lively English dance, usually placed at the end of a Baroque suite.

Key A musical key is the relation of different chords to each other. The 'tonic' is the subjective sense of 'home', from which musical compositions deviate from, and arrive back to. Relations of different keys to each other give the impression of tension, development and resolution. A 'key signature' is an instruction at the beginning of written music, indicating what the 'home key' of the work is.

Largo (Italian: 'broad', 'wide', 'slow'). An instruction meaning the music is usually slow in speed, or broad in tempo.

Legato (Italian: 'joined'). An instruction indicating that a sequence of notes should be played smoothly, or joined up, as opposed to disconnected.

Leggiero (Italian: 'lightly'). An instruction meaning to play lightly and without force.

(col) Legno (Italian: 'wood'). An instruction for string players, usually written as 'col legno' (with the wood). This indicates that the string player should use the wooden side of the bow to hit the strings with.

Leitmotif A short, recurring musical phrase, usually associated with a character, idea, event or object. This is the musical equivalent of branding. Wagner used the technique extensively in his music dramas.

Lento (Italian: 'slow'). A tempo instruction meaning the music is slow.

Libretto (Italian: 'little book'). The text of an opera or vocal work, which was traditionally printed in a small book.

Lied(er) (German: 'song'). A form of song in the German tradition, exemplified by: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolff, Mahler and Richard Strauss.

Madrigal A vocal composition originating in 14th Century Italy. Madrigals are usually of a secular nature, and became very popular in the Renaissance and early Baroque periods.

Major A scale which corresponds on the piano to all the white notes, C to C. A C major triad chord consists of the notes: C, E, and G. Generally, major keys sound 'happy' while minor keys sound 'sad'.

Malagueña A Spanish gypsy dance from the region of Málaga. Composer Ernesto Lecuona is known for his piece of the same name, and Ravel used the form in his Rapsodie Espagnole.

Mazurka A traditional Polish dance. Many composers, including Chopin and Szymanowski have written works using the form.

Mezzo (Italian: 'half') The term can be used in a number of contexts. Mezzo-forte / mezzo-piano are dynamic instructions meaning 'half-loud' and 'half-soft' respectively. A mezzo-soprano is a female voice range that is lower than a soprano.

Minuet A popular French dance from the mid-17th Century to the end of the 18th Century.

Mordent a rapid alternation of a note with the note immediately below or above it in the scale (sometimes further distinguished as lower mordent and upper mordent ). The term inverted mordent usually refers to the upper mordent.

Natural A note which is neither sharp nor flat.

Nachschlag To afterbeat.

Neoclassical Neoclassicism is a style of music used by composers in the 20th Century which incorporate Classical and Baroque structures within their works. Stravinsky, Ravel and Hindemith are all composers who experimented with the style.

Nocturne A piece of music of a nocturnal mood. Irish composer John Field invented the form in the early 19th Century, which led to its popularisation by Chopin, who wrote 21 nocturnes.

Obbligato (Italian: 'obligatory') An instrumental part which is essential in a piece of music. Popular in the baroque period.

Octave (Latin: 'octavus', 'eigth'). The interval of an eight, eg: from the notes C to C or D to D.

Octet A piece of music written for 8 performers.

Ondes Martenot (French: 'Martenot waves'). An electronic instrument which produces sound using a keyboard which controls oscillating frequencies. Produced by Maruice Martenot in 1928, the most famous example of its use is in Messiaen's bombastic Turangalîla-Symphonie.

Opus (Latin: 'work') A term is generally used in the listing of a composer's works by opus numbers, usually abbreviated to Op. Since the Latin plural opera would lead to unnecessary confusion it is best avoided, although the alternative opuses remains an unsatisfactory substitute. Opus numbers are not always a guide to the date of composition or even to the date of publication.

Oratorio (Italian: 'pulpit'). A large scale work for orchestra and voices, usually sacred in nature. Oratorios are narrative in the same way as opera, but are performed without staging, costume, action or scenery.

Ornament musical flourishes—typically, added notes—that are not essential to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony), but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line (or harmony), provide added interest and variety, and give the performer the opportunity to add expressiveness to a song or piece. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central, main note.

