Music Glossary

Aerophone - a family of instruments that produce sound by the vibration of air
Band - a large group of musicians representing 3 families of instruments; aerophones, membranophones and idiophones
Beat - the steady driving fource of the music
Chordophone - a family of instruments that produce sound by the vibration of strings
Chorus - a group of people that sing
Crescendo - to grow louder, gradually
Decrescendo - to grow softer, gradually
Dynamics - volume of  music ; how loud or soft
Forte - italian for loud
Harmony - the background part of the music
Idiophone - a family of instruments that do not produce sound by the vibration air, strings or "stretched skin"
Instrumentalist - person who plays an instrument
Melody - the part of the song we recognize
Membranophone - a family of instruments that produce sound by the vibration of "stretched skin"
Orchestra - a large group of musicians representing all 4 families of instruments
Piano - italian for soft
Pitch - the high or low of the music
Rhythm - organization of beats
Style - the type of music
Tempo- speed of the music
Timbre- another word for tone
Tone - what makes the sound
Vocalist - person who sings