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This article is about the musical term, for the linguistic and literary meaning see homophone.
In music, homophony is the texture of two or more instruments or voices moving 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 move in parallel rhythm and pitch. A homophonic texture is also homorhythmic or uses a "very similar rhythm". However, in melody dominated homophony, one voice or instrument, often the highest, plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate an underlying harmony.
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Homophony in Western music
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.[ The case was similar during the Renaissance period, though most notated music was polyphonic rather than monophonic.]
Homophony first appeared as the predominant texture in Western music during the Baroque period in the early 17th century, when composers began to compose with vertical harmony in mind, as opposed to using counterpoint, the homophonic basso continuo becoming a definitive feature of the style.[ The standard choral arrangement of four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) has since become standard for Western music.][ 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.]
In 20th century classical music some of the "triad-oriented accompanimental figures such as the Alberti bass 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 tradition devices, such as repeated chords, are still used.[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]
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).
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Homophony in non-Western music
Although homophony is more familiar to the West than other musical cultures, it still has appeared in several non-Western cultures. Still, it is generally accepted that multipart harmonies for voice were commonplace in Africa, singers moving in parallel motion in intervals such as thirds or fourths. For instance, the Fang people of Gabon have used homophony in some of their music, and in eastern Indonesia, two-part harmonies were common, usually in intervals of thirds, fourths or fifths. Moreover, much of the music of the Middle East is homophonic, although polyphony was 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.
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Melody dominated homophony
Melody dominated homophony is a type of homophony in which the accompanying instruments or voices provide chordal support for a lead voice or instrument, often the highest in pitch, which provides a melody.[ 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 accompany them.]
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 can include multiple voices, not only works for solo voice, as was the tradition with early 17th century Italian monody.
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Examples of pieces that are homophonic
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Sources
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See also
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