In music, texture is how the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are
combined in a composition, thus determining the overall quality of the
sound in a piece. Texture is often described in regard to the density, or
thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative
terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of
voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices. For example, a
thick texture contains many 'layers' of instruments. One of these layers could
be a string section, or another brass. The thickness also is affected by the
amount and the richness of the instruments playing the piece. The
thickness varies from light to thick. A piece's texture may be affected by the
number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or
voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used. The
types categorized by number and relationship of parts are analyzed and
determined through the labeling of primary textural elements: primary
melody, secondary melody, parallel supporting melody, static support,
harmonic support, rhythmic support, and harmonic and rhythmic support.
Common types In musical terms, particularly in the
fields of music history and music analysis, some common terms for
different types of texture are: Additional types
Although in music instruction certain styles or repertoires of music are often
identified with one of these descriptions this is basically added
music., many composers use more than one type of texture in the same piece of
music. A simultaneity is more than one complete
musical texture occurring at the same time, rather than in succession.
A more recent type of texture first used by György Ligeti is micropolyphony.
Other textures include polythematic, polyrhythmic, onomatopoeic, compound,
and mixed or composite textures. References
Benward, Bruce, and Marilyn Nadine Saker. Music: In Theory and Practice,
seventh edition, vol. 1. Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
Corozine, Vince. Arranging Music for the Real World: Classical and Commercial
Aspects. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay. ISBN 0-7866-4961-5. OCLC 50470629.
Hanning, Barbara Russano, Concise History of Western Music, based on
Donald Jay Grout & Claudia V. Palisca's A History of Western Music, Fifth
Edition. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, New York, Copyright 1998. ISBN
0-393-97168-6. Isaac, and Russell..
Kliewer, Vernon. "Melody: Linear Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music". In Aspects
of Twentieth-Century Music, edited by Gary Wittlich, pp. 270–301. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-049346-5.
Kokoras, Panayiotis. Towards a Holophonic Musical Texture. In
Proceedings of the ICMC2005 – International Computer Music
Conference,. Barcelona: International Computer Music Conference.
Further reading Anon.: "Monophony", Grove Music Online,
edited bymDeane Root. Copland, Aaron.. What to Listen for in
Music, revised edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Frobenius, Wolf, Peter Cooke, Caroline Bithell, and Izaly Zemtsovsky:
"Polyphony', Grove Music Online. edited by Deane Root.
Hyer, Brian: "Homophony", Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root.
External links A Guide to Musical Texture with
multimedia