Ternary Form

in Music
By: Sha, Corrine, Mac, Trina
 What is a form?
A form (of a piece of music) tells us how it is
organized.
Composers often organize pieces of music to
help balance the amount of new with previous
musical material.
Using a form when composing a piece of music
can help determine when to write new music or
bring back music that has already been heard.
Ternary Form
Ternary form organizes the music into three sections:

• First, there is the A-section that begins the piece.

• Next, there is the middle B-section that is significantly
different.
• The final section of ternary form is the return of the A-
section, where we hear the same or very similar
music to the beginning of the piece.

Together, these three sections are labeled A-B-A.

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
 Identifying ternary form
• First, observe the music and see if the music can be broken
into three sections.

• Second, the music in the B-section (the meat) should be

somehow different from the A-section (the bread).

• Third, look to see if music that was stated at the beginning

of the piece returns at the end (like there is bread on both
sides of the sandwich). This returning music might be
exactly the same or slightly different, but it should be
recognizable from beginning.