Each schema has discernible internal characteristics—such as voice leading, number of events, and relative metric strength and weakness of such events—as well as normative placements in the musical structure as a whole.
According to Gjerdingen, the usage of these schemata in a conventional, seamless sequence is "a hallmark of the galant style" and a consequence of the partimento pedagogical tradition of Neapolitan conservatories.
[1] Galant schemata, broadly speaking, can be distinguished among opening, closing, cadential, pre-cadential, and post-cadential varieties.
The Romanesca originated from the 16th and 17th centuries as a common musical backdrop in a minor key for singing poetry as well as the basis for variations over a repeating harmonic progression.
[6] The Meyer was a popular choice among composers for themes of structural importance in a piece of music.
[7] The Meyer has three related schemas: the Jupiter, the Pastorella, and the Aprile, with their differences being in their melodies.
A variant of this schema exists with an optional extension in the third event with scale degree 5 in the bass to strengthen the finality of the musical phrase.
Composers in the galant period also favored the Prinner as a useful way to modulate from a key to its dominant.
The Fonte melody typically features two recognizable sets, corresponding to the two groups of events.
However, unlike the Fonte, it is not uncommon to find early Montes with more than two sections.
The Quiescenza was used by composers to prolong the tonic following a significant section-ending cadence.
As the Quiescenza's function is to rest the music on a tonic harmony, it was also often used in the beginning of pieces to strongly establish the key center.
Highly contrapuntal works like fugues often feature overlapping schemata.