Virtually all music we listen to today is polyphonic. Polyphony simply refers to having more than one note at a time. Gregorian chant, or ''plainchant'' is a form of monophonic music developed by Medieval Roman Catholic monks and one of the earliest written examples of monophony. Interweaving of musical lines is referred to as counterpoint. polyphonic music: 1 n music arranged in parts for several voices or instruments Synonyms: concerted music, polyphony Antonyms: monody, monophonic music, monophony music consisting of a single vocal part (usually with accompaniment) Types: counterpoint a musical form involving the simultaneous sound of two or more melodies Type of: music an. 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? We can also use more formal terms, such as monophonic or polyphonic to describe musical texture. We can say a piece of music has an open or closed texture, or a thick or thin texture, for instance. Polyphony is intrinsic to almost all the music we listen to today but it wasn’t always that way. Texture is a word used a lot to describe music, but it can often be difficult to understand. You may have heard the term polyphony before and might have wondered what it meant.
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