Texture

Texture describes how layers of sound within a piece of music interact.

Imagine that a piece of spaghetti is a melody line. One strand of spaghetti by itself is a single melody, as in a monophonic texture. Many of these strands interweaving with one another (like spaghetti on a plate) is a polyphonic texture. If all of these strands were placed directly on top of each other and all lined up (like spaghetti in a packet), they could move together in chords. This would be similar to a homophonic texture.

A unison texture is when all voices or instruments are singing or playing the same melodic line, so there is no harmony. It doesn’t matter which octave the melody is in - it is still a unison texture. An excellent example of unison texture is when everyone in a room (adults and children) sing Happy Birthday. Children and adults with higher voices will generally choose a higher octave than men with lower voices, but they are all singing the same melody.

TEXTURE

Introduction to TEXTURE:

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/musicappreciation_with_theory/chapter/introduction-texture/

Textbook intro to Texture:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2XBMRkY9S4KZEk0Q1ExUW9IaTg

Texture categories list:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13oEUo1OJ9dcDx-pJEhIu9MdrYMgOLK53tSls9HpMgp0

Good site explaining Texture w/examples:

Monophony: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/monophony.html

Homophony: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/homophony.html

Polyphony: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/polyphony.html

Imitative Polyphony: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/sonicg/terms/imitative_polyphony.html

Youtube video describing the different types of TEXTURE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J2R20X16Jc

Identify Texture

Great examples of Textures:

http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Listening/textures/textures.html

Listening Examples of Texture:

http://www.lipscomb.umn.edu/rock/Texture.htm

Listen to Texture Examples in these Videos:

Texture - unison and monophonic

Unison

Chordal accompaniment is where different instruments or parts play or sing the same notes. Music that has no chordal accompaniment is described as in unison.

Monophonic

Monophonic means there is only one line of music - one instrument or singer. There is no accompaniment or secondary melody. The term monophonic can be used for single lines - this could be solo, unison or octave doubling.

Gregorian chant is monophonic - all the monks sing the same melody together.

Texture - homophonic texture

This literally means ”sounding together”. Homophonic music is played in block chords. Homophonic music is also sometimes called chordal music.

An example can be found at the end of “And the Glory of the Lord” from Handel’s Messiah.

Within a homophonic texture, other devices can be used - such as a walking bass, pedal notes or drones. Homophonic textures are all based around chords moving together at the same speed.

Texture - Polyphony

Polyphony means “different sounds or voices”. Polyphonic music has parts that weave in and out of each other. Polyphonic music is also sometimes called contrapuntal music. Polyphonic music may contain an element of imitation , where one voice or instrument copies what has just been played by another (think of a “round” like London's Burning.)

Imitation

Imitation is where a melody in one part is repeated a few notes later in a different part, overlapping the melody in the first part which continues. For example, a flute may imitate a tune just played by the oboe.

Sometimes imitations contain slight changes to the tune to make it more interesting. These changes might be:

changes in octave - it could be played higher or lower
adding ornaments
playing the same melody in notes of different duration

A fugue is a special type of polyphonic texture. Fugues always begin with a tune that is played on a solo instrument/sung by a solo voice or produced by instruments/voices in unison. This tune is then played by all the other instruments or voices in turn, but not necessarily at the same pitch.

Texture - heterophonic and antiphonal

Heterophonic texture

A heterophonic texture is the simultaneous variation of a single melody line. A variation of the melody is played over the original melody. Heterophony is often found in gamelan music.

Heterophonic textures can be heard in Baroque cantatas or oratorios, where an instrumentalist or vocalist plays a slightly more decorated version of a melody line over the original. Here is an example of what heterophonic texture looks like in Western classical music:

Antiphonal texture

An antiphonal texture is when there is more than one group of instruments or voices, usually placed in different parts of a church or concert venue. There is usually dialogue between the two groups and melodic ideas will be passed between them.

The renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli used a lot of antiphony in his writing. Much of his music was written to be performed at St Mark’s church in Venice. He was able to position choirs and groups of instruments around the church and make the most of the different positions of these voices and instruments. An example of this is his famous motet In Ecclesiis.

Michael Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra is also an excellent example of homophony - the two orchestras have a musical dialogue, playing together and individually.

Texture - melody and accompaniment

A melody and accompaniment texture is when you can clearly distinguish between the melody and accompaniment. This could be a pop song with a solo singer accompanied by a band or the first violins in an orchestra playing the melody while the rest accompany. The melody and accompaniment texture was used frequently in the Classical period.

Listen to the opening of Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 in G minor:

You can hear that the first and second violins are playing the melody while the lower strings play an accompaniment. This is a typical melody and accompaniment texture.

A song with piano or guitar accompaniment also has a melody and accompaniment texture.

Other textural devices

Countermelody

A countermelody is a secondary melody that is sung or played in counterpoint with the original melody. This happens a lot in fugues.

Descant

This is when an additional melody is sung or played over the top of an existing texture. This often happens in the last verse of traditional Christmas carols, when the sopranos are given a higher melody to sing.

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