Monophony (disambiguation)

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In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony.

Monophony or monophonic may also refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyphony</span> Simultaneous lines of independent melody

Polyphony is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, homophony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singing</span> Act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monophony</span> Musical texture

In music, monophony is the simplest of musical textures, consisting of a melody, typically sung by a single singer or played by a single instrument player without accompanying harmony or chords. Many folk songs and traditional songs are monophonic. A melody is also considered to be monophonic if a group of singers sings the same melody together at the unison or with the same melody notes duplicated at the octave. If an entire melody is played by two or more instruments or sung by a choir with a fixed interval, such as a perfect fifth, it is also said to be monophony. The musical texture of a song or musical piece is determined by assessing whether varying components are used, such as an accompaniment part or polyphonic melody lines.

Monotone refers to a sound, for example music or speech, that has a single unvaried tone. See: monophony.

In music, heterophony is a type of texture characterized by the simultaneous variation of a single melodic line. Such a texture can be regarded as a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized at the same time in multiple voices, each of which plays the melody differently, either in a different rhythm or tempo, or with various embellishments and elaborations. The term was initially introduced into systematic musicology to denote a subcategory of polyphonic music, though is now regarded as a textural category in its own right.

In music, texture is how the tempo, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece. The texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices. For example, a thick texture contains many 'layers' of instruments. One of these layers could be a string section or another brass. The thickness also is changed by the amount and the richness of the instruments playing the piece. The thickness varies from light to thick. A piece's texture may be changed by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used. The types categorized by number and relationship of parts are analyzed and determined through the labeling of primary textural elements: 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous music of North America</span> Music by Indigenous peoples of North America

Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Mexico, and other North American countries—especially traditional tribal music, such as Pueblo music and Inuit music. In addition to the traditional music of the Native American groups, there now exist pan-Indianism and intertribal genres as well as distinct Native American subgenres of popular music including: rock, blues, hip hop, classical, film music, and reggae, as well as unique popular styles like chicken scratch and New Mexico music.

Georgia has rich and still vibrant traditional music, which is primarily known as arguably the earliest polyphonic tradition of the Christian world. Situated on the border of Europe and Asia, Georgia is also the home of a variety of urban singing styles with a mixture of native polyphony, Middle Eastern monophony and late European harmonic languages. Georgian performers are well represented in the world's leading opera troupes and concert stages.

Indigenous music of Canada encompasses a wide variety of musical genres created by Aboriginal Canadians. Before European settlers came to what is now Canada, the region was occupied by many First Nations, including the West Coast Salish and Haida, the centrally located Iroquois, Blackfoot and Huron, the Dene to the North, and the Innu and Mi'kmaq in the East and the Cree in the North. Each of the indigenous communities had their own unique musical traditions. Chanting – singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alka Yagnik</span> Indian playback singer

Alka Yagnik is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in the media as one of the most prominent and successful playback singers in Bollywood. In her career spanning over four decades she has recorded over 8000 songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of thirty-six nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Dayne</span> American pop vocalist, songwriter, dance artist, and actress

Taylor Dayne is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single "Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will Lead You Back", "With Every Beat of My Heart", "Prove Your Love", and "I'll Always Love You".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homophony</span> Texture in music

In music, homophony is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that provide the harmony. One melody predominates while the other parts play either single notes or an elaborate accompaniment. This differentiation of roles contrasts with equal-voice polyphony and monophony. Historically, homophony and its differentiated roles for parts emerged in tandem with tonality, which gave distinct harmonic functions to the soprano, bass and inner voices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Partch's 43-tone scale</span> Musical scale created by Harry Partch

The 43-tone scale is a just intonation scale with 43 pitches in each octave. It is based on an eleven-limit tonality diamond, similar to the seven-limit diamond previously devised by Max Friedrich Meyer and refined by Harry Partch.

Theodore Cyrus Karp was an American musicologist. His principal area of study was Secular music, mainly mediaeval monophony, especially the music of the trouvères. He was a major contributor in this area to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahul Nambiar</span> Musical artist

Rahul Nambiar is an Indian playback singer and live performer. An MBA and M.Com-graduate, he won the Swapthaswarangal show in 2001 and began singing live. He sung more than 2000 songs in movies,He later ventured into playback singing, performing for many leading South Indian film composers in various languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unfolding (music)</span>

In Schenkerian analysis, unfolding or compound melody is the implication of more than one melody or line by a single voice through skipping back and forth between the notes of the two melodies. In music cognition, the phenomenon is also known as melodic fission.

Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices.

White voice or white singing is a contemporary name, used usually in Eastern Europe, for the traditional singing style. Alternative names for the traditional folk technique of singing are: open voice, full voice, natural voice.

Les Corps Glorieux is a large organ cycle composed in the summer of 1939 in Saint-Théoffrey (Isère) by Olivier Messiaen. The work was completed on 25 August 1939, a week before the declaration of the Second World War and was premiered by Messiaen himself on 15 April 1945 at the Palais de Chaillot. This work marks an evolution in the musical language of Olivier Messiaen, combining features of both Indian classical music and Gregorian chant. The work, together with L'Ascension (1934) and La Nativité du Seigneur (1935), is one of the three early organ cycles of the composer.