continuous imitation

In music, imitation is the repetition of a melody in a polyphonic texture shortly after its first appearance in a different voice. The melody may vary through transposition, inversion, or otherwise, but retain its original character.

polyphonic texture Imitation is a special type of polyphonic texture produced whenever a musical idea is ECHOED from "voice" to "voice". Although imitation can be used in monophonic styles, it is more prevalent in polyphonic art-music - especially from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Each of the entering voices thus imitates its predecessor as it presents its material.

• [Example 1: Josquin, Ave Maria, Virgo Serena, stanza 1]
• [Example 2: J.S. Bach: Third Orchestral Suite, "Overture"]
• [Example 3: J.S. Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Fugue no 2 in C minor (opening)]

Vocal imitation is often described as a specialized form of learning that facilitates social communication and that involves less cognitively sophisticated mechanisms than more “perceptually opaque” types of imitation.

The young child's ability to imitate the actions of others is an important mechanism for social learning - that is, for acquiring new knowledge. The child's ability to imitate is also important for what it tells us about the knowledge that the child already has.

Usually, imitating is copying actions or words so this technique is all about copying something that a native speaker is saying, exactly. It teaches you to listen to the sounds and patterns of English and trains you to make those same sounds yourself.

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.

If the motive is repeated at the same pitch in the same clef (or voice or instrument), it is a Repetition and not an Imitation. If the motive is repeated at a different pitch but is still in the same clef (or voice or instrument), it is a Sequence and not an Imitation.

Synonyms of imitation (noun simulation, substitution) clone. impersonation. impression. mimicry.

made to look like something else: an imitation leather jacket. UK It's not real silk - it's just imitation. Synonyms. fake.

Imitation is a communication technique that includes sounds, actions, and facial expressions and is crucial for young children before they start to really speak. Imitation helps children to mimic verbal language, which is a step to further their language development.

Theory of Imitation: the idea that children imitated what they heard around them. This theory is based on the behaviorism of B. F. Skinner and the work of Pavlov. This can not be all of the story because there would be no overextensions, no overgeneralizations.