Roles

In any piece of music, each instrument/layer will take on a specific role/s. For examples, the violins playing the melody and the cellos playing the bass line.  Instruments may have multiple roles throughout a piece. For example, the electric guitar playing harmonic accompaniment for most of a song, but switching to a melodic role when playing a guitar solo.

• Melody (and/or countermelody, if applicable)

• Accompaniment

  • • Harmonic

      • • Chords

          • • Block chords

            • Broken chords (arpeggios, Alberti bass, etc.)

        • Bass line

          • • Walking bass

            • Pedal point (or drone)

        • Harmonising the melody (in rhythmic unison)

    • Rhythmic

• Percussion (usually not taken into consideration for -phonic type)

Texture types

There are three common texture types. These are monophony, homophony and polyphony. Additionally, the use of silence should be taken into consideration when analysing texture.

• Monophony

  • • One melodic line with no accompaniment

    • May be performed by two or more instruments in unison or octaves apart 

• Homophony

  • • One melodic line with accompaniment (harmonic, rhythmic, or both)

    • May also be homorhythmic (all parts in rhythmic unison)

• Polyphony

  • • Two or more independent melodic lines occurring simultaneously

    • Examples include inventions, sinfonias, canons, and fugues

• Silence

  • • No sound at all or the absence of intended sound

Less common types

• Biphony

  • • One melody with drone accompaniment

• Heterophony

  • • One melody played by multiple musicians with slight variations from each musician

• Antiphony

• Hocket

  • • One continuous melody where the notes alternate between two voices/parts

• Klangfarbenmelodie

• Micropolyphony

Naming layers

As well as naming individual instruments or parts (e.g., "Violin II", "Flute"), remember that you can also group similar instruments together with the following terminology: 

• Woodwinds

• Brass

• Strings

• Percussion

• Basso continuo

• All parts

• Full orchestra

Or you can seperate groups into their component parts such as:

• Voice type in a choir (i.e., Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)

• Left hand or right hand (for keyboard instruments)

Associated terminology

Describing melodic ideas

• Motif - A short musical idea, approx. 2-10 notes in length

• Theme -  A recognisable melody. Longer than a motif

• Subject - The main theme in a contrapuntal composition such as a canon or fugue

• Answer - When the subject is transposed and stated in another key (usually the subdominant or dominant)

• Leitmotif - A short, recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, or idea

• Material

Motion

• Contrary motion - Both voices move in the opposite direction

• Oblique motion - One voice stays on the same pitch while the other voice moves

• Similar motion - Both voices move in the same direction

• Parallel motion - Both voices move in the same direction by the same interval

Other voice interactions

• Unison - Two or more voices playing the exact same pitch

• Rhythmic unison - Two or more voices playing the same rhythm, but different pitches

• Doubling - 

• Octaves (or any other interval such as fifths or fourths)

• Antiphonal

• Independent

• Imitation

• Call and response

Multiple stopping

• Double stopping

• Triple stopping

• Quadruple stopping

Dividing parts

• Divisi (div.) - When a section of instruments (usually strings) divides into smaller subsections

• Tutti or unison (unis.) - Cancels divisi. All instruments play the part in unison

• 1. or I. (primo) - Only the first player (e.g. first clarinet) plays. Can also be 2. or II. (secondo), and so on

• Solo - In an orchestral context, this can indicate that the instrument or part has the main melody

• a2 (a due) - “For two”. Both players are to play the part in unison. Can also be a3 (a tres) with three instruments, a4 (a quattro) with four instruments, and so on

Counterpoint

• Subject

• Answer

• Countersubject

• Staggered entry

  • • Canonic entry - The second voice imitates the subject at the same pitch, or octaves apart

    • Fugal entry - The second voice states the subject at a different pitch, usually in the dominant or subdominant key. This is called the answer

    • Stretto - When a staggered entry begins before the preceding voice has finished stating the subject or answer

• Unaccompanied

• A capella

• Four-part harmony

• Thick (or dense)

• Building/increasing

• Thin (or sparse)

• Decreasing

Electronic

• Stem

  • • Acapella

• Track

  • • MIDI track

    • Audio track

    • Return track

    • Master track

• Group

• Channel

• Bus

• Octave pedal

• Pitch shifter

• Arpeggiator