Излюбленная форма первой половины 20 века, которую часто называют «стандартной» формой имеет вид A-A-B-A, т.е. после двух повторяющихся куплетов (AA) следует куплет, построенный на новом мелодическом материале (B), после чего следует повторение секции A. Иногда секцию B называют change part, поскольку она а представляет собой контрастный элемент, который, с одной стороны, не является припевом (рефреном), с другой - необходим с точки зрения логики музыкальной формы. Здесь может использоваться другая мелодия, гармония и даже тональность, хотя для развернутых куплетов может использоваться и просто вариант мелодии. «Крючок» обычно располагается в первой или последней строке каждого куплета.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG - What a wonderful world

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
They're really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

Как правило, текст куплета развивает сюжетную линию песни, однако, например, в песне Битлз «Do You Want to Know a Secret?» текст трех куплетов повторяется в неизменном виде:

You'll never know how much I really love you.
You'll never know how much I really care.

Listen,
Do you want to know a secret,
Do you promise not to tell, whoa oh, oh.
Closer,
Let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I'm in love with you.

Listen,
Do you want to know a secret,
Do you promise not to tell, whoa oh, oh.
Closer,
Let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I'm in love with you.

I've known the secret for a week or two,
Nobody knows, just we two.

Listen,
Do you want to know a secret,
Do you promise not to tell, whoa oh, oh.
Closer,
Let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I'm in love with you.

Еще один хороший пример формы AABA – знаменитая песня Джорджа и Иры Гершвин «I Got Rhythm». Здесь заглавная строчка не повторяется, а варьируется, превращаясь в «I got daisies» во втором куплете и «I got starlight» в третьем.

Sarah Vaughan - I Got Rhythm

I got rhythm
I got music
I got my man/girl
Who could ask for anything more ?

I got daisies
In green pastures,
I got my man/girl
Who could ask for anything more ?

Ol'Man Trouble,
I don't mind him
You won't find him
'Round my door

I got starlight,
I got sweet dreams,
I got my man/girl,
Who could ask for anything more ?
Who could ask for anything more ?

Настоящая классика, песня Harold Arlen и E. Y. Harburg, “Over the Rainbow” из фильма "Волшебник страны Оз" заканчивается кодой, построенной на материале change part:

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Еще один пример формы AABA, с небольшим дополнением:

George Harrison – Something (A-A-B-A(i)-A))

Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe her now

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
Don't want to leave her now
You know I believe her now

You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around now it may show
I don't know, I don't know

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
Don't want to leave her now
You know I believe her now