Ostinato (Italian: 'obstinate') A repeated musical phrase or rhythm.

Overture An introductory movement to an opera or substantial work. In opera, the overture usually contains examples of the major musical themes that will appear throughout the work - a type of trailer for what is to come.

Partita A musical suite, usually for solo instrument or small ensemble.

Passacaglia A baroque dance form in which a short melodic phrase, usually in the bass, form the basis of the work.

Pedal Point (also pedal tone, pedal note, organ point, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts.

Pentatonic A five-note scale consisting of the black notes on the keyboard. Used in folk music from many countries, it is readily associated with an 'oriental' sound.

Pianoforte (Italian: 'soft loud'). Colloquially known as the 'piano'. A keyboard instrument developed int he 18th Century. The piano evolved from the harpsichord, in that the piano creates sound by hammers hitting strings, rather than the strings being plucked. The term 'pianoforte' is a mix of two Italian words, 'piano' (soft) and 'forte' (loud), meaning depending on how much force is applied to the keys, the instrument's dynamic range can be anywhere from very soft to very loud.

Pitch The frequency of the vibration of sound. Pitch is measured in hertz, and is generally organised in a system known as 'equal temperament', a system of tuning in which different notes have a standardised pitch ratio.

Pizzicato (Italian: 'plucked') A direction to string instrument performers to pluck the strings, rather than using the bow to create sound.

Più (Italian: 'more'). A term that can preface an instruction to mean 'more of'. 'Più vivo', meaning 'more lively', or 'Più lento', more slow.

Poco a poco (Italian: 'little by little'). An term that can preface and instruction meaning to follow it 'little by little'. For example, 'poco a poco crescendo', meaning, getting louder gradually, little by little.

Presto (Italian: 'quick') An instruction that a movement, section therein, or work is fast in tempo.

Quarter-tone A division of pitches, smaller than a semitone, which is half a tone. Found generally in some music from the 20th Century.

Quartet A group of four players, or a composition for four players.

Rallentando (Italian: 'becoming slower'). Often abbreviated as 'rall...', is an instruction to gradually play slower.

Recitative In vocal works, recitative is a moment where a solo voice sings in relatively free rhythm. Usually preceding an 'aria' (the main song), recitative is usually used to illustrate plot and narrative in opera.

Requiem Mass A Catholic Mass of the dead. Notable examples include Mozart's major last work, and others by Brahms, Berlioz, Verdi and Faure.

Riguadon A French folk dance, typically used in instrumental suites from the 17th and 18th Centuries. In the 20th Century, Ravel wrote a movement named 'riguadon' in his work Le tombeau de Couperin, an homage to the French baroque.

Ritardando (Italian: 'becoming slower'). Often abbreviated as 'rit.', is an instruction to gradually play slower.

Ritenuto (Italian: 'held back') An instruction to slow down.

Rococo In architecture and visual art, the rococo was characterised by a light, decorative French style. In music, the term is applied to a period characterised by highly decorative, elaborately ornate music.

Rondo A form with a recurring theme, usually used as the final movement of a sonata or concerto. Mozart's Rondo alla Turca is inspired by Turkish military marching bands from the 18th Century.

Rubato (Italian: 'stolen'). An instruction to play with freedom. Rubato allows performers to deviate from strict tempo regularity, and can enhance expressive playing. In essence, by 'stealing' time, or borrowing it, it should be contrasted with strict time, in a musically correct method of atonement.

Scale A sequence of notes in either descending or ascending order.

Scherzo (Italian: 'joke'). A movement from a work. Originating in the 17th Century, the form usually appears in a Symphony as a fast, light-hearted second or third movement. Beethoven used the form as an alternative to the minuet, and Chopin expanded the form as whole works in his four Scherzi.

Segno “from the sign.” It directs the player to return to a spot earlier in the score that's marked by the symbol. If the marking says D.S. al Coda, then the player is supposed to play from the to a “To Coda” marking, then jump to a coda section at the end of the music.

