Form (musical) is the structural form of music. The melody forms various paragraphs during the development process. According to the regularity of the formation of these paragraphs, finding a unique format is the musical form. The structure and form of a piece: a piece usually consists of two phrases or four phrases. A "section" (specifically called a "square section") consisting of two phrases of four bars (or eight bars) each is the most common in instrumental music. It is characterized by a strong sense of balance and symmetry. A piece of music consisting of only one section is called a "form".

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There are many forms of music, just as a big palace has a big structure, and a small house has a small form. No matter how big or small, whether classical or modern, innovative works will always contain the following three principles: contrast, variation, and repetition.

Contrast

The progression, conflict and emotional changes of music all come from contrast - strong and weak, strings and woodwinds, fast and slow, major and minor, etc., Use this to promote and expand your thinking. The contrast is caused by the multiple musical materials in the work. Their differences in melody form, rhythm pattern, and emotional characteristics bring fresh feelings to the listener. There will always be some contrasting factors in a work. Large-scale works will have a greater range of contrast and more materials for comparison. Relatively speaking, small works will have a smaller range of contrast and not that many materials.

Variation

The variation technique is to change a musical material while retaining certain characteristics. On the one hand, it can still make people hear the prototype while still having a sense of freshness. A relatively simple variation is to basically maintain the melody outline, rhythm pattern and even harmony of the theme, and just add some small decorations. For more complex ones, the melody, rhythm, mode, texture, and harmony will be significantly changed, or even just a certain element of the raw materials will be selected and developed, so that it is almost impossible to hear the difference between them and the prototype. Contacted. "Expansion" in musical works belongs to this type of variation.

Repetition

Repetition is the recurrence of musical material. One of the characteristics of musical art is that it disappears in a flash. In order to make a deep impression on the listener of the musical material, repetition or repetition with variation is a necessary means. In addition, reproduction is also a form of repetition. When a piece of music material is presented, new factors appear. The reappearance of the above-mentioned material behind the new factors is called reproduction. This technique can bring echo, symmetry, and stability to the whole piece. feeling. Representation can be intact, or it can be changed to achieve a summary and sublimation effect.

The above three principles are not independent of each other. They can penetrate each other in use. For example, reproduction with changes actually embodies the principle of variation, and at the same time produces a contrasting effect because of its changes.

The establishment of musical form is achieved through the comprehensive use of various musical elements, especially harmony and tonality, which play a very important role. For example, the main chord can provide a sense of closure to the paragraph, and the key Sexual changes not only bring about contrast, but often signal the beginning of the next paragraph, reappearance is often based on a return to the original key, and so on.

Categories of music forms

According to tradition, music forms can be divided into two categories, small music forms and large music forms. Small ones include one-part form, two-part form, three-part form, complex two-part form, and complex three-part form. Large-scale ones include variation form, rondo form, and sonata form.

Professor Yang Ruhuai, a Chinese music theorist, summarizes the unique characteristics of music forms into "parallel music form", "reappearance music form", "compound music form" and "cyclic music form". ", "Variation form" and "Sonata form", "Rondo sonata form", "Polyphonic form", "Suite form" and "Edge form".

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(1) Basic meaning:

Musical form refers to the basic structural form of (song) music.

(2) One-part musical form (section):

It is the smallest structure in the complete musical form. It can be composed of one phrase, two phrases, three or more phrases. Generally, there is a relatively obvious cadence, which can express a complete or relatively complete musical thought.

(3) Single two-part form:

It consists of two parts, each part consists of a musical section. In general, the two parts have a certain connection in musical material. If expressed graphically, it can be written as: A+B.

(4) Single-tripartite formula:

It consists of three parts, each part is basically a section. There are two types of single-tripartite formulas. The first is the single-tripartite formula with recurrence (that is, the third part is a repetition or variation of the first part. Represented by a diagram: A+ B+A); It is a single three-part formula without recurrence (that is, the third part does not repeat the first part. It is represented by a diagram: A+B+C).

(5) Complex duology:

It consists of two parts, each part itself is already a single duology or a single trilogy, or one of them Part of it is a musical section, and the other part is a single-two or single-three-part formula. For example: A (single two-part form) + B (single two-part form); or: A (single two-part form) + B (music section).

(6) Complex three-part formula:

It consists of three parts. Its first part is already a single-two or single-three-part formula. The third part often repeats or changes the first part, so the third part is called the recapitulation. The second part often contrasts musically with the first and third parts. This part may be a single-two, single-three-part formula, or it may be a musical section. For example, A (single three-part form) + B (single two-part form) + A (variation repeats the first part); or: A (single two-part form) + B (music section) + A' (variation repeats the first part); Part 1).

(7) Rondo form:

It consists of the main part which plays the primary significance in the form and various insert parts that alternately appear. The main part appears at least three times in the music, and the insert part has at least two. Therefore, a rondo form must have at least five parts. For example: A (main part) + B (first plug-in part) + A (main part) + C (second plug-in part) + A (main part)...A (main part).

(8) Variation form:

A musical form consisting of the initial statement of the basic theme and its several variations repeated or developed (called "variations") is called a variation. Mode. For example: A (theme) ten A' (first variation) + A'' (second variation) + A''' (third variation)...

(9) Sonata form:

It is mainly composed of three parts. The first part is the presentation part, which includes two contrasting parts: the main part and the auxiliary part (sometimes there is a connecting part between the main part and the auxiliary part; after the auxiliary part, there is sometimes an ending part). The second part is the development part, which fully changes and develops the musical materials in the presentation part to create a dramatic climax. The third part is the recapitulation, which repeats or changes the music of the presentation. In addition to the above three parts, an introduction sometimes appears before the music section, and an epilogue sometimes appears after the recapitulation. Use a diagram to express it as:

(Introduction) => Presentation part {{[Main part] (Connection part) => [Secondary part] (End part)}} => Development part => Recapitulation part {{[Main Part](Connecting Part)=>[Secondary Part](Ending Part)}}=>(End)

(10) Rondo Sonata Form:

You can This form is regarded as a certain deformation of the rondo form. Generally speaking, it can be explained by the rondo structural diagram. However, the rondo sonata form clearly has the characteristics of the sonata form. For example, the first insert plays a role similar to the sonata form subpart in the music, and the second insert (also called the "central insert") clearly has the characteristics of a sonata. The function of the formula expansion part; there is an obvious reproduction at the end of the music, etc. It can be explained with the following diagram:

(Introduction) => Presentation part {{A [main part] => B [auxiliary part] (first insertion part) => A [main part]}} => Development part {{C[center insert]}}=>Reproduction part {{A[main part]=>B[sub part](third insert)=>A[main part]}}=>( End)

(11) Fugue section:

It is a relatively complex and rigorous structural form in polyphonic music. It mainly consists of topics, answers, questions, interjections and other parts. It requires that the theme must appear in each voice in sequence.

Hope this can help you