Texture
Texture describes how much is going on in
the music at any one time
It is about the different ways instruments and
voices are combined in a piece of music
A texture that is essentially chordal
It may also be described as ‘melody with
accompaniment’ – melody is the most
important, with other parts providing chordal
accompaniment
Consists of weaving together 2 or more
equally important melodic lines, which fit
together harmonically
Exam Tip: Sounds ‘busy’!
Playing the notes of a chord separately, one
after the other
Provides a more gentle, flowing
accompaniment to the melody
Imitate means to copy:
A vocal/ instrumental part starts off playing a
melody which is immediately copied by another
part
Usually just the first few notes is copied
A type of imitation – like a round where the
imitating voice/ instrumental part repeats the
entire melody, not just the opening e.g.
‘London’s Burning’
Music is made up of different layers of sound,
which are all important in adding to the rich
texture of the music e.g. African music
All the instruments or voices playing
or singing notes at the same pitch
A type of unison - if the instruments or parts
play or sing notes an octave apart, this is
called octaves
Remember - to be in unison, the notes must
be the same pitch
An example of a monophonic texture
A single melody line without any harmonies,
although it may be played by more than one
instrument or voice
Another term for ‘Harmonic/ Homophonic’
texture
A special kind of imitation – a musical phrase is
‘passed around’ between different groups of
voices or instruments
Often the groups are placed in different parts of
the building or stage – creates a stereo effect
Watch an example in the
following video…
 Recitatives
– tells the story, like a
narrator
 Aria – A tuneful song
http://www.youtube.com/
 Choruses
– Everyone sings
watch?v=mmGC3iVIliw&f
eature=related
 Female
opera stars called Divas
Compose and record a short piece of music on the
keyboard, using 1 of the following textures:
Chords:
C: C, E and G
G: G, B and D
F: F, A and C