Other Aspects of Musical Sound

What does texture describe in music?

The number of things that are going on in a piece

What are the 4 textures in Western music?

Monophony, homophony, polyphony, and heterophony

What is monophony?

Music with a single, unaccompanied melodic line

What is unision?

When multiple instruments are performing the same pitches at the same time

What does homophonic music contain?

A melody and a harmonic accompaniment

What occurs in polyphony?

Two separate melodies occur at the same time

What are the two pain types of polyphony?

Counterpoint and imitative polyphony

What is imitative polyphony?

When the same melody is used but is repeated in staggered intervals

What does polyphony literally mean?

Many soudns

What is heterophony?

When two instruments are performing the same melody at the same time but not in unison

What is instrumentation?

The instruments or combination of instruments used in music

What is arranging?

The practice of taking an existing piece of music and giving instructions to what each performer should play

What partials are strong in the clarinet?

First and third

What can effect timbre?

The thickness and density of the instrument’s material and the amount of resonancer

What symbol marks a crescendo?

A V rotated 90 degrees clockwise

What symbol marks a descrescendo?

A V rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise

What is articulation?

The mechanics of starting and ending a sound

What does staccato indicated?

The performer should shorten the duration of a note

What does legato mean?

Pitches are played in smooth, connecting, but NOT overlapping manner

What are two examples of ornamentations?

A pop singer swooping into a pitch and a trumpet player adding a trill

What is a trill?

A rapid oscillation between two notes