Accompaniment

Accompaniment
A typical accompaniment pattern of a Mozart concerto or aria. About this sound Play

In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner. The accompaniment can be performed by a single performer--a pianist, organist, or guitarist--or it can be played by an entire ensemble, such as a symphony orchestra or string quartet (in the Classical genre) or a backing band or rhythm section (in popular music) or a Big Band or organ trio (in jazz). It may be considered the background to the foreground melody. The term "accompaniment" is also used to describe the composed music, arrangement, or improvised performance that is played to back up the soloist. In most Classical styles, the accompaniment part is written by the composer and provided to the performers in the form of sheet music. In jazz and popular music, the backing band or rhythm section may improvise the accompaniment based on standard forms--in the case of a small blues band or jazz band playing a 12 bar blues progression--or the band may play from a written arrangement in a jazz Big Band or in a musical theater show.

Travis picking.[1] About this sound Play

The accompaniment part usually provides the harmonic background and the rhythmic structure for the piece of music or song. The harmonic background is usually provided by one or more instruments that play a chord progression. Instruments commonly used to play chords (also called harmonic accompaniment) include the (acoustic or electric) guitar, piano, organ and electronic keyboards. An accompaniment can also be provided by instruments that normally play the melody, such as the violin (e.g., if a musical arrangement is written for several violins which will set out the chord progression). The accompaniment often includes a bass instrument which plays the bass notes of the harmonic progression (e.g., bass guitar, upright bass, etc.). The rhythmic structure of the piece or song is typically provided by drums or percussion in most types of popular music, jazz, and blues. In Classical music styles, there are many types of pieces which do not include percussion instruments, such as string quartets and organ trios.

In most tonal music the melody and accompaniment are written from and share the same group of pitches, while in much atonal music the melody and accompaniment are chosen from entirely separate groups of pitches, often from different hexachords. See also: chord-based.

An accompanist is one who plays an accompaniment. A number of classical pianists have become famous as accompanists rather than soloists; the best known example is probably Gerald Moore, well known as a Lieder accompanist. In some American schools, the title collaborative pianist (or collaborative artist) is replacing the title accompanist.

Mozart's Piano Sonata, K 545 opening. About this sound Play

An accompaniment figure is a musical gesture used repeatedly in an accompaniment, such as:

Notated accompaniment may be indicated obbligato (obliged) or ad libitum (at one's pleasure).

Dialogue accompaniment is a form of call and response in which the lead and accompaniment alternate, the accompaniment playing during the rests of the lead and providing a drone or silence during the main melody or vocal.[2]

Basso continuo is a form of notation used especially in Baroque music 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, etc.) but is used during an audition or rehearsal in lieu of the actual musician(s).

See also

References

  1. ^ Traum, Happy (1974). Fingerpicking Styles For Guitar, p.12. Oak Publications. ISBN 0825600057. Hardcover (2005): ISBN 0825603439.
  2. ^ van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music, p.320. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.


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  • accompaniment — accompaniment, concomitant denote in common something attendant upon or found in association with another thing. Both may imply addition, but they vary chiefly in the kind of relationship connoted between the principal and the attendant things.… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • accompaniment — [n1] necessary part or embellishment accessory, adjunct, appendage, appurtenance, attachment, attendant, attribute, augmentation, complement, concomitant, enhancement, enrichment, supplement; concepts 834,835 accompaniment [n2] music that… …   New thesaurus

  • accompaniment — [ə kum′pə nə mənt, ə kum′pənēmənt; ] often [, ə kump′nəmənt, ə kump′nēmənt] n. 1. anything that accompanies something else; thing added, usually for order or symmetry 2. Music a part, usually instrumental, performed together with the main part… …   English World dictionary

  • Accompaniment — Ac*com pa*ni*ment ( ment), n. [F. accompagnement.] That which accompanies; something that attends as a circumstance, or which is added to give greater completeness to the principal thing, or by way of ornament, or for the sake of symmetry.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • accompaniment — index appurtenance, attendance, codicil, rider, synchronism Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • accompaniment — (n.) 1744, from Fr. accompagnement (13c.), from accompagner (see ACCOMPANY (Cf. accompany)). Musical sense is earliest …   Etymology dictionary

  • accompaniment — ► NOUN 1) a musical part which accompanies an instrument, voice, or group. 2) something that supplements or complements something else …   English terms dictionary

  • accompaniment — noun 1 things that go or happen together ADJECTIVE ▪ essential, ideal, perfect ▪ delicious, good VERB + ACCOMPANIMENT ▪ be …   Collocations dictionary

  • accompaniment — /euh kum peuh ni meuhnt, euh kump ni /, n. 1. something incidental or added for ornament, symmetry, etc. 2. Music. a part in a composition designed to serve as background and support for more important parts. [1725 35; ACCOMPANY + MENT] * * * ▪… …   Universalium

  • accompaniment — n. 1) an accompaniment to (a piano accompaniment to a song) 2) to the accompaniment of (to the accompaniment of soft music) * * * [ə kʌmp(ə)nɪmənt] an accompaniment to (a piano accompaniment to a song) to the accompaniment of (to the… …   Combinatory dictionary

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