Characteristics of Minimalist Music

Minimalist music came about as a reaction against other music styles, mainly Serialism. This music style was originated in the late 1960s, in New York downtown. Minimalism was pioneered by a group of American composers, Michael Nyman and Tom Johnson. Initially it was looked up as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School and was later recognized as a popular experimental music style. This music style was inspired from the minimalist art forms.

Composers like Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, La Monte Young and John Adams are the pioneers in making this music known to the world. Steve Reich developed the phasing effect and experimented with the piano, harmonium, violin and tape recording. La Monte Young and Terry Riley are known as the first minimalist composers. Young has made remarkable contributions to Drone Music.

Minimalist music can last for hours and can have thousands of notes for example- Opera. However, minimalist songs often lie in the range of 6 to 10 minutes. Minimalist composers often use instruments like Violins, Viola, Cello, Guitar, Saxophones, Trumpet, Piano, drums, Marimba, Sopranos and tuned percussion's. They experiment with other instruments too.

Minimalist music is also known with other names like 'trance music', 'hypnotic music', 'process music', 'modular music' and 'going-nowhere music'. The title 'Minimalist' has been very controversial and has been criticized by many music composers.

Characteristics of Minimalist Music

Let us look at the main characteristics of minimalist music, which makes it different from the other music genres.

Single Tone: Using static tone throughout a song is one of the basic features of minimalist music. The shift from one scale to another is slow and unrealizable.

Static Harmony: Harmonies used in this music are usually simple and repetitive. Static harmony could be explained as staying on just one chord or even moving back and forth using a set of a few chords.

Steady Beat: In minimalist music style, same beats are followed throughout the song, or even drones can be used in a similar fashion. This can be explained in plain words, as less variation of rhythm in music.

Single Rhythm: Many minimalist pieces use the same rhythm and the same pulse throughout the song. Use of polyrhythms is also a common feature of minimalist music, in which a composer uses two or more rhythms simultaneously.