trading fours

Singing without instrumental accompaniment, with voices providing all musical parts.

The musical background that supports a solo melody or voice.

At the performer's discretion — an instruction allowing freedom in tempo, ornamentation, or inclusion.

An accent created by slightly lengthening a note rather than playing it louder, using duration rather than volume to create emphasis.

A left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern that breaks a chord into a repeated sequence of low-high-middle-high notes, creating a gentle, flowing texture.

A broken-chord accompaniment pattern in which the notes of a chord are played in the order lowest-highest-middle-highest

The ubiquitous left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern of low-high-middle-high notes, named after Domenico Alberti, that defines the texture of Classical-era piano music.

A guitar picking technique that strictly alternates between downstrokes and upstrokes.