KEY SIGNATURE AND MUSICAL FORMS

Key Signature – composed of a group of flats or a group of

sharps written at the beginning of a composition.

♪ Written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of musical notation

Used to avoid the complication of having sharp ♪or flat symbols on every instance of certain notes

or to minimize the number of such accidentals required to notate the music

All the notes that will pass through the line or ♪space where a sharps or flats are placed at the key

signature will be affected by the said chromatic sign.

♪ The effect of a key signature continues throughout a piece or movement, unless explicitly

cancelled by another key signature.

The following are the sequence and placement of ♪sharps and flats in the different Key Signatures

.

Sharp/s Flat/s

1 sharp Fa 1 flat Ti

2 sharps Fa – Do 2 flats Ti – Mi

3 sharps Fa – Do – Sol 3 flats Ti – Mi – La

4 sharps Fa – Do – Sol – Re 4 flats Ti – Mi – La – Re

5 sharps Fa – Do – Sol – Re – La 5 flats Ti – Mi – La – Re – Sol

6 sharps Fa – Do – Sol – Re – La – Mi

6 flats Ti – Mi – La – Re – Sol – Do

7 sharps Fa – Do – Sol – Re – La – Mi – Ti

7 flats Ti – Mi – La – Re – Sol – Do – Fa

MODULATION

The key signatures provide the musicians an option on how high or how low they can perform a

particular music. It allows a musician to perform within a comfortable range.

There are pieces that modulate or shift from one key to another key signature. Modulation

occurs when there is a shift of one home tone to another home tone.

Composers make use of modulation to make a piece more interesting. It is often indicated by a

double bar line and by the change of key signature in the middle of the piece.

MUSICAL FORMS

Music is one way of expressing one’s thoughts and feelings. The beautiful lyrics, music and even the singer’s rendition of a song show the composer’s effort of organizing the musical form that makes

the music tick. The composers have certain ideas or themes before they create music. No matter how

simple, basic of complicated the music is, it requires an organized structural form.

All artistic works have form. Shapes, structures, and organization are all related with form. And just

like artworks, music also has its form. After learning about rhythm, melody, dynamics,

harmony and texture in the past lessons, we are now ready to study and analyze the structure of

music.

The organization of musical elements to achieve utmost symmetry and balance is called musical

form. A composer will be able to catch the attention of the listeners by planning and

combining the musical elements carefully. This will provide the listeners a good grasp of the form of a

simple piece with ease.

a. Motif - the smallest unit of music. This is where form usually begins. It serves as the foundation of

a musical piece and can be heard very often or repeatedly all throughout the composition. Motif

may be melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, or a combination of the elements. The first few notes of

“Lupang Hinirang” is an example of a familiar motif.

b. Phrase - a musical phrase is formed when motifs are combined. A phrase is a short musical passage which is two to four measures long forming part of a larger unit. Just like motif, a phrase can be heard or played repeatedly throughout the composition. One musical phrase expresses an idea and is often

compared to how a sentence functions in language.

c. Cadence - A musical composition usually begins with a motif and develops into phrases that ends with a cadence. Cadence is a succession of notes that goes to the final ending of a musical piece.

c. Cadence - A musical composition usually begins with a motif and develops into phrases that ends with a cadence. Cadence is a succession of notes that goes to the final ending of a musical piece.

FORMS OF MUSIC

1. Strophic - The simplest of all forms that contain only one section and remain the same all throughout the piece is called strophic. Its lyrics may change but the music stays the same. It consists of one melody written in several stanzas and is represented by letter A or AAA.Example: “Amazing Grace”

2. Binary - Musical compositions that have two basic parts or ideas have binary structures. In this kind of form, musical sections are labeled as A and B. Section A begins in a tonic chord while the section B modulates to a dominant chord progression. These sections may be combined or repeated to create a variety of form in music. Binary forms could be combined as AB, AAB, ABB, or AABB.Example: “Inday” (a Visayan Folk Song)

3. Ternary Form - Some musical compositions utilize a three-part form ABA called ternary form. Contrasting and unifying elements are observed in this composition. The music begins with section A, followed by section B, which is the contrasting element, and ends by repeating section A. Example: “Rude”

4. Rondo - Another musical form is called rondo. This form usually has a general plan which is labeled as A-B-A-C-A. Section A is often referred to as the “refrain” or “rondo” which often recurs in the tonic key. It is usually binary in form and is sometimes altered in its restatements. The altered sections are often called episodes or couplets. These are usually explored in the key areas other than section A. Example: “ ” (A. Elimenreich)