- Levites: member of Hebrew tribe of Levi, assist priests in worship
- Pythagoras: discover relationship between musical sound and numbers, music prevents planets and stars from colliding
- Plato (Music): recommend youth learn Dorian/Phrygian modes music (courage/thoughtfulness), more restrictive in music education than Aristotle
- Ethos: (doctrine of ethos) music capable of arousing listeners to certian emotions/behaviors
- Catharsis
- Gregorian Chant: one of several sorts of plainchant, the best known music of early Medieval period, Middle Ages
- Plainchant: monophonic sacred music of the Christian church
- Divine Offices/Hours: series of services held at specific times of day
- Mass: a ritual reenactment of Christ's Last Supper, celebrated in monasteries every day
- Monophony: no harmony, single line (as oppose to harmophonic, and polyphonic where lines move quite independently)
- Text Setting: composition of vocal music to a given text
- Text Setting - Syllabic: music with one note per syllable
- Text Setting - Neumatic: one syllable per neume (a symbol of 2-4 notes)
- Text Setting - Melismatic: music with many notes per syllable
- Neumes: a symbol of two to four notes
- Guido d'Arezzo: Italian music theorist, inventor of modern musical notation
- Organum (3 kinds): a plainchant melody with added voice(s), incl. parallel organum, melismatic organum, Notre Dame organum
- School of Notre Dame: a group of composers working around Notre Dame Cathedral, and their music
- Ars Antiqua: Medieval music of Europe between approx. 1170 and 1310
- Ars Nova: musical style in France and Burgundian in Late Middle Ages
- Isorhythmic Motet: a form of motet in Medieval and early Renaissance, based on a repeating rhythmic pattern (motet: a polyphonic vocal style of composition)
- Talea: the rhythmic pattern of isorhythmic tenor
- Color: the melodic pattern of isorhythmic tenor
- Trouveres: French poet-composers in High Middle Ages, create music in northern dialects
- Leonin: a prototypical composer of Notre Dame organum
- Perotin: a composer (contemporary of Leonin), add 3rd and even 4th voice to organa
- Machaut: a famous French poet-composer in 14th century
- Phillippe de Vitry: French poet-composer and theorist, (maybe) author of Ars Nova treatise
- Homophonic: primary part supported by additional strands, all choir singing same words same time
- Polyphonic: consists of two or more lines of independent melodies
- Counterpoint: relationship between voices harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and contour
- Antiphonal: call and response style of singing, two choirs in interaction, alternate musical phrases
- Madrigal: secular vocal composition, Renaissance and early Baroque
- Full vs. Broken Consort: early Baroque, ensemble with instruments from more than one family (broken)/same family (whole)
- Dufay: composer of early Renaissance, central figure in Burgundian School, with unique and complex motet
- Petrucci: print collections of sheet music
- G. Gabrieli: Italian composer and organist, Venetian School, from Renaissance to Baroque
- Palestrina: Italian Renaissance composer, sacred music, Roman School, Renaissance polyphony
- Impresario: organize, finance concerts, plays, operas
- Salomon
- Continuo: continuous bass, a form of accompaniment, Baroque
- Figured Bass: a kind of musical notation, associated with continuo, numerals and symbols indicating intervals, chords, tones
- Fugue: a contrapuntal composition technique, built on subject introduced at beginning and imitation
- Subject: musical material, recognizable melody
- Answer (counter-subject): contrasts with subject, continuation of counterpoint
- Recitative and Aria: recitative: quickly, aria: a long song accompanying solo voice
- Affect/Affections: (doctrine of affects), late Baroque theory of musical aesthetics, music capable of arousing specific emotions
- Dualism: a constant Baroque theme, battle between freedom and strictness, extravagance and control
- Prima Prattica: "first practice", early Renaissance, more to the style of Palestrina than to "modern"
- Seconda Prattica: counterpart to prima prattica
- Period Instruments: instruments made in same way as before so old music sound the same
