Explain why heterophony is the musical texture of the example. What are some of the ways the musicians are decorating the melody? (Answers may vary.)

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• All of the musicians play the same melody, but not precisely in unison. Instead, each musician is free to add ornaments and nuances creating several different versions of the same melody at the same time. "Some instruments leave notes out, while others double them." This musical texture is known as heterophony. (Also listen to CD 1:17, "Amazing Grace" in Chapter 4, another example of heterophony and read the accompanying discussion of the example.)
• The plucked string instruments (‘ud, buzuq, and qanum) create a thicker, more sustained texture by double or quadruple picking (repeatedly picking a note) or fast tremolo (moving a finger or pick quickly up and down on a string), adding grace note pickups (playing short notes above or below just before the main note) and octave leaps (moving up and down an octave). The reed flute (nay) and violin can sustain their notes, vary the tone color (timbre) of those notes, or slide between notes. Each instrument decorates the melody with trills (rapidly moving up and down between two adjacent notes), turns (short notes above or below the main note), slides and variations in tone color that are characteristic of the particular instrument (see further discussion of this last variation in WOM).