What is polyphony?

What is polyphony?

Get your notebooks out and your pencils sharpened, because today we are continuing our lesson in musical theory! If you haven’t already, please read our post about the differences between the melody and harmony.

So, last time we talked about how the melody is a sequence of notes that sound pleasing, while the harmony refers to a blending of notes. Before we go any further today, I’d like to also mention that the harmony can also informally refer to any parts of the composition that accompany the main melody. Remember, the melody is the backbone and leader of the piece, while the harmony refers to the vertical relationship between different pitches. The harmony creates chord progressions that complement the melody.

Now that we’ve refreshed ourselves on those basics, let’s take a look at a slightly more complex musical term—polyphony.

In Greek, ‘poly’ means many and ‘phony’ means voice, which contrasts with monophony, meaning one voice. As the etymology indicates, polyphony refers to music in which more than one entity—voice or instrument—plays melodic lines at the same time. This differs from harmony in the way that harmony is usually dependent on the main melody, whereas polyphonic music has each entity playing their own independent melodic lines.

However, things get tricky, because even though in polyphony, each “voice” is independent to a certain extent, these melodic lines are still connected by the overall harmonic framework. A polyphonic musical texture, therefore, still has harmony. The harmonic framework—meaning the blending of pitches to make chords—is what makes the music sound good! If a song didn’t have harmony, it would merely sound like an unpleasant cacophony of sounds. And, in case you didn’t know, ‘caco’ in Greek means bad.

Technically speaking, any music that consists of multiple “voices” is polyphonic, which would be most music. But in the Western music tradition, polyphony often refers to a particular technique called contrapuntal, or counterpoint. With this technique, there is no foreground or background lines, as with most pop songs today, but rather involves a mutual conversation between the lines. With counterpoint, the notes in each independent melodic line also coincide to create chords. Bach was a composer who loved writing in the intellectually stimulating counterpoint technique.

But chances are that if you’re reading this post, it’s because you love jazz music, so you may be wondering, what exactly does this have to do with jazz?

Well, polyphony was used in the traditional jazz that developed in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century. In these early jazz compositions, the trumpet often played the melody, while the clarinet and trombone improvised semi-independent lines that were counterpoint in nature. And in bebop jazz—originating in the 1940s—the bass played a consistent countermelody of quarter notes that produced a polyphony with whatever other musical texture was played on top.

After that lesson in music theory, you deserve to sit back, relax, and let the polyphony of this 1993 jazz tune wash over you. Listen to the independent melodies of the bass trombone and bari sax in Mingus Big Band’s “Moanin’!”

Now that you understand musical theory better, why don’t you take a listen to the sample tracks from our newest album, My Ship, and see if you can identify the melody, harmony and chord progressions! Or just simply try to identify the different instruments that are playing simultaneously.

This post was written by Blog Editor, Jacqueline Knirnschild.

“Who is Singing Tonight?”

It all happened one week before a private donor appreciation event.

Musician and bandleader Bill Cunliffe was scheduled to perform with a vocalist and eight-piece band. Months of planning had gone into making sure the event would be as successful as possible, and announcements were distributed electronically and via snail mail by the Night is Alive Productions team. The vocalist had provided recordings featuring herself and Bill on Youtube and other social media as a preview for the honored guests. All was going according to plan.

The event was highly anticipated by all involved, as it was their first time in Akron, Ohio and the first time Oliver Nelson’s music would be performed, reimagined, almost 50 years after its original release. Tunes like “Stolen Moments” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYl2HZ9_Zvs&list=RDyYl2HZ9_Zvs&start_radio=1&t=0) would have new life breathed into them by Bill and his group.

On the Thursday one week before the donor appreciation event, I was out of town on vacation. As Bill’s manager, I left town believing all was under control and running smoothly. He had booked his musicians and vocalist. The music was written and scored. The venue was secured. Little did I know, Bill was leaving messages on my cell phone with unhappy news: the vocalist was sick.

