View source for Part (music)

{{short description|Component of a musical composition}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{redirect2|Line (music)|Voice (music)|other uses|Melody|and|Voicing (music)|and|Voice (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|text=the composer [[Arvo Pärt]]}}
{{Cleanup|date=May 2021|reason=often unencyclopedic style}}
[[File:Mendelssohn Opus 13 Intermezzo.jpg|thumb|500px|alt=Sheet music for Mendelssohn's Opus 13 Intermezzo|A score with four parts, for Mendelssohn's opus 13 string quartet. The second violin and the viola "parts" above often include two or three simultaneous notes: in some sense, these parts assemble several parts, played by a single player.]]
A '''part''' in [[music]] refers to a component of a [[musical composition]]. Because there are multiple ways to separate these components, there are several contradictory senses in which the word "part" is used:
* any individual [[melody]] (or '''voice'''), whether vocal or instrumental, that can be abstracted as continuous and independent from other notes being performed simultaneously in [[polyphony]]. Within the music played by a single [[pianist]], one can often identify '''outer parts''' (the top and bottom parts) or an '''inner part''' (those in between). On the other hand, within a [[choir]], "outer parts" and "inner parts" would refer to music performed by different [[singers]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Drabkin|first1=William|title=Part (ii)|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/53861|website=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 August 2017|quote="One frequently distinguishes the outer (highest and lowest) parts (Ger. Aussensatz) from the inner (middle) part or parts."}}</ref> (See {{Slink|2=Polyphony and part-writing|nopage=y}})
* the musical instructions for any individual [[musical instrument|instrument]] or voice (often given as a [[handwritten]], [[printed]], or [[digitized]] [[document]]) of [[sheet music]] (as opposed to the [[Sheet music#full score|full score]] which shows all parts of the [[Musical ensemble|ensemble]] in the same document).<ref name="GrovePart_i">{{cite web|last1=Drabkin|first1=William|title=Part (i)|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/20963|website=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref> A musician's part usually does not contain instructions for the other players in the ensemble, only instructions for that individual.
* the music played by any group of musicians who all perform together for a given piece; in a [[orchestra|symphony orchestra]], a dozen or more cello players may all play "the same part" even if they each have their own physical copy of the music.<ref name="GrovePart_i" /> This part may be in [[unison]] or may be [[harmonized]], and may even sometimes contain [[Counter-melody|counter-melodies]] within it. A [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] part may sometimes only contain [[rhythm]]. This sense of "part" does not require a written copy of the music; a [[bass player]] in a rock band "plays the bass part" even if there is no written version of the song.
* a section in the large-scale [[musical form|form]] of a piece. (See {{Slink|2=Musical form|nopage=y}})

==Polyphony and part-writing==
[[Image:BachFugueBar.png|thumb|A bar from [[J.S. Bach]]'s "[[Fugue]] No.17 in A flat", BWV 862, from ''[[Well-tempered Clavier|Das Wohltemperierte Clavier]]'' (Part I), an example of contrapuntal polyphony.{{audio|BachFugueBar.mid|Play}} The two parts, or voices, on each [[staff (music)|staff]] may be distinguished by the direction of the [[Stem (music)|stems]]. {{audio|BachFugueBar4.mid|Play voice 4}}, {{audio|BachFugueBar3.mid|3}}, {{audio|BachFugueBar2.mid|2}}, & {{audio|BachFugueBar1.mid|1}} separately.]]

