descant

For much of the show, Fischer, a powerhouse vocalist best known as a backup singer, sticks to wordless descant, humming and oohing on top of and around the other music.

Will the protagonist, who loves to “descant on mine own deformity,” make us see anew the premium that society places on women’s appearances?

For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.

Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.

Attention is naturally drawn to high notes, so a part that is higher than the melody is sometimes given a special name such as "descant."