Homophonic Music is the kind of music we hear most often. It means "sounding together" and refers to a single dominant melody accompanied by harmonizing chords. It's sometimes known as chordal music and has a simple musical texture. By comparison, polyphonic music has two or more voices, or parts, each with an independent melody yet still harmonizing. Polyphonic music is also known as contrapuntal music.
In The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition, Percy Goetschius gives an exhaustive look at the methods and design process behind homophonic writing using examples from the classical repertoire.
What You'll Learn in The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition
Chapter 1: The Phrase
Chapter 2: The Harmonic Equivalent Of The Phrase Melody
Chapter 3: The Development Or Extension Of The Phrase
Chapter 4: The Chain Phrase, Melody Expansion, Irregular Phrase Formation
Chapter 5: The Period Form
Chapter 6: The Development Or Extension Of The Period Form
Chapter 7: Group Formations
Chapter 8: The Double Period
Chapter 9: The Two-Part Song Form
Chapter 10: The Fully Developed Two-Part Song-Form
Chapter 11: The Three-Part Song Form
Chapter 12: The Ordinary Complete Three-Part Song Form
Chapter 13: Additional Details Of The Song-Forms
Chapter 14: The Incomplete 3-Part Song Form
Chapter 15: The Fully Developed Three-Part Song-Form
Chapter 16: The Evolution Of The Five-Part Song-Form
Chapter 17: The Irregular Part-Forms
Chapter 18: The Song-Form With One Trio
Chapter 19: Extensions Of The Song With Trio
Chapter 20: The Lyric Class
Chapter 21: The Etude Class
Chapter 22: The Dance Class
332 pgs.
Please click on the Contents tab above for a detailed Table of Contents for this book.
With The Serious Composer™ series, four of Dr. Goetschius' major works have been re-published and re-edited for easier reading of the material. His recommended order of study is as follows:
- Elementary 18th-19th Century Counterpoint
- The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition
- Counterpoint Applied
- The Larger Forms of Musical Composition
A good working knowledge of beginning harmony and counterpoint as covered in Applied Professional Harmony 101 and 102 is recommended to get the most out of the books in this series.
About Percy Goetshcius
Richard Rodgers (of Rodgers & Hammerstein) said that Percy Goetschius was to harmony what Gray was to anatomy. Rodgers should know, as Dr. Goetschius was Richard Rodgers' teacher at the school that later became Juilliard.
Dr. Goetschius' list of students was a true Who's Who of composers - and composers whose lives spanned into the early 21st Century. Included among them are: Richard Rodgers, Howard Hanson, Leo Ornstein, Wallingford Riegger, Samuel Gardner, Arthur Loesser, and more. Outside of Nadia Boulanger, it's doubtful that any other single music teacher has had such a profound impact on his students as Percy Goetschius did.
What we know of Dr. Goetschius was found online through the Passaic County Historical Society, Lambert Castle, in Paterson, NJ, USA.
Percy Goetschius is a native Patersonian who has won international fame in the teaching of the theory of composition. Born in this city in 1853, he was a piano pupil of Robert E. H. Gehring, a prominent teacher of that era. Mr. Goetschius was the organist of the Second Presbyterian Church 1868-1870 and of the First Presbyterian 1870-73, and pianist of Mr. Benson’s Paterson Choral Society. He went to Stuttgart, Wurtenberg, in 1873 to study in the conservatory, and soon advanced to the teaching ranks. The King conferred upon him the title of royal professor. He composed much, and reviewed performances for the press. In 1892 he took a like position in the New England Conservatory, Boston, and four years later opened a studio in that city. In 1905 he went to the staff of the New York Institute of Music and Art, headed by Dr. Frank Damrosch. Prof. Goetschius has published nine textbooks on theory, which are accepted as standards in the musical world.
TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Serious Composer™, Vol. 2: The Homophonic Forms of Musical Composition
Chapter 1 - The Phrase
(a) One Chord Only, From Beginning Up To Cadence
(b) Different Chord To Each Beat (Rapid Tempo)
Examine the harmonic origin of the melodic motives in Exercise 1
Chapter 2 - The Harmonic Equipment Of The Phrase Melody
Exercise 2
Chapter 3 - The Development Or Extension Of The Phrase
1. Phrase Repetition
(a) Unessential Embellishment of The Melody
(b) Changes in the Harmony and Modulation
(c) Shifting The Phrase Melody
(d) Changes in Character and Style of Accompaniment
(e) More Complete and Radical Changes in the Course of The Phrase Melody (not, however, Affecting the Beginning, or the End, or Destroying General Resemblance)
Exercise 3
2. The Extensions at the End of a Phrase
(a) The Repetition of the Second Half of the Phrase; Possibly Exact, But Usually Modified
(b) The Repetition, or (more rarely) The Sequence, of the Last Member of the Phrase; Possibly A Single Repetition, But Usually Twice in Succession
(a) The Repetition of the Entire Cadence Group (of Chords), Usually at least Twice, and Possibly Modified
(b) The Repetition of the Two Cadence Chords (v and I); Usually at least Twice, and Either in the Same Form; or with Any Rhythmic or Melodic Change of the Form
(c) The Reiteration of the Final Tonic Chord, To an Optional Extent, and in Optional Rhythmic and Melodic Form
(d) A Plagal Cadence, of More or Less Elaborate Character, During The Prolongation of the Final Tonic Note in Soprano, or in Both Outer Parts, For Illustration
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
