Building Music: What is a Theme? - TWO MINUTE MUSIC THEORY #36

The video tutorial explains the concept of musical themes, comparing them to musical sentences and paragraphs. It highlights the importance of themes in compositions, especially in the classical period, where themes often spanned 8, 12, or 16 measures. The tutorial uses Mozart's work as an example to illustrate how themes are constructed from motifs and phrases. It also discusses monothematic and polythematic movements, explaining that a monothematic movement has one theme, while a polythematic movement has multiple themes. In fugues, the theme is referred to as the subject.

What is a theme in music and how does it relate to a musical piece?

What are the components that can be found within a theme?

What is the significance of motifs in the construction of a theme?

Describe the typical length of themes during the classical period.

Explain the difference between monothematic and polythematic movements.