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The sound of music is the result of the instruments and voices a composer chooses to use and the way that they are combined into musical textures. Instruments are like primary colors, when they blend together they form the distinct and unique colors that make music so beautiful. It would be useless for me to try and categorize each instrument and describe each texture, but it would be very worthwhile for a music student to have a very clear understanding of the tone and range of all the major instruments. The best way to do that is to obtain recordings of music for various instruments, and to listen very closely to each one.
The word texture refers to the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic material is woven together in a composition. Changes in texture often mark formal divisions in music, and it is therefore very important that the student be able to recognize the various forms and uses of texture. Texture is most often described in terms of density and range, and these are used to define specific texture types.
Density is often described in terms of being "thick" or "thin." The difference is simply the number of instruments or voices sounding at the same time, or the number of notes being hit by those instruments. This term is greatly dependent on the situation, for it (like most things) is relative to its environment. What I mean is that there is no set definition for thickness or thinness, you can't say something is thick if it consists of a certain amount notes. You have to have a basis for comparison.
The range of a texture is usually described as being "wide" or "narrow." This is all dependent on the intervals between the lowest and the highest tones. Once again, this is all relative to a situation. You can't simply say that if the interval is greater than this, or less than this, then it is wide or narrow. Density and range are both debatable, and it is not something that is terribly difficult to figure out. It is not worth spending hours and hours studying a piece to determine its density or range, usually you can figure it out with a cursory glance at the music.
While density and range are both relative terms, texture type is much more precise. The most common texture types are: monophonic, polyphonic, homophonic, and chordal. There are many other types, but these are the most common.
Monophonic texture is the simplest type of music, and is often the easiest to pick out. It consists of one single melodic line, which usually has little or no harmony. When it does have harmony, it is mostly doubled in octaves, which follow the same melodic line as the original. Also, it can be harmonized in other intervals, known as parallelism, but those harmonies also follow the same melodic line. An example of monophonic texture is below.
Polyphonic texture consists of more than one line, moving independently, in a different melodic line. These lines may be similar in some ways, but cannot be identical (even if transposed.) Remember the three concepts: melody, harmony, and rhythm. The lines may have any of them in common, but not all at once. They may have similar rhythm and harmony, but if they do they cannot follow the same melodic pattern. An example of polyphony is below. Notice how the rhythm is very similar, but the two lines have contrasting melodic motion.
The most common type of texture in modern western music is homophony. It is made of a single melody, but has an accompaniment which provides usually both harmonic and rhythmic support. The harmonic and rhythmic support can be combined in one part, but can also appear in two different parts. Harmonic support simply means that a chord is layed out to make the harmony known. Rhythmic support is the same, only for rhythm, it is a constant rhythmic pattern layed out for the sole purpose of establishing pulse. An example from Classical music is below, but the best examples of homophony can be found in modern pop music. The stereotypical folk singer is a good example, singing a melody while strumming out chords on the guitar.
Chordal texture is also known as homorhythmic texture. This texture is present when all parts have the exact same rhythmic material. The melodic lines of each part may differ, and of course they all form the same harmony. This texture is widely used in church hymn music, and many other short compositions. An example is posted below.
The analysis of texture is totally dependent upon the student's ability to recognize and label the primary elements of the textures, and their ability to identify the various texture types. The basic textural elements are: primary melody (PM), secondary melody (SM), parallel supporting melody (PSM), static support (SS), harmonic support (HS), rhythmic support (RS), and harmonic and rhythmic support (HRS).
The primary melodic lines are the most important lines in musical texture. They are always brought to the forefront, and are the lines which stand on top of the whole foundation layed out by the other textural elements. In homophonic textures, there is usually only one PM, but in polyphonic textures there can be many different PM lines, each with individual importance.
Other melodic lines, which have lesser significance than the PM are called secondary melodies. Determining which melody is the PM and which is an SM is often a very difficult task, and there is a lot of room for debate. Ultimately, performers and conductors make that choice when they set up the interpretation of the piece. Many times, the melodies which sound at a higher pitch are considered to be the PM, when in doubt.
Parallel supporting melodies are exactly what the name implies. They follow the exact same melodic line as the melody they are supporting, usually staying a set interval apart from that line. A PSM can support either a PM or an SM, and are hardly ever brought out into the forefront in a piece. Their purpose is to thicken the texture, and to maintain the established harmony.
Static support is a constant repetitive figure which ends up providing both harmonic and rhythmic support. It can either appear as a single sustained note or chord (pedal tone) or as a repeated melodic and rhythmic figure (ostinati). The SS usually appears in the bass, but can appear in other voices (inverted pedal). The SS lays out the basic foundation that the melodic lines are built upon, and is usually kept in the background, behind all the melodies.
Harmonic and rhythmic support has already been discussed a little bit, and it is a fairly simple thing to pick out. Sometimes, when the two are combined, it is difficult to determine the true harmony in a passage. This can be made a lot easier by removing the rhythmical aspect and stacking the notes as if in a chord (leaving out the nonharmonic tones).
