Texture and Textural Reduction
Chapter 7
Texture
• The way melodic, rhythmic, harmonic
materials are combined
• Density
– Thick (many voices) or thin (few voices)
• Range
– Wide (large interval) or narrow (small interval)
Texture Types
• Monophonic
– Single melodic line
• Polyphonic
– Two or more lines
– Lines move independently
• Homophonic
– Melody with accompaniment
• Homorhythmic
– Similar rhythm in all parts
– “hymn style”
Analysis of Texture
• Primary melody (PM)
– Most important melody
• Secondary melody (SM)
– Less important than PM
• Parallel supporting melody (PSM)
– Similar in contour to PM
• Static support (SS)
– Sustained or repeated tones
• Harmonic and rhythmic support (HRS)
– Establish chords and basic rhythm of piece
– Can be separated into HS and RS
Textural Reduction
• Rewrite of a piece in block chords
• Outlines the harmonic rhythm of the piece
– How often the chords change
• Helpful in doing RN analysis