Serialism A compositional technique developed in the 20th Century by Arnold Schoenberg, as a method of ordering the seemingly chaotic and arbitrary technique to atonality. Serialism uses the twelve semitones of the octave in a particular order, known as a 'tone-row', which serves as a basis on which a work is structured.

Sforzando Play with sudden and marked emphasis.

Sonata (Italian: 'sonare', to sound). A composition for soloist, or soloist with piano accompaniment. The sonata usually consists of several movements with one or more in sonata form. Sonata-form is a form in which a movement is divided into three sections, exposition, development and recapitulation. The exposition usually contains two contrasting themes, which are then developed in the development, to be re-heard in the recapitulation, ending in a coda.

Soprano The highest female voice.

Staccatissimo (plural: staccatissimi or the anglicised form staccatissimos) indicates that the notes are to be played extremely separated and distinct, a superlative staccato.

Staccato performed with each note sharply detached or separated from the others.

Symphony A large scale orchestral work, usually in four movements, in which at least one is in sonata-form. The movements correspond roughly to a pattern of: Opening movement; Scherzo; Slow movement; Finale.

Tempo (Italian: 'time'). The speed at which a piece of music is played. Tempo indications are given either at the beginning of a piece, or within it. Sometimes tempo is indicated by strict beats-per-minute, or using terminology which can be more flexible.

Tenor A male singing voice between bariton and countertenor. The highest of the ordinary adult male range.

Tenuto (Italian, past participle of tenere, "to hold") is a direction used in musical notation. The precise meaning of tenuto is contextual: it can mean either hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with slight rubato), or play the note slightly louder.

Toccata (Italian: from 'toccare', to touch). An instrumental work designed to display the technical prowess and proficiency of a performer. Notable toccatas have been written by Bach, Ravel and Prokofiev.

Transpose playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower. This can be done by playing or writing the music in a different key, or by playing or writing it up or down an octave, without changing the key.

Tremolo (Italian: 'trembling'). The quick repetition of a single note, usually used in string playing.

Trill A musical ornament, consisting of the rapid sounding of two notes in quick succession.

Turn a flourish of added notes, similar to a trill. However, instead of alternating notes, like in a trill, a turn is a specific pattern that is played by first playing the note above the one that is written, then the written note, a note below the written note, then the written note again.

Unison The sounding of the same note by two or more musicians or singers at the same time.

Vibrato An expressive technique used on various instruments, created by vibrating the sound.

Vivace (Italian: 'lively'). A tempo indication.

Waltz A dance in triple time. Johann Strauss wrote extensively using the form. Chopin wrote a set of Waltzes for piano. Originally used as music to be danced to, the form was given a heightened respectability thanks to Weber's Invitation to the dance', which paved the way for the 'concert-waltz', where the form stands alone as an instrumental or orchestral composition.

Scales
Major - W, W, H, W, W, W, H

Natural Minor - W, H, W, W, H, W, W

Harmonic Minor - W, H, W, W, H, Wh, W

Melodic Minor (Ascending) - W, H, W, W, H, Wh, Wh

Melodic Minor (Descending)

Major Pentatonic - W, W, Wh, W, Wh

Minor Pentatonic - Wh, W, W, Wh, W

Whole Tone - W, W, W, W, W, W

Pentatonic Blues -

Octatonic (H-W)

Octatonic (W-H)

Ionian

Dorian

Phrygian

Phrygian Dominant

Lydian

Lydian Augmented

Lydian Minor

Lydian Diminished

Mixolydian

Aeolian

Bebop Major

Bebop Minor

Bebop Dominant

Bebop Half-Diminished

Blues Variation 1

Blues Variation 2

Blues Variation 3

Mixo-Blues

Major Blues Scale

Dominant Pentatonic

Chinese 2

Hirajoshi 2

Iwato

Japanese (in Sen)

Kumoi 2

Pelog 2

Locrian 6

Ionian #5

Dorian #4

Phrygian Major

Lydian #2

Ultralocrian

Moorish Phrygian

Algerian

Altered

Arabian (a)

Arabian (b)

