Musical Texture essays

Musical Texture essays One unifying element between all the cultures in the world is the existence of music. From traditional western style orchestra to religious chanting of the Yanamomo people in Brazil, music can be heard from all corners of the world. Music is popular because it has no boundaries or fixed sound. Variety and freedom allows every person or culture to enjoy their own preference in music. Most cultures invent their own style to coincide with their daily life, type of work, religious beliefs, history, and traditions. The undefined texture of music allows for these differences. Texture allows for great variety and never ending invention of new sounds. The texture of a song can be thin with low, easy to follow sounds, or thick with several different instruments playing at different pitches or notes. A monophonic texture is the thin texture. It is easy to follow and only includes a single line of music. In monophonic texture only one person is playing an instrument, or the others playing are in the same octave and in unison. An example of monophonic texture can be as simple as a solo singer or a few singers harmonizing. Another example of monophonic texture is the beginning of Beethovens symphony number 5 in C minor, 1. Its dramatic pounding is easy to follow and is not confusing. It puts forth on emotion for the listeners to interpret. Another type of texture is polyphonic texture. This texture is thicker and involves two lines of music. The different instruments arent moving in unison and are competing for the attention. An example of polyphonic is a canon or round. Again Beethovens symphony number 5 in C minor, 1 displays this type of texture by repeating the same pounding but at different intervals. While listening one can concentrate on one particular instrument and hear in the background different instruments fighting to be heard. After the intense polyphoni ...