Glossary

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Welcome to the Glossary!

If you are not familiar with a musical term used on this website or any term relating to piano playing in general, Zebra Keys has searched and gathered the definitions for these musical terms. Below is a list of musical terms and definitions! If you are looking for a specific term that is not listed, you should check out this list of musical terms on Wikipedia. Also, if you are searching for a meaning to a musical symbol check out this list of modern musical symbols on Wikipedia.

Term	Definition
1. A Tempo -	Return to original speed
2. Accent Sign (>) -	Means to play the note or notes louder
3. Allegretto -	Playing the song moderately fast
4. Allegro -	Playing the song fast
5. Andante -	Playing the song slowly
6. Arpeggio -	Chords where the notes are played in succession instead of together.
7. Bar -	Organized chunk of time in music that contains a particular number of beats, usually two, three, or four beats. Another word for bar is measure.
8. Bar Line -	Line used to separate bars/ measures of music.
9. Bass Clef -	Musical symbol that is placed at the left side of a staff that makes a note placed on the second line from the top of the staff the F below Middle C. For this reason, it is also called the F clef.
10. Chord -	Three or more notes played simultaneously
11. Clef -	Musical symbol that is located at the left side of a staff that makes each line and space on the staff correspond to a specific key on the piano keyboard. In piano music, two clef signs are used, the Treble or G clef, and the Bass or F clef.
12. Crescendo -	Means to play the song while gradually getting louder.
13. Dampers -	Small, felt-covered pieces of wood that rest against the piano strings inside the piano. They lift when the key is struck so that when the damper returns to the string, it causes the string to cease vibrating.
14. Diminuendo -	Means to play the song while gradually getting softer
15. Dotted Note -	A note with a dot to the left of it. The dot next to a note adds 1/2 of that note's time duration onto itself. For example, if a half note gets 2 beats, then a dotted half note gets 3 beats.
16. Dynamics -	Refers to the loudness or softness of the sounds in music.
17. Eighth Note -	Note that gets an eighth of the beats of a whole note. In other words, eight eighth notes fit into one whole note.
18. Flat -	Musical symbol indicating that a note should be lowered one half step or semitone.
19. Forte -	Means to play the notes loudly or strongly
20. Grand Staff -	Two staves that are joined together by a brace. The top staff uses the treble clef, and the bottom staff uses the bass clef. By using the grand staff, one can easily place down or see around four octaves of music notation.
21. Half note -	Note that gets half the beats of a whole note. In 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time, the half note gets two beats.
22. Harmony -	Part of a song that accompanies the main tune. Harmony can be created by playing two or more musical notes at the same time. In any song, harmony is the background musical tones that are heard which accompany the main tune or theme of a song. When listening to popular music, the strumming of a guitar or the piano parts that you hear playing alongside the singing part is harmony.
23. Key -	This term can be used in many ways when talking about music. Key could refer to the actual physical key of the piano keyboard; a full sized piano keyboard contains 88 black and white keys. Key could also refer to the home base of a song. For example, if a song is in the key of C major, then the song's home base or tonal center is the C key.
24. Key Signature -	A series of sharp and flat signs that appear after the clef sign that indicates which notes are to be played sharpened or flatted.
25. Largo -	Means to play very slowly
26. Ledger Line -	A line that is used to extend the music staff so that notes above and below the staff can be written.
27. Melody -	Part of a song that you would sing or hum to, the tune of a song, made by a succession of single musical tones of pitch and duration variations.
28. Mezzo Forte (mf) -	Means to play moderately loud
29. Note -	This term is used loosely when talking about music. Note can refer to an actual musical pitch, as in "I am going to sing the first two notes of Jingle Bells". Note can also refer to music notation, where a note is an oval musical symbol used to represent a musical tone and it's time duration.
30. Octave -	An interval in music where one note is either half or double in frequency as the other note. On the piano, take any note and add or subtract 12 half steps or semitones, and you have an interval of an octave. An example of an octave would be to playing a C note, and then playing the C note that is directly to the right or the left of that C.
31. Piano (p) -	Means to play notes soft
32. Pitch -	Refers to the highness or lowness of a particular sound or musical tone. Pitch can be measured exactly by its frequency. On the piano keyboard, which consists of 88 black and white keys, each key pressed will sound a unique pitch.
33. Quarter note -	Note that gets a quarter of the beats of a whole note. In 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time, the quarter note gets one beat.
34. Rest -	A musical symbol that represents time duration where no note is played. Rest come in different time durations like notes. There are whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, etc.
35. Rhythm -	The time duration variations of a succession of sounds. Rhythm in music exists on many levels. The melody, harmony, and if there are percussion instruments like drums, all contribute to the rhythm of a piece of music.
36. Scale -	Group of notes that provide the material for songs. Western music is based on the 12 tone chromatic scale.
37. Sharp -	Musical symbol indicating that a note should be raised one half step or semitone.
38. Sixteenth Note -	Note that gets a sixteenth of the beats of a whole note. In other words, sixteen sixteenth notes fit into one whole note.
39. Staccato -	Means to play the notes very short as if the keys were hot to the touch. Notes played with staccato have a dot below or above it.
40. Staff -	Five lines and four spaces that are used as the framework on which musical notation is written.
41. Tempo -	The rate and speed of the of musical composition
42. Time Signature -	A fraction that shows up after the clef sign and key signature that indicates the timing for a song. The top number indicates what note gets one beat, and the bottom number indicates how many beats are in each measure.
43. Tone -	A sound with a particular pitch. Tone is often used interchangeably with note.
44. Treble Clef -	Musical symbol that is placed at the left side of a staff that makes a note placed on the second line from the bottom of the staff the G above Middle C. For this reason, it is also called the G clef.
45. Voicing -	Refers to the way notes that are played together are arranged and placed. For example, if you play C, E, and G of the C major chord, you could play C, E, and G close together, or space them out on the piano keyboard.
46. Whole Note -	Note that gets four beats in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time.

