Homophony (music)

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This article is about the musical term; for other meanings, see Homophony (disambiguation)

In music, homophony (hōmŏf'ənē, from Greek "homófonos", where ομοιο = the same, and φωνή = a sound, tone) is a texture in which two or more parts move together in harmony, the relationship between them creating chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all parts (if there are multiple parts) move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic texture is also homorhythmic<ref name="Griffith">Griffiths, Paul (2005). The Penguin Companion to Classical Music. ISBN 0-14-051559-3.</ref> (or uses a "very similar rhythm").<ref name="Randel">Randel, Don Michael (2002). The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ISBN 0-674-00978-9.</ref> However, in melody-dominated homophony, one voice, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony.<ref name="Grove">Hyer, Brian. "Homophony", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (accessed 24 September 2006), Online (Subscription required) </ref> Initially, in Ancient Greece, homophony indicated music in which a single melody is performed by two or more voices in unison or octaves, i.e. monophony with multiple voices.

Homophony as a term first appeared in English with Charles Burney in 1776, emphasizing the concord of harmonized melody. <ref>What is monophony, polyphony, homophony, monody etc.?</ref>

1 History
- 1.1 Homophony in Western music
- 1.2 Homophony in non-Western music
2 Melody-dominated homophony
3 Examples of pieces that are homophonic
4 Sources
5 See also

[edit] History

[edit] Homophony in Western music

Music sample:

Tallis' "If ye love me" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- 2:14 seconds of the Coro Nostro's performance of Tallis' "If ye love me," see notation above.
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.

</div> While homophony can be heard in nearly all European musical traditions, the first notated examples appeared during the Medieval period in dance music, such as the Estampie.<ref name="Medieval">Wikibooks:IB Music/Music History/Medieval Period</ref> However, because manuscript was expensive to produce, there is little record of Medieval homophony, most notated music being monophonic.<ref name="Medieval"/> There was similarly little record of homophony during the Renaissance period.<ref name="Wikibooks">Wikibooks:IB Music/Music History/Renaissance Period</ref>

Homophony first appeared as one of the predominant textures in Western music during the Baroque period in the early 17th century, when composers began to commonly compose with vertical harmony in mind, the homophonic basso continuo becoming a definitive feature of the style.<ref name="Grove"/> The choral arrangement of four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) has since become standard for Western music.<ref name="Grove"/> Homophony began by appearing in sacred music, replacing polyphony and monophony as the dominant form, but spread to secular music, for which it is the standard form today. Most music works composed between the 17th century and the middle of 20th century were homophonic.<ref name="Grove"/>

In 20th century classical music some of the "triad-oriented accompanimental figures such as the Alberti bass [a homophonic form of accompaniment] have largely disappeared from the compositional scene" and, rather than the traditional interdependence of melodic and chordal pitches sharing the same tonal basis, a clear distinction may exist between the pitch materials of the melody and harmony, commonly avoiding duplication. However, some traditional devices, such as repeated chords, are still used.<ref name="Delone et. al.">DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-049346-5. p.111 and 113</ref>

Jazz and other forms of modern popular music are generally homophonic, following chord progressions over which musicians play a melody or improvise (see melody-dominated homophony).

[edit] Homophony in non-Western music

Although homophony is more familiar to the West than other musical cultures, it has still appeared in several non-Western cultures.<ref>"Elements of Music - Part Six," Music in Our World (accessed October 11, 2006). Online</ref> When explorer Vasco da Gama landed in West Africa in 1497, he referred to the music he heard there as being in "sweet harmony."<ref name="Annan Mensah, Atta">Annan Mensah, Atta. "The Polyphony of Gyil-gu, Kudzo and Awutu Sakumo," Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. 19. (1967), pp. 75-79. Online</ref> However, this music may have been polyphonic, as the concept of harmony as understood by people of that time is not necessarily the same as the concept homophony as understood by modern scholars.<ref name="Annan Mensah, Atta"/> Still, it is generally accepted that multipart harmonies for voice are commonplace in traditional African music, singers moving in parallel motion in intervals such as thirds or fourths.<ref name="Grove Africa">Kubrik, Gerhard. "Africa." Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (accessed October 11, 2006). Online (Subscription required)</ref> For instance, the Fang people of Gabon have used homophony in some of their music, and in eastern Indonesia (i.e. in the music of the Toraja in South Sulawesi, in Flores, in East Kalimantan and in North Sulawesi), two-part harmonies are common, usually in intervals of thirds, fourths or fifths.<ref name="Grove Gabon">Sallée, Pierre. "Gabon." Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (accessed October 11, 2006). Online (Subscription required)</ref><ref name="Grove Indonesia">Yampolsky, Philip. "Indonesia." Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (accessed October 11, 2006). Online (Subscription required)</ref> Moreover, much of the music of the Middle East is generally homophonic, although polyphony is also an important texture, and Chinese music is generally thought to be homophonic, instruments typically providing accompaniment and often doubling the voice in vocal music, although heterophony is also common in China.<ref name="Picken">Picken, Laurence. "Instrumental Polyphonic Folk Music in Asia Minor," Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 80th Sess. (1953 - 1954), pp. 73-86. Online</ref><ref name="Mok">Mok, Robert T.. "Heterophony in Chinese Folk Music," Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. 18. (1966), pp. 14-23. Online</ref>

[edit] Melody-dominated homophony

Image:Chopin op62 no2 new.jpg

Music sample:

First five bars of Nocturne in E by Chopin, see notation above. (file info) — play in browser (beta)

</li>

Problems playing the files? See media help. </li> </ul> </div> </div> In melody-dominated homophony, accompanying voices provide chordal support for the lead voice, which plays the melody.<ref name="Grove"/> The majority of popular music today is melody-dominated homophony, voice typically taking on the lead role, while instruments like piano, guitar and bass guitar normally accompany the voice. In many cases, instruments also take on the lead role, and often the role switches between parts, voice taking the lead during a verse and instruments taking solos, during which the other instruments provide chordal support.

Homophony in popular music in "My Generation" by The Who. The vocalists sing in minor thirds for the phrase "talkin' 'bout my generation."

Monody is similar to melody-dominated homophony in that one voice becomes the melody, while another voice plays the underlying harmony. Monody, however, is characterized by a single voice with instrumental accompaniment, whereas melody-dominated homophony refers to a broader category of homophonic music, which includes works for multiple voices, not just works for solo voice, as was the tradition with early 17th century Italian monody.<ref name="Grove_Monody">Nigel Fortune and Tim Carter. "Monody", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (accessed 24 September 2006), Online (Subscription required)</ref>