What do you call a part or a moment in music when several players play it in unison. For instance in rock music when a bass player, guitar player, keyboard player and drummer play a part in unison just before a chorus, bridge or a verse. Or maybe they play some rhythm in unison or a phrase of any kind. Or in symphonic music when the whole orchestra plays a part in unison?
asked Jan 15, 2017 at 6:48
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2It's just called Unison, no fancy musical terms.– JohnJan 15, 2017 at 6:54
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So you just say, "This part is played in unison"?– SovereignSunJan 15, 2017 at 7:01
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Yes. Why would it be called anything else? Unison alone pretty much covers it.– Dom ♦Jan 15, 2017 at 7:06
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I was wondering whether it had a term.– SovereignSunJan 15, 2017 at 7:10
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1 Answer
It's just called Unison, no fancy musical terms.
1.. coincidence in pitch of two or more musical tones, voices etc. - Dictionary.com
2.. A combination of notes, voices, or instruments at the same pitch or (especially when singing) in octaves. - Oxford Dictionary
1a.. identity in musical pitch; specifically: the interval of a perfect prime - Merriam-Webster
2.. coincidence in pitch of sounds or notes. - Google Definitions
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That counts only for the perfect unison, the augmented unison is none of those things. Jan 15, 2017 at 8:43
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1But no-one mentioned aug. unison, and that's an interval. Nothing at all to do with the OP's question on different instruments playing together - when they would all be playing the same notes.– TimJan 15, 2017 at 10:18
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So, does this mean that drums cannot play 'in unison' with others? (No pitch).– TimJan 15, 2017 at 10:19
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These definitions should include rhythm as well as pitch. If two instruments play the same pitch using different rhythms, it's not unison.– endorphJan 15, 2017 at 10:50
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2Oddly enough, my 'bible', Oxford Companion to Music, doesn't reference unison...– TimJan 15, 2017 at 14:05