Accompaniment

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Accompaniment

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, accompaniment (alt. accompaniament) is the art of playing along with a solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer. In practice this means a number of different things, depending on the type of music and the context....
ist or ensemble

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles perform....
, often known as the lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
, in a support

Support

Support may refer to the following:* Sympathy, emotional support;* Support wiki * Technical support - in computer hardware, software or electronic goods;...
ing manner as well as the music thus played. An accompaniment figure is a gesture used repeatedly in an accompaniment, such as:

Harmonic

Harmony

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
accompaniment is music played to accompany a melody

Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
line; it is usually chordal

Chord (music)

In music and music theory a chord is a set of two or more different note that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian Sonority that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying musical scale....
and played by such instruments as (acoustic or electric) guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
, organ

Organ (music)

The organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard played either Manual or Pedal clavier. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the European classical music....
and bass guitar

Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
, but it can also be played by instruments that ordinarily play the melody, such as the violin

Violin

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Encyclopedia

In music

Music

Solo (music)

Musical ensemble

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
, in a support

Support

Alberti bass
Alberti bass

Alberti bass is a particular kind of accompaniment in music, often used in the classical music era, and sometimes the romantic one. It was named after Domenico Alberti , who used it extensively, although he was not the first to use it....
and other arpeggio
Arpeggio

In music, an arpeggio is a broken Chord where the notes are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously....
s
ostinati
Ostinato

In music, an Ostinato is a motif or phrase which is persistently repetition in the same musical voice. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody....
or riff
RIFF

The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic meta-format for storing data in tagged chunks.It was introduced in 1991 by Microsoft and International Business Machines, and was presented by Microsoft as the default format for Windows 3.1x multimedia files....
s

Harmonic

Harmony

Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
line; it is usually chordal

Chord (music)

Guitar

Piano

Organ (music)

Bass guitar

Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
. In most tonal music the melody and accompaniment are written from and share the same group of pitches, while in much atonal

Atonal

Atonal may refer to:*AtonalityAtonal or Atonaltzin may refer to:*Atonal I*Atonal II...
music the melody and accompaniment are chosen from entirely separate groups of pitches, often from different hexachord

Hexachord

In music, a hexachord is a six-note segment of a scale or tone row. The term was adopted in the Middle Ages and adapted in the twentieth-century in Milton Babbitt serialism....
s. See also: chord-based.

An accompanist is one who plays an accompaniment. A number of classical pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
s have become famous as accompanists rather than soloists; the best known example is probably Gerald Moore

Gerald Moore

Gerald Moore Order of the British Empire was an England piano best known for his career as one of the most in-demand accompanists of his day, accompanying many of the world's most famous musicians....
, well known as a Lied

Lied

, is a German language word, meaning literally "song"; among English speakers, however, the word is used primarily as a term for European European classical music songs, also known as art songs....
er accompanist. In some American schools, the title collaborative pianist (or collaborative artist) is replacing the title accompanist.

Notated accompaniment may be indicated obbligato

Obbligato

In european classical music obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum....
(obliged) or ad libitum

Ad libitum

Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; often shortened to 'Ad lib' , or 'ad-lib' . There is a less commonly used synonym, a bene placito....
(at one's pleasure).

Dialogue accompaniment is a form of call and response

Call and response (music)

In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrase usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first....
in which the lead and accompaniment alternate, the accompaniment playing during the rests

Rest (music)

A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value:...
of the lead and providing a drone

Drone (music)

In music, a drone is a harmony or monophony effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustain or repetition , and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built....
or silence during the main melody or vocal. (van der Merwe 1989, p.320)

Basso continuo is a form of notation used especially in Baroque music

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a period or style of European classical music approximately extending from Dates of classical music eras. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance music and was followed by the Classical music era....
accompaniment parts.

The term accompanist is also used to refer to a musician (generally pianist) who will not necessarily be participating in the performance of a piece of drama that utilizes music (musical theater, opera

Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
, etc.) but is used during an audition

Audition

An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing ...
or rehearsal

Rehearsal

A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of Practice , and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequate for professional presentation....
in lieu of the actual musician(s).

Source

van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.