music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

, a section is a complete, but not independent, musical idea. Types of sections include the introduction or intro, exposition, development, recapitulation, verse, chorus or refrain, conclusion, coda or outro, fadeout,

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

or interlude. In

sectional form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a piece of music, such a ...

s such as binary, the larger unit (

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: * Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

) is built from various smaller clear-cut units (sections) in combination, analogous to stanzas in poetry or somewhat like stacking Lego. Some well known songs consist of only one or two sections, for example " Jingle Bells" commonly contains verses ("Dashing through the snow...") and choruses ("Oh, jingle bells..."). It may contain "auxiliary members" such as an introduction and/or outro, especially when accompanied by instruments (the piano starts and then: "Dashing..."). A section is, "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena." An episode may also refer to a section. This term is particularly common in analysis of a fugue to designate sections during which a fugue subject is not heard (though it may still draw on motifs from the subject). After the opening exposition, fugues generally follow a plan of alternating thematic statements and episodes. A passage is a musical idea that may or may not be complete or independent. For example, fill, riff, and all sections. Musical material is any musical idea, complete or not, independent or not, including

motif Motif may refer to: General concepts * Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose * Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions * Moti ...

Sources

{{Musical form Formal sections in music analysis Auxiliary members

See also

Sources