How is musical form created

Skip to main content. Textures and Forms. Search for:. Musical Form Harvard band forming music notes on field, Harvard vs.

Brown, Listen for: Verses have the same melody but different words. Refrains have the same melody and the same words. Bridge Sections are new material that appears late in the song, usually appearing only once or twice, often in place of a verse and usually leading into the refrain. Instrumentals are important sections that have no vocals.

They can come at the beginning or end, or in between other sections. Is there more than one? Do they have the same melody as a verse or refrain?

Are they similar to each other? Some Common Forms Through-composed — One section usually not very long that does not contain any large repetitions. If a short piece includes repeated phrases, it may be classified by the structure of its phrases. Strophic — Composed of verses. Arch form is essentially a rondo form, but symmetrical. Sonata form consists of:. The exposition and development have very distinct themes and key areas.

Each half of the form is harmonically enclosed. The exposition is considered the first half while the development and recapitulation are considered the second half. In the exposition, we are presented with two subjects, basically binary form. The first subject is in the tonic key while the second moves to the dominant.

Usually, the development section is thicker in musical texture and full in unstable harmonic structure. Instead of just settling in one key, this section will sometimes travel through multiple modulations.

The development section features a completely new theme. In ternary form, the middle section is closely related. However, in sonata form, the middle section does not have to even be remotely related to the exposition. The rhythms are more diverse, the chords are more complex, and the dynamics are much broader compared to the exposition.

The recapitulation is a clear restatement of the exposition and rolls in effortlessly out of the development section. This helps set a new mood. Sometimes the recapitulation returns in a different key, which is actually a false recapitulation. In this case, the development section is teasing the return of the exposition material because the harmonic structure is still unstable.

Once the recapitulation is heard in the tonic key, then and only then is it a true recapitulation. Occasionally, pieces in sonata form will have a short tag added on to the recapitulation. Sometimes a sonata form piece will open up with an introduction section just before the exposition.

One change you might also notice is that both subjects from the exposition will operate in the tonic key instead of the second moving to the dominant. Sonata form structure was widely used in the 18th century by Mozart and Hadyn as well.

In theme and variations, the main theme is developed throughout subsequent sections. In the first section, the main theme is first introduced. After that section comes to a close, the first variation is introduced. This variation along with the rest will follow the same harmonic progressions. In each new variation, there can be changes to the rhythm, articulations, and style of the piece. In some instances, the key signature can also change, however, it will still follow the relative harmonic structure in the new key.

Almost all of the types of form in music, and all of the ones mentioned here, are called sectional forms. A sectional form is when music can be broken down into sections and then labelled with the A, B, C letters mentioned above.

Here is a list of the main sectional forms, and we will link to posts that go into each of these in detail. Strophic Form is a type of musical form when only one phrase or passage is repeated throughout the piece. For more information and examples, read our guide to Strophic Form here. A piece with Binary Form has two sections that are approximately equal in length and importance. For more information and examples, read our guide to Binary Form here.

A piece separated into three parts, in which the third part repeats the main ideas and passages of the first, has a Ternary Form. For more information and examples check out our guide to Ternary Form in music here. If we instead chose to add a new section, B , we would have the musical form AB. This would be two contrasting musical sections. The ' is used to indicate variation. With the processes of repetition, contrast and variation there can be many musical forms. This blog makes use of third party services that track user information.