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Use a basic idea (see Stage 1) and a cadence ideas (see Stage 2) as the starting point for writing a complete theme. Here are two straightforward choices of structure and two more complex ones. Click on the link for detailed instructions and an example:
| Structure | Notes |
|---|---|
| Sentence | This 8-bar structure reuses the Basic Idea you will have already written in various ways before cadencing in the last two bars. |
| Period | This 8-bar structure introduces a contrasting idea in the second two bars and then having cadenced on V repeats the first four bars but modified to finish I. |
| Modulating Period | Like the period, but the second four bars modulate to finish on a perfect cadence in a new key. |
| Small Ternary | This longer 16-bar structure begins with a period, adding some contrasting material in the middle before ending with a return of the first phrase, modified to make it more final. |
A range of Rondo Themes (plus files for Rondo Composition Project) for you to listen to and analyse.