Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. Virtually all music we listen to today is polyphonic. Usually, however, polyphony is associated with counterpoint, the combination of distinct melodic lines. Thus, even a single interval made up of two simultaneous tones or a chord of three simultaneous tones is rudimentarily polyphonic. Polyphony simply refers to having more than one note at a time. polyphony, in music, the simultaneous combination of two or more tones or melodic lines (the term derives from the Greek word for many sounds). Interweaving of musical lines is referred to as counterpoint. There was only one line of music at a time and this is the only written music we have (and the very first written music) from the 9th and 10th centuries.Įventually music evolved into something called organum, which had two lines – typically in parallel 4ths that would embellish the melody.Īs music continued to develop more complexity, we began to have many lines of music that would play simultaneously. This music was simply liturgical text that was sung with embellishments. There was a time when the only written music was monophonic, which means “one note at a time.” The first written music was called Gregorian Chant (or “plainsong”). So, what does this term mean and why is it important? Polyphony is often associated with Renaissance music and Baroque forms, such as fugue. It’s believed to be the least popular among all three textures. Polyphony is intrinsic to almost all the music we listen to today but it wasn’t always that way. Polyphony, also known as a counterpoint or contrapuntal music, is a formal musical texture that contains at least two or more lines of independent melody. You may have heard the term polyphony before and might have wondered what it meant.
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