Music Theory AQA - Texture and Melody (Area of Study Three)

Homophonic and Polyphonic

Homophonic: Melody with block chords - same rhythm

Polyphonic: weaving together two or more equally important melodic lines (also known as Contrapuntal)

Imitative

• To copy

• One part starts playing a melodic line then another immediately copies or imitates the melody but ot necessarily at the same pitch

Layered, Unision and Octaves

Layered: Different layers of sound

Unison: Same pitch

Octaves: 8 notes apart

Single Line Melody and Melody with Accompaniment

Single line melody: One line of a melody

Melody with accompaniment: melody line with accompaniment

Intervals

• Intervals within the octave are: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th

• In the exam, 3rds and 6ths are more likely than 4ths and 5ths

• 2nds and 7ths clash

Conjunct and Disjunct

Conjunct: the notes in a melody move mainly in step

Disjunct: the notes in a melody move mainly in leaps

Triads and Broken Chords

Triadic - Melody notes using notes from a triad

Broken Chords: notes of a chords played one after the other

Scalic and Arpeggios

Scalic: A melody that is made up of the notes that follow order of a particular scale

Arpeggios: A type of broken chord

Acciacaturas and Appoggiaturas

Acciacaturas: An ornament, sometimes called a crushed note because it is played very quickly before the melodic note

Appoggiaturas: an ornament that clashes with the accompanying chord then resolves

Trills and Turns

Trills: 'Twiddly' decoration

Turns: decoration - note itself, note above, note itself, note below, note itself (eg: C,D,C,B,C) in quick semiquaver movement

Blues Notes

• Flattened notes in a blues scale

• Performers often slide from one note to another

Pentatonic and Whole Tone

Pentatonic: a major pentatoic uses notes 1,2,3,5 and 6 of an ordianary major scale. A minor pentatonic uses notes 1,3,4,5 and 7 of a natural minor scale

Whole Tone:  A scale using whole tones only - 7 note scale with a tone between each note

Sequence and Inversions

Sequence: A repeated musical phrase

Inversion: 'upside down' version of a tune where the composer keeps all the intervals between notes the same, but makes the new tune go up where the old one went down and down, where the old one went up

Slides and Ostinatos

Slides: Sliding from one note to another (also known as: Glissando or Portamento)

Ostinatos: Repeated pattern. Also known as Riffs. (Ostinatos used used in classical pieces, Riffs used in 'modern' music)

Phrasing and Articualtion

Phrasing: The way in which the music is played

Articulation:

Legato - notes played smoothly

Staccato - notes played short and detatched

Sfz - Sforzando - sudden strong accent in music (sf, sfz or fz)

Pitch Bend and Improvisation

Pitch Bend: Note is lowered or raised slightly in pitch (Indian music, guitar, synthesiser)

Improvisation: Makes up music on the spot (Pop, Jazz and Indian Music)