Traditional music of the Middle and Far East is typically polyphonic. "Homophonic" describes a single-voiced texture without accompaniment. In imitation, a melodic idea in one voice is restated in another. A canon is a type of homophony.
In the Far East, traditional music is
largely monophonic.
In the Far East, many Asian
civilizations distinguish between art/court/classical<span> styles and "folk" music, though cultures that
do not depend greatly upon notation and have much anonymous art music must
distinguish the two in different ways from those suggested by western scholars. </span>