3. Extensions at the Beginning of a Phrase
4. The Extension in the Course of a Phrase
(a) In One or More Repetitions (exacted or variated) of Any Well-defined Member of the Phrase, Forward to the Cadence Member
(b) In One or More Sequences (exact or Modified) of Any Well-defined member of the Phrase, for Example:
(c) In the Expansion of any Prominent Chord; or of any Important (prominent) Melody Tone; or Melodic Figure (of Two or Three Tones)
(d) In the Substitution of a New Cadence Member for the Original One, or the Addition of a New Cadence Member, When Involved by Foregoing Extensions
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Chapter 4 - The Chain Phrase, Melody Expansion, Irregular Phrase Formation
Melody Expansion
Irregular Phrase Construction
Miscellaneous Examples of Phrase Extension Exercise 8
Chapter 5 - The Period Form
(a) The Parallel Construction
(b) The Opposite Construction
(c) The Contrasting Construction
(d) Variety and Unity
Exercise 9
Chapter 6 - The Development or Extension of The Period Form
The Repetition of the Entire Period Form
The Repetition of the Consequent Phrase
The Repetition of the Antecedent Phrase, or of both Antecedent and Consequent
Exercise 10
Exercise 11
The Extensions at the Beginning of Either Phrase, or of Both Phrases
The Extensions at the End of Either Phrase, or of Both Phrases
Extensions in the Unfolding
The Codetta
Miscellaneous Examples of Period Extension
Exercise 12
Exercise 13
Chapter 7 - Group Formations
The Period with Consequent Group
The Phrase Group
The Elision
Exercise 14
Exercise 15
Chapter 8 - The Double Period
The Extensions of the Double Period
Miscellaneous Examples of Double-Period Extensions
Exercise 16
Exercise 17
Division Two - The Song Forms or Part Forms
The Phrase
The Part
The Song Form
Chapter 9 - The Two-Part Song Form
Two-Part Song Form, Primary Design
Exercise 18
The Diminutive Two-Part Song Form
Exercise 19
Chapter 10 - The Fully Developed Two-Part Song Form
Illustration of the fully developed Two-Part Song form
The Large Two-Part Form, as Type of the Sonatina Form
Exercise 20
Chapter 11 - The Three-Part Song Form
The Three-Part Period
Exercise 21
The Beginning Step of the Three-Part Song Form
Ruling Condition of Tri-Partite Form
Important Note
Exercise 22
Chapter 12 - The Ordinary Complete Three-Part Song Form
The First Part
The Second Part: Thematic Conditions
(a) First, almost total agreement between Parts II and I
(b) Second, Part II derived from secondary members of the First Part
Sometimes Part II begins where (so to speak) Part I leaves off
(c) Third, Part II constructed more or less in the direction opposite to that of the First Part--similar to par. 39b. especially at the start
(d) Fourth, Part II can diverge still more widely from Part I, and be not only thematically new, but even somewhat independent in character and style
Tonality of Part II
Structural Design of Part II
Sectional Form of Part II
The Cadence of the Second Part
The Re-transition
The Third Part
Exercise 23
Chapter 13 - Additional Details of the Song-forms
1. Irregular Cadences
2. Modulation
3. The Dynamic Design
4. Contrast
5. Style
On the Choice of Time
On the Choice of Tempo
On the Choice of Principal Mode
On Certain Rhythmic Quirks
Coda and Codetta
Exercise 26
Chapter 14 - The Incomplete 3-Part Song-form
Exercise 27
The Augmented Two-Part Song-Form
Exercise 28
Chapter 15 - The Fully Developed Three-part Song-form
Corroboration
Exercise 29
Exercise 30
Exercise 31
The Large Phrase-Group
Chapter 16 - The Evolution of the Five-part Song-form
1. Simple Repetition of the Parts
(a) The general rule for these repetitions is as follows
(b) The rule against the repetition of the Second Part alone
(1) For illustrations of exact rep. of Part I, see
(2) An exact repetition of Parts II and III takes place in
(3) Both Divisions are literally repeated in
(4) For examples of the repetition of Part I with unessential modifications
(5) Modified repetition of the second Division (Parts II and III) found in
(6) Finally, both Divisions are repeated with modifications in
Exercise 32
2. More Elaborate Copying of the Second Division
Treatment of Part Five
The Old-Fashioned Rondeau, and the 7-Part Form
Exercise 33
Chapter 17 - The Irregular Part-Forms
1. The Transposed Third Part
2. The Group of Parts, Beginning Stage
3. Group of Parts, Developed and Extended
Exercise 34
Division Three - The Compound Song-forms
Chapter 18 - The Song-Form With One Trio
The Principal Song
The Subordinate Song, or Trio
The Relative (major or minor) key is found in
The subdominate key appears in
The Relative of the Subdominate
Other Possibilities of key-relation between the Prin, and Subordinate songs are shown in the following:
The Da capo
The Da capo is slightly variated in
Somewhat more elaborate variation occurs in the Da Capo of
An extension of the Da capo takes place in:
The Coda
Miscellaneous examples of the Song-form with one Trio
This is seen in
Exercise 35
Chapter 19 - Extensions of the Song with Trio
The Song-Form with Two Trios
The Group of Song-forms
Exercise 36
Division Four - Conventional Styles of Composition
Chapter 20 - The Lyric Class
1. The Song, with Words
2. The Instrumental Duo
Examples for reference
Cello and Piano
3. The Song Without Words, etc.
Examples From Piano Literature for reference
4. The Hymn, Anthem, Glee, etc.
Chapter 21 - The Etude-Class
1. The Etude, or Study
2. The Toccata, Capriccio, Scherzo, Etc.
Toccata-type, and Prelude
Caprice, Impromptu, etc.
Scherzo
Chapter 22 - The Dance-Class
1. Old Dance-type
Allemande, Courante, Bourree, Sarabande, Passepied
Gavotte
Gigue
Minuet
1. Modern Dance-Type
3. The March
Conclusion: Criticism
332 pgs.