'''Part-writing''' (or [[voice leading]]) is the composition of parts in consideration of [[harmony]] and [[counterpoint]]. In the context of [[polyphony|polyphonic]] composition the term '''''voice''''' may be used instead of '''part''' to denote a single [[melody|melodic]] line or [[texture (music)|textural]] layer. The term is generic, and is not meant to imply that the line should necessarily be vocal in character, instead referring to [[instrumentation (music)|instrumentation]], the function of the line within the counterpoint structure, or simply to [[register (music)|register]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Drabkin|first1=William|title=Part (iii)|website=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 August 2017|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/53862|quote="In early polyphony parts were named not according to vocal range or timbre, but on the basis of their function in the contrapuntal design [...] With the introduction of such names as ‘contratenor bassus’, part names began to take on registral connotations."}}</ref>

The historical development of polyphony and part-writing is a central thread through European music history. The earliest notated pieces of music in Europe were [[gregorian chant]] melodies. It appears that the ''[[Codex Calixtinus#Music|Codex Calixtinus]]'' (12th century) contains the earliest extant decipherable part music.<ref>Van der Werf, Hendrik (1993). ''The Oldest Extant Part Music and the Origin of Western Polyphony'', p.vii. H. van der Werf.</ref> Many histories of music trace the development of new rules for [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonances]], and shifting stylistic possibilities for relationships between parts.

In some places and time periods, part-writing has been systematized as a set of counterpoint rules taught to musicians as part of their early education. One notable example is [[Johann Fux]]'s ''[[Gradus ad Parnassum]]'', which dictates a style of counterpoint writing that resembles the work of the famous Renaissance composer [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]]. The standard for most Western [[music theory]] in the twentieth century is generalized from the work of Classical composers in the [[common practice period]].{{clarify |date=May 2021|reason=How is part-writing involved in the "standard for Western music theory" or in "the work of Classical composers?"}} For example, a recent general music textbook states,
{{quote|Part writing is derived from [[four-part harmony|four-voice]] [[chorale]]s written by [[J.S. Bach]]. The late baroque era composer wrote a total of 371 harmonized chorales. Today most students' reference Albert Riemenschneider's 1941 compilation of Bach chorales.<ref>Starr, Eric (2009). ''The Everything Music Composition Book with CD'', p.171. {{ISBN|978-1-60550-093-5}}.</ref>}}

Polyphony and part-writing are also present in many [[popular music]] and [[folk music]] traditions, although they may not be described as explicitly or systematically as they sometimes are in the Western tradition.<ref>Shepherd, John (2003). ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World'', p.257. {{ISBN|978-0-8264-6322-7}}.</ref>

The '''lead part''' or '''lead voice''' is the most prominent, melodically-important voice (often the highest in pitch but not necessarily) and is played by a [[lead instrument]] (e.g. a [[lead vocalist]]). 

==Musical form==
In [[musical form]]s, a '''part''' may refer to a subdivision in the structure of a piece. Sometimes "part" is a title given by the composer or publisher to the main sections of a large-scale work, especially [[oratorio]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Drabkin|first1=William|title=Part (iii)|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/53862|website=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 August 2017|quote="The primary division of certain large-scale works (especially oratorios), equivalent to the act in theatrical works."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=part|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e4996|website=Oxford Companion to Music|date=January 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-957903-7 |access-date=10 August 2017|quote="In certain large-scale genres, e.g. oratorios, ‘Part’ is used to designate the main division of the work."}}</ref> For example, [[George Friederich Handel|Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'', which is organized into Part I, Part II, and Part III, each of which contains multiple [[scene (drama)|scenes]] and one or two dozen individual [[arias]] or choruses.

Other times, "part" is used to refer in a more general sense to any identifiable section of the piece. This is for example the case in the widely used [[ternary form]], usually schematized as A–B–A. In this form the first and third ''parts'' (A) are musically identical, or very nearly so, while the second ''part'' (B) in some way provides a contrast with them. In this meaning of ''part'', similar terms used are ''section'', ''[[strain (music)|strain]]'', or ''turn''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Drabkin|first1=William|title=Part (iii)|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/53862|website=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=10 August 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Partbook]]
* [[Cantus firmus]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Counterpoint & polyphony}}
{{Melody}}
{{Harmony}}
{{Voicing (music)}}

[[Category:Melody]]
[[Category:Musical texture]]
[[Category:Polyphonic form]]
[[Category:Voicing (music)]]
[[Category:Formal sections in music analysis]]