Ternary – The structure of a piece of music which is divided into three sections

(Pronounced tuhr-nuh-ree)

To remember what ternary means use the following mnemonic:

Turn a really (ternary) complex song into a simple one by using a structure of three sections.

Binary form of music describes the structure of a piece of music which is divided into 2 different sections A and B where A and B are a contrast of sound often created by a key change.

A ternary form of music has 3 sections similar to binary except the first and third parts are essentially identical.

Ternary is therefore known as A B A music.