Halloween Favorites, Book 4

David Karp

A type of accompaniment pattern that primarily uses broken 5th intervals with simple or slow-moving rhythms.

Broken 5ths Accompaniment

Two notes played in succession, usually in one hand but sometimes in both, whose distance is the interval of an octave of any quality.

Melodic Octaves

A type of articulation indicating the player to play short and light; notes not held for their full value.

Staccato

Notes whose lengths are equal to one-fourth the value of a whole note.

Quarter Notes

An indication instructing the player to go back to the beginning of a piece, then jump to the coda when "al coda" or "to coda" is reached.

D.C. al Coda

Indications instructing the player to put special emphasis on notes.

Accents

Sharps, flats and naturals that do not appear in a key signature.

Accidentals

Chord tones played together that are not part of an accompaniment pattern.

Blocked Chords

Chords with alternate ordering of their tones where the root is placed either in the middle or at the top of the chord.

Chord Inversions

A technique that requires the player to pick up and move their hand to a new position; usually from a five finger scale to another.

Shifting Hand Positions

More than one clef used in a staff in a single piece or movement.

Clef Changes

Hand positions that require stretching beyond a five finger scale; usually to play intervals that are 6ths or greater.

Extended Hand Positions

Symbols indicating that two notes are to be played as one with the value equal to their sum.

Ties

An Italian term meaning "hastening";
an indication instructing the player to increase the speed,

often gradually.

Accelerando

Also called the damper pedal, it is the rightmost pedal on the piano and used to sustain notes by moving the dampers away from the strings.

Sustain Pedal

An Italian term meaning "delaying"; an indication instructing the player to decrease speed, often gradually.

Ritardando

A series of any amount or quality of blocked 6th intervals that are played in one hand, and where both notes move up or down in parallel motion.

Parallel 6ths

A series of any amount or quality of blocked 5th intervals that are played in one hand, and where both notes move up or down in parallel motion.

Parallel 5ths

Symbols that indicate playing a note or range of notes either an octave higher or lower than notated.

Octave Higher or Octave Lower

Additional lines added above or below the staff in order to place very high or very low notes that wouldn't normally fit on the staff.

Ledger Lines

A type of accompaniment pattern where only one note is played at a time but with large intervals, many hand positions, and complex rhythms.

Intermediate Single Note Accompaniment

A technique that involves one hand crossing over or under the other.

Hand Crossing

Indications placed above or below notes instructing the player to hold those notes longer than their original notated length.

Fermatas

The physical motion of crossing the thumb under fingers 2, 3, 4, or 5; used when playing scalar passages or outside of five finger scales.

Crossing Thumb Under

The physical motion of crossing fingers 2, 3, 4, or 5 over the thumb; used when playing scalar passages or outside of five finger scales.

Crossing Over Thumb

A type of texture where the contour of the notes in one hand is the exact opposite to that of the other hand as they play simultaneously.