Download Introduction to Music: Musical Forms

Introduction to Music:
Musical Forms & Styles
Instructor: Anthony Johnson
Course: Music 100
Musical Form
Binary Forms
 Binary form -- A tonally closed musical entity in two sections, both of which
are usually repeated. (In letter form looks like AB)
 "Tonally closed" means "beginning and ending in the tonic,
exhibiting melodic and harmonic closure.” The two sections are
referred to as reprises
 We classify binary forms in 2 ways:
 According to their tonal form (their harmonic shape)
 Their surface design (the patterns of melodic repetition that occur in the
music).
Musical Form
Tonal form -- Sectional or Continuous?
 If the first reprise ends with a perfect authentic cadence in the tonic
key, the design is referred to as a sectional binary.
 If the first reprise ends with any other kind of cadence, the design is
referred to as a continuous binary.
 Cadence:
 A cadence is a place in a piece of music that feels like a stopping or
resting point.
Musical Form
Surface design -- Simple or Rounded?
 If the second reprise lacks such a return of the opening material, it is
a simple binary.
 If the second reprise concludes with a return of the opening material from
the first reprise, the design is referred to as a rounded binary. In such
cases, the beginning of the second reprise is called the bridge, and will
lead to a half cadence in the tonic.
Musical Form
The interaction of motivic design and tonal form
 Motive:
 In music, a leading phrase or figure that is reproduced and varied
through the course of a composition or movement
 Sectional binaries can be either simple or rounded, as can continuous
binaries. As a result, there are four basic kinds of binary form: simple
sectional, simple continuous, rounded sectional and rounded continuous.
Tonal Form
Surface Design
Sectional
Sectional
Continuous
Continuous
Simple
Rounded
Simple
Rounded
Musical Form
Special examples of binary form
 Quatrain form
 One common type of rounded binary design consists of four
phrases, two in each reprise. Motivically they relate to one
another as |aa|ba|. This type of rounded binary design is called
a quatrain. In a continuous rounded binary form in quatrain
design, the first reprise will often end with a PAC in the
dominant; the bridge will lead to another cadence on the
dominant, this one a half cadence in I. It is important to hear
the latter as a kind of answer to the challenge of the former,
reasserting the dominant's role as a triad in the tonic key rather
than as a new tonic in its own right.
Musical Form
Balanced Binary
 In some simple continuous binary forms, there is a kind of "rhyme"
between the closing gesture of the first reprise and the closing gesture of
the second. In other words, the cadential material at the end of the first
reprise (in the key of the dominant) will return, transposed to the tonic, at
the end of the second reprise.
Musical Form
Ternary Form
 This is a form used to structure compositions. The form is comprised of
three sections (ABA). The form was often used from the classical period
onward as the basis for marches, minuets, scherzos, and independent
works.
 This musical form could be considered a more structured version of Binary form.
While in Binary form, it’s customary to repeat the first section (giving a structure
of ABA'); in ternary form, it is customary to repeat the first section and then
repeat it at the end (giving the structure of AA'BA). Harmonically, Ternary form
is different from Binary in that instead of ending the first section in the opening
key it may end in a different key - the first section is completely independent. In
binary form, the sections compliment each other, the material in the sections
are related thematically. In ternary form, the sections are meant to
contrast/conflict one another. For unification, however, it is still important when
composing these forms to link the two ideas in some appropriate manner
Musical Form
Ternary Form
 Ternary form has two distinct types:
 simple ternary (ABA)
 compound ternary (ABACDCABA)
 Simple Ternary
 In simple ternary form, the first and third parts are musically identical, or very
nearly so, while the second part contrasts sharply with it. The middle section will
generally be in a different key from the first section. It usually also has a contrasting
character; in a march, for example, the highly rhythmic and strident character of the
march itself is usually contrasted with a more lyrical and flowing. Often in the
second section the time signature may change to ¾ as opposed to the 4/4 of the
first section.
Musical Form
Ternary Form
 Compound Ternary
 In compound ternary form, each section is itself a ternary
or binary.
 As seen in the above picture, each section is a ternary. The first and third
sections are identical, whereas the middle section is different. One can
even compound each section even more by making the smaller sections
inside each section ternary as well.
Questions &
Disscussion
1-What is a tonally closed musical entity in two sections, both of
which are usually repeated.
Binary Form
2-This is a place in a piece of music that feels like a stopping or resting
point.
Cadence
3-This is a common type of rounded binary design consisting of four phrases, two in
each reprise.
Quatrain
4-This form is comprised of three sections
(ABA). Ternary Form
5-In this form the first and third sections are identical, whereas the middle section is
different.
Compound Ternary