Medieval music theory

thumb|350px|This melody for the traditional song "Pop Goes the Weasel" is monophonic as long as it is performed without chordal [[accompaniment. ]]

pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition

Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – French for false drone – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, particularly by composers of the Burgundian School. Guillaume Du Fay was a prominent practitioner of the form (as was John Dunstaple), and may have been its inventor. The homophony and mostly parallel harmony allows the text of the mostly liturgical lyrics to be understood clearly.

thumb|upright=1.4|Transcription in modern notation of the isorhythmic tenor voice from the opening of the Kyrie of [[Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame (c. 1360). A color of 28 pitches is arranged with a talea of four durations which repeats seven times (28 ÷ 4 = 7).]] Isorhythm (from the Greek for "the same rhythm") is a musical technique using a repeating rhythmic pattern, called a talea, in at least one voice part throughout a composition. Taleae are typically applied to one or more melodic patterns of pitches or colores, which may be of the same or a different

In music, hocket is a rhythmic and linear technique involving the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice, a single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that one voice sounds while the other rests, creating a staggered, interlocking texture.

renaissance European music theory term to describe pitches

mnemonic

Jubilus (plural jubili) is the term for the long melisma placed on the final syllable of the Alleluia as it is sung in the Gregorian chant. The structure of the Alleluia is such that the cantor first sings the word "alleluia," without the jubilus, and then the choir repeats the word with the melisma added. It is traditionally repeated at the end of the chant as well, although it was frequently omitted in the Middle Ages and is still omitted when the Alleluia is followed by a Sequence.

variation on the harmonic progression in which an unstable sixth expands to a stable octave

set patterns of long and short durations in medieval European music

graphic symbol in musical notation

thumb|350px|right|A psalm-tone setting of the Gloria Patri in [[neumes, with two alternative melodies for the words indicated with the abbreviation Euouae.]]

In medieval and early Renaissance English polyphonic music, gymel (also gimel or gemell) is the technique of temporarily dividing up one voice part, usually an upper one, into two parts of equal range, but singing different music. Often the two voices sing a passage of intricate polyphony, beginning and finally converging on a unison, and often, but not always, the other voices drop out for a time.

In music centonization (from Latin cento or patchwork) is musical composition via the combination of pre-existing motivic units, typically in reference to Christian liturgical chant. A piece created using centonization is known as a "centonate".

musical notation system

notation and structuring of musical note durations