Elements of Music: Monophonic Texture
I tend to write songs that, in my mind, can become redundant or stagnant. I think every musician struggles with this. There are simply other songs that speak to me more than my own. But I’m learning that that is okay. Music is not a competition. I shouldn’t be upset because this guy plays better than me or differently than me. And the other guy plays faster than me or his songs move me more than my own.
For one that’s just miserable. Another thing is that it is entirely too self centered for my taste. Music should just be about the music. Play it for what it is. If it’s a simple song with three chords that feels right and resolves itself beautifully, don’t ruin it by trying to add too much other stuff in there to impress, yourself or anyone else. I struggle with this all the time. And a lot of people out there probably are asking, “Good Lord, this guy analyzes playing guitar way too much, why doesn’t he just play and shut up about it?”
Well, the answer is this I guess. Every guitar player gets into ruts when his or her playing becomes boring to himself. At that point there are 2 options. Sit and play the same ol’ crap over and over again because getting better as a musician just simply isn’t a priority, which is fine. Or you can try to figure out why because music is part of your personality. And some degree, you wouldn’t be happy with yourself as an artist or musician if you couldn’t become totally open, free and honest to express yourself through your guitar.
So for me, music is a way of life, a part of life that won’t go away. And if I write a tune I’d like to have all of the tools necessary to avoid having my music become stale or redundant or boring. So in this unit we’ll explore a few more of those tools. They will help you think about how to make your music more interesting and they will help you have the means necessary to express yourself on the fly while improvising.
There are many things involved in the texture of music. But as guitarists, and particularly for fingerstyle guitarists, the texture of music cannot be but so complex. Now if you listen to some guitarists like Alex deGrassi or Pierre Bensusan, you see just how complex the texture of one guitar solo can become. It’s quite astounding really. But here we’ll talk about some basic concepts and hopefully give you some ideas on how to use texture in your music more.
3 MAIN TYPES OF TEXTURE
• Monophonic
• Homophonic
• Polyphonic
MONOPHONIC TEXTURE
Monophonic texture, many times having only one voice, can be considered a thin texture. It sounds thin and it is easy to hear and listen to. Look below at the guitar TAB. This is considered monophonic texture because there is only one voice playing one thing.
But even if you have 2 guitars playing in unison (playing the same melody), it is still considered monophonic.
The next sample is the next step up in complexity. You find this a lot in Celtic music. It is a monophonic melody with a drone running behind it. A drone note is a note that’s held, usually for a long time behind the melody.
Coming up with a monophonic voice is much like writing a motive or phrase. It’s usually the place you start when beginning a song or composition.
Next we’ll take our monophonic texture, add a little something, and change it to homophonic texture.