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 études 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 distinguish them by defining their extremities, their beginning and ending—as "beginning" and "ending," without reference to their length. This should not be attended with any serious difficulty; at least not to the observant student who reads his musical page thoughtfully, and attaches some meaning to the figures and motives of the melody; who endeavors to recognize the extent to which the successive tones appear to cling together (like the letters in a word) and constitute an unbroken melodic number,—and, in so doing, also recognizes the points where this continuity is broken, and a new number is announced. Much assistance may be derived from the fact—striking in its simplicity—that the ending of one phrase defines, at the same time, the beginning of the next, and vice versa. The locating of one, therefore, serves to locate the other. There is, usually, something sufficiently indicative about a "beginning," to render it noticeable to a careful observer, and the same is true of an "ending." This is illustrated in the following: