AOC 008: Understanding Musical Form

Episode 8 of the Art of Composing Podcast. In this episode, find out why you need to learn about musical form, and what exactly makes musical form so powerful. We also analyze the 1st Movement to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1.
What is in this episode:

* Learn about the different levels of musical form, and how they work together to create a feeling of temporality.
* We go over each section of the 1st movement to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1, talking about the techniques that are being used in each section.
* Learn how the Lord of the Rings is a great analogy for remembering Sonata Form.

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Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:

* The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy

Add any other supporting show notes.
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome to another episode of the art of composing podcast. Art of Composing is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of musical composition, and then teaching them in ways that allow you to become the composer you want to be.

In this episode, we are going to learn all about musical form and how you can learn to compose by watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Before we get into that, let's talk about learning composition for a second. If you are like most people that want to start learning composition, you probably don't have a good idea about what you need to do, to actually get that done.

Learning composition is a tricky thing, because there are a lot of skills required in order to create even just a simple piece from scratch. Well, the Art of Composing Academy is exactly what you are looking for.

If you are a beginner or even an experienced composer, looking to brush up on the fundamentals, check out Music Composition 101. The course takes you from never having written anything on your own, to creating solid classical pieces.

You can check it out at academy.artofcomposing.com
Featured Content
Musical form has always been an interesting subject to me. On the surface, form seems like it is a road map, that you as a composer can follow to create pieces that sound a specific way. And this is true, on the surface.

But as you start to peel away these surface elements, you'll find that studying form is much deeper. And that is what we are going to talk about in this episode.

I like to always start things off with a definition, and this is my personal definition, which I've created over studying form for the last few years:

Musical Form is an emergent feature of music that happens over time when you combine the separate elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo and texture.

Let's take a minute to break down this definition, and pull out some important points. That way I know we are on solid ground as I start to explain the different kinds of musical form.

First, Musical Form is an emergent feature of music that happens over time.

Part of the mystery of musical form, is why it creates certain feelings in people. In particular feelings of time or temporality.

If you think about a piece of music that is done well, there is usually some point in the music where you identify a beginning. A feeling that the music is just starting and that there is more to come.