21 signposts for musical analysis

1. Avoid mere description of the music (your readers will usually have the score in front of them)
unless you need it to support your conclusion.
2. An analysis may mention every detail of the score and still be pointless. Details are only relevant in
relation to others (e.g., similarities and dissimilarities).
3. You can rarely do without subdividing a work into sections (e.g., A-part, interlude, coda).
However, do not lose sight of the whole work.
4. Distinguish carefully between statements of fact and your personal views (e.g., 1 st vs. 3rd person)
5. ‘Motif x can be traced back to bar y’; ‘Beethoven repeats motif x in bar y’. The first statement is
definitely correct, the second one might be.
6. Not everything that does not fit into an expected form is ‘formless’.
7. When discussing a musical passage, you do not need to mention everything about it. Especially
features that occur frequently in the same work, you may want to summarise separately.
8. Music examples are only necessary if they illustrate a point which cannot be made clear by
referring to the score.
9. Pay attention to the frequency at which musical elements (e.g. a theme) are repeated.
10. When discussing the activity of a work, distinguish between note values and harmonic tempo.
11. Pay attention to phrasing. It often causes a piece to be experienced as lively or peaceful.
12. ‘Abnormalities’ are only audible if expectations were established beforehand (e.g. deceptive
cadence).
13. Beat-by-beat complete harmonic analyses often disclose a lack of understanding. Instead,
highlight repetition, similarity, and contrast. With unconventional elements, distinguish whether they
occur in contrast to commonplaces or in a wholly unconventional surrounding.
14. Statistics about rising and falling musical lines are usually pointless. Consider in what context
they appear (e.g. in exposed places like the beginning of a movement).
15. When analyzing vocal music, do not forget the text – it usually preceded the music and suggested,
e.g. tonality, form, and phrasing to the composer (or s/he may have consciously ignored it).
16. Observe how much music carries how much text.
17. Is the theme driving the accompaniment or vice versa? It can tell you something about the ‘power’
of a theme.
18. Not only themes and harmony can create form, but also instrumentation.
19. Consider a strongly expressive feature in its context, e.g. is it an unexpected surprise or the climax
of a steady development?
20. Never try to force a work into a certain form. Instead, celebrate its distinctiveness.
21. If you cannot find anything to say about a work or passage, nor discover any musical structure, do
not be afraid to go in the opposite direction. The absence or avoidance of form creates form in itself
(and can have its own charm!).