Analyzing a new piece you're learning can transform the way you bring it to life through your performance. Analyzing a piece enables you to identify where to emphasize dynamics, incorporate rubato, and vary tone color. I admit that when I picked up classical guitar for the first time four months ago, I had no clue what harmony, phrase structure or musical form was. However, I am fortunate to have two very talented and gifted teachers who've taught me just about everything I know about music theory - and I'm excited to share what I've learned.
Form
The first thing to look at when analyzing a piece is its form. Musical form is the structure or organization of a song or piece of music; it is how the various parts of a song or piece are organized. There are quite a few different types of forms, but some common ones are ternary, binary, and rounded binary. We use letters to identify the different sections of a piece, such as in ternary form, in which there is an "A" section and a "B" section, and then the "A" section repeats. Thus we can say that ternary form = A B A.
Let's take Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star for example; most of us know it as a children's lullaby, but there are actually some very important compositional techniques in it:
A section: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!
B section: Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.
Then we repeat the A section: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!
See how the A section repeats? Thus we conclude that Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is written in ternary form. A trick to identifying ternary form is to look at the end of the piece; if there's a D.C. al Fine, that's a good indicator that it's ternary form.
This is the basic idea of musical form.
Binary form consists of an A section and a B section. Rounded binary form also consists of an A section and B section, however, the last 8 bars of the A section will come back at the end of the B section. So we can say that binary form is A B and rounded binary form is A B (A).
KEY CHANGES IN THE B SECTION
It is very common to have a key change in the B section of your piece. There are three common key changes:
The Relative Minor: these keys share the same key signature.
e.g. from C major to A minor - they both have no flats or sharps.
The Dominant: the root note of the key you're modulating to is the 5th degree of the key you're currently in.
e.g. from C major to G major - the 5th degree of the key of C major is G, therefore we modulate to G major.
The Parallel Major/Minor: these keys share the same root note.
e.g. from C major to C minor - the root of the scale is the same: C
Phrase Structure
Phrase structure is like a musical idea. There are two types of structures: periods and parallel periods. In a period, the first 4 bars are the "question" and the next 4 bars are the "answer". If we have a look at Carulli's "Andantino", for example:
A parallel period is where the first two bars of the question are repeated in the first two bars of the answer.
Adding phrasing is like adding punctuation to this musical idea. After the question we may take a slight pause, as if we put a comma. After the answer we could take a longer pause, as if we put a period.
Harmony
The final step in analyzing your piece is to have a look at the harmony. Many pieces use a 1-4-5 progression, however, there are also many pieces that use diffrent chord progressions (a 1-6-2-5 progression is antoher common one!). In classical guitar music, a good way to tell what chords are being used is to look at the bass line.
There's a reason that so many pieces use a 1-4-5 progression, however. These three chords make a scale! For example, if we take a 1-4-5 progression in the key of C major...
C-G-E
F-A-C
G-B-D
And combine and rearrange these notes like this...
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
That gives us the scale of C major! But there's more to it than that. This means that, since these chords make a scale, you can harmonize any note of the scale using one of these chords!
How Can This Affect Your Playing?
Form
Knowing where your A section and B section is can significantly alter the way you play your piece. You should contrast the B section by changing the dynamics and tone color.
Phrase Structure
As I mentioned earlier, phrasing is like adding puctation. So, at the end of a question you could slow down slightly and take a short pause or breath before you continue to the answer. Towards the end of the answer you could add even more rubato and take a longer pause.
Harmony
If your piece uses a 1-4-5 progression, you could play the 5 chord louder and the 1 chord softer, as the 5 chord represents tension and the 1 chord resolution.
I hope that the information provided will enhance your musical performance and enrich your listening experience!
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