Syntagmatic structure (structure of syntax) is "the mode of time-awareness in which listeners are placed" such as 'narrative', 'epic', or 'lyrical'.
For example, narrative structures feature a realistic temporal flow guided by tension and relaxation; they therefore privilege difference. In Cubitt's words: "as diegesis, songs speak to or address us by organizing a particular stretch of time into a conscious experience, and an experience of consciousness" (Cubitt 1984, p.216). In contrast, epic structures tend toward the opposite, privileging repetition and thereby creating a mythic state of recurrence, which "empt[ies] out" the subject (Middleton 1990, p.216-17). Lyrical structures lie in between and feature symmetrical open/closed and binary forms. (Middleton 1990, p.251 and 217).
A Syntagma is one syntactic or syntagmatic element. For example, repetition is a syntagma of epic structures.
In semiotics, "syntagmatic analysis" is analysis of syntax or surface structure (Syntagmatic structure), rather than paradigms as in paradigmatic analysis. Analysis is often achieved through commutation tests. ([1])