The Greek state curriculum for Music in Primary education includes the recognition of musical structure as one of the specific goals of education together with other elements of music. Musical form has to do with structure; how many sections a musical piece is consisted of, and how these sections are connected to each another. The perception of musical form unfolds little by little during time. According to Tillmann & Βigott (2004) it is easier for both amateur and professional musicians to recognize the structure of a short piece than the structure of a long piece.

When working with young children, musical form has to be approached experientially. Musical form emerges even clearer, when it’s related to form in other arts. Each art has its own language and codes but we can feature common elements between them. This way, except from performing and composing music, using movement, images and stories the idea of musical structure becomes clearer and children have the opportunity to express themselves in multiple ways. 

According to Walton (1974) music is based on the motif, a small group of notes, which is repeated, variated and elaborated. “The perception of similarity between musical materials is a crucial topic in the field of music psychology because it underlies a large part of a listener’s musical experience, including the perception of associations between themes or motifs and their variations, the formation of musical categories, and the sense of familiarity. Indeed, the comprehension of musical structure depends on all of these processes.” (MC Adams et al, 2004). 

In this workshop we’ll work on the ideas Same, Similar and Different. We’ll express these ideas visually (in shapes, images and symbols) and aurally. We’ll create our own (mainly pentatonic) motives and short forms using small melodic and rhythmic instruments. We’ll try to visualize musical form using or creating a listening map. We’ll use patterns of movements. We’ll present how a Greek traditional folktale can help us understand some of the basic musical forms; Binary, Ternary, Rondo and Theme and Variations form. 

• Music and sound education experiences, values, and practices
• Interdisciplinary approaches in music education

Chrysi Parpara is an Elementary School music teacher. She has a BA in Musicology and Music Education from the School of Music Studies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a MA in Eduction from the Hellenic Open University. She’s a member of 6da EXIT, a free improvisaton group based in Thessaloniki. She has published two educational books and creates educational material for teaching music in Elementary Education.