Editing Thirty-two-bar form (section)

== History ==

Though the 32-bar form resembles the [[ternary form]] of the [[opera]]tic [[da capo aria]], it did not become common until the late 1910s. It became "the principal form" of American popular song around 1925–1926,<ref name="Wilder p56">{{cite book |last=Wilder |first=Alec |title=American Popular Song: the Great Innovators 1900–1950 |place=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-501445-6 |year=1972 |page=56 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpopulars00alec/page/56/mode/1up}}.</ref> with the AABA form consisting of the chorus or the entirety of many songs in the early 20th century.<ref>Benward & Saker (2003), pp. 317–318. "The popular chorus form is often referred to as a quaternary form, because it usually consists of four phrases."</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=February 2022}} It was commonly used by composers [[George Gershwin]] (for example, in "[[I Got Rhythm]]" from 1930<ref name="Covach"/>), [[Cole Porter]], and [[Jerome Kern]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Stacey |editor1-first=Lee |editor2-last=Henderson |editor2-first=Lol |title=Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-92946-6 |page=473 |chapter=Pop Music}}</ref> and it dominated American popular music into the 1950s.<ref name="Paymer">{{cite book |last1=Paymer |first1=Marvin E. |title=Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs, 1920-1945 |date=1999 |publisher=Two Bytes Publishing |location=Darien, Conn. |oclc=45357972}}</ref>{{rp|5}}

The 32-bar form was often used in rock in the 1950s and '60s, after which [[verse–chorus form]] became more prevalent. Examples include:
*[[Jerry Lee Lewis]]' "[[Great Balls of Fire]]" (1957)<ref name="Covach"/>
*[[The Everly Brothers]]' "[[All I Have to Do Is Dream]]" (1958)<ref name="Covach"/>
*[[The Shirelles]]' "[[Will You Love Me Tomorrow]]" (1960)<ref name="Covach"/>
*[[The Beach Boys]]' "[[Surfer Girl (song)|Surfer Girl]]" (1963)<ref name="Covach"/>

Though more prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, many contemporary songs show similarity to the form, such as "[[Memory (Cats song)|Memory]]" from ''[[Cats (musical)|Cats]]'', which features expanded form through the B and A sections repeated in new keys.<ref name="B&S318">Benward & Saker (2003), p. 318.</ref> Songwriters, such as [[Lennon–McCartney]] and those working in the [[Brill Building]], also used modified or extended 32-bar forms, often modifying the number of measures in individual or all sections. [[The Beatles]] ("[[From Me to You]]" [1963] and "[[Yesterday (Beatles song)|Yesterday]]" [1965]) often extended the form with an instrumental section, second bridge, break, or reprise of the introduction, and another return to the main theme. Introductions and codas also extended the form. In "[[South of the Border (1939 song)|South of the Border Down Mexico Way]]" by [[Gene Autry]], "the A sections… are doubled in length, to sixteen bars—but this affects the overall scheme only marginally".<ref name="Covach">{{Citation |last=Covach |title=Form in Rock Music: A Primer |year=2005 |pages=70}}.</ref> The theme tune of the long-running British TV series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has, in some incarnations, followed 32-bar form.