There’s Even More to Playing the Piano


Chapter 9 - Motifs

Motifs are small musical ideas – often fragments of melody – that are used repeatedly. A motif can be repeated immediately, verbatim, to create an ostinato: A motif can be repeated immediately, at a higher or lower pitch, to create a sequence: A motif can appear in a different part of the texture, perhaps a different voice or a different instrument, to create imitation: A motif can be used to represent a character or scene in a large-scale musical work, typically an opera or...

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