A type of contemporary music in which some or all of the elements, such as rhythm or the interaction among voices, are left to chance.

An alternate term for word painting, reflecting the frequent use of word painting in the Renaissance madrigal.

The regular grouping of beats into threes, as in a waltz.

 Instrumental music with no explicit pictorial or literal associations. As opposed to program music.

  Music for voices alone, without instrumental accompaniment.

 Getting faster.

 A conspicuous, sudden emphasis given to a particular sound, usually by an increase in volume.

 A notational sign in a score indicating that a specific note is to be played as a flat, sharp, or natural. The most common accidentals (flats and sharps) correspond to the five black notes in each oc [..]

 The subordinate material or voices that support a melody.

 (1) the science of sound; (2) the art of optimizing sound in an enclosed space.