Musical Terms You May Not Know

Learning the lingo is part of the territory when it comes to music. It's a language all in itself, from the notes on the page to the symbols and abbreviation. With all that to learn, sometimes we come up with more casual terminology to describe these principles. But if you’re very into music, or just like a little bit of extra trivia, learning the technical names for things can be both fun and interesting!

Anacrusis

You’ll often find a half measure with a single beat into the first real measure of the music or phrase. You may know this as a “pick up” into a measure. The technical term for this introduction into a phrase is actually known as an anacrusis, which means “brief introduction”!

Breve

A breve is a double whole note, meaning you hold it for double its normal value, or eight beats. It looks like a whole note, but has two lines on either side of it. Bonus: Did you know a regular whole note, which you hold for four beats, is known as a semibreve?

Fermata

A fermata looks a bit like an eye and is placed over the top of notes. It indicates that you hold the note longer than the usual value. It’s up to the player or the conductor to decide how long they want to hold the note out, which can help build tension in the music.

Caesura

A double slash (//) at the top of your musical staff is known as a caesura. It indicates a pause in the music but unlike a rest it has no metric attached to it. You can think of a caesura as a silent fermata, where the length of the pause is up to the discretion of the player or conductor.

Leitmotif

Have you ever been watching a movie and noticed that when your favorite character appears on screen, a certain melody or phrase accompanies their entrance? This is known as a character motif or a leitmotif. There are many examples of instrumental music that aims to tell a complete narrative utilizing different leitmotifs or individual instruments to denote characters. One popular example that you may be familiar with is Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.

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