We have continued our bi-weekly vocabulary meetings and have some new terms for everyone:
Medley: In music, it is a piece composed of parts of existing musical pieces, usually short in length per existing piece. We discussed that medleys were often used in concerts where the existing band doesn’t have all the original members, some of which have songwriting credits on previous hits. Medleys allow these bands to perform what the crowd desires.
Chord Progression: A sequence of chords, usually repeating across sections of a song. There are usually three chords which are played in some manner of succession to create the melody. Twelve bar blues is an extended three chord progression.
Cadence (Harmonic): A key-establishing chord progression that creates a sense of resolution. One example is a blues turnaround.
Cadence (Rhythmic): A pattern of rhythm that, similar to a harmonic cadence, creates a sense of finality or resolution. Snare drum cadences for marching bands are a common example.
Modulation: Changing the current key (tonic) of the song to another key. This can change the mood of the song between sections or movements.
Capo Transposition: When using a capo but also using the standard chord fingering, a new chord is produced. Since bass players rarely use capos, they need to know how to transpose the new chord played into the notes being generated. One capo transposition chart can be found here.
Bend Notation: There are three types of bends which can be performed on a string; immediate bend where the string is bent and then released to no sound, bend and release where the string is bent and then maneuvered back to normal producing sound throughout, and prebend and release where the string is bent before the string is struck and then maneuvered back to normal. These three bends are noted on classical or tab notation in different ways. An example of each, in order listed, is here.
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