Imitation

Imitation, in the science of musical composition, is the repeating of the same passage, or the following of a passage with a similar one, in one or more of the other parts or voices, and it may be either strict or free. When the imitated passage is repeated note for note, and every interval is the same, it is called strict, and it may take place in the unison or octave, or in any other of the degrees of the scale, either above or below the original passage. Canon (q.v.) is strict imitation carried on to some length. The progression of a passage may also be imitated by an inversion, or by reversing the movement of the original: also by notes of a greater or of a lesser value (see AUGMENTATION).