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What is song form?

Alive Drumming considers song form to be simply the number and lengths of the sections of the song.

Song Rhythm Tracks uses this information to arrange the rhythm track around the sections, so it is important to get the number and length of the sections to match your song.

Additionally, any section may be identified as a ‘bridge’ section where the rhythm will be at a slightly different intensity. More of that later.

Variation among performers

Occasionally there might be a lack of agreement as to the musical form of a popular song.  So long as the way you play the song matches the number and lengths of the sections, all will be well.

Alive Drumming’s Song Form Naming Scheme and “Stick Notation”

In the “Stick Notation,” column of the table below, sections of music are identified by their length in number-of-bars and separated by a ‘|’ character.  When they are followed by a ‘bridge’ section they are preceded by a ‘/’ instead.  So, for example,

Song Form Name	Song Form Stick Notation (a sequence of section lengths in the number of bars)
32-bar A1A2	16|16
32-bar AABA	8|8/8|8
16-bar Tune	4|4|4|4
12-bar Blues	4|4|4
24-bar A1A2	12|12
68-bar AABC	16|16/16|20
no agreed name	4|6/8|4|6
no agreed name	10/4/8|10

This “Stick Notation” scheme is an alternative to traditional naming such as “32-bar AABA”.  Stick Notation allows for forms that have no agreed traditional name.  Alive Drumming allows for both of these schemes, allowing users to use the one they prefer.

Above is an example of a complex user-defined form defined using stick notation.  It is split into four (4), each with its own repeats.  It is very unusual for a song to have such a complex form but such forms are accommodated by the app.

Example Songs with their Song Form

Here’s a list of some songs with their Song Forms described using Stick Notation.

Song Name	Song Form
Fly Me To The Moon	16|16
Blue Monk	4|4|4
Almost Like Being In Love	8|8/8|12
The Way You Look Tonight	16|16/16|20
Alfie	16|16
Angel Eyes	16|16
All I Have To Do Is Dream	8|8/8|8
All the Things You Are	16/8|12
Autumn Leaves	16|16
A White Sport Coat	16|16
Are You Sincere	16|18
Blanket On The Ground	16|16/16|16
Black Coffee	12|12/8|12
Black Orpheus	16|16
Blue Bayou	16|16
Blue Monk	4|4|4|4|4|4
Blue Moon	8|8/8|8
Blue Bossa	4|4|4|4
Bye Bye Love	/19|16
Bye Bye Blackbird	8|16|16|3
Caravan	16|16/16|16
Calculadoro	20|8/8
Cemento, Ladrillo y Arena	8|16/8
Chucho	12|12
Cottonfields	16|16
Cohen’s Hallelujah	8/5
Cripple Creek	8|8
Darn That Dream	8|8/8|8
Englishman In New York	8|8/8
El Bodeguero	16|16
El Guararey de Pastora	8|8/10/10
El que Siembra su maiz	20|20/8|13/8|13/8|13
El arroyo que murmura	12|12|6
El Jamaiquino	8|8/8
Every Time I Roll The Dice	4|4|4
Guarina	20|20
Hey Good Lookin’	16|16
Hello Mary Lou	8|8
Hotel California	8|8/8
I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again	4|4|4|4
I Get A Kick Out Of You	8|8|16/8/8|16
Jambalaya	16|16\16
Unforgettable	16|16
Lamento Esclavo	16|16
La Enganadora	16|10|7
La Gloria eres tu	4|8|8|8|12
Lagrimas Negras	18|18/8/8
Leaving On A Jet Plane	16|16
Love Hurts	16|16|16
Lover Man	8|8/8|8
Longina	4|13|20
Mad About Him, Sad Without Him Blues	4|4|4
Maria Cristina	18|18/8/8
Mambo Inn	8|8/8|8
Me recordaras	8|8/8|8
Miss The Mississippi And You	16|16
Misty	8|8/8|8
Mujer ardiente	16|16
My Foolish Heart	16|16
Moonlight In Vermont	6|6/8|8
My Favorite Things	8|8|8|8/8/8/8/8/8
Marie	8/8/3
Nature Boy	16|16
Nica’s Dream	16|16/8/8|16
Pare Cochero	8|10|8|10/4/4
Peace	10|10
Nefertiti	16
Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen	8|8/8
The Way You Look Tonight	16|16/16|20
One Day At A Time	8|8|8|8|35
On Green Dolphin Street	8/8|8/8
Once I Loved	16|16/16
Oh, Lonesome Me	8|8
Ol’ Man River	8|8/8|8
Raining In My Heart	8|8/8|8
Samba for Carmen	16|16|8
Somebody Else On Your Mind	16|16|2
Song For Maura	16|16
Song For My Father	8|8/8
St. Thomas	4|4|4|4
Summertime	4|4|4|4
Take Five	8/8|8
The Touch Of Your Lips	16|16
Yo no Quiero Piedra en mi Camino	8|8
Y’All Come	16|16/16
You Never Can Tell	4|4|4|4
You Are Too Beautiful	8|8/8|8
You’ve Still Got A Place In My Heart	16|16/16
Why You Been Gone So Long	4|4|4|4
Well You Needn’t	8|8/8|8
Over the Rainbow	8|8/8|8
The Shadow of Your Smile	16|16

Below is chord chart of the song, “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning” and the arrangement of this song shown on the Song Rhythm Tracks app’s player screen.  You can count the bars on the chord chart, || 8-bars || 10-bars ||, so this is the 18-bar form, “8|10” as shown in the player.   You can see it has been arranged with 3 x choruses and an 8-bar introduction and 6-bar ending.

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User Sharing of Song Form within the iOS Mobile App

The Apple iOS App, Song Rhythm Tracks, also allows for the sharing of a Song’s track definition, which includes its Song Form. Press the pink ‘share’ button (square box with an up-arrow).

Sharing Your Song’s Form with the community

From the iOS mobile App, Song Rhythm Tracks’  main table of tracks, press the track’s ‘Share‘ button (square box with an up-arrow) to share your track definition with the Song Rhythm Tracks community.

Searching for a shared definition of a song’s form while defining your track

While entering a new track definition, first enter a name for your track and then press the magnifying glass search button.  If a definition has already been shared with this same exact name, the shared song form will automatically populate in that entry screen.  Try this with the track name, “Fly Me To The Moon“.

On the 4-bar phrases of 12-bar Blues and 16-bar Tunes

The 12 bars of a 12-Bar Blues are partitioned into 3 by 4-bar phrases.  Although this is generally not considered the same as musical sections in show tunes forms of, say, 32-Bar AABA, we may consider it so for the purposes of describing the song form as interpreted by a drummer.

So any 12-Bar Blues may either use the song form, “4|4|4”, or the song form “12”.  With the former form the 4-bar phrases will be more evident.  With the latter, they are less likely to be so.   It is a similar situation for the 4 x 4-bar phrases of 16-Bar Tunes.

With Song Rhythm Tracks, if you use the song form names of “12-Bar Blues” and “16-bar Tune” you will get the former form with the 4-bar phrases treated similarly to musical sections.   If you prefer to have the latter form, use the stick notation instead, “12” for 12-Bar Blues and “16” for “16-Bar Tunes”.