Drone (music)

In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. The systematic (not occasional) use of drones originated in Ancient Southwest Asia and was spread north and west to Europe, east to India, and south to Africa (van der Merwe 1989, p.11).

See also

• Dronology or "drone music" or "drone": a post-classical popular music genre with heavy emphasis on the drone harmonic effect
• Drone doom is a form of heavy metal music with simplistic song structures focusing almost entirely on droning, heavily downtuned electric guitar and bass guitar, often lacking vocals or drums. Songs often reach or greatly exceed ten minutes in length.