monophony

Monophony involves all instruments playing or singing in unison, making it the simplest and most exposed of all musical textures. The first movement of Cello Suite no. 1 in G Major (1717) by Johann Sebastian Bach is an example of a monophonic texture. Notice how the solo cello line is the only voice in this work.

Monophony is still found in music today. Famous examples include a capella renditions of The Star Spangled Banner where the singer performs the melody without accompaniment, unaccompanied recitative sections in operas or theater works, and Bach's very popular Cello Suites.

In describing texture as musical lines or layers woven together vertically or horizontally, we might think about how these qualities are evident in three broad types of texture: monophonic (one sound), polyphonic (many sounds) and homophonic (the same sound).

noun. 1. the linguistic phenomenon whereby words of different origins become identical in pronunciation. 2. part music composed in a homophonic style.

We can get a basic understanding if we put on our philologist (word-knower) hats. From the Greek, mono means one; poly means many. Phony means voice. So, polyphony is many voices, while monophony is just one voice. A choir or a soloist.

Monophony is characterized by an unaccompanied melodic line. Heterophony is characterized by multiple variants of a single melodic line heard simultaneously. Homophony is characterized by multiple voices harmonically moving together at the same pace.

An example of polyphonic texture might be a popular pop song which incorporates the lead singer, backup singers, and instruments in the background. Monophonic music can be thought of as different singers singing in harmony with each other during a chorus, but singing at the same or different pitches.

Examples of Homophony

• Choral music in which the parts have mostly the same rhythms at the same time is homophonic.
• A singer accompanied by a guitar picking or strumming chords.
• A small jazz combo with a bass, a piano, and a drum set providing the “rhythm” background for a trumpet improvising a solo.

A homophone (/ˈhɒməfoʊn, ˈhoʊmə-/) is a word that is pronounced the same (to a varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. The two words may be spelled the same, for example rose (flower) and rose (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, as in rain, reign, and rein.

Really means. One sound a monophonic texture is probably one of the simplest. Textures that we're going to come across in any type of music. Because just as the name suggests.

polyphony, in music, the simultaneous combination of two or more tones or melodic lines (the term derives from the Greek word for “many sounds”). Thus, even a single interval made up of two simultaneous tones or a chord of three simultaneous tones is rudimentarily polyphonic.

Examples of Homophony A singer accompanied by a guitar picking or strumming chords. A small jazz combo with a bass, a piano, and a drum set providing the “rhythm” background for a trumpet improvising a solo. A single bagpipes or accordion player playing a melody with drones or chords.