By the time I received the voicemails, it was Saturday and the date of the gig was inching closer. During times like these, one of my most important managing mottos comes into play: “It is not what you know, but who you know and what they think of you.” Bill, being a two-time Grammy award winner, is highly respected in the jazz world, and musicians are (thankfully) eager and willing to join him on the band stand. He reached out to fabulous vocalist Jane Monheit, who graciously agreed to perform on short notice and flew in on the red eye the evening before the event.

A testament to her world-class musicianship, Jane performed cold with barely any preparation and wowed the crowd with her poise and grace. Bill and the musicians in the band were also exceptional, their flexible professionalism leading to a successful and enjoyable event. In the days following the performance numerous phone calls from audience members flooded in, praising the ensemble and conveying heartfelt appreciation for Jane’s willingness to take over for the vocalist who fell ill.

Though such star power usually warrants multiple gigs, this particular group was only scheduled to perform two nights. The second performance was a ticketed event in Cleveland which completely sold out thanks to the Night is Alive Productions team (“We fill the seats!” Use Night is Alive Productions for your events: https://nightisalive.com/).

“Who is singing tonight?” is not a question you want to ask in the moments leading up to a gig. But if you do your job well and work with good people who are willing to help you out in a pinch, the rest will follow. In the end, the music itself is what brings people together and builds a loyal following. The music is the reason why we are here.

Read more about Bill’s tribute to Oliver Nelson here: https://billcunliffe.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/a-tribute-to-oliver-nelson-and-%E2%80%9Cthe-blues-and-the-abstract-truth/)

For more information about Managing Director Kathy Moses Salem and Night is Alive Productions, please visit our web page (https://nightisalive.com/) or contact directly via phone.

Article by Kathy Salem, Managing Director, Night is Alive
Revised and Transcribed by Elizabeth Carney, Content Editor, Night is Alive

Music Streaming Service Power Shift: Tencent IPO

The Chinese internet behemoth, Tencent Holdings, is about to invade the online music streaming business in the US with a ton of muscle behind them. The music industry has changed dramatically with the popularity of streaming services. Tencent Music Entertainment Group is about to jump into the US market with their IPO. The company is expected to be valued at more than $25 billion, which would make it not only one of the biggest tech IPOs this year but one of the largest ever. Tencent is a massive company with a collection of prosperous apps, including its QQ Music and an online karaoke system that is hugely popular. The company has over 800 million users on its Chinese-based streaming music service and will be the biggest on the block after the IPO is complete.

List of Popular Streaming Services User Amounts Compared to Tencent Music:
1. Spotify – 217 million (56 Million Paid Subscriptions)
2. iHeartRadio – 128 million
3. Pandora – 66 million (6 Million Paid Subscriptions)
4. Apple Music – 56 million (All Paid Subscriptions)
5. Tencent Music’s 800 million-user base in China (28.4 Million Paid Subscriptions)

Tencent Music is a goliath. With so many subsidiaries, the company can put considerable weight behind its decisions to dive into the US market. Tencent also has a slightly different business model then Spotify and other US-born streaming services. The platform is focused on converting free tier members to a paid level by limiting the amount of current hit music that can be heard for free. Tencent also has a popular video streaming service. The company will be able to up-sell other services, such as gaming and streaming video, creating discounted pricing based off bundling. With America’s present level of subscription fatigue, this strategy could give Tencent an edge. If the company’s future plans reflect its present IPO, we can expect to see them shift into the US video streaming service and go up again the likes of Netflix and Amazon. One thing is clear, Tencent will have a tremendous influence on the streaming music business, which, to this point, has been dominated by American companies. This may be a first for a foreign tech company to make such a massive push into the American music market. The company will be able to reach and engage with an unprecedented number of American users. Hopefully, the increased competition at the top will stream down to the end-user with lower prices.

Michael Brigger