Phrase

A phrase is a musical sentence — a coherent unit of melody, rhythm, and harmonic motion, typically four to eight bars long, that has its own internal logic and a clear beginning, middle, and end. Phrases are the basic units of musical communication; they correspond roughly to sentences in language.

Phrases are typically grouped into larger structures: two phrases form a period (often question-and-answer), several periods form a section, sections form movements. The shape of a phrase — its rise and fall, its tension and release — is one of the most important elements of musical expression.

Good phrasing is essential to musical performance. The performer must understand where each phrase begins and ends, where it builds and where it relaxes, where it breathes. Bad phrasing — playing through phrase boundaries, missing internal phrase shape — destroys the music’s communicative logic.

Greek phrasis (‘speech, expression’), from phrazein (‘to speak, express’).

Identify phrase boundaries. Plan how each phrase will shape — where the peak is, how to lead toward and away from it, how to breathe between phrases. Phrasing is what makes music talk.