Glossary
Every term this course introduces, in one place. Use it as a lookup table: each row gives a one-line meaning and the SongConfig field it touches, if any. Terms are grouped by the chapter that introduces them.
Basics
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch / note | How high or low a sound is; a note is one pitch with a duration | — |
| Semitone | The smallest pitch step; +1 in MIDI | — |
| Octave | Interval of 12 semitones; +12 in MIDI, same pitch class | — |
| MIDI note number | Integer encoding of a pitch, 0–127 (C4 = 60) | vocalLow, vocalHigh |
| Beat | The steady pulse; the fundamental time unit | bpm |
| Bar (measure) | A fixed group of beats, the loop unit of time | — |
| Time signature | Beats per bar and the beat unit, e.g. 4/4 | — |
| BPM | Beats per minute; the playback clock rate | bpm (40–240, 0 = style default) |
| Tick | Internal time unit; 480 ticks per quarter note | (internal) |
Scales & Keys
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | An ordered subset of the 12 pitch classes a song draws from | mood |
| Major | The bright scale colour | mood, moodExplicit |
| Minor | The dark scale colour | mood, moodExplicit |
| Key / tonic | The home pitch class a song resolves to | key (0–11) |
| Scale degree | A note's position within the scale (1st, 2nd, …) | — |
| Interval | The distance between two pitches — named by scale steps (third, fifth) or counted in semitones | — |
| Relative minor | The minor key sharing a major key's notes | key, mood |
| Leading tone | The note a semitone below the tonic; the pull behind a V→I cadence | — |
Chords
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Chord | Several pitches sounded together | chordProgressionId |
| Triad | A three-note chord (root, 3rd, 5th) | — |
| Root / 3rd / 5th | The three stacked notes of a triad | — |
| Chord quality | Major, minor, diminished, etc. — the chord's colour | — |
| Chord symbol | Text name of a chord, e.g. Am, G7 | — |
| Roman numeral notation | Chords labelled by scale degree, e.g. I, V, vi | — |
| Diatonic | Belonging to the seven notes (or seven chords) of the current key | — |
| Inversion / voicing | Which chord tone is lowest and how the notes are spaced | (internal voice leading) |
| Arpeggio | A chord played one note at a time | arpeggioEnabled |
Progressions
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Chord progression | An ordered sequence of chords | chordProgressionId (0–21) |
| Cadence | A chord move that signals a phrase ending | — |
| Tension & resolution | The pull away from and back to the tonic | — |
| Harmonic function | A chord's role: tonic, subdominant, dominant | — |
| Royal Road progression | The common J-pop IV–V–iii–vi loop | chordProgressionId |
| Four-chord loop | A four-chord cycle repeated under a section | chordProgressionId |
| Vamp | A short progression looped as a backdrop | chordProgressionId |
Borrowed chord (♭VII) | A chord pulled in from the parallel key, e.g. I-♭VII-IV-I | chordProgressionId (Rock presets) |
| Plagal | A IV→I-style resolution, without the leading tone | chordProgressionId (Rock presets) |
| Mixolydian | A major scale with a flattened 7th; the mode ♭VII comes from | — |
Harmony
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Extension | A note added above the triad for colour | chordExtSus, chordExt7th, chordExt9th |
| Sus chord | The 3rd replaced by the 2nd or 4th | chordExtSus / chordExtSusProb (default 0.2) |
| 7th chord | A triad plus the 7th | chordExt7th / chordExt7thProb (default 0.15) |
| 9th | The extension a 9th above the root | chordExt9th / chordExt9thProb (default 0.25) |
| Tritone | The interval of 6 semitones | — |
| Tritone substitution | Replacing a dominant with the chord a tritone away | chordExtTritoneSub / chordExtTritoneSubProb (default 0.5) |
| Secondary dominant | A dominant 7th resolving to a chord other than the tonic (V/V etc.) | — (inserted automatically) |
| Chord tone | A note that belongs to the current chord | — |
| Passing tone | A non-chord note bridging two chord tones | — |
Melody
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Melody | The main single-note line; the tune | vocalStyle, stylePresetId |
| Motif | A short recurring melodic idea | stylePresetId (12 = Background Motif) |
| Sequence | A motif repeated at a different pitch | — |
| Phrase | A self-contained melodic sentence | — |
| Hook | The catchiest, most repeated fragment | hookIntensity (0–4) |
| Call & response | Two phrases that answer each other | callSetting (0/1/2) |
Structure
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Section | A contiguous span with one structural role | formId |
| Intro | The opening instrumental section | formId |
| Verse (A-melo) | The calm opening sung section | formId |
| Pre-chorus (B-melo) | The tension-building section before the chorus | formId |
| Chorus (sabi) | The high-energy hook section | formId, hookIntensity |
| Bridge | A contrasting section, usually once, late in the song | formId |
| Interlude | An instrumental section between sung sections | formId |
| Outro | The closing section | formId |
| Song form | The ordered sequence of sections | formId (0–17), formExplicit, targetDurationSeconds |
| Modulation (key change) | Shifting the whole song to a new key, usually the final chorus up a step | modulationTiming, modulationSemitones |
Generation
| Term | Meaning | Related config |
|---|---|---|
| Blueprint | A high-level recipe bundling paradigm and defaults | blueprintId (0–9, 255 = random) |
| Paradigm | The axis a song is built around (Traditional / RhythmSync / MelodyDriven) | blueprintId |
| Seed | Integer that makes generation reproducible | seed (0 = random) |
| Humanize | Controlled timing and velocity deviation | humanizeTiming (0.4), humanizeVelocity (0.3) |
Return to Chapter 0 — Music Primer to start over, or jump to the JavaScript API to build.