| Form is the
way we organize sound. Just as we can see shapes of
objects with our eyes, we can hear shapes of music with our
ears.
When we hear patterns of sound in music, we are beginning to understand form. When shapes are put together in different ways, they create different forms. These forms can create images like trees, houses and people. A composer does the same thing: He uses pieces of music and puts them together in different ways to create different musical forms. Just as there are many different forms in art, there are also many different forms in music. Let's look at some popular musical forms.
AB form: Look at this simple form: |
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This yellow square and blue circle represent the different parts of Waltzing Matilda, a Nationalistic song from Australia. This form above is called AB form. The A part will sound different from the B part.
ABC form: Look at these three different shapes below: |
| You see a square, a
circle, and a triangle. This song has three
different parts. Each section of this song
will sound different from the other, so this form
has three different shapes. The
A section will not sound like the
B section, and the B section
will not sound like the C section. We call
this musical form ABC form. Which do you
think is the simpler form, AB
form or ABC
form?
Sonata form: Take a look at this pattern below: |
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| Many of the songs you
hear on the radio are built using this form. The beginning and the
end of the song sound the same, as the yellow
square show. The middle part of the song has a
different sound, so it is given a
different shape. We will call the middle section
part B. This is called ABA
form. We also call this Sonata
form. Sometimes we call the middle section the
bridge because it connects the beginning and end of
the song. Great composers like Mozart
used this form, too. One of his famous pieces using this form
is Sonata
in C Major for Piano. Click on the letters above
to hear the different sections. To learn more, click Sonata
form.
Theme and Variations: Take a look at these shapes below. How are they the same? How are they different? |
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Did you notice that the same shape--a square--was used in all the pictures? The first square (A1) is not quite the same as the others. We call this the theme. The other squares are called the variations. In music this form would be called Theme and Variations. Do you think you could create a theme and variations using a different shape? What would it look like?
This form is called AABB form because the different parts repeat: |
Rondo form: This is a very hard form to hear in music.
Do you know why?
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As you can see, form is nothing more than recognizing patterns. Sometimes the patterns are easy, sometimes the patterns are complicated. Sometimes a section of the song will repeat, sometimes it won't repeat. Sometimes it will sound the same, sometimes it will sound different. If you know what the form of a song is before you hear it, you will know what to listen for, and it will be more fun for you.
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