Music Terms

This is a list of terms that will help you analyze, listen to, and write about music. You’ll choose from when you post your record club selection. You can find definitions for these terms in one of the glossaries of music terms listed here, or you can do some research and find your own definitions. You should also feel free to choose terms not listed here. It’s by no means an exhaustive list.

Some Terms

Airy

Alto

Ambience

Auto-tune

Backbeat

Baritone

Bass

Beat

BPM

Bridge

Bright

Button

Cadence

Chord

Chord structure

Chorus

Cymbal

Double-tracking

Dry

Dynamics

Ear candy

Fade-out

Groove

Hard stop

Hi-hat

Harmony

Hook

Hymn

Improvisation

Intro

Lead

Lead Bass

Lead guitar

Major Key

Melisma (adj.: melismatic)

Melody

Midrange

Minor Key

Non-verbal vocalization

Offbeat

Outro (or Coda)

Pitch

Pocket (as in “in the pocket”)

Power chord

Pre-chorus

Presence

Phrase

Phrasing

Reverb

Riff

Scratching

Sibilance

Soprano

Spacious

Steely

Sting (as in “button with a sting”)

Syncopation

Tenor

Tempo

Time signatures (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, etc.) See video here.

Timbre

Tone

Tremolo

Vibrato

Verse

Wet

 

Some Genres

Alt Country

Bachata

Bluegrass

Blues

Be-Bop

Bubblegum

Classic Rock

Country

Disco

EDM

Folk

Funk

Gangsta Rap

Gospel

Grunge

Hip Hop

Hard Rock

Hardcore

Hardcore Rap

Horrorcore

Jazz Rap

K-Pop

Metal

Neo-Soul

Non-verbal vocalization

Pop

Pop-punk

Psychedelic

Punk

New Wave

Reggaton

Rock

Salsa

Ska

Soft Rock (Yacht Rock)

Soul

Sting (or Long Sting or Trashcan Ending, see this Twitter thread)

Syncopation

Synthpop

Thrash

Trap

Triphop