Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [motif]

For question about musical figures and ideas whether it be constructing or analyzing.

A motive is consider the smallest musical idea or figure. It is typically a building block used to craft a composition.

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Are ostinatos and motifs essentially the same thing?

I understand that there is a difference between the two, but I'm still confused. Are the terms "ostinato" and "motif" interchangeable?
user87626
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What is the motif used in many chaconnes in the 17th century?

Wikipedia says that a chaconne is a musical composition involving variations on a harmonic progression or melody (motif), similar to the passacaglia. In essence, it is a musical form. The motif is arbitrary - there is no single one used in all…
user1803551
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recognizing the motif

I encounter the term motif in composition books, and still have no idea what a motif is. Many sources (including some dictionaries) try to define it as "prominent sequence of notes" or "basic theme of a melody", or even "repeatable part". But hey,…
Saeed Neamati
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How do you quote foreign motives in a composition?

This seems like it should be straightforward, but I don't know how to do it, so it's not for me at least. At the timestamp I provide in this song, the Animaniacs' Presidents Song, there is a quote from Dixieland as a joke. This quote feels natural…
JohnnyApplesauce
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Whats the difference between a leitmotif and an idée fixe?

And all leitmotifs are motifs, but not all motifs are necessarily leitmotifs, correct?
user71207
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Is there a name for this common bass line?

I've heard this bass line in a number of songs, including Billy Joel's "Piano Man", "One Day More" from Les Miserables, and "Rambling Through the Avenues of Time" by Flight of the Conchords. It's certainly a useful line: downward moving major scale,…
margalo
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Motifs in melody writing

I read in many books/teachings etc. that the first step for creating a melody is to come up with a motif, and use that for further development. Are all melodies created like that? I hear melodies that I like which have recognizable motifs, and…
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Descending Minor7♭5 Introduction/Motif Questions

Some jazz arrangements that I've heard use a motif(?) where a series of descending minor chords are played, starting on the #iv of the major scale. For example, in the key of D, the progression is as follows: A♭m7♭5 → Gm7 → G♭m7 → Fm7 → Em7 → A7 →…
Tikhon
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What terms describe music that generally moves down (Or up) in pitch as the music moves forward?

I have noticed that some music, particularly music rock music played on guitar, often has passages that start lower in the register of the guitar (Or other), and increase pitch as the passage progressive, usually building up tension. Is there…
user47327
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Do Most short motifs and phrases end on the root

This may be objective, but I'd like others input. Do most short phrases and motifs especially in blues and rock, end on the root. I think I've noticed that in most phrases, that the ending note is always the most important to the listener. and its…
mike628
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Harmonic Motif vs Melodic Motif?

From my research online it seems that most are talking about melodic motifs/motives in order to develop an improvisation or composition. But in other articles about improvisation I read people usually start off with a chord progression and then…
user34288
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Is there a word for the motif of linearly-tumbling & surging little bundles of notes? (E.g., "FEDC-FEDC-BCDEF")

For example, Cerulean's Flight (from the start and throughout): I've found this to be one of the most common attributes of my favourite music. In my notes I've had to knowingly-misuse the terms "chromaticism" (for the motif's colourful image) and…
Robert B
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Did Stravinsky ever work backwards?

I've always been intrigued by this little passage in Stravinsky's "Fireworks" (op. 4). It seems to me to be many things all at once, each masterfully handled. It's a nifty little canon, a wonderful use of a germ motive to spin out a melody, and a…
nuggethead
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Is there a list of motifs and labels of this motifs?

I'm trying to make a list of the short motifs e.g. in Baroque, which are the elements in the music by Bach, Vivaldi, Händel et all. I have found some lists of figures, ornaments, decorations in the common practice period (which also may fit in 12…
Albrecht Hügli
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Motifs in Bartók's 5th Quartet

I'm doing a motific analysis of the first movement of Bartók's 5th Quartet and I've traced almost everything. The only bit which bothers me occurs at bar 82, then again at bar 177 where it forms the basis of the coda. According to the plan by…
Jordan White
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