regular and plausible boundaries to
the phrase, notwithstanding the freedom and elasticity which
characterize the application of the syntactic principle in music.

Therefore the student will find that a phrase, in the great majority of
cases, covers exactly _four measures_, and will seldom be misled if he
looks for the end of his phrase four measures beyond its beginning.
This refers, be it understood, only to measures of average size (in the
ordinary time denominations, 3-4, 4-4, 6-8 measure). If the measures
are uncommonly large (9-8, 12-8), the phrase will probably cover no
more than two of them; or, if small (2-4, or 3-4 in rapid tempo), the
phrase may extend to the eighth measure. The operation of this
four-measure rule is exhibited with striking regularity and persistence
in the _Jugend Album_ of Schumann (op. 68); throughout its forty-three
numbers there are probably no more than a half-dozen phrases whose
length differs from this standard. For example:

[Illustration: Example 16. Fragment of Schumann, Op. 68, No. 11.]

It will be observed that the first (and also the third) of these
phrases consists of two exactly similar two-measure motives. This
seems to lend some confirmation to the idea of a two-measure phrase;
but the student is warned against deviating from his four-measure
standard, upon such evidence as this. Many instances will be found,
like these, in which the impression of a complete phrase is not gained
until the motive of two measures has been thus repeated; _the
repetition is necessary_, in order to finish the sentence, and this
proves that the two measures alone do not constitute the "complete
idea" which we expect the phrase to represent.

The same regularity of dimension will usually be found in all kinds of
dance music; in technical exercises (for instance, the etudes of Czerny
and others); and in all music of a simple or popular character.

* * * * * *

EXCEPTIONS.--In its ordinary, normal condition the phrase is a musical
sentence four measures in length. But this rule has its necessary
exceptions; necessary because, as we have learned, the principle of
Variety is quite as vital as that of Unity or symmetry. The phrase is
not always regular; by various means and for various reasons, it
occasionally assumes an irregular form. When such irregular phrases
are encountered (phrases of less or more than four measures) the
student will best dist