Special Terms Needed for Studying Music and Poetry



Special Terms Needed for Studying Music and Poetry

Learning English Through Pop Music

Lori Rottenberg

Parts of a Song

Lyrics: all the words to a song

Melody: a song’s tune, how it goes if you were to hum or sing it

Verse: a section of the song in which a story is told

Chorus: the “catchy” part of the song, often is repeated, and is often in the song title

B-Section or Bridge: the part of the song that connects the verse to the chorus. Usually has a different melody or rhythm than the verse or the chorus

Poetry Terms

Alliteration: when a phrase include many words starting with the same sound, as in “Laughing Lori loves to listen to literature.”

Rhyme: when the ends of two words sound the same, as in “shoe” and “glue” or “jealous” and “zealous”

Half-rhyme: when two words share one sound but don’t completely rhyme, as in “young” and “song” or “firework” and “burst”

Simile: a comparison that uses like, as, or than: “I’m like a bird,” “She is as beautiful as a rose,” or “She’s hotter than a southern California day.”

Metaphor: a comparison that uses a form of be: “Baby, you’re a firework.”

Linguistic Terms

Idiom: a commonly used phrase that has a special, non-literal meaning, such as “it’s raining cats and dogs” to say it’s raining heavily

Non-Standard Grammar: when people break normal grammatical rules and speak in a way that would not be considered “correct” in a formal setting, such as “I ain’t going nowhere” instead of “I am not going anywhere.”

Reductions: when people shorten or “reduce” normal pronunciation, such as “gonna” instead of “going to.” This has to do with sound, rather than with grammar.

Slang: “street” talk, commonly spoken words used especially by young people, such as “guy” or “dude” instead of “man”

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