Kathryn Brickell Music is proud to offer piano teachers to our students in NYC.

We will be posting informative articles relating to the piano and piano lessons.

The following article consists of an explanation on texture and timbre.

We hope you will enjoy your piano lessons with our wonderful, experienced and dedicated local piano teachers.

Enjoy!

Texture & Timbre

In a musical context, texture refers to the overarching, birds-eye sound or feel of a piece as determined by the relationship of its melody as it relates to any accompanying chords or other melodies. Monophony refers to a melody played by itself, without accompaniment. Heterophony consists of a melody accompanied by chords sketching a different melody. Homophony consists of melodies accompanied by chords whose harmonies echo and accentuate the melody. Polyphony consists of several different melodies played simultaneously. Texture can also be impacted by the type of instrument used to play the piece, the number of instruments, and the spacing of different parts played by different instruments.

Timbre, also referred to as “tone color” or simply “color,” is a term for the subjective quality of a particular instrument or human voice. It does not refer to pitch, dynamics, articulation, or emphasis, but rather the specific quality of an instrument. For example, the timbre of a horn instrument can be changed by placing a mute in the bell, and the timbre of a piano can be changed by holding down the sustain pedal. There is no specific musical notation used to indicate timbre or changes in timbre.

Kathryn Brickell Music is proud to offer piano teachers to our students in Brooklyn.

We will be posting informative articles relating to the piano and piano lessons.

The following article consists of an explanation on harmony.

We hope you will enjoy your piano lessons with our wonderful, experienced and dedicated local piano teachers.

Enjoy!

Harmony

Harmony, in music theory, refers to the vertical relationship between tones – that is to say, how two tones played together simultaneously relate to each other. The relationship between any two given pitches or notes is referred to as an interval, whereas the relationship between more than two pitches is called a chord. Typically, harmonies are described using the word “tertian.” This means that each note in a chord is a third away from its neighbor. Thus, a “root-position” triad (a three-note chord starting from the lowest pitch) will contain a root note, the note a third above it, and a note one further third (a fifth) above the root. Seventh chords add a further third, incorporating a third note a seventh above the root note. While this has typically been the approach taken by composers, many 20^th century classical composers have taken different tacks to creating harmony, using different intervals. Typically, Roman numerals are used to refer to harmony in classical music. Jazz and other types of modern music use a set of chord symbols, and more complex and esoteric systems come into play in modern “post-tonal” music.

Harmony can often create a sense of overarching or dominant pitch, which is determined by how each individual pitch within the harmony interacts with the others, as well as other factors including cultural predisposition and preexisting familiarity with the music. It is important to distinguish music theory’s use of the term “harmony” to describe without value judgment any notes occurring simultaneously from the colloquial use of the word to mean “coexisting peacefully.” This colloquial definition would be better expressed in music theory by the term “consonance.”

Harmony can also interact with melody to create different sets of voices. Monophony refers to a melody played by itself, without accompaniment. Homophony consists of melodies accompanied by chords whose harmonies echo and accentuate the melody. Polyphony consists of several different melodies played simultaneously.