13 Terms
Contributors in General music
General music
Equal temperament
Music; General music
Tuning system based on the division of the octave into twelve equal half steps; the normal system used today.
Relative key
Music; General music
The major and minor key that share the same key signature; for example, D minor is the relative minor of F major, both having one flat.
Cakewalk
Music; General music
Syncopated, strutting dance of nineteenth century origin; developed among Southern slaves in a parody of white plantation owners.
Tonic
Music; General music
The first note of a scale (the tonic or keynote do), which serves as the home base around which the other pitches revolve and to which they ultimately gravitate.
Erhu
Music; General music
Bowed, two-string fiddle from China, with its bow hairs fixed between the strings; rests on the leg while playing.
Repeat sign
Music; General music
Musical symbol that indicates repetition of a passage in a composition.
