Theory Made Easy - Time Structures 3



What is a Line ?


A Line in the context of this tutorial is a musical phrase that is 4 bars in length - It is derived from rhythmical use of words such as a line of poetry.

Consider the 12 Bar Blues - this is a song structure which uses 3 lines of 4 bars each;

| G / / / | G / / / | G / / / | G / / / |

Woke up this morning looked round for my shoes

| C / / / | C / / / | G / / / | G / / / |

Woke up this morning looked round for my shoes

| D / / / | C / / / | G / / / | G / / / |

You can tell by that I got them mean old walking blues

Or consider a traditional song structure like Amazing Grace which is a 16 bar pattern divided into 4 lines of 4 bars each


| A / / / | A / / / | D / / / | A / / / |

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

| A / / / | A / / / | E / / / | E / / / |

That saved a wretch like me!

| A / / / | A / / / | D / / / | A / / / |

I once was lost, but now am found,

| A / / / | E / / / | A / / / | A / / / |

Was blind, but now I see.

I find that writing out chord sequences in 4 bar lines helps a great deal in memorizing tunes and is also a good way to approach instrumental music i.e. you can have lines of music even when there is no vocal line.

Like most musical theory this concept is a useful guideline not a hard and fast rule - there are many examples where a line of vocals does not occupy 4 bars.



Exercise



Write out and memorize any tune in 4 bar chunks - 4 bars to the line.























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