<P> In music, texture is how the tempo, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition, thus determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece . Texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices (see Common types below). For example, a thick texture contains many' layers' of instruments . One of these layers could be a string section, or another brass . The thickness also is changed by the amount and the richness of the instruments playing the piece . The thickness varies from light to thick . A piece's texture may be changed by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used (Benward & Saker 2003,). The types categorized by number and relationship of parts are analyzed and determined through the labeling of primary textural elements: primary melody (PM), secondary melody (SM), parallel supporting melody (PSM), static support (SS), harmonic support (HS), rhythmic support (RS), and harmonic and rhythmic support (HRS) (Isaac & Russell 2003, p. 136). </P> <P> In musical terms, particularly in the fields of music history and music analysis, some common terms for different types of texture are: </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Type </Th> <Th> Description </Th> <Th> Visual </Th> <Th> Audio </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Monophonic </Td> <Td> Monophonic texture includes a single melodic line with no accompaniment . (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 136). PSMs often double or parallel the PM they support (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 137). </Td> <Td> "Pop Goes the Weasel" melody (Kliewer 1975, pp. 270--301). </Td> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Pop Goes the Weasel Tune for Pop Goes the Weasel </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Biphonic </Td> <Td> Two distinct lines, the lower sustaining a drone (constant pitch) while the other line creates a more elaborate melody above it . Pedal tones or ostinati would be an example of a SS (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 137). </Td> <Td> Pedal tone in Bach's Prelude no . 6 in D Minor, BWV 851, from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, mm . 1--2 . All pedal tone notes are consonant except for the last three of the first measure (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 99). </Td> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Pedal tone Bach File: Pedal tone Bach - BWV 851, m. 1 - 2. mid Pedal tone in Bach's Prelude no . 6 in D Minor, BWV 851, from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, mm . 1--2 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Polyphonic or Counterpoint or Contrapuntal </Td> <Td> Multiple melodic voices which are to a considerable extent independent from or in imitation with one another . Characteristic texture of the Renaissance music, also prevalent during the Baroque period (Benward & Saker 2003, pp. 1999, 199,158,137, 136,129,110, 90, 59, 35, 11, 9, 0)). Polyphonic textures may contain several PMs (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 137). </Td> <Td> A bar from J.S. Bach's "Fugue No. 17 in A flat", BWV 862, from Das Wohltemperirte Clavier (Part I), a famous example of contrapuntal polyphony . Play (help info) </Td> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Book 1--Fugue No. 21 in B - flat major (BWV 866) performed on a Flemish harpsichord by Martha Goldstein </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Homophonic </Td> <Td> The most common texture in Western music: melody and accompaniment . Multiple voices of which one, the melody, stands out prominently and the others form a background of harmonic accompaniment . If all the parts have much the same rhythm, the homophonic texture can also be described as homorhythmic . Characteristic texture of the Classical period and continued to predominate in Romantic music while in the 20th century, "popular music is nearly all homophonic," and, "much of jazz is also" though, "the simultaneous improvisations of some jazz musicians creates a true polyphony" (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 136). Homophonic textures usually contain only one PM (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 137). HS and RS are often combined, thus labeled HRS (Benward & Saker 2003, p. 137). </Td> <Td> Homophony in Tallis' "If Ye Love Me", composed in 1549 . The voices move together using the same rhythm, and the relationship between them creates chords: the excerpt begins and ends with an F major triad . </Td> <Td> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Tallis' "If ye love me" Beginning of Tallis' "If ye love me," notated above . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Homorhythmic </Td> <Td> Multiple voices with similar rhythmic material in all parts . Also known as "chordal". May be considered a condition of homophony or distinguished from it . </Td> <Td> see above </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Heterophonic </Td> <Td> Two or more voices simultaneously performing variations of the same melody . </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Type </Th> <Th> Description </Th> <Th> Visual </Th> <Th> Audio </Th> </Tr>

The texture of a melodic line with harmonic accompaniment is