Musical Form In All Its Glory
Musical Form is very important in music and is often neglected. People want to go straight into writing a piece of music, without a plan, and just let the music take them wherever they want to go. But without an idea of or blueprint of what you imagine the piece to be, you are inevitably going to end up with something that seems incoherent or disjointed.
A composer does not, of course, add bit by bit, as a child does in building with wooden blocks. He conceives an entire composition as a spontaneous vision. Then he proceeds, like Michelangelo who chiseled his Moses out of the marble without sketches, complete in every detail, this forming his material.
This is a quote from Arnorld Schoenberg, and explains how you should think about composing. Have you “conceived an entire composition as a spontaneous vision” before? Can you?
Musical Form is the Key
Musical form is the bedrock that we rest out composition on.
In the plainest sense, form is the same as saying that a piece of music has organization. I am not here to debate which types of musical form are the best – they are all the best. There have been beautiful pieces of music written in all forms, and terrible music.
What Are the Different Musical Forms?
It is easy to think about musical form is several different categories:
Number of Parts Dividing the Piece
This group contains what you are probably thinking about when you hear the term musical form. This includes:
- Strophic Form (not recommended)
- Binary Form
- Ternary Form
- Rondo Form
- Arch Form
- Theme and Variations
Complexity and Size of the Parts
Sometimes it is the complexity and interrelation of the parts, and their size than how many parts there are that explains the form. This group includes.
- Sonata Form
- Fugue Form
Meter, Tempo, and Rhythmic Figures
This group is basically different types of “dance forms” and is more about how the piece sounds. This group is very large but includes some of the following:
- Minuet
- Scherzo
- Polonaise
Mastery Of Musical Form
To understand musical form and use it is a three step process.
- Know the musical form – both what it means, and some compositions in that form.
- Use the musical form. You must practice using the form in your own work, so that you start to feel comfortable with it.
- Integrate the musical form into your own compositional vocabulary. This only comes with time, as you write using the forms more and more.
No beginner is capable of envisaging a composition in its entirety; hence he must proceed gradually, from simpler to the more complex. [ . . . ] These musical blocks (phrases, motives, etc.) will provide the material for building larger units of various kinds, according to the requirements of structure. Thus the demands of logic, coherence and comprehensibility can be fulfilled, in relation to the need for contrast, variety and fluency of presentation.
Hi, do you know if there is any form that is “ABCABCA”?
You can make any form work, it just has to be logical. If you think of it like this:
(A) beginning – (B) middle – (C) End (not a recapitulation) – repeat ABC – End with A.
This would be easily composeable.
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Good to know. Coffee makes everything better.
Hi Jon,
I am a 29 year old ex music student. I have 1 year of Theory, Ear Training, Music History and Piano Lab under my belt.
I will be starting private piano study at the university Conservatory in January. My plan was to also begin private Composition study, but I then came across your site 3 days ago. After going over everything here and clicking on everything clickable, I have come to believe that what you are offering here is revolutionary and unprecedented. I was one of the top Theory I and II students and I could have tutored it, but I could not possibly see how it was used when composing. I was good because I memorized all the exceptions the teacher randomly threw at us, but no one ever stopped to explain the “why” and “how” of theory. Here you have done so, and I have decided to join your Academy in the coming weeks.
I believe that your approach and the material offered here (and the stuff to come) is not on par with an official Composition course; it is superior. I believe my money would be better spent here than at the Conservatory in January. This is my opinion but just for the heck of it, what do you think about it?
By the way, I also would donate, given the option.
Leonardo, thank you for the kind words. I try to make everything I write practical. Most theory is written for analysts, but is very applicable to composers, if you know how it’s used, so I have tried to show people how to use it. I am glad you like and look forward to seeing you in the Academy.
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Thank you very much. Maybe I should put up a donate button. 🙂
I am interested, however unable to access the free assistance.
Shoot me an email at [email protected], we can probably fix the issue.