What is a drone in music?
Q: What is a drone in music?
A: A drone in music is a note that sounds all the time while a piece of music is played.
Q: What are some folk instruments that always make a drone when they are played?
A: Bagpipes and hurdy gurdies in European culture, sitars in Indian music, and many other instruments in Asian and African music.
Q: What are some examples of drones played in music?
A: Often two notes which are a fifth apart.
Q: Why does music with drones have to have simple harmonies?
A: Music with drones has to have simple harmonies because it is not possible to modulate to different keys.
Q: How do Scottish bagpipe music make up for the lack of modulation in drones?
A: Scottish bagpipe music has lots of little ornamental notes to make it interesting.
Q: What did Bach, François Couperin and other Baroque composers call pieces with drones?
A: Such pieces were often called "Musette" (the French for "bagpipes").
Q: Which composer used a drone in the last part of his Symphony No. 104 to accompany a folk tune?
A: Haydn used a drone in the last part of his Symphony No. 104 to accompany a folk tune.