- Ornamentation: musical florishes, added notes, not essential to melody, serve to decorate the line
- Cantus Firmus: existing melody as the basis for a polyphony
- Chorale: a composition consisting of a harmonized version of a simple, stately hymn tune
- Ordinary: part of canonical hours constant without regard to date
- Proper: part of liturgies varying according to date
- Handel: Baroque composer
- D. Scarlatti: Baroque composer, influential to Classical style
- Monteverdi: pioneer in opera, crucial figure to transition from Renaissance to Baroque
- J.S. Bach: German composer, Baroque, one of the greatest composers of all time
- Binary Form: a musical form of 2 related sections, usually performed as AABB
- Sonata-Allegro Form: "first movement form", three main sections (exposition, development, recapitulation), Classical
- Exposition: primary thematic material
- Development: second section of sonata, many alterations, vary in length
- Recapitulation: altered repetition of exposition
- Coda: optional final piece of sonata
- Codetta: brief conclusion "little Coda" at the end of exposition
- Minuet and Trio: common form in classical music, often in third movement, extensively used by Mozart and Beethoven
- Rondo: a principle theme alternates with one or more contrasting themes, often ABA, ABACA, ABACABA
- Galant: return to simplicity and immediacy after the complexity of late Baroque
- Empfindsamer Stil: "sensitive style", intend to express "true and natural" feelings, sudden contrasts of mood
- The Enlightenment
- War of the Buffoons: paper war between Italian and French musical styles, what is appropriate for French stage opera
- C.P.E. Bach: German composer, Classical, use "sensitive style", in contrast to galant
- J.C. Bach: "London Bach", influencing style of Mozart
- Sturm und Drang: German literature and music movement, exalt nature, feeling, and human individualism, seek to overthrow the Enlightenment cult of Rationalism
- Haydn: Austrian composer, classical period, "Father of the Symphony"
- Gluck: classical period, composer of Italian and French opera
- Mozart: classical period, symphonies, concertoes, operas
- Salieri: Italian classical composer, wrote operas in three languages
- Manheim School: orchestra of Mannheim, group of classical composers, Stamitz is the father of the school
- Burney: English composer and musician
- Heiligenstadt Testament: letter by Beethoven to Carl and Johann, reflects despair over his deafness
- Beethoven
- Weber: German composer, Romantic school
- Schubert: Austrian composer, late classical and early romantic period
- Chopin: Polish composer, Romantic era
- Berlioz: French Romantic composer, Symphonie fantastique, Harold in Italy
- Wagner: German composer, wrote both libretto and music for his stage work
- Florestan & Eusebius
- Lieder: setting poetry to classical music to create polyphonic music
- Song Cycle: a group of complete songs designed to be played in a sequence as a unit
- Tone Poem: symphonic poem, evokes the content of a poem or other source
- Leitmotif: a recurrent theme throughout the composition
- Idee Fixe: a recurrent theme or character trait serve as the structural foundation of the work
- Castrato: classical male singing voice, castration of male before puberty
- Countertenor: classical male singing voice equivalent to female contralto
- Pants Role: actress appear in male clothing
- Nationalism
- Verismo: Italian literary movement, post-Romantic operatic tradition
- Brahms: German composer and pianist, Romantic period
- Florentine Camerata: group of intellects gathered in late Renaissance Florence
- Bayreuth: German town, Wagner's home
- Kalevala: Karelian and Finnish folklore and mythology
- The Mighty Handful: five composers, New Russian school
- Opera Comique
- Opera Buffa
- Opera Seria
- Armstrong
- Debussy
- Ravel
- Mahler
- Schoenberg
- Ellington
- Bop
- Dodecaphonic Serialism
- Second Viennese School
- Les Paul
- Lennon
- Talkies
- The Jazz Singer
- Tin Pan Alley
- Diaghilev
- Stravinsky
- Gershwin
- Impressionism
- Bi-/Polytonality
- Atonality
- Musique Concrete
- Les Six
- Le Hot Club de France
- Post-Romanticism
- Minimalism
- Third Stream
- Nadia Boulanger
- Babbitt
- Elgar
- Rachmaninoff
- Wm Grant Still
- Aleatoric Music
- Cage
- Tan Dun