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Intermediate

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Lesson 1 - Patterns of Black & White Piano Keys
Lesson 2 - Names of White Keys
Lesson 3 - Names of Black Keys
Lesson 4 - Grand Staff: Diagram of the Piano Keyboard
Lesson 8 - Learn to Play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
Lesson 10-Three Primary Chords
Lesson 13-Major Scale
Lesson 17-Chord Inversions
Lesson 23-Arpeggios

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Free Sheet Music for Beginners

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Deck The Halls
Camptown Races
Yankee Doodle
Clementine
Aura Lee
I'm A Little Teapot

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Fur Elise
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Lesson 1 - Layout of Piano Keys

Watch these two Piano Tuutorial Videos, and test your skills using the Keyboard Trainer (below):

Lesson 2 - " Names of White Piano Keys " Lesson 3 - " Names of Black Keys "

Keyboard Trainer

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1. Press "New Key" button to activate the keyboard trainer
2. A new key will be highlighted on the piano keyboard
3. Select the correct key name by pressing on the button
with that note name.
(Note: the counter will keep track of your scores)

Five Fingers Exercise

Five Fingers Exercise - Piano Techniques for Beginners
Practice this drill prior to practicing or playing any songs:

Featured Sample Flash Animation - Learn to play Brother John: (click "PLAY" button below)

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List of Free Piano Lessons:

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Beginners

Intermediate

Advanced

Lesson 1 - Patterns of Black and White Piano Keys
Lesson 2 - Names of White Keys
Lesson 3 - Names of Black Keys
Lesson 4 - Grand Staff: Diagram of the Piano Keyboard
Lesson 5 - Note Durations
Lesson 6 - Learn How to Play "Brother John"
Lesson 7 - Learn How to Play "London Bridge is Falling Down"
Lesson 8 - Learn How to Play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
Lesson 9 - Playing the Major Chord
Lesson 10-Three Primary Chords
Lesson 11-12 Bar Blues Chord Progression
Lesson 12-12 Keys of Music
Lesson 13-Major Scale
Lesson 14-Intervals
Lesson 15-Chords of the Major Scale
Lesson 16-Circle of Fifths (5ths)
Lesson 17-Chord Inversions
Lesson 18-Double Chord Pattern
Lesson 19-Broken Chord Pattern
Lesson 20-Arpeggio Chord Pattern
Lesson 21-Sounds of the Orient
Lesson 22-Mysterious Sounds
Lesson 23-Arpeggios
Lesson 24-Learn How to Play "America"
Lesson 25-Learn How to Play "Silent Night"
Lesson 26-Learn How to Play "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Lesson 27-Playing the Minor Chord
Lesson 28-Three Secondary Chords
Lesson 29-Dominant 7th Chord
Lesson 30-Major 7th Chord
Lesson 31-Minor 7th Chord
Lesson 32-Natural Minor Scale
Lesson 33-Chords of the Natural Minor Scale
Lesson 34-Melody as Octaves
Lesson 35-Root Chord Pattern
Lesson 36-Adding Harmony Notes in the Right Hand"
Lesson 37-Major Chord Inversions"
Lesson 38-Chord Inversion Straddles"
Lesson 39-Learn How to Play "The First Noel"
Lesson 40-Learn How to Play "Auld Lang Syne"
Lesson 41-Learn How to Play "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
Lesson 42-Diminished Chord
Lesson 43-Augmented Chord
Lesson 44-6th Chords
Lesson 45-Sus2 Chords
Lesson 46-Sus4 Chords
Lesson 47-Major 9th Chords
Lesson 48-Major 11th Chords
Lesson 49-Major 13th Chords
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"Learn Songs"
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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Silent Night
The First Noel
Auld Lang Syne

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Black Key Groups

Lesson 1 - Layout of Piano Keys
Watch this video and test your skills using the "Keyboard Trainer" below:

White Key Names

Lesson 2 - Name of White Keys
Watch this video and test your skills using the "Keyboard Trainer" below:

Music Tools - Keyboard Trainer
Watch two videos above and test your skills here:
Name the highlighted key appeared on the piano keyboard, then select the correct key name corresponding to that piano key.

Note Trainer

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Test your note reading skills here.
Name the music note appeared on the music staff, then select the correct note name corresponding to that music note.

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