Editing Thirty-two-bar form (section)

{{short description|Song structure}}
{{see also|Ballad#Ballad form}}

[[Image:Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz trailer.jpg|thumb|225px|"[[Over the Rainbow]]" (Arlen/Harburg) exemplifies the 20th-century popular 32-bar song.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 2: Jazz Form and improvisation {{!}} Jazz: W. W. Norton StudySpace |url=http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/jazz/ch/02/outline.aspx |website=WW Norton}}</ref>]]

The '''32-bar form''', also known as the '''AABA song form''', '''American popular song form''' and the '''ballad form''', is a song structure commonly found in [[Tin Pan Alley]] songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |title=AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and Their Historical Development |author=Ralf von Appen; Markus Freight-Hauenschild |url=https://www.academia.edu/11335416 |journal=SAMPLES, www.gfpm-samples.de |date=9 March 2015 |access-date=2 January 2016}}</ref>

The song form consists of four sections: an eight-bar A section; a second eight-bar A section (which may have slight changes from the first A section); an eight-bar B section, often with contrasting harmony or "feel"; and a final eight-bar A section. The core melody line is generally retained in each A section, although variations may be added, particularly for the last A section.

Examples of 32-bar AABA form songs include "[[Over the Rainbow]]", "[[I Got Rhythm]]", "[[What'll I Do]]", "[[Make You Feel My Love]]",<ref name=":0"/> "[[The Man I Love (song)|The Man I Love]]"{{r|Paymer|p=5}}, "Dream River",{{which|date=May 2025}} "[[Primrose Lane]]", "[[Let's Get Away From It All]]", and "[[Blue Skies (Irving Berlin song)|Blue Skies]]".{{r|Paymer|p=109}} Many show tunes that have become [[jazz standard]]s are 32-bar song forms.