The Importance of Repetition in Music
1. Why We Use Repetition 𝄆 𝄇
Repetition is not only a key feature of music, but it permeates every part of music creation. There are actually many reasons for this and these reasons can help us understand music much better and perhaps even inform us as to how to approach playing music if we can work out why the repetition is being used!
FAMILIARTY
The first (and perhaps the most obvious) reason for using repetition is to help a listener become familiar with a musical idea. If music is constantly changing and everything is always something new, it can be difficult to interpret and understand exactly what is going on. Whereas if we have an idea that becomes familiar to us, it feels safe and like a landmark in the music that we can return to.
MEMORY
A lot of composers write music with the intention of getting an audience to remember the piece of music. What better way to do that then to repeat it lots of times! This is why pop songs use a “hook”. The sole function of a hook is to stick in your head and force you to buy the song (or at least stream it 1000 times)!
LEIT MOTIF
This one is perhaps a little left of field, however it is a very important one to mention to gain a wider understand of why we use repetition. A “leit motif” is a musical idea that is used throughout a musical, film or other form of media and that musical idea is associated with a particular person or character. The best example of this is the theme tune that is used whenever Darth Vader arrives to chop some unpaid extras up (it’s never one of the main cast)! While leit motifs are quite specific to film and theatre, it does tell us that repetition is very important as a form of association.
EXPECTATION
Another reason for using repetition is to prime your expectations. If you hear the same melody several times, it stands to reason that when you hear the start of that melody again, you expect the full melody to play out in exactly the same way it did the previous times. However, if we were to then change that musical idea, it would go against our expectations and create some intrigue.
2. Repetitive Features 🥱
So what features might be repeated in a piece of music? What can that repetition mean?
Well..pretty much any aspect of a piece of music can be repeated but the most interesting types of repetitions to look out for are the melodic, harmonic and structural elements within the music.
MELODIES
Melodies can be repeated in several different ways and this is because a melody consists of two key features; rhythm and pitch. You can repeat both of these (this would be an exact repeat), you can repeat just the pitch with a different rhythm or you can repeat the rhythm with different pitches.
If a melody is repeated in exactly the same way (the same pitch and rhythm). This doesn’t necessarily mean it will have the same effect the second time. The second repeat may have the effect of an echo and therefore you might consider playing the repeat more quietly. It could also have the effect of reinforcing the idea and therefore you might want to play it more loudly. It could also be played in exactly the same way if the idea is to create monotony (for example). Each of these use cases is using repetition to create a particular effect, however, the effect is for you to interpret based on the context.
If the melody has the same pitch but a different rhythm this can also inform us about the music. The melody could be played over a longer period of time and therefore have the effect of time slowing down. It could also be played swung and now have a more jazzy lilt to it.
Similarly if the pitch changes but the rhythm remains the same, this might be because the melody is rising to a different pitch and making the music feel like its lifting, or it could be sinking and sound like its falling.
Each of these are very much context dependant, but the idea is that the repetition is telling you something about the music and it is for you to interpret what that is!
HARMONIES
Harmony is general referring to note relationships and chords! In popular music chords repeat regularly in order to create familiarity and a clear distinction between sections of the music. For example, each verse in a pop song tends to use the same chords and each chorus may use a different set of chords, but they will generally be the same as all of the other choruses.
If we hear a section of music that has a familiar set of chords this helps us feel like we recognise what we are listening to and where we are in the story of the song. As a player it’s important to recognise where these harmonic patterns occur.
Outside of popular music, harmonic repeats can be a lot more interesting. For example, you may see the same chord relationships reappear but in a different key!
If we are playing a piece of music in the key of C major and we see the chord pattern C, F, Dm, G7. It is possible that later in the music we see the chords G, C, Am, D7. These are the exact same chord relationships but now we are in the key of G major instead of C major.
Noticing these kinds of repetitions (as with melodies) can tell us a lot about the direction of the music and how the landscape of the piece of music is changing. Seeing repeating chords in a new key, tells us that we are listening to something familiar, but in a new and unknown landscape.
STRUCTURE
As briefly mentioned when discussing harmonies, popular music has a very clear verse/chorus structure and in each of these sections you are likely to see the same melodic ideas and the same harmonic ideas.
But outside of the world of pop, repetition within a clear structure like this isn’t necessarily a given! There are many pieces that use structure (and lack of structure) as a way of creating a feeling within the music. For example, a piece with no structure at all might sounds uneasy as there is no repetition or familiarity. Whereas other pieces may repeat 1 bar over and over in order to create a feeling of mundanity.
Once again, these types of repetition are used as a tool to create an effect. The important thing here is to notice where structural repetition is used and determine what effect you think it is supposed to have. Doing this can greatly enhance your ability to understand and express the piece of music.
3. Utilising Repetition 🫵
As you may be able to see, it isn’t so easy to prescribe the effect that repetition has in all pieces of music. However, it will ALWAYS have some effect and serve some greater purpose. Determining that purpose is a great way to start interpreting the music that you are playing and begin to read beyond the notes.
Most pieces of music use repetition because forming patterns is one of the fundamental ways that we understand not only what we are listening to, but also the world around us! So…try it out! If you have a piece of music you are playing or listening to, look out for repetition and see if you can determine what effect you think it has!
Matthew Cawood
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