HUM110CL Module 5 AVP A Transcript Title Page Your book describes the elements of music as: harmony, tone, scale, rhythm, and melody. Let’s add the element of texture to this list of elements. When discussing texture, the tangible meaning would be a touchable thing, such as how one piece of fabric feels silky, and how a piece of wool feels rough to the touch. In sculpture, texture refers to the feel of the surface of the sculpture. In music, like painting, texture has an intangible meaning.

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Title: Texture Slide content: • The interweaving of melodies and harmonies by the composer – Monophonic – Homophonic – Polyphonic

Narrator: Texture in music refers to the interweaving of melodies and harmonies by the composer. The more melodies there are in a piece of music, the thicker it is in texture. There are three kinds of texture to note:

 Monophonic

 Homophonic

 Polyphonic

Slide 3

Title: Monophonic Texture Slide content: • One melody • No harmony • Gregorian chant

Narrator: Monophonic texture has one melody and no harmony. Listen to this Gregorian chant from the Middle Ages; notice the simplicity of the piece because there is no harmony.

{Music plays} Slide 4

Title: Homophonic Texture Slide content: • One melody • Complimentary harmony • Barbershop quartet • Martin Luther. A Mighty Fortress. 1529. www.archive.org. Web. 26 June 2013.

Narrator: Homophonic texture has one melody and complimentary harmony. Homophonic texture is that in which the harmony follows the melody as a compliment. Standard homophonic textured music is that which a barbershop quartet would sing. Listen to this church hymnal, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” music by J.S.Bach, and lyrics by Martin Luther. Many traditional hymns are written in homophonic texture. {Music plays}

Slide 5

Title: Polyphonic Texture Slide content: • Multiple melodies • Singing in a round • Row, Row, Row Your Boat. www.archive.org. Web. 26 June 2013.

Narrator: Polyphonic texture has multiple melodies. Polyphonic texture is that in which there is more than one melody competing with each other in a piece. As a youth, have you ever sung “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” as a round in the back of the bus where one group starts the singing, and another group begins the melody as the first group gets to stream? That is polyphonic music. Polyphonic music usually has a rich sound because of the different melodic lines. You may have to listen to a song several times to hear all melodies. Listen to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and notice all the two melodies play counterpoint, or against each other in this piece. {Music plays}

Slide 6

Title: Handel’s “Messiah” Slide content: • Oratorio – Instruments and voices • Hallelujah Chorus • Traditional for an audience to stand during the singing

Narrator: The “Messiah” is an oratorio, a large piece of music that uses both instruments and voices. The Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah is such a remarkable and inspirational piece of music that it is traditional for an audience to stand during the singing of it to give credence to such a masterpiece of sound. You might possibly be familiar with this piece, or have even sung it in a concert or church program. In it, you will hear all three textures. We will conduct a short analysis of the textures of part of the Chorus. Can you determine which texture is where?

Slide 7

Title: “Hallelujah Chorus” Slide content: • Homophonic texture

Narrator: {Music plays} What texture did you hear? This section is homophonic. The sopranos are singing the melody; all other singers are singing a harmony that is complementary to the melody.

Slide 8

Title: “Hallelujah Chorus” Slide content: • Homophonic texture • Monophonic texture • Homophonic texture

Narrator: {Music plays} What texture did you hear? This section is monophonic. All singers are singing the same note. It then goes back to theme A. These sections were Homophonic, Monophonic, and then Homophonic again.

Slide 9

Title: “Hallelujah Chorus” Slide content: • Monophonic texture changes to polyphonic texture. Narrator: {Music plays} What texture did you hear? This section becomes more diverse. It will begin monophonic but move into polyphonic texture. With Polyphonic texture each section of singers sings a different melody.

Slide 10

Title: “Hallelujah Chorus” Slide content: Graphic of music transcript from “Hallelujah Chorus”

Narrator: And now that you are familiar with the different textures listen how Handel creates this exciting masterpiece by interweaving the textures throughout the rest of the piece. {Music plays}

Slide 11

Title: Contemporary Music and Texture Slide content: • “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen • Beach Boys • What is the texture of your favorite tune?

Narrator: Even contemporary music uses different textures. Listen to your favorite copy of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Notice how the beginning of this ballad is homophonic; as Freddie Mercury moves to his solo ballad, the music becomes monophonic, and in the middle of this song, during the operatic section, it becomes polyphonic. Are all Beach Boy songs homophonic? In “Black Water” by the Doobie Brothers, where does the music become polyphonic? The next time you are listening to your favorite tunes note what textures the composer uses.

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