Loading…
Loading…
The smallest recognizable musical idea — a short rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic figure that can generate larger structures through development.
A good motif is brief (2–5 notes), distinctive, and developable. It should have a clear rhythmic profile and melodic shape. The best motifs (Beethoven's "da-da-da-DUM") can generate entire movements through fragmentation, sequence, augmentation, and inversion.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 — the four-note motif (three short notes and one long) generates virtually all the thematic material in the first movement.
Motif is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
Browse the full dictionary →