composition Archives - Richard Kahn Music

Song Forms: Strophic, Verse-Chorus, and Through-Composed

By Richard Kahn | August 21, 2026

Hands weaving ornate patterned fabric on wooden loom

Song forms are the structural skeletons songwriters reach for again and again, the shapes that make a song memorable, singable, and recognizable as a song.

Motifs, Phrases, and the Architecture of a Song

By Richard Kahn | August 18, 2026

Artisan carving ornate stone column in cathedral

A motif is a musical seed. It is the smallest fragment of melodic and rhythmic material that has an identity — something recognizable, something the listener…

Phrases, Periods, and the Architecture of Musical Sentences

By Richard Kahn | June 23, 2026

Musical phrases are the building blocks of melody — the smallest complete units of meaning in a piece of music. Music is a language.

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richard kahn music

Posts Tagged ‘composition’

Song Forms: Strophic, Verse-Chorus, and Through-Composed

Motifs, Phrases, and the Architecture of a Song

Phrases, Periods, and the Architecture of Musical Sentences