Augmented

Auxiliary Diminished

Auxiliary Augmented

Auxiliary Diminished Blues

Balinese

Blues

Byzantine

Chinese

Chinese Mongolian

Diatoninc

Diminished

Diminished, Half

Diminished, Whole

Diminished Whole Tone

Dominant 7th

Double Harmonic

Egyptian

Eight Tone Spanish

Enigmatic

Ethiopian (A raray)

Ethiopian (Geez and Ezel)

Half Diminished (Locrian)

Half Diminished 2 (Locrian 2)

Hawaiian

Hindu

Hindustan

Hungarian Major

Hungarian Gypsy

Hungarian Gypsy Persian

Japanese A

Japanese B

Japanese (Ichikosucho)

Japanese (Taishikicho)

Javanese

Jewish (Adonai Malakh)

Jewish (Ahaba Rabba)

Jewish (Magen Abot)

Kumoi

Leading Whole Tone

Major Locrian

Mohammedan

Natural (Pure) Minor

Neapolitan

Neapolitan Major

Neapolitan Minor

Nine Tone Scale

Oriental (A)

Oriental (B)

Overtone

Overtone Dominant

Pelog

Persian

Prometheus

Prometheus Neapolitan

Roumanian Minor

Six Tone Symmetrical

Spanish Gypsy

Super Locrian

Moorish Phrygian

Intervals
A interval are the spaces between two notes. Sharps and flats are usually ignored when counting these. C to C are firsts. C to D are seconds. C to E are Thirds.

A major second is made up of two half steps.

A Major third is made up of 4 half steps.

A perfect fourth is made up of five half steps.

A perfect fifth is made up of 7 half steps.

A major sixth is made up of 9 half steps.

A major seventh is made up of 11 half steps.

A perfect eighth is an octave. Only seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can be majors and minors.

A minor is a half step lower than a major. Minor second - one half step. Minor third - 3 half steps. A minor sixth - 8 half steps. Minor seventh is 10 half steps.

A Augmented interval is one half step more than a perfect interval. Major intervals can be augmented by adding another half step too.

A diminished interval is one half step less than a perfect interval. Minor intervals can be diminished by subtracting a half step too.

Interval Inversion
To invert is to move the lowest note to the highest note. When inverting intervals it will change up where the note is at. If you make a perfect fifth of C and G and switch the C to make it to the highest note, it will become a perfect 4th. It will change the interval's sound as well. If you change a major third C to E it will become a minor sixth.

Minor and major intervals invert themselves. If you're converting a minor sixth, it will become a major third. Major seventh to minor second.

Perfects invert themselves too.

Diminished and augmented intervals invert themselves too.

Fourth to Fifth.

Key Signatures
Minor key signature is the note before the last flat, except for the first flat. The first flat is F. It begins with Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father

Major is the note after. It begins with Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle

Triads
Major triad - Root, Major third and a perfect fifth

Minor triad - Root, Minor third and a perfect fifth

Augmented - Root, Major third and a augmented fifth

Diminished - Root, Minor third and diminished fifth

Triad Inversion
Basically, you can move any note on the scale and it would still be the same. But it would change the tone of it.

Seventh Chord
A seventh chord is the combination of the triad plus the interval of the seventh

A dominant 7th is a major triad plus the minor seventh interval. It is abbreviated as 7

A Major 7th is a major triad plus major seventh. It is abbreviated as M7

A Minor 7th is a minor triad plus a minor seventh. It is abbreviated as m7

A Half-diminshed 7th is a diminshed triad plus a minor seventh. It is abbreviated as a slashed circle and a Ø7

A Diminished 7th is a Diminished triad plus a diminished seventh. It is abbreviated as O7.

A minor-major 7th is a minor triad plus a major seventh. It is abbreviated as mM7

A Augmented-Major 7th is a Augmented triad plus a major seventh. It is abbreviated as +M7

A Augmented 7th is a Augmented triad plus a minor seventh. It is abbreviated as +7

Diatonic Chords
Diatonic chords are triads that you form using the notes in a scales triad. You place two generic thirds on a root note. M is major. m is minor. d is diminished. A is augmented.

