Texture refers to the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are woven together in a composition.

        >describes vertical aspects of music. opposed to phrasing which dscribes the horizontal aspect

        >deals with denisty and range

    -density:"thick" consisting of many voices or parts  "thin" consisting of few voices

    -range:"wide" or "narrow" depending on the interval between the lowest tone and the highest tone

  ~Types of textures

        >monophonic: contains a single melody line

        >polyphonic: contains two or more lines moving independently or in imitation with each other

        >homophonic: made up of a melody and an accompanist

        >homorhythmic: texture with similar rhythmic material in all parts

History

   Renaissance Period (1450-1600)

      >made use of the polyphonic texture

      >place great value on an indepence of lines

 Baroque Period (1600-1750)

      >began use of the homophonic texture

      >both polyphonic and homophonic were used but they were rarely seen in the same composition      

        >textures became more dense, containing more voices, than they were in the Renaissance Period

    Classical Period (1750-1825)

>continued using homophonic texture but composers engaged in much greater contrast of range and density

    Romantic Period (1825-1900)

      >used homophonic texture with even greater range and density

        >textures became more complex with sudden shifts to gain emotional effect

    Post-Romantic & Impressionistic Period (1875-1920) 

        >impressionistic period expanded monophonic texture (parallelism) and homophonic texture

    Contemporary Period (1920-Present)

        >imitation of the earlier styles of music brings along imitation of the textures as well

    Jazz & Popular Period (1900-Present)

     >nearly only homophonic texture is used

     >simultaneous improvisations creates polyphonic textures

Applications

       >primary melodies(PM): most important lines in a musical texture

        >secondary melodies(SM): other melodic lines that are not equal in significance to the primary melodies

        >parallel supporting melodies(PSM): melodies that are similar in contour with a primary melody and secondary melody

        >static supporting parts:

            -sustained tones or chords, often pedal tones

            -repeated melodic & rhythmic figures

        >harmonic and rhythmic support: the harmonic and rhythmic aspects of the accompaniment in a homophonic texture

        >texture reduction: taking away the rhythmic materials and finding the block chords in order to distinguish where the

           harmony lies