contrafact

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noun

A new musical composition built out of an already existing one, most often a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. An important part of the development of bebop. Contrafacts are not to be confused with musical quotations, which borrow rhythms or melodies from an existing composition.

Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nouncontrafact (plural contrafacts)

plural contrafacts

  1. A new musical composition built out of an already existing one, most often a new melody overlaid on a familiar harmonic structure. An important part of the development of bebop. Contrafacts are not to be confused with musical quotations, which borrow rhythms or melodies from an existing composition.

Translations

German Kontrafaktur
  • Kontrafakturmusical composition
Cite this entry
APA

contrafact. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrafact

MLA

“contrafact.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrafact. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “contrafact,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/contrafact.

Source: contrafact on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.