Homophony in Tallis' "If ye love me," composed in 1549. Thomas Tallis (c 1505 &ndash 23 November 1585) was an English Composer. The voices move together using the same rhythm, and the relationship between them creates chords: the excerpt begins and ends with an F Major triad. In Music theory, a major chord ( is a chord having a root, a Major third, and a Perfect fifth. To listen, hear music sample below.

In music, homophony (pronounced /hoʊˈmɒfəni/, from Greek "homófonos", where ομοιο = the same, and φωνή = a sound, tone) is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. In Music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and by the relationship between In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously and chords actual or implied in Music. This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts (if there are multiple parts) move in parallel rhythm and pitch. In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony In Music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of Melody without accompanying Harmony. A homophonic texture is also homorhythmic^[1] (or uses a "very similar rhythm"). In Music, homorhythm is a texture where there is a "sameness of rhythm in all parts" or "very similar Rhythm " as would be used in simple ^[2] However, in melody-dominated homophony, one voice, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony. ^[3] Initially, in Ancient Greece, homophony indicated music in which a single melody is performed by two or more voices in unison or octaves, i. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca In Music, a unison () is an interval, the ratio of 11 or 0 half steps and zero cents. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems e. monophony with multiple voices.

Homophony as a term first appeared in English with Charles Burney in 1776, emphasizing the concord of harmonized melody. Charles Burney ( 7 April 1726 &ndash 12 April 1814) was an English music historian and father of author Frances Year 1776 ( MDCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a ^[4]

History

Homophony in Western music

 Music sample:

Tallis' "If ye love me"

Beginning of Tallis' "If ye love me," see notation above.

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

While homophony can be heard in nearly all European musical traditions, the first notated examples appeared during the Medieval period in dance music, such as the Estampie. The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This article is about the medieval dance for the German band see Estampie (band. ^[5] However, because manuscript was expensive to produce, there is little record of Medieval homophony, most notated music being monophonic. ^[5] There was similarly little record of homophony during the Renaissance period. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 ^[6]

Homophony first appeared as one of the predominant textures in Western music during the Baroque period in the early 17th century, when composers began to commonly compose with vertical harmony in mind, the homophonic basso continuo becoming a definitive feature of the style. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of integer Musical notation used to indicate intervals, chords and Nonchord tones in relation ^[3] The choral arrangement of four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) has since become common in Western music. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Alto is a musical term derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" that has several possible interpretations The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice ^[3] Homophony began by appearing in sacred music, replacing polyphony and monophony as the dominant form, but spread to secular music, for which it is one of the standard forms today. Religious music (also sacred music) is Music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence

In 20th century classical music some of the "triad-oriented accompanimental figures such as the Alberti bass [a homophonic form of accompaniment] have largely disappeared from the compositional scene" and, rather than the traditional interdependence of melodic and chordal pitches sharing the same tonal basis, a clear distinction may exist between the pitch materials of the melody and harmony, commonly avoiding duplication. At the turn of the 20th century classical music was characteristically late Romantic in style while at the same time the Impressionist movement spearheaded by Claude Debussy Alberti bass is a particular kind of Accompaniment in Music, often used in the Classical era, and sometimes the romantic one However, some traditional devices, such as repeated chords, are still used. ^[7]

Jazz and other forms of modern popular music are generally homophonic, following chord progressions over which musicians play a melody or improvise (see melody-dominated homophony). Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order

Homophony in non-Western music

Homophony has appeared in several non-Western cultures,^[8] perhaps particularly in regions where communal vocal music has been cultivated. When explorer Vasco da Gama landed in West Africa in 1497, he referred to the music he heard there as being in "sweet harmony". Dom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira ('vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ ( Sines or Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal, ca ^[9] While the concept of harmony in that time was not necessarily the same as the concept of homophony as understood by modern scholars,^[10] it is generally accepted that homophonic voice harmonies are commonplace in the African music of today, singers moving in parallel thirds or fourths. The music of Africa is as vast and varied as the continent's many regions, nations and Ethnic groups Although there is no distinctly pan-African In Music, the mediant is the third degree of the Diatonic scale, being the "middle" note of the tonic In Music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the Diatonic scale. ^[11] For instance, the Fang people of Gabon have used homophony in some of their music. The Beti-Pahuin are a group of related peoples who inhabit the Rain forest regions of Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea Gabon (gəˈbɒn or /gaˈbõ/ in French) is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic ^[12]

In eastern Indonesia (i. Indonesia is culturally diverse and every one of the 18000 islands has its own cultural and artistic history and character e. in the music of the Toraja in South Sulawesi, in Flores, in East Kalimantan and in North Sulawesi), two-part harmonies are common, usually in intervals of thirds, fourths or fifths. The Toraja are an Ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. South Sulawesi ( Sulawesi Selatan) is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi island Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an Island arc with an estimated area of 14300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia East Kalimantan ( Indonesian: Kalimantan Timur abbrv Kaltim) is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan North Sulawesi (Sulawesi Utara is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the ^[13] Additionally, much music of the Middle East is generally homophonic, although polyphony is also an important texture, while Chinese music is generally thought to be homophonic, since instruments typically provide accompaniment in parallel fourths and fifths and often double the voice in vocal music, heterophony also being common in China. The music of the Middle East and North Africa spans across a vast region from Morocco to Afghanistan and its influences can be felt even further afield The Music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artefacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as In Music, heterophony is a type of texture created through the simultaneous variation of a melodic line ^[14][15]

Melody-dominated homophony

Melody dominated homophony in Chopin's Nocturne in E Op. 62 No. 2. The left hand (bass clef) provides chordal support for the melody played by the right hand (treble clef). A clef (from the French for "key" is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes.

In melody-dominated homophony, accompanying voices provide chordal support for the lead voice, which assumes the melody. ^[3] The majority of popular music today is melody-dominated homophony, voice typically taking on the lead role, while instruments like piano, guitar and bass guitar normally accompany the voice. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the In many cases, instruments also take on the lead role, and often the role switches between parts, voice taking the lead during a verse and instruments subsequently taking solos, during which the other instruments provide chordal support. In Poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger Poem. In modern poetry the term is often equivalent with Strophe; in popular vocal music a stanza is In Music, a solo (from the Italian solo, meaning alone) is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer

Monody is similar to melody-dominated homophony in that one voice becomes the melody, while another voice assumes the underlying harmony. In Poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death Monody, however, is characterized by a single voice with instrumental accompaniment, whereas melody-dominated homophony refers to a broader category of homophonic music, which includes works for multiple voices, not just works for solo voice, as was the tradition with early 17th century Italian monody. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest ^[16]

Sources

See also

• Harmony
• Counterpoint