There are 7 roman numerals in these. I II III IV V VI VII I. Caps are majors. Lowercase are minors. + is augmented. o is diminished.

Same thing for diatonic seventh chords!

Sometimes composers will compose with a natural and harmonic minor to give the song a pleasing sound.

Changing the sound of it is called voicing. For example, we will have the F major triad with F A and C, with F being the lowest note. Then

Nonharmonic Tones
Nonharmonic tones are notes that do not belong in a certain chord.

A step is a interval equal of a generic second. A skip is equal to an interval of a generic third or more.

A passing tone (PT) is approached by step and then continues to step in the same direction.

If a passing tone occurs with the second chord (instead of the first two chords), it is called an accented passing tone (>PT).

A neighboring tone (NT) is approached by step and then returns by step to the original note. If it occurs with the second chord, it is called an accented neighboring tone (>NT)

An Anticipation (Ant.) is approached by step and then remains the same. It is basically a note of the second chord played early. Anticipations are not accented.

An escape tone (ET) is approached by step and then skips to the opposite direction. Escape tones are not accented—they occur between the two chords.

An appoggiatura (App.) is approached by a skip and then steps in the opposite direction. They are accented — they occur with the second chord.

A suspension (sus.) keeps a note the same and steps downward. A retardation (ret.) keeps a note the same and steps upward. Both of them are accented.

Changing tones (CT) use two nonharmonic tones in succession. The first nonharmonic tone is approached by a step and then skips in the opposite direction to the second nonharmonic tone. The second nonharmonic tone then resolves by a step. They are sometimes called double neighboring tones or a neighbor group. While the named non-harmonic tones discussed in the lesson are the most common, composers may choose others.

Phrases and Cadences
A phrase is a series of notes that sound complete even when played apart form the main song.

A cadence is a two-chord progression that occurs at the end of each phrase. If a phrase ends with any chord going V, a half cadence (HC) occurs. Most people will hear a half cadence as sounding incomplete, hence composers follow them with a phrase ending in an authentic cadence (AC). An authentic cadence occurs whenever a phrase ends with V or viio going to a I (or i if minor).

Authentic cadences can either be classified as perfect or imperfect. To be considered as a perfect authentic cadence (PAC), it must first meet three requirements:
 * 1) First, V must be used rather than viio
 * 2) Second, both chords must be in root position.
 * 3) Finally the highest note of the I (or i) must be the tonic of the chord.

An imperfect authentic cadence (IAC) fails to meet these requirements, and they are imperfect for these reasons:
 * 1) A viio is used instead of a I
 * 2) The chords are not in root position
 * 3) The highest note of the I is not the tonic.

In addition to authentic and half cadences, there are two other kinds. If a phrase ends in Iv (or iv) going to I (or i), then it is called a plagal cadence (PC). If a phrase ends in V going to any chord other than I (or i), a deceptive cadence (DC) occurs. A deceptive cadence is often used in place of an authentic cadence.

Circle Progressions
Root motion is the movement from one chord's root to another chord's root.

A circle progression occurs when root motion is equal up a fourth or down a fifth.

Major progressions go from I, IV, viio, iii, vi, ii, V, I. Minor progressions go from i, iv, VII, III, VI, iio, V, i.

Common Chord Progressions
In a major key, the goal of any chord progression is the I chord. An authentic cadence (V to I or viio to I) is the strongest way to approach the I chord.

Next we'll use circle progressions. The strongest way to approach V is a circle progression from ii. The strongest way to approach viio is a circle progression from IV

The strongest way to approach IV is a circle progression from I; however, since I is already on the chart, we will not repeat it.

A circle progression from vi leads to ii.

A circle progression from iii leads to vi

The strongest way to get to iii is a circle progression from viio, which is already on the chart. Since I is the main chord of the scale, it can go to any other chord.

Dominant means fifth scale of degree. V and viio (because it functions like V) are dominants. ii and IV are predominants.

Building Neapolitan Chords
A Neapolitan chord is simply a major triad built on a special note. This note is the lowered second degree (The supertonic) of a major or minor scale. Meaning that if you were to use a E minor scale, it would be a FAC.