Harmony, Texture, Tonality, and Mode

• The sounding at the same time of different pitches is harmony

• When a melody is accompanied, it’s harmonized

• Chords are standard groupings of simultaneous pitches that work well in combination

• Chords that sound at rest have consonance- like octaves

• If they have dissonance or discord, they sound tense- like half steps

• Even dissonance eventually is resolved

• Dissonance and consonance are both necessary to create interesting music

• Texture is the way the various sounds and melodic lines interact or blend together occurring together in music

• The simplest texture is monophony, music that has it is monophonic (just one rhythm)

• Homophonic texture is when a melody is combined with an understated harmony; tight and smooth texture

• When 2+ melodies are simultaneous, it’s polyphonic; in polyphony, melodies are independent but equally important

• Polyphonic texture is contrapuntal, from counterpoint, which is when 2+ melodies fit together

• Imitative polyphony is when various simultaneous lines use the same or similar melodies (like a round!)

• When melodies are different from each other, it’s nonimitative polyphony

• Tonality is the homing instinct in melodies towards a certain pitch, the tonic of the music

• The term for the different ways of centering or organizing the diatonic scale is modality

• Different home pitches determine the modes of music

• The major mode has music based on c to c (first note of scale to first note of scale)

• The minor mode has music based on a to a (sixth note to sixth note)

• Keys are the different positions for the modes (12 majors, 12 minors)

• Major music sounds cheerful

• Minor music is more subdued and clouded

• Modulations are changes in key