Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The term originates from the Latin punctus contra punctum meaning "point against point", i.e. "note against note". John Rahn describes counterpoint as follows: It is hard to write a beautiful song. It is harder to write several individually beautiful songs that, when sung simultaneously, sound as a more beautiful polyphonic whole.
Polyphony (/ p ə ˈ l ɪ f ə n i / pə-LIF-ə-nee) 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 or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ().
In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general movement of two or more melodic lines with respect to each other. [1] In traditional four-part harmony, it is important that lines maintain their independence, an effect which can be achieved by the judicious use of the four types of contrapuntal motion: parallel motion, similar motion, contrary motion, and oblique motion.
Meaning respectively "measured song" or "figured song". Originally used by medieval music theorists, it refers to polyphonic song with exactly measured notes and is used in contrast to cantus planus. [3] [4] capo 1. capo (short for capotasto: "nut") : A key-changing device for stringed instruments (e.g. guitars and banjos)
The very first sentence begins: "In music, a fugue (/fjuːɡ/ fewg) is a contrapuntal compositional technique". The words "contrapuntal" and "polyphonic" are largely synonymous, and in fact the situations in which they may be distinguished would leave fugue defined as contrapuntal but not polyphonic. However, this is a very specialized distinction.
The historical development of polyphony and part-writing is a central thread through European music history. The earliest notated pieces of music in Europe were gregorian chant melodies. It appears that the Codex Calixtinus (12th century) contains the earliest extant decipherable part music. [ 4 ]
The six-part fugue in the "Ricercar a 6" from The Musical Offering, in the hand of Johann Sebastian BachIn classical music, a fugue (/ f juː ɡ /, from Latin fuga, meaning "flight" or "escape" [1]) is a contrapuntal, polyphonic compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches ...
One notable early polyphonic synthesizer, the Prophet 5 released in 1978, had five-voice polyphony. Another notable polyphonic synth, the Yamaha CS-80 released in 1976, had eight-voice polyphony, [20] as did the Yamaha GX-1 with total 18 voice polyphony, released in 1973. [21] Six-voice polyphony was standard by the mid-1980s.