Texture in Analysis and Composing

This article is for teachers (and students) preparing for any music examination in which consideration of texture is important. It does not focus on any particular examination syllabus.

First there is consideration of what texture means in general terms, and then investigation of various types of texture, with the aid of musical examples. Later some matters connected with textural variety are looked at from the composer’s point of view. Some short tasks are provided in the hope of encouraging students to develop their compositional technique.

The scope of music in the 21st-century is so vast that coverage cannot be comprehensive. The focus is chiefly on those ‘classical’ styles from which it is possible to provide musical examples without copyright restrictions.