One-part form: A .................................................................................
The one-part form — diagrammed as just A, or AA, or AAA, depending on the
length of the song — is the most primitive song structure, sometimes referred
to as the airor balladform. In a one-part form, a melody is repeated with only
slight changes (if any) in each successive verse of the round to accommodate
the changing rhythm of the song, such as in “Happy Birthday” or “The Hokey
Pokey.”Binary form: AB ..................................................................................
Binaryform consists of two contrasting sections that function as statement
and counterstatement. It can be as simple as just AB, as in “My Country ‘Tis
of Thee.” It can also be a bit more expanded — AABB — as in “Greensleeves,”
with the second A being a variation of the first A (as shown in Figure 13-1).&b 4
(^3) ŒŒ
œ ̇ œ
Dm
̇
A1
œn œ ̇
œ
C
̇ œœ
Am
̇ œ
Dm
&b
7
̇ œœ
E
̇ œ
Am
̇
œ ̇ œ
Dm A2
̇ œn œ
F
̇ œ
Em
&b
13
œ. œ
j
œ
Am
œ œ œ
Dm
œ# œn.
j
œ
A
̇.
Dm
̇.
̇ œ
B1
F
&b
19
̇ œn œ ̇
œ
C
̇ œ œ
Am
̇ œ
Dm
̇ œœ
E
̇ œ
Am
&b
25
̇. ̇ œ
Dm
̇
B2
œn œ ̇
œ
Em
̇ œœ ̇ œœ
Dm
&b
31
œ# œn œ
A
̇.
Dm
̇.
̇.
Dm
̇ œn œ
̇ œ
Em
&b
37
̇ œ œ
Am
œ œ œ
Dm
œ# œn œ
A
̇ œ
Dm Gm
̇.
Dm
Greensleeves
Figure 13-1:
“Green-
sleeves” has
an AABB
binary form.
146 Part III: Harmony and Structure