10

Words to Describe Music

Musical Parameters
By EarMonk.com


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05

Off-beat on-beat
4-to-the-floor
strong/weak beat
Sloppy tide
Simple complex
High/low density
Quantized
4/4 meter, 3/4 Meter
Syncopated
Regular irregular
Beats per minute (bpm)
Tempo
Tempo rubato (free)
Speed-up slow-down
Moderate
Fast (Upbeat)
Harmonic disharmonic
Harmony
Consonant dissonant
Major minor
Tonal atonal
Simple complex
Monotonic evolving
Simple complex
Melody
Staccato legato
Small/big intervals
Singable
Catchy
Improvised
Happy sad
Uplifting
Instrumentation Groups: Orchestra, Quartet, Solo, Jazz band,
Rock band, Ensemble

Single Instruments: Double bass, ViolinHobo,
Tuba, Electric guitar, Piano, Percussion, Drums

Rhythm

06

Crescendo decrescendo
Velocity
Loudness
Soft, quite, muted loud, intense, powerful
Pianissimo piano forte fortissimo
Consistent explosive
High/low dynamic range
Fade-in Fade-out
07
Monophonic (one melody, solo)
Texture
Homophonic (one main melody)
Polyphonic (many simultaneous melodies,
counterpoint)
Heterophonic (chaos-unrelated melodies)
Dense, full, thick, fat light, open, spare, thin
Simple complex
08
Classical: Baroque, Romantic, Classic
Genre
Avant-garde: Experimental, Free Jazz, Musique
Concrte
Contemporary: Jazz, Rock, Dance, Soul
Popular music Underground music
Film music
09
Structure: A A B A, 12-bar blues,
Form
repetition, chorus, verse, intro, bridge, middle
eight, instrumental
Musical form: Symphony, requiem, fugue, song
10 Temperature Timbre
Sound color
Warm cold
Noisy clear
Overtones, harmonics
Acoustic electronic
Low mid high frequencies
Dark, mellow, muddy - light, pure, bright, clean,
vibrant
Harsh, rough, shrill, piercing - dull, muffled,
boring
Always think about what you want to express with music and which
parameter you could use to do so.

Dynamics