CHAPTER 6
Musical Form
OVERVIEW
Musical form refers to the way a musical piece is structured, shaped, and organized. Chapter 6
focuses on the key elements of music that define musical form: contrast, repetition, and
variation. The chapter also explores a few examples of musical forms that have had lasting value
in music from around the world.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand form as the organizing principle in music
2. To understand that the key elements of form are contrast, repetition, and variation
3. To understand and identify the basic structures of strophic, binary, ternary, and responsorial
(call-and-response) form
4. To understand theme and motive as the melodic building blocks of musical form
5. To understand sequence and ostinato as common procedures of repetition and pattern
employed in music
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Before playing the first two phrases of Greensleeves (A-A), ask the class to listen for how
many phrases are being stated. (Note that statements A and B repeat with different
cadences. Refer to the lectures for Chapter 1 if necessary.) After students respond correctly
with “two,” write on the board A-A, indicating two phrases, the second one slightly
different from the first. Repeat this exercise for the next two phrases of Greensleeves (B-B),
asking the class before marking the board whether you should use As or Bs to mark these
next two phrases. (The second B phrase is slightly different from the first.) Ask students to
explain their choices, and replay both the A and B sections if there is disagreement among
the class. After the class agrees that Bs are appropriate because the melody sounds different,
label the phrase B-B and define this example as binary form. Repeat this entire exercise
with Simple Gifts for illustrating ternary form and with Swing Low, Sweet Chariot for call-
and-response form, labeling the calls with As and responses with Bs.
2. Before playing America, ask the class to listen for how many phrases are being stated.
(Refer to the lectures for Chapter 1 if necessary.) Students should recognize two phrases. If
students reply with “seven” (i.e., seven two-bar phrases), ask them to think in longer
phrases (i.e., one six-bar phrase followed by one eight-bar phrase) and play the melody
again. Next, ask the class how you should label the two phrases using As and Bs.
Emphasize the binary (A-B) structure of the melody. Next, ask the students whether they
can detect any melodic or rhythmic repetition within the A or B phrase and play the
example again. If students have trouble recognizing the motives within the phrases, display
the melody in musical notation and ask them to identify any repetitive melodic or rhythmic
patterns while listening and following the notation. After they recognize patterns, redefine
motive and apply to the example. Next focus their attention and listening on the particular
motive present in the phrase “Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride.”
Show the musical notation on the board and, as you play the melody on the piano (or sing
the melody), ask students to recognize the shape of the motive (“Land where my fathers
died”) transposed down a scale step on “Land of the pilgrim’s pride.” Identify this as
sequence. Continue repeating the motive either down or up the scale to illustrate the concept
of sequence.
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Identify the musical form of the following selections as strophic, binary, or ternary:
▶ Beethoven: Für Elise
▶ Foster: Oh! Susanna
▶ Seeger: If I Had a Hammer
▶ Brahms: Lullaby
2. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins with one of the most famous and recognizable musical
motives. Listen to the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Can you hear the
motive? How would you describe the way in which Beethoven works with the motive in
this movement? As you listen, does the motive register any narrative thread? Indicate a
place in the music (using minute and second timings) where you feel the motive has the
most dramatic impact. What gives the motive this sense of drama?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Students may have some difficulty grasping the difference between theme and motive. Pop
music is a rich field for exploring theme versus motive because so many classic pop songs
take their titles from a motive within a larger theme (usually a chorus). A few examples
include the following:
▶ Marley: Redemption Song
▶ Beatles: Yesterday and Let It Be
▶ Porter: Anything Goes
▶ Berlin: Puttin’ on the Ritz
▶ Dylan: The Times They Are A-Changin’
▶ Presley: All Shook Up
▶ Prince: Little Red Corvette
▶ OutKast: Hey Ya
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Musical Form (Chapter 6)
I. Structure and Design in Music
A. Form: organizing principle in music
1. a work’s structure or shape
2. repetition and contrast: unity and variety
3. variation: only some aspects of music altered, original still recognizable
4. improvisation: pieces created spontaneously in performance
a. pre-established harmonic pattern, time frame, melodic outline
B. Vocal forms
1. strophic: same melody with each stanza of text
2. through-composed: no main section repeated
C. Binary and ternary form
1. binary (two-part) form: (A-B)
a. statement and departure
2. ternary (three-part) form: (A-B-A)
a. statement, departure, and return
II. The Building Blocks of Form
A. Theme: main melodic idea used as building block
1. motive: small fragment of a theme, melodic–rhythmic unit
B. Thematic development: expansion of a theme
1. larger forms: provides clarity, coherence, logic
2. principles of repetition: exact or varied
a. varying melody, rhythm, or harmony
b. sequence: restatement at higher or lower pitch
c. ostinato: short repeated musical pattern
i. unifying technique
ii. blues, jazz, rock, and rap
d. call-and-response: soloist and group response
i. early Western church music
ii. African, Native American, and African American cultures
C. Parts bound together to form a composition
1. notes–phrase–theme–section–movement–large-scale work
2. movement: complete, independent division of a large-scale work