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Musical form

lastmod 2021-03-25created 2021-03-213 edits

Musical form (樂式) refers to the form of a piece of music.

Every musical work has two opposing sides, 'variety' and 'unity'. The former is a so-called centrifugal force. The latter is likened to a centripetal force.

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Period

A period (樂節, sentence, period, phrase (English), Periode, Satz (German)) is also a small unit of a piece of music, but it is characterized by containing motives, ending with a harmonic close (cadence), and having balanced, conclusive content. The structure of a period also varies depending on whether the effect of its close corresponds to a comma or a full stop in a sentence, and on the kind and state of the motives it contains.

A group (群) of 4 bars is usually called a 'phrase' (小樂節, small period), and two phrases together form a 'period' (大樂節, large period, sentence); in this case the former is called the 'antecedent phrase' and the latter the 'consequent phrase'. Two periods together in turn form a 'section' (樂段) or 'double period'.

A period does not always consist of a number of bars that is a multiple (倍數) of 2, but periods with this structure are common in Classical and Romantic music.

The arrangement of the phrases within a double period, or of the 2-bar groups within a period, can take many forms: besides a－a－a－a, made of the same motive, forms with other motives interposed, such as a－a－b－a, a－b－c－a, and a－b－c－d, are possible.

The unit for four bars in a score

4 bars - one line in a typical score. I was so curious what this is called... I had always thought it was called a "verse" (I wasn't quite sure), but the precise term is "phrase" (small period).

  • 4 bars are a "phrase" (small period)
  • Two phrases (8 bars) are said to be called a "period" (large period)

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References

  1. Music_Notation_Basic_Guide_-_The_Note_Music_Story.pdf ↩

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