Music Form and Analysis

Musical form relates to the structure of a given piece, its themes and the relationship between each theme. There are many varieties of form used in music, both popular and classical.

## Popular Song Form

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Most popular music follows the basic structure of Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.[1][2][3] Artists often vary and elaborate on this basic structure.

### Verses and Choruses

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Most popular music is shaped around verses and choruses. Each verse has different words [and sometimes different melody and harmonies as well] while the chorus [generally] remains constant. Forms include VVCVCVC… [V-verse C-chorus], CVCV… CC, and variations thereof.

### Bridges

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The bridge, at its most basic, is used in songs to provide contrast. Artists often introduce new musical or thematic elements in the bridge before returning to the familiar chorus.[4][5]

## Binary

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In binary music, there are just two different themes ~~which appear only once~~ [6], one after the other like this:

## Ternary

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Ternary music has two themes, one of which appears twice, like this:

ABA

## Rondo

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A rondo [rondeau] works as bit like the Verse Chorus form of popular music today. ~~It is also called Ritornello.~~ [7]

ABACADA

## Canon

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A canon has a repeated melody line which starts at the same pitch, where each entry is delayed by a few notes. A canon must work so that the harmonies match.

## See Also

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* Wikipedia: Musical Form

* Grasping the Whole Composition cnx.org

1. ↑ Hutchinson, Robert. Verse-Chorus Form (in en-US). https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/VerseChorusForm.html.
2. ↑ "Music Crash Courses". www.musiccrashcourses.com. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
3. ↑ Gateway, Music (2019-08-22). "What Is A Pop Song Structure?". Music Gateway. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
4. ↑ "What Is a Bridge in a Song and How to Use It". www.iconcollective.edu. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
5. ↑ Staff, Billboard (2021-05-13). "The 100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century: Staff Picks". Billboard. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
6. ↑ Needs revising; does not consider simple, rounded, continuous, or sectional binary designs.
7. ↑ Rewrite; Ritornello is episode-based and typically used for fugue design.