8 ELEMENTS OF MUSIC: The term used to describe the 8 factors that when combined, make up music.  These include melody, harmony, rhythm, style, tempo, timbre, dynamics, and form.

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ACAPELLA: Singing without background instruments or recordings

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ACCELERANDO: A tempo marking which means to gradually get faster

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ACCOMPANIMENT: The background tracks or instruments to a piece of music 

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ADAGIO: A tempo marking which means slow

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ALLEGRO: A tempo marking which means fast

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ANDANTE: A tempo marking which means walking speed

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ARTICULATION: How notes are connected

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BINARY FORM: A musical form made of two parts (AB)

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BRASS: The instrument family that is made of metal, has valves, a cup shaped mouthpiece, that you must vibrate your lips into in order to make a sound

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CHORUS (FORM): A part of a piece of music that always returns with the same lyrics and melody

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COMPOSE: To write music

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CRESCENDO: A dynamic marking that means to gradually get louder

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DIMINUENDO: A dynamic marking that means to gradually get quieter

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DYNAMICS: How loud or quiet the music is

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FORM:  The way a piece of music is put together

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HARMONY: Two or more different notes being played at the same time

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IMPROVISE: To make up music as you go along

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INSTRUMENT FAMILIES: The 4 different categories that instruments are grouped into based on how they produce sound.

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LARGO: A tempo marking which means very slow

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LEGATO: An articulation that means smooth and connected

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LYRICS: The words to a song or melody

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MARCATO: An articulation that means heavy and march-like

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MELODY: The tune of the music.  The important line

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PERCUSSION FAMILY: The largest instrument family.  Made up of instruments you strike, shake, or scratch

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REED: A small piece of wood that you attach to most woodwind instruments to help create sound.

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RHYTHM: A combination of notes and rests

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RITARDANDO: A tempo marking which means to gradually slow down

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RONDO FORM: A musical form where the first section alternates with new musical material (ABACA...)

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ROUND (FORM AND HARMONY): A type of harmony and form where one melody is started at different times to create overlapping lines

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STACCATO: An articulation that means short, light, and seperated

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STAFF: A combination of 5 lines and 4 spaces which you read notes on

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STRING FAMILY: The instrument family that all has strings that you pluck, strum, or bow

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STYLE: The genre or type of music based on musical characteristics

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TEMPO: How fast or slow the music is

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TERNARY FORM: A musical form made of 3 parts, where the first part returns at the end (ABA)

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THROUGH COMPOSED: A musical form where nothing repeats

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TIMBRES: The instruments or voice types used

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TIME SIGNATURES: A combination of 2 numbers at the beginning of a piece of music that tells you how many beats are in a measure and what kind of notes you are counting

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VERSE: A part of a piece of music that returns with the same melody, but different lyrics

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VERSE- CHORUS FORM: A musical form where the verse and chorus alternate with a bridge implimented between a pair of chorus' (Verse 1- chorus- verse 2- chorus- bridge- chorus) 

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VIVACE: A tempo marking which means very fast

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WOODWIND FAMILY: The instrument family based around the commonality of blowing into it and having something to do with wood.  Usually has a reed