ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Musical terminology

Okay kiddo, so musical terminology is basically a fancy way of talking about music. Just like how we have special words for talking about things like plants or dinosaurs, we have special words for talking about different parts of music.

The first thing you need to know is that music is made up of different parts that work together to make a song or piece of music sound nice. These parts include things like melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics.

Melody is the part of the music that you hum along to. It's like the tune that you can follow easily. Harmony is the part of music that supports the melody, but it's not as easy to sing along to. It's like the background music that fills up the gaps in between.

Rhythm is the beat of the music. It's like when you tap your foot to the music or dance along to it. Tempo is how fast or slow the music is played. It's like when you run or walk, some people do it fast while others do it slow.

Dynamics are the way that the music gets louder or softer. It's like when you whisper or shout – sometimes you want to be really quiet, and sometimes you want to be loud and strong.

There are also special terms used for different types of music. For example, if you're playing classical music, you might use words like concerto, symphony, or sonata. If you're playing jazz music, you might use words like improvisation, swing, or solo.

So, in short, musical terminology is just a way of talking about different parts and styles of music using special words.