Music Theory - Lesson #1: The Sonata Form

Objectives

• Students will be able to identify the three main sections of sonata form: Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation.
• Students will be able to recognize the sonata form by listening to musical examples.
• Students will be able to connect musical structure to storytelling and emotions, relating it to their own experiences.

Materials

For the instructor:

• Piano (can be substituted with audio recordings if necessary)
• Speaker for audio excerpts
• Prepare the following excerpts: ________

Students will need blank paper and the handouts provided.

Summary

This lesson introduces students to sonata form, one of the most important musical structures in classical music. By comparing music to stories, journeys, and emotions, students will learn how composers organize ideas and how structure helps music make sense.

Introduction

• Ask: Can someone describe to me what a story arc looks like?
• (for the instructor) draw a classic story arc shape on the board and label the parts: introduction, rising actions, climax, falling actions, conclusion
• Ask: What are some of your favorite picture books that follow this pattern?
• Read: A long, long, time ago, way before any of your favorite picture books were written, musicians have understood and used this story arc in their musical compositions, but it was known by a different name. It was called the “sonata form,” and it is arguably the greatest musical invention known to mankind.

Outline

The Exposition

• Ask: How does a story usually begin?
• Read: Often, the author introduces the characters and describes the setting. In the same way, musicians introduce the listener to the characters, but they are known as themes in a classical sonata. It’s as if each theme represented a separate character in a story!
• Listen: Have students listen to the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Students should notice that the “fate” motif creates theme 1, while the lyrical section begins theme 2. Play the excerpts on the piano or pause the recording as necessary if students need reinforcement.
• Activity (optional): While listening to Beethoven’s 5th, have students describe what they hear in words. How does theme 1 make you feel? Have students interrupt the recording when they think they hear theme 2. End recording at the end of exposition, at the repeat sign.
• Read: A key difference here is that everything that you just heard will now be repeated all over. Would an author do that in a picture book? Probably not, but maybe the reader forgot the names of the characters so the author wants you to read the beginning again…

The Development

• Read: In the development section, the composer plays with the music: themes get broken apart, the music travels to new places, and emotions can feel confusing, dramatic, or surprising.
• Listen: Beethoven, “Pathétique” Sonata (development excerpt)
• Ask: Does this music feel stable or unstable? Does it sound like something is being explored or changed?
• Activity: Have students discuss and share. What is the problem in your favorite picture book? How does it get resolved?

The Recapitulation

• Ask: Have you ever had the feeling that when you come home after a long time, something feels different?
• Read: Composers often experiment with different methods of writing the same music in the recapitulation. Even though it restates the original musical ideas, it makes the listener interested by changing it slightly.
• Activity: Sonata form puzzle — Prepare three excerpts or short melodies. One should begin in the home key and modulate to the dominant key. The second should modulate to a foreign key and sound different. The third should start in the home key like the first, but end in the home key. Play the three excerpts multiple times in random order, and have students recreate the order of the “sonata”. (If time permits: play the three fragments to form a logical sonata harmonic progression.)