The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

tempo
The rate of speed at which beats are played in a song.
tempo primo
Return to the tempo designated at the beginning of a piece.
tenor voice
The highest male voice.
theme
A recurring melodic or rhythmic pattern or idea; the main melodic
phrase in a composition.
third
The interval between the first and third degree of a scale; can be either
minor (three half steps) or major (two whole steps).
thirteenth chord
A triad with four notes added, a seventh, ninth, eleventh,
and thirteenth above the root of the chord.
tie
A curved line over or under two or more notes that “ties” the two notes
together into one.
timbre
Sound quality (as in “That trumpet player has a rich timbre”).
time signature
A symbol with two numbers, one on top of the other (like a
fraction), that indicates the basic meter of a song. The upper number indicates
how many beats are in a measure; the bottom number indicates the type of note
that receives one beat.
tonality
The organization of musical notes around a tonic, or home pitch,
based on a major or minor scale or mode.
tone
A sound played or sung at a specific pitch. (The term is also used some-
times to indicate 
timbre
, or sound quality.)
tonic
The primary note in a scale or key; the first degree of a scale or a chord
built on that degree (I).
transpose
See transposition.
transposing instruments
Those instruments that are not notated at their true
pitch. For example, the trumpet is notated a full step higher than it sounds; when
a trumpet plays what it reads as a C, it actually sounds a B
in concert pitch.

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The Complete Idiot’s Music Glossary