Have Own Structures
Dec. 18, 2024
In elementary school music class, I learned that songs have structures, such as AABB, ABA, etc. This knowledge, which I didn’t understand what it meant when I learned it, ended up developing my compositions.
When I started composing, I had no idea how to utilize the knowledge that songs have a structure. However, it was immediately effective in my composition of my first work, Oh! Italia .
Oh! Italia; Phrase ‘A’
I made it up to here as the first phrase. The song doesn’t feel finished if I leave it like this, but I could have ended it with a little ingenuity. But then I remembered the structures I learned in elementary school; AABB, ABA etc. Whichever it is, doesn’t B have to be there? I thought. I’d worked hard to get to this point. It would be difficult to have to work even harder. But this knowledge made me work hard to make B, and as a result, I was able to make the next phrase.
Oh! Italia; Phrase ‘B’
Composing is a free act. In a marathon, the finish line is set at 42.195 km away, but in composing there is no set finish line, so I don’t know where to stop the effort. But the knowledge I learned in elementary school pushed me, “Don’t stop yet, the finish line is ahead,” and I think the result was a better song.
(This song has some repeats on the score, and the structure is AABB’AB’. But in my performance uploaded to YouTube, it ends with ABB’. That’s because my playing skill at the time was not enough to play such a long song without making any mistakes.)
I began to think that there was meaning in the structure of the song, but I thought that AABB and ABA were structures of Western music. This is because there are no old Japanese songs that have the A repeated twice. I grew up in Japan, so I wondered if there was a structure that was unique to Japan and came up with the idea of ”Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu.”
Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu (起承転結 ) ;
This is generally translated as “Introduction – Development – Turn – Conclusion”,
but I think it’ll be “Theme – Development – Change – Conclusion”.
In the following, this is referred to as ‘TDCC’.
TDCC is originally a Chinese poetry structure, but in Japan it is used in novels, plays, 4 panel comic, etc. The song I wrote based on this is Garden of Plum Blossom. (The theme of the song is also an Eastern flower.) Each phrase of the song is as follows.
Garden of Plum Blossom; Phrase ‘Theme’
Garden of Plum Blossom; Phrase ‘Development’
Garden of Plum Blossom; Phrase ‘Change’
Garden of Plum Blossom; Phrase ‘Conclusion’
By creating the song in this way, I felt a sense of breadth throughout the song, and it became a song that I really liked. If I hadn’t envisioned the ‘Composition’ of TDCC, I don’t think I would have made such bold changes.
By the way, in the above sentence I wrote ‘Composition’ instead of ‘Structure’. Structures like AABB don’t mean how A and B should be. But in TDCC, each one has a role in the song. So, rather than ‘Structure’ with the nuance of “it’s simply as this,” ‘Composition’ with the nuance of “it’s the way I wanted it to be” is more appropriate.
This helped me to resolve the discomfort about the word ‘composing’ I felt when I first started composing. The root of the word ‘compose’ is “to put together,” not “to make a song.” In Japanese, composing is written as “Making” a song. Since each phrase has to be created from nothing, the words “Making” or “Creating” are perfect. However, when looking at the song as a whole, how do I “put together” those phrases? This is a higher perspective. Phrases that leave impressions on the listener are important, but what do I want to express as a whole song? That is what composing should be about. Understanding it this way made the English word “Compose” make sense to me.
Now, TDCC is one type of ‘Composition’. Having a set type of Composition provides just the right amount of restriction and makes it easier to compose. However, sometimes I feel it’s too restrictive. I’ve started to use a slightly modified TDCC type of Composition in which recapitulate the ‘Theme’ phrase at the ‘Conclusion’ position before ending with a Coda.
I like this “Theme-Development-Change-‘Recapitulation’-Conclusion” because it has a recapitulation of the main theme, which gives the feeling of returning to a nostalgic place. It also reduces the number of phrases I have to create, making it a little easier. Many of my songs, such as A Song of the Sea, Letter from Father, Rainy Days, have this Composition.
And in Serene Summer Night, I omitted ‘Development’ and made it in “Theme-Change-Recapitulation-Conclusion”. I didn’t want to include too many different phrases so as not to ruin the mood of summer night coolness.
By composing with a structure in mind, I can see where the phrase I come up with should be placed in the whole song. Below are four phrases from Fountain in the Forest .
Fountain in the Forest; Phrase ‘Theme’
Fountain in the Forest; Phrase ‘Development’
Fountain in the Forest; Phrase ‘Change’
Fountain in the Forest; Phrase ‘Conclusion’
At first, I didn’t have the third phrase above, and I created the second phrase as the ‘Change’. But gradually, I started to think that this phrase should be the ‘Development’, so I created a new ‘Change’ phrase and finally composed a song that I was satisfied with.
The knowledge of ‘Structure’ I learned in elementary school expanded my interest in ‘Composition’. When I started composing, I didn’t see the whole song. This knowledge has helped me grow healthily.
← Worry About Structure / To be continued
Photo by Issay Tsumeki