Editing Strophic form (section)

{{Short description|Type of song structure}}
[[File:DasWandern.pdf|thumb|upright=1.3|"[[Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust|Das Wandern]]", the opening song in [[Franz Schubert]]'s [[song cycle]] ''[[Die schöne Müllerin]]'', an example of a strophic song]]
'''Strophic form''' – also called '''verse-repeating form''', '''[[refrain|chorus]] form''', '''AAA song form''', or '''one-part song form''' – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music.<ref name="Tilmouth">{{Cite encyclopedia
  | last = Tilmouth
  | first = Michael|author-link=Michael Tilmouth
  | title = Strophic
  | year = 2001
  | encyclopedia = [[Grove Music Online]]|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26981}}</ref> Contrasting song forms include [[through-composed]], with new music written for every stanza,<ref name="Tilmouth" /> and [[ternary form]], with a contrasting central section.

[[Strophe]] is derived from the Greek word {{lang|grc|στροφή}} (''strophḗ'', "turn"). It is the simplest and most durable of [[musical form]]s, extending a piece of [[music]] by repetition of a single formal [[Section (music)|section]]. This may be analyzed as "A A A...". This additive method is the musical analogue of repeated stanzas in poetry or lyrics and, in fact, where the text repeats the same rhyme scheme from one [[stanza]] to the next, the [[Song structure|song's structure]] also often uses either the same or very similar material from one stanza to the next.

A ''modified'' strophic form varies the pattern in some stanzas (A A' A"...) somewhat like a rudimentary [[theme and variations]]. [[verse–chorus form|Contrasting verse-chorus form]] is a [[binary form]] that alternates between two sections of music (ABAB), although this may also be interpreted as constituting a larger strophic verse-[[refrain]] form. While the terms 'refrain' and 'chorus' are often used interchangeably, 'refrain' may indicate a recurring line of identical melody and lyrics as a part of the verse (as in "[[Blowin' in the Wind]]": "...the answer my friend..."), while 'chorus' means an independent form section (as in "[[Yellow Submarine (song)|Yellow Submarine]]": "We all live in...").<ref>cf. von Appen/Frei-Hauenschild 2015.</ref>

Many [[folk music|folk]] and [[popular music|popular]] songs are strophic in form, including the [[twelve-bar blues]], [[ballad]]s, [[hymn]]s and chants. Examples include "[[Barbara Allen (song)|Barbara Allen]]", "[[Low Bridge (song)|Erie Canal]]", "[[Michael, Row the Boat Ashore]]",<ref>[[William Duckworth (composer)|Duckworth, William]] (2012). ''A Creative Approach to Music Fundamentals'', p. 319. {{ISBN|9780840029997}}.</ref> and "[[Oh! Susanna]]" (A = verse & chorus).<ref>Pen, Ronald (1991). ''Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Music'', p. 96. {{ISBN|9780070380684}}.</ref> Traditional and modern Country songs like "[[This Land Is Your Land|This land is your land]]" is also a strophic form.

Many [[classical music|classical]] [[art song]]s are also composed in strophic form, from the 17th century French [[air de cour]] to 19th century German [[Lied|lieder]] and beyond. [[Haydn]] used the strophic variation form in many of his string quartets and a few of his symphonies, employed almost always in the slow second movement. [[Franz Schubert]] composed many important strophic lieder, including settings of both narrative poems and simpler, folk-like texts, such as his "[[Heidenröslein]]" and "Der Fischer".<ref name="Tilmouth"/> Several of the songs in his [[song cycle]] ''[[Die schöne Müllerin]]'' use strophic form.