Part (music)

A part in music refers to a component of a musical composition. Because there are multiple ways to separate these components, there are several contradictory senses in which the word "part" is used:

• any individual melody (or voice), whether vocal or instrumental, that can be abstracted as continuous and independent from other notes being performed simultaneously in polyphony. Within the music played by a single pianist, one can often identify outer parts (the top and bottom parts) or an inner part (those in between). On the other hand, within a choir, "outer parts" and "inner parts" would refer to music performed by different singers.^[1] (See § Polyphony and part-writing)
• the musical instructions for any individual instrument or voice (often given as a handwritten, printed, or digitized document) of sheet music (as opposed to the full score which shows all parts of the ensemble in the same document).^[2] A musician's part usually does not contain instructions for the other players in the ensemble, only instructions for that individual.
• the music played by any group of musicians who all perform together for a given piece; in a symphony orchestra, a dozen or more cello players may all play "the same part" even if they each have their own physical copy of the music.^[2] This part may be in unison or may be harmonized, and may even sometimes contain counter-melodies within it. A percussion part may sometimes only contain rhythm. This sense of "part" does not require a written copy of the music; a bass player in a rock band "plays the bass part" even if there is no written version of the song.
• a section in the large-scale form of a piece. (See § Musical form)