berceuse - a French word for a soft instrumental piece or lullaby (pronounced like “bare sirs” or (“b’sirs”)

Bow - a long stick that has horsehair attached to it

Brass Instrument - a wind instrument, usually made of brass that produces sound by blowing into the mouthpiece of the instrument. These instruments can also be made of wood, tusk, horn or shell. Orchestra examples are the trumpet, horn (also called French horn), trombone and tuba.

crescendo - to gradually become louder
Decibel - the unit used to measure the power of a sound (dB)

decrescendo - to gradually become softer

Echo -the repeating of a sound caused by the sound waves striking a surface and coming back.

fanfare - a short piece of music played on trumpets or other brass instruments to announce an important event or arrival

finale - the last movement of a piece of music

Forté - a musical term that indicates that music is to be played loudly with full force. In written music it is seen as f

Frequency - the number of times sound waves vibrate in a second; also can be described as the highness or lowness of a sound/note, it’s pitch.

Harmonics - higher and quieter sounds mixed together and not heard separately

Hertz -how the frequency of sound is measured

march -a piece of music written in a marching rhythm

Molecule -the smallest part of a substance

Noise - unorganized sound/sounds

Orchestra - a large musical ensemble or group consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments

overture - the orchestra’s introduction to a piece of music

Percussion Instrument - an instrument that produces sound when it is struck, scraped or shaken. Orchestra examples are cymbals, triangle, bass drum, xylophone, timpani, snare drum.

Piano - (1) a musical percussion instrument; (2) a musical term that indicates that music is to be played softly with little force. In written music it is seen as p

Pizzicato - playing a stringed instrument by plucking its strings with the fingers

Sound -the movement/vibration of any matter or material

Sound waves - air moving or vibrating

Stringed Instrument -an instrument that produces sound when a bow is moved across the strings of the instrument. Sound is also produced when the instrument is plucked or strummed with the fingers. Orchestra examples are the violin, viola, cello and double bass.

Tessitura - the comfortable timbre for a musical instrument or singing voice

Timbre - the special feature or character of a sound that sets it apart from other sounds (pronounced “tam-ber”). Also known as tone color.

Tone - a musical sound

Woodwind Instrument - an instrument that uses vibrating air to produce different musical sounds. Not all of these instruments are made of wood. Some of them use a reed, which is a piece of cane that is clipped to the mouthpiece of some woodwind instruments. Orchestra examples are the flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon and sometimes the saxophone.