Changing the way you learn

Question	Answer
Atonal	Music with no clear key (modern - sounds strange)
Broken chords	The notes of a chord played one after another rather than together
Chromatic	Uses some notes that aren't in the scale (more interesting/unusual)
Consonant	Notes that sound ok together
Diatonic	Uses notes from a major/minor scale
Diminshed 7th chord	4 notes, each a minor 3rd apart - sounds scary/unsettled
Dissonant	Notes that clash with each other
Dominant 7th chord	Chord V with the 7th added - leads smoothly back to I
Drone	A long, held note - usually in bass but can be higher (like pedal)
Ground bass	A repeating bass line throughout a piece (mainly classical)
Key signature	Tells us what key a piece is in, and which sharps or flats to use
Modulating	Changing from one key to another
Pedal	A long, held note - usually in bass but can be higher (like drone)
Relative minor	The minor key related to a major key (3 semitones down)
Tierce de Picardie	When a minor (sad) piece ends with a major (happy) chord

AQA GCSE Music - Harmonic Terms

	Created by Mr Thompson over 9 years ago