#Polyphonic texture how to

The compositional technique of writing layers of independent melodic lines is called counterpoint. The particular technique used in Row, Row, Row Your Boat is called imitation, i.e., you and your friends are imitating or echoing one another. This is an example of polyphonic texture. You now have three independent melodic lines of equal importance. Again, you're singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat but this time a friend joins in with 'Row, Row' when you get to the word 'Gently.' And, two measures later, your neighbor follows suit. Polyphonic texture consists of two or more lines of relatively equal importance. Your browser does not support the audio tag. It's still monophonic even if twenty friends join you as long as they sing unison and don't harmonize. The sounding of a single melodic line is called monophonic texture. Imagine singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in the shower by yourself. Monophonic texture consists of a single melodic line. There are also textural subclasses but we'll focus on these three main texture types for now. And, of course, we have names for the various textures: monophonic, polyphonic and homophonic.

#Polyphonic texture how to

Musicians are picky about texture and we spend a lifetime learning how to create and control texture for expressive purposes. How the two voices and guitar sound together at any given point is the vertical aspect of texture. For example, singing with a friend while strumming a guitar creates layers of melodic lines and chords. The vertical aspect of texture involves how melodic lines combine together to form harmony (chords) or counterpoint. Sing a song with no instrumental or vocal backup and you have a melodic line. The horizontal or linear aspects of texture revolve around melodic lines: a memorable succession of notes. For this course, we are mainly concerned with perception of the horizontal and vertical aspects of texture. The term, musical texture, refers to how melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements combine in a composition.

Let's look at the basic types of musical texture and form. Musicians design the texture and form of their soundscapes as precisely and deliberately as visual artists. I compose so the viewer's eye is drawn to the most important object, e.g., the moon in Moonrise Over Tantalus. When I photograph landscapes, the scene is framed to create a sense of balance, depth and form. Much rap is composed of many layers of sounds, but at times those layers are not very transparent, as one would expect in polyphony.Musical Elements | Texture & Form | monophonic | polyphonic | homophonic 1 Some music will have a strong main melody, suggesting homophony, and yet have interesting countermelodies that one would expect in polyphony. Much of the music that we will study in this text exists somewhere between homophony and polyphony. Some jazz played by larger ensembles, such as big bands, is also polyphonic at points, although in this case, there is generally a strong sense of a main melody. 1946) for example, a jazz tune recorded by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and others reflects the busy polyphony typical in bebop. Dixieland jazz and bebop are often polyphonic, as is the music of jam bands such as the Allman Bros. Polyphony simultaneously features two or more relatively independent and important melodic lines. Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” (1956), The Carter Family’s version of “Can the Circle be Unbroken” (1935), and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” (1973), are relatively good examples of homophony. Anytime the tune is the most important aspect of a song, it is likely to be in homophonic texture. A lot of rock and popular music has a homophonic texture. Homophonic music is music that has one melodic line that is accompanied by chords. Gregorian chant is another excellent example of monophonic music. An example would be a folk melody that is sung by one person or a group of people without any accompaniment from instruments. Monophony is rare in jazz, rock, and popular music. The important thing is that they are all singing the same melody, either in unison or in octaves. This one melodic line may be sung by one person or 100 people. Monophonic music is music that has one melodic line. Of these three terms, homophony and polyphony are most important for jazz, rock, and popular music.

We also use three specific musical terms to describe texture: monophony, homophony, and polyphony. We use a variety of general adjectives to describe musical texture, words such as transparent, dense, thin, thick, heavy, and light. Texture refers to the ways in which musical lines of a musical piece interact.