The Music Dictionary
Melody, Form and Composition Terms
Every melody and form term in The Music Dictionary, with its meaning in music.
- Antecedent phrase
- An opening phrase that sets up an expectation answered by a later phrase.
- Arch form
- A structure that returns to earlier material in reverse order, often described as ABCBA.
- Augmentation
- The expansion of a musical idea by lengthening its note values.
- Binary form
- A two-part design, commonly labeled AB, with each part sometimes repeated.
- Canon
- A contrapuntal design in which one voice imitates another after a delay.
- Cantus firmus
- A preexisting melody used as the structural foundation for a composition.
- Coda
- A closing passage that extends or reinforces a work’s conclusion.
- Codetta
- A short closing gesture within a section, less extensive than a full coda.
- Consequent phrase
- A phrase that responds to an antecedent, often providing stronger closure.
- Contour
- The overall rise and fall of a melody’s pitches.
- Countermelody
- A secondary melodic line designed to complement a principal tune.
- Counterpoint
- The combination of distinct melodic lines with meaningful independence.
- Development
- A section or process that transforms earlier material through variation and recombination.
- Diminution
- A reduction of note durations or ornamental elaboration of a longer melody.
- Episode
- A contrasting passage between recurring statements of principal material.
- Exposition
- A formal opening that introduces a work’s main themes or tonal areas.
- Fugue
- A contrapuntal composition built around entries and development of a principal subject.
- Ground bass
- A recurring bass pattern supporting variations above it.
- Imitation
- The repetition of a melodic idea in another voice, often at a different pitch.
- Inversion of melody
- A transformation reversing the direction of intervals around a reference pitch.
- Leitmotif
- A recurring musical idea associated with a character, place, concept, or dramatic situation.
- Melisma
- The singing of several notes on one syllable of text.
- Melodic sequence
- The repetition of a melodic figure at successive pitch levels.
- Motif
- A short recognizable musical idea capable of development across a work.
- Obbligato
- An essential accompanying part with independent musical character.
- Ornament
- A decorative gesture, such as a trill or turn, enriching a melodic line.
- Ostinato melody
- A repeated melodic figure that helps define a piece’s identity.
- Palindrome
- A musical design whose ordering is symmetrical forward and backward.
- Period
- A phrase grouping often consisting of antecedent and consequent units.
- Phrase
- A coherent musical thought shaped by rhythm, melody, and cadence.
- Recapitulation
- A return of principal material after development, especially in sonata form.
- Refrain
- A recurring section or line, especially in songs and strophic forms.
- Retrograde
- A transformation that presents a sequence of notes in reverse order.
- Riff
- A compact repeated musical figure central to many jazz, rock, and popular styles.
- Rondo
- A form organized around recurring principal material alternating with contrasting episodes.
- Scherzo
- A lively movement or section, often replacing the traditional minuet.
- Sequence
- The restatement of a musical pattern at another pitch level.
- Sonata form
- A broad design involving exposition, development, and recapitulation, with many variations.
- Stretto
- In fugue, overlapping subject entries that begin before earlier entries have finished.
- Strophic form
- A song structure repeating the same music for successive verses.
- Subject
- The principal thematic idea developed in a fugue.
- Theme and variations
- A form presenting a theme followed by successive transformations.
- Through-composed
- Music that develops continuously rather than repeating the same section for every stanza.
- Transition
- Music connecting major sections or tonal areas.
- Trill
- A rapid alternation between a principal pitch and a neighboring pitch.
- Twelve-tone row
- An ordered series of the twelve pitch classes used in serial composition.
- Variation
- A transformation that preserves a recognizable relationship to an earlier idea.
- Verse–chorus form
- A song design alternating narrative or changing verses with a recurring chorus.
- Walking bass
- A moving bass line, often in steady quarter notes, outlining harmonic progressions.
- Word painting
- A musical gesture that illustrates or intensifies the meaning of sung text.
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