When Two Singers Sing Different Lines

What is it called when two singers sing different lines at the same time?

Polyphony is the term. You can name specific genres like round or madrigal but they don’t make sense to use when your examples are rock music. This is sort of a “trick” based on presenting the two lines separately as verse and chorus and then combining them later.

What’s it called when people sing different verses at the same time?

A round (also called a perpetual canon [canon perpetuus] or infinite canon) is a musical composition, a limited type of canon, in which a minimum of three voices sing exactly the same melody at the unison (and may continue repeating it indefinitely), but with each voice beginning at different times so that different …

James H. Sterling

James H. Sterling

Environmental Science & Climate Journalist

James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.

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