If I have a single melodic line and have staccato 1/16th notes playing just the tonic of the key behind my melody with another instrument, would that be considered a heterophonic texture? What I mean is, are the 16ths notes considered a melodic variation of my original melody (heterophonic), are they forming a harmonic accompaniment (homophonic), or are the 16th notes more of a pedal tone (biphonic). Is it something totally different?
I'm trying to learn my various musical textures and want to make sure I am using the correct terms. Hope the question makes sense?
When describing musical concepts we make use of four prefixes and several postfixes to create new words
Prefixes
Meaning
Postfixes
Meaning
Mono-
Single
-phonic
Sound
Poly-
Many
-chordal
Chord
Homo-
Same
-rhythmic
Rhythm
Hetero-
Different
-tonal
key/scale
Taking each of our prefixes and postfixes we end up with the following words to describe texture and other aspects of a musical piece:
aggregation[/td[td]meaning[/td
Mono-phonic
Single sound
Mono-chordal
Single chord
Mono-rhythmic
Single rhythm
Mono-tonal
Single key/scale
Poly-phonic
Many sounds
Poly-chordal
Many chords
Poly-rhythmic
Many rhythms
Poly-tonal
Many keys/scales
Homo-phonic
Same sound
Homo-chordal
Same chords
Homo-rhythmic
Same rhythm
Homo-tonal
Same key/scale
Hetero-phonic
Different sounds
Hetero-chordal
Different chords
Hetero-rhythmic
Different rhythms
Hetero-tonal
Different keys/scales
[td]
Now back to your question
It would not be heterophonic unless the melody itself consisted mostly of the tonic.
Harmonic based texture is possible but only if the tonic forms part of the currently active chord, otherwise you have to discount it as a harmonic compnent and treat it as wider textural component
As for biphonic - very rarely used; you more likely to say that it is a two part texture. Possible to consider it as a pedal point accompaniment but it would still be referred to as a two part texture rather than biphonic (that is so awkward to read and say )
Wow. Thanks Bandcoach. I guess there is more to it than what I expected. It is much easier to think of ideas when you have words for them. I appreciate you talking time to answer. Have a good weekend.