Homophonic Texture

In each piece a sense of homophonic texture is introduced. Homophonic texture in rock music is fairly common with a vocal melody being played over a chord progression with ornamentation. In Bach's piece the texture is an implied aspect to the piece. As it is a piece for the cello without accompaniment, "...the harmony plays out note-by-note like a musical journey, as chords are implied over the course of a bar rather than played," (Classic fM).  

The homophonic texture begins in the verse of Blackbird (See Figure 5).

Figure 5

The guitar compliments the melody sung. The interesting part of the harmony in this piece comes with the constantly changing time signature. In the 2/4 section the guitar is able to use ornamentation to highlight itself while the melody is sustained. This similar idea is seen in the basso continuo of the Cello Suite. 

The bass notes in the Bach piece mimic the idea of two instruments being prevalent throughout the piece, complimenting one another in a homophonic style through out. This is best seen towards the end of the suite with the drone-like idea (See Figure 2). The genius part of this is being able to use an instrument to compliment itself. If this was a simple melody it would only be monophonic, however the harmony in the bass creates the homophonic texture. 

The two pieces utilize homophonic texture to strengthen the melody and create a much more dynamic emotion to the audience. There is a clear musical link in the harmonies. The bass note in both pieces happens on the beat, every beat. This creates a progressive motion that pushes the piece forward.