Each strophe tends to set a stanza of text, with music that is self-contained and harmonically closed. In strophic form ( AAA), strophes are the only core sections. Strophe ( A)Īs a main section, the function of a strophe section is to present the primary lyric and musical content and to provide a point at which the song might satisfyingly end. The pop form terminology used here and throughout OMT is based on the research of Jay Summach (2012). Once the first AABA cycle is complete, there tend not to be any new lyrics, only repetition of the whole or the end of the main cycle. This is typical for an AABA song-in almost all cases, they have a complete AABA cycle followed by either another complete cycle ( AABA) or an incomplete one (typically BA). “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles (1963).Īfter the initial AABA cycle, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” repeats B and A again. But now it has a secondary section to add interest and tension: the bridge (and an auxiliary section, the intro, to help get the song off the ground).Įxample 3. Thus, the strophe is still the primary section. For many people, it’s also the the more memorable part of the song. Note that the song begins and ends with the strophe, and the strophe contains the title lyrics. This new section builds tension by contrasting and withholding the main strophe theme before it returns at 1:11. However, where “Blue Suede Shoes” followed this with an instrumental strophe, the Beatles move to a bridge at 0:52. After a brief introduction, the song begins with two strophes. AABA form, like strophic form, relies on the strophe to communicate the main lyric and musical ideas of the song, but it adds a contrasting bridge section in the middle.Īs an example, listen to “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles ( Example 3). 32-Bar Song Form (AABA)Īnother formal structure that is more common in early rock-and-roll is AABA form, also called 32-bar song form because in earlier “Golden Age” songs that make use of this structure, each section is eight measures long. The refrain often contains the title lyric of a song, as it does here. A refrain is a recurring lyric and musical motive within a strophe (or any larger section that has varying lyric material). “Faded Love” also incorporates a refrain in its strophes, which is an important component of many strophic songs. It could be AABA form, which is discussed below, or verse-chorus form, discussed in the next chapter. However, if a song has more than one main musical idea other than strophes and auxiliary sections, it is not strophic. Follow the form chart in Example 2 as you listen to this song, and notice that the intro, outro, and interlude do not change the fundamental strophic form significantly.Įxample 2. An example of a strophic song with auxiliary sections is “Faded Love” by Patsy Cline. While “School Day” is composed entirely of strophes, it is important to note that strophic songs can also contain so-called auxiliary sections such as intros, outros, and codas. “School Day (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)” by Chuck Berry (1957). The entire song is a repetition of this same basic pattern, or slight variations of it, modeled at 0:19–0:41.Įxample 1. Even the instrumental sections at 0:41 and 1:21 have the same underlying pattern, just a different melody in the form of a guitar solo. Though the lyrics change, the section beginning at 0:24 contains the same-or, at least, very similar-melody, harmony, and phrase structure as the prior and following sections. This song contains multiple sections, all of which have the same basic underlying music. Įxample 1 uses “School Day (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)” by Chuck Berry as an exemplar of strophic form. Strophic form is more common in blues, early hip hop, and early rock-and-roll verse-chorus form took over many pop genres after around 1970. Songs that repeat the same basic multi-phrase unit throughout are in strophic form (sometimes abbreviated AAA because the same basic material, A, is repeated), and the basic unit that is repeated is called a strophe.
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