phrase
A musical sentence — a coherent group of notes that forms a complete musical thought.
In Depth
A phrase in music is analogous to a sentence in language — it has a beginning, middle, and end, and it expresses a complete musical idea. Most phrases are four or eight bars long, though phrases of other lengths are common. A phrase typically ends with a cadence, which serves the same function as punctuation.
Phrasing — the art of shaping musical phrases expressively — is one of the most important aspects of musical interpretation. Great performers breathe with the phrase, shaping the dynamics, timing, and tone colour to give each phrase a natural, speech-like contour. Musicians often speak of long-line phrasing, meaning the ability to connect small phrases into larger, sweeping musical arcs.
The opening phrase of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is so compact — just four notes — that it has been called the most efficient musical statement in history.