Year 07 Classroom Music

Musical Form / Structure

The word form is associated with shape, structure and

organization. Form calls to mind the human body or
the balanced arrangement of figures in a painting.

In music, form, or structure, is created by the

organising sections of music in time. In a logically
organised piece of music, one idea grows from
another and all the parts are related in some way. Our
memories help us to perceive form, or structure, as we
recall previously heard sections and are introduced to new sections.

The concepts of REPETITION, CONTRAST and VARIATION are important to the creation
of form and structure in all types of music.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

(The Beatles)
Composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, this song
first appeared on the famous 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band. According to Lennon and
McCartney, the song was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in
Wonderland as well as a drawing done by John’s son
Julian.

Listen to the excerpt played to you by your teacher. It is divided into two distinct
sections; Section A and Section B. (Commonly referred to as BINARY form)

Complete the table below by describing characteristics of each of the listed elements.
Section A Section B

Meter

Instruments

Volume

Mood

Pitch

Tempo

Now listen to a longer excerpt of the song. Using the letters A and B identify the structure
of the excerpt.

Year 07 Classroom Music

Star Wars: Main Title

(John Williams)
The release of Star Wars - Episode 4: A New Hope in 1977
introduced audiences for the first time to heroes Luke
Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo. It also introduced us to
the iconic Star Wars Theme which has appeared at the
beginning of every movie in the franchise.

Listen to this theme and, using the letters A and B, identify its form.

This particular form is known as form.

Draw a box diagram in the space below and describe characteristics of each of the
sections. In your description you should consider such things as instruments, pitch,
dynamics (volume), mood, melody (tune).
Year 07 Classroom Music

Dance of the Reeds No. 7

from The Nutcracker Ballet Suite
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The first performance of The Nutcracker ballet was in St

Petersburg, Russia in 1892. While the ballet itself wasn’t
particularly successful at the time, Tchaikovsky re-worked
some of the music into a 20 minute collection now known as
the Nutcracker Suite. The Dance of the Reeds is one of the
most well known and best loved works from this suite.

Listen to this theme and, using letters, identify its form. (Hint: You will need to use
more letters than simply A and B!)

This particular form is known as form. This is because

Draw a box diagram in the space below and describe characteristics of each of the
sections. In your description you should consider such things as instruments, pitch,
dynamics (volume), mood, melody (tune).