DHS Department of Choral Arts
The Duluth choirs have a long tradition of excellence in the state of Georgia and abroad. They have performed throughout metropolitan Atlanta, New York City, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; Disney World, Orlando, Florida; and The Grand Bahama Islands as well as six international concert tours throughout Europe. Each year the choirs participate in the Georgia Music Educator’s Association State Large Group Performance Evaluation where they consistently receive the top ratings of “Superior”. Duluth is also very well represented in the GMEA All-State Choirs, Honors Choruses and GHSA Music Literary events yearly.
   

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Music Vocabulary

  1. fermata- hold the note for longer than its normal value
  2. mezzo forte- moderately loud
  3. accent- play the note louder, with a special emphasis
  4. piano- soft
  5. decrescendo- gradually softer
  6. ledger line- short lines which are added to extend the range of the staff when the notes are too low or too high to be written on the staff
  7. dot after note- increases the note's duration by half the original value
  8. slur- smoothly connects two or more notes of different pitches by a curved line over or under the notes
  9. time signature- appears at the beginning of the music after the clef sign. Top number is how many beats in each measure and bottom note is what type of note receives the beat
  10. bar line- the lines which cross the staff and divide it into measures or bars
  11. forte- loud
  12. double bar- is written at the end of a piece of music
  13. sforzando- a sudden, strong accent
  14. measure- the area between two bar lines
  15. tie- two notes of the same pitch joined by a curved line over or under the notes
  16. accidental- a flat, sharp or natural sign that appears within a piece of music
  17. natural sign- the natural sign before a note cancels a previous flat or sharp
  18. accelerando- gradually faster
  19. tempo- how fast or slow to sing the music
  20. enharmonic notes- two notes that sound the same but are written differently
  21. staccato- sing the note short and detached
  22. crescendo- gradually louder
  23. ritardando- gradually slower
  24. flat- lowers the pitch by one half step
  25. mezzo piano- moderately soft
  26. fortissimo- very loud
  27. diminuendo- gradually softer
  28. pianissimo- very soft
  29. legato- to sing two or more notes smoothly connected
  30. sharp-raises the pitch by one half step

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Greg S. Smith, Director of Choral Activities | Jason Lane, Principal, Duluth High School, 3737 Brock Rd. Duluth, GA 30096, (770)232-3354
Greg_smith@gwinnett.k12.ga.us