overture

Noun

• a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
  • she rejected his advances
    

• something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
  • training is a necessary preliminary to employment
    
  • drinks were the overture to dinner
    

• orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  advance , approach , feeler , preliminary , prelude