Texture in music
Texture refers to the overall sound of a piece of music and how the elements like rhythm, melody, harmony and timbre combine. It helps determine the emotion and mood a song conveys.
There are different types of musical texture:
- **Monophonic**: A single melodic line with no harmony. Examples are Gregorian chants and solo instruments.
- **Homophonic**: A dominant melody supported by chords or accompaniment. Examples are hymns and popular songs.
- **Polyphonic**: Multiple independent melodic lines. Examples are baroque fugues and classical symphonies.
The texture of a song can be described as:
- Thick or dense if there are many layers of sound.- Thin or sparse if there are few or simple layers of sound.
Texture also influences how open or closed a piece sounds. More open textures like monophony are more spacious while closed textures like polyphony sound more complex.
Term which refers to the vertical structure of a composition. That is to say, how many parts or voices there are, what the configuration (close, open, etc.) of the voices happens to be, how the voices interact, etc.
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