Music is one of the most cherished universal languages across the globe. It is one of the few languages that needs no words to be communicated. Two people from opposite ends of the world, who speak different languages, can communicate with one another through nothing more than a few hits of a drum. They can understand one another and feel the same emotion without any words being discussed. What a beautiful concept. However, have you ever been sat in a room of experienced musicians whilst they discuss a piece of a music? This really can sound like a different language. In the western world, musicians use terminology to help communicate with one another. Rather than saying, “Play that crunchy blues chord on D that guitarist’s love”, we say, “Play D7#9”. Both could result in the same outcome, however the latter allows for no subjectivity. Musical lingo is near endless, making it a fairly daunting topic to engage with, however this article will guide you through 8 basic, common phrases, allowing you to sit in a room with musicians discussing a piece of music and do more than smile and nod politely.
Phrase: “The chords in this piece are so nice.”
Explanation: A chord is any combination of two or more notes. This can be on the same instrument or across different instruments. Put simply, unless you’re listening to a piece of music that consists of just one person singing, you’re hearing chords. Chords are indescribably effective in evoking emotion. Have a listen to the two chords below. They are very similar, but their minute differences result in widely different flavours. You might call the first one ‘calm’ and the second ‘eery’.
Chords do have names – for example, chord 1 is known as C MAJOR 7. However, this is not the lesson to be concerned with that.
Phrase: “I love the melody here.”
Explanation: You can think of melody as the part you sing along to in a piece of music. For example, when you listen to a pop song, the melody is heard through the singer. When you listen to jazz, it might be played by a saxophone or trumpet. An elegant description is that it’s the opposite to chords. You couldn’t sing a chord unless you split your voice into two (or more) notes. Melody is a singular line of music. Have a listen to the piece below and try to figure out which instrument is playing the melody:
If you guessed trumpet…you’d be wrong. That’s a saxophone, albeit a badly processed electronic one.
Phrase: “That was a nice dynamic shift.”
Explanation: The dynamics of a piece simply relate to how loud or quiet it is. A dynamic shift might be describing a movement from a loud section to a quiet section. If you talk with a classical musician, they will likely use the Italian versions of these words as this is what you’d find written on a score. Correct – musicians can be a bit pretentious sometimes…Forte means loud. Piano means quiet.
Phrase: “That’s a great sounding mix.”
Explanation: The concept of a mix emerges from the empire of music production. When referring to the mix, we are describing how instruments interact with one another within a sound recording (a recorded piece of music). This often refers to dynamics i.e. the loudness of the bass guitar compared to the electric guitar. Music producers are currently screaming at this definition because a mix has more components beyond dynamics, however this the best basic definition for those who don’t tinker with compression and EQ on a regular basis.
Phrase: “That’s around 130bpm.”
Explanation: BPM (Beats Per Minute) relates to the tempo, or speed, of a piece. It is the simplest and most accurate measure to determine how fast a piece of a music is. You may be questioning how musicians know that something is 130bpm. The seconds on a clock tick at 60bpm (60 seconds in a minute), therefore 130bpm is slightly faster than twice that speed. It’s rare that even the most experienced of musicians will get a bpm spot on, however we can make educated guesses that are often close. Secondly, many genres often lay within a particular bpm range. For example, House music is generally between 115-130bpm, whilst Drum and Bass sits between 160-180bpm.
Phrase: “The woodwind sound great here.”
Explanation: There are four sections to an orchestra: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion. Here’s a quick breakdown of the instruments that fall within these sections:
Strings: violin, viola, cello, double bass.
Woodwind: piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon.
Brass: trumpet, french horn, trombone, tuba.
Percussion: timpani, drums, xylophone, glockenspiel.
The confusion often comes from the difference between woodwind and brass, because they’re all instruments that you blow. Put simply, brass instruments are gold in appearance and woodwind instruments are not. The exception to this is a saxophone -this is part of the woodwind family.
Phrase: “Sing a harmony with me.”
Explanation: When two (or more) people sing in harmony, they are signing different but complimenting melodies. For example, singer 1 sings the main melody of the piece and singer 2 adds a complimenting part on top. This second part could be anything (literally). The only rule for singing in harmony is to NOT sing the exact the same notes throughout. This is not harmony but merely doubling the same part. Have a listen to the two audio files below: the first highlights the melody and the second adds in a harmony.
To risk causing any confusion – yes, harmony and chords are the same thing. If I play three notes on a piano, this can be described as a chord, but also harmony. Harmony does not have to involve singing. Harmony or chords are just a collection of two or more notes sounded simultaneously.
Phrase: “I have perfect pitch.”
Explanation: Perfect pitch is the ability to hear a note and know exactly what it is. This is something that only 1% of musicians have. By no means is it an essential attribute. A more common skill is what’s known as ‘relative pitch’. This is the ability to hear a note, be told what it is, then hear another note and know the latter without any guidance. This is how experienced musicians are able to listen to a piece of a music and learn it quickly. Once the first few notes have been established, the remaining can be found through relative pitch at the same speed and proficiency as someone with perfect pitch.
At this stage you are fully equipped and qualified to sit in a room with experienced musicians and discuss a piece of music. Next time you find yourself in one of these situations, don’t just smile and nod politely, make a generalised comment about the chords or ask the bpm of the piece – your peers will be amazed.
Music Omnibus 