Instrumentation

• What are musical instruments grouped into based on how they produce sound?

  Musical instruments are grouped into families.
• What are the main instrument families in music?


  1. String instruments: e.g., violin, guitar, harp
  2. Woodwind instruments: e.g., flute, clarinet, saxophone
  3. Brass instruments: e.g., trumpet, trombone, French horn
  4. Percussion instruments: e.g., drums, cymbals, xylophone
• Which instrument does NOT belong to the woodwind family?


  Violin
• texture


  the layers in a piece of music, and how they are organised
• monophonic


  a single musical line
• melody


  the most prominent line, the "tune"
• countermelody


  a secondary melody that complements the main melody, playing "against" it
• descant


  a countermelody higher than the main melody added to hymn tunes (usually in the last verse)
• accompaniment


  subordinate parts which support and enrich the main melody
• ostinato


  a repeating pattern used in the texture of the accompaniment
• bass line


  the line with the lowest pitch
• unison


  two or more parts performing exactly the same pitches and rhythms
• homophonic


  several layers, mostly moving together at the same time
• heterophonic


  two or more versions or variations of the same melody are performed simultaneously
• melody and accompaniment


  a main tune heard above subordinate backing parts
• polyphonic


  several independent layers, each with their own character and interweaving with each other
• counterpoint


  a type of polyphony where melodies fit "against" each other like a jigsaw puzzle
• fugue


  a type of contrapuntal music where a main tune is passed around the different layers using imitation and overlapping
• antiphonal


  music where two groups of musicians interact in call-and-response
• spacing


  how far apart layers are from each other in terms of pitch
• polarised texture


  spacing with a wide gap between the melody and the bass line
• imitation


  a musical idea is immediately copied (not necessarily exactly) by another part
• canon


  a type of exact imitation which starts before the first line has finished, creating overlapping
• stretto


  several parts imitate each other in quick succession without waiting for the other parts to finish, creating a busy "interrupting" feel
• dialogue


  two musical lines take turns to present musical material (similar to antiphony, but with overlapping)
• layering


  gradually adding or removing musical layers one by one
• parallel motion


  musical lines moving in the same direction
• doubling


  a type of parallel motion where a line copies another line but a 3rd or 6th or octave higher/lower etc.
• contrary motion


  musical lines moving in opposite directions
• oblique motion


  one musical line moving while another remains static
• block chord


  all the notes of the chord played at the same time
• broken chord


  the notes of the chord played one after the other
• arpeggio


  a type of broken chord where the notes continue in the same direction
• Alberti bass


  a type of broken chord accompaniment following the pattern bottom-top-middle-top