How to Approach Analysis of Texture

Abigail Tilton and Elizabeth Wilson

1. Determine the texture of your piece.
The first step in analyzing texture in a choral piece is to determine which of the previously mentioned categories your piece falls into. It is important to note that one texture may not fully describe a full piece. It may be helpful to break up sections. For example, the introduction of the piece may be monophonic, while a later section may be polyphonic.2. Determine the melody.

Once you have determined what labels describe your piece the best, you may want to determine which voice part has the melody throughout the piece. This, again, may not be straightforward. Oftentimes melodic lines are found in the soprano line, but especially in modern choral music this is not always the case. In fact, in polyphonic textures, it can sometimes be difficult to determine if there is a melody at all. However, there are some tips for determining a melody when it may not be previously known to us. Melodic lines in choral music typically have more variety in notes, and typically jump around more than any other part.3. If no clear melody, identify main lines in polyphonic textures.

Determining the melodic line in a piece should not be the only thing you take note of, however. Oftentimes in polyphonic textures it is clear that one line should be emphasized, but the secondary voice parts still have important themes that need to be heard by the audience in order to be understood.Being aware of the role a voice part has in the greater texture of a piece is integral to determining how the piece is performed. Being able to recognize when a piece is considered homophonic and which voice parts should be considered accompaniment is vital to how the music is heard by the audience. If an accompaniment line is just as loud as the melody, the audience will inevitably become confused, and end up disliking a piece just because of how it is performed, rather than how it was written.

Following these steps will help determine how you, as a conductor or a singer, should perform the piece.

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Analysis of Contemporary Choral Music Copyright © 2024 by Abigail Tilton and Elizabeth Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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