Robert Kelley, Ph.D.

Resources for Practicing Musicians

Form and Analysis Outline

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Study Guide for Musical Form

A Complete Outline of Standardized Formal Categories and Concepts
Robert T. Kelley
February 2001

Note: This is not a tutorial, and cannot serve to replace classroom instruction in form and analysis. It is
intended to function as a study resource for students preparing for an exam or for anyone needing to review
their terminology and analytical tools. Although formal concepts are discussed in some detail, the text provides
no musical examples of any forms or concepts except by reference. For specific analyses from musical literature
of any formal consideration introduced here, see any of the books listed in the bibliography given below.

1. Introduction
A. The Analytical Problem
B. The Reasons for Division and Categorization
2. Basic Structural Units
A. Single Musical Events
i. pitches
ii. rhythms
iii. gestures
iv. motives
B. The Phrase
i. melodic/vocal
ii. structural/cadential
iii. introduction
iv. interpolation
v. extension
vi. phrase construction from repetition and contrast
vii. the sentence
C. The Period
i. antecedent and consequent
ii. symmetrical and asymmetrical
iii. parallel and contrasting
iv. HC AC type and IAC PAC type (and other possibilities)
 v. non-modulating and modulating
vi. three-phrase periods
vii. the double period
viii. the repeated period
D. The Phrase Group
i. modulatory/transitional phrase structures
ii. the section (extended passage with no cadential divisions)
3. Structural Functions (from Spencer/Temko)
A. Expository(/Recapitulatory)
B. Transitional(/Modulatory)
C. Developmental(/Variational)
D. Terminative(/Cadential)
4. Larger Structural Units (The concept of closure)
A. Closed Section
i. Completed Harmonic Motion in One Key
ii. Non-Modulating Periodic Structure
B. Open Section
i. Modulatory Periodic Structure
ii. Phrase Groups and Extended Phrases
5. Binary Forms (Large-scale antecedent-consequent functions)
A. Simple (Periodic or Cadential Division only)
i. Sectional
ii. Continuous
B. Balanced (Periodic or Cadential Division with Cadence Rhyme)
i. Sectional (rare)
ii. Continuous
C. Rounded (Periodic or Cadential Division with Clear Return of Opening Material in the tonic)
i. Sectional
ii. Continuous
D. Sonata (Clear Return of Opening Material and Advanced Cadence Rhyme)
i. Expository Sections with Two or More Themes and Modulation
ii. The Concept of Development as Larger Formal Division
iii. The Sonatina
iv. Concerted Sonata Form
6. Ternary Forms
A. Simple Ternary Structure
i. Three closed sections, no development
ii. Three closed sections with transitions
B. Composite (or Compound) Ternary
i. Paired Dances
ii. Minuet (Scherzo) and Trio
iii. The March and Trio
iv. Other combinations
7. Refrain Forms
 A. Concerto Grosso
B. Verse and Refrain Songs
C. Rondeau and Rondo (5-part and 7-part)
D. Sonata-Rondo
8. One-Part Forms
A. Prelude and Toccata
B. Programmatic One-Part Forms
C. Contrapuntal Forms
9. Variation Forms
A. Theme and Variations (Sectional Variations)
B. Continuous Variations
C. Developing Variations
10. Contrapuntal Genres
A. Compositional Process as Form
B. Head-Motive Structures
i. Imitative Motet
ii. Invention
iii. Fugue
iv. Canon
11. Multi-Movement Structures
A. The Suite
B. The Sonata
C. The Cycle
12. Summary of Analytical Procedure
A. Background Research
B. Listening
C. Segmenting of Motives and Themes
D. Harmonic Analysis
E. Phrase Structure Analysis
F. Segmentation of Larger Formal Divisions
G. Categorization with Regard to Larger Formal Units
H. Discussion of the Whole and its Place in Musical Literature

Selected Bibliography

Berry, Wallace. Form in Music: An Examination of Traditional Techniques of Musical Structure and their
Application in Historical and Contemporary Styles. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (Well-
organized and thorough)
Caplin, William. Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart,
and Beethoven. London: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Fontaine, Paul. Basic Formal Structures in Music. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts (Meredith Publishing
Company), 1967.
 Green, Douglass M. Form in Tonal Music: An Introduction to Analysis. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1979 (second edition), 1965 (first edition). (Sometimes confusing and unclear, but good for complete
terminology.)
Kohs, Ellis B. Musical Form: Studies in Analysis and Synthesis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.
(Very wide variety of formal considerations are discussed in depth)
Morris, R. O. The Structure of Music. London: Oxford University Press, 1935. (This is an old standard text.)
Spencer, Peter and Peter M. Temko. A Practical Approach to the Study of Form in Music. Prospect Heights,
Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc., 1994. Originally published Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall (Simon &
Schuster), 1988. (Clear and consise. Perfect for undergraduate form classes. However, if you want
thoroughness, go for Green or Kohs.)

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Robert Kelley, Ph.D.

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