The Analysis of Musical Form
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Songwriting Cheatsheet
Songwriting Cheatsheet If you study the charts, you’ll realize that great pop songs are not accidents, and they are too plentiful to be the products of so-called “inspiration”. Pop songwriting is a craft that can be learned and applied with practice. I’d like to share what I’ve learned over the years from both my own writing and conversations with many professional songwriters. Hopefully you can apply these tips to your own songs! The elements of a great pop song are as follows: 1. Song Structure Great songs start with a great structure. While there are several popular structures used in pop music today, what they all have in common is that they provide a balance between repetition and presenting new information. A great song structure is designed to keep giving your listener something new, but also provide them with enough familiarity to keep them engaged. Let’s first define the typical sections, or parts of a pop song: Verse: Tells the story – answers “who, what where, when and why?”. Lyrics usually change from verse to verse, while the melody usually stays the same (though it is sometimes embellished upon slightly with each passing verse). Pre-chorus (or “the climb”): Functions to build energy and lead the listener into the chorus. Chorus: Sums up the message of the song – answers the question “so what?”. Contains the song’s “hook”. Lyrics and melody usually stay the same in each chorus. Bridge: Provides lyrical and melodic contrast – usually by offering a different point of view or perspective (something we haven’t heard before). -
What Makes a Good Song? Exploring Popular Songs A
SECOND ARY/KEY STAGE 3 MUSI C – WHAT MAKES A GOOD SONG? K NOWLEDGE ORGANISER What Makes a Good Song? Exploring Popular Songs A. Form and Structure in Pop Songs B. Typical Pop Song Structure C. Key Words FORM AND STRUCTURE – the different sections MELODY – The main tune of a popular song, often sung by the LEAD SINGER or sometimes of a piece of music or song and how they are INTRO played on instruments within the band e.g. LEAD GUITAR. A melody can move by STEP ordered. using notes that are next to or close to one another this is called CONJUNCT MOTION, or a INTRO – The introduction sets the mood of a VERSE 1 melody can move by LEAPS using notes that are further apart from one another which is song. It is often instrumental but can called DISJUNCT MOTION. The distance between the lowest pitched and highest pitched note in a melody is called the MELODIC RANGE. occasionally start with lyrics. VERSE 2 CHORD – A group of two or more pitched notes played at the same time. VERSES – Verses introduce the song theme. They CHORUS BASS LINE – The lowest pitched part of a song, often performed by bass instruments such are usually new lyrics for each verse which helps as the BASS GUITAR. The bass line provides the harmonies on which the chords are to develop the song’s narrative, but the melody is VERSE 3 constructed. the same in all verses. ACCOMPANIMENT – Music that accompanies either a lead singer or melody line – often PRE-CHORUS - A section of music that occurs CHORUS known as the “backing” – provided by a band or BACKING SINGERS. -
Glossary for Music the Glossary for Music Includes Terms Commonly Found in Music Education and for Performance Techniques
Glossary for Music The glossary for Music includes terms commonly found in music education and for performance techniques. The intent of the glossary is to promote consistent terminology when creating curriculum and assessment documents as well as communicating with stakeholders. Ability: natural aptitude in specific skills and processes; what the student is apt to do, without formal instruction. Analog tools: category of musical instruments and tools that are non-digital (i.e., do not transfer sound in or convert sound into binary code), such as acoustic instruments, microphones, monitors, and speakers. Analyze: examine in detail the structure and context of the music. Arrangement: setting or adaptation of an existing musical composition Arranger: person who creates alternative settings or adaptations of existing music. Articulation: characteristic way in which musical tones are connected, separated, or accented; types of articulation include legato (smooth, connected tones) and staccato (short, detached tones). Artistic literacy: knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts Atonality: music in which no tonic or key center is apparent. Artistic Processes: Organizational principles of the 2014 National Core Standards for the Arts: Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. Audiate: hear and comprehend sounds in one’s head (inner hearing), even when no sound is present. Audience etiquette: social behavior observed by those attending musical performances and which can vary depending upon the type of music performed. Benchmark: pre-established definition of an achievement level, designed to help measure student progress toward a goal or standard, expressed either in writing or as an example of scored student work (aka, anchor set). -
Compound AABA Form and Style Distinction in Heavy Metal *
Compound AABA Form and Style Distinction in Heavy Metal * Stephen S. Hudson NOTE: The examples for the (text-only) PDF version of this item are available online at: hps://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.21.27.1/mto.21.27.1.hudson.php KEYWORDS: Heavy Metal, Formenlehre, Form Perception, Embodied Cognition, Corpus Study, Musical Meaning, Genre ABSTRACT: This article presents a new framework for analyzing compound AABA form in heavy metal music, inspired by normative theories of form in the Formenlehre tradition. A corpus study shows that a particular riff-based version of compound AABA, with a specific style of buildup intro (Aas 2015) and other characteristic features, is normative in mainstream styles of the metal genre. Within this norm, individual artists have their own strategies (Meyer 1989) for manifesting compound AABA form. These strategies afford stylistic distinctions between bands, so that differences in form can be said to signify aesthetic posing or social positioning—a different kind of signification than the programmatic or semantic communication that has been the focus of most existing music theory research in areas like topic theory or musical semiotics. This article concludes with an exploration of how these different formal strategies embody different qualities of physical movement or feelings of motion, arguing that in making stylistic distinctions and identifying with a particular subgenre or style, we imagine that these distinct ways of moving correlate with (sub)genre rhetoric and the physical stances of imagined communities of fans (Anderson 1983, Hill 2016). Received January 2020 Volume 27, Number 1, March 2021 Copyright © 2021 Society for Music Theory “Your favorite songs all sound the same — and that’s okay . -
MTO 23.3: De Clercq, Embracing Ambiguity in Pop/Rock Form
Embracing Ambiguity in the Analysis of Form in Pop/Rock Music, 1982–1991 Trevor de Clercq KEYWORDS: Form, popular music, rock music, verse, chorus, bridge ABSTRACT: A central concern for theories of form in pop/rock music is the division of a song into sections and, consequently, the categorization of these sections according to a standard set of section labels. Psychological research on categorization shows that it is inherently a perceptual process, one that involves graded membership and fuzzy boundaries. Thus in contrast to prior theorists, who often a2empt to minimi/e ambiguity in the analysis of form in pop/rock music, I confront ambiguity directly, organi/ing and describing many of the common types encountered. I focus e4clusively on the time period 198 –1991, 1hen verse5chorus form can be considered to have achieved 1idespread currency. After providing an illustrative e4emplar, I discuss three types of ambiguity common to this decade, each based on the main section role involved: 16 verse ambiguity, 1hich typically derives from 1eak section di7erentiation8 6 chorus ambiguity, 1hich usually involves a blend of more than one section role8 and 36 bridge ambiguity, 1hich often results from di7erent hierarchical meanings of the bridge label. Received December 2016 :olume 23, Number 3, September 2017 Copyright © 2017 Society for Music Theory Introduction ?1.1] ,he analysis of form in pop/rock music traditionally involves partitioning a song into various discrete sections, such as verse, chorus, and bridge. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this process is not al1ays straightfor1ard, since t1o di7erent analysts sometimes provide t1o di7erent interpretations of the same song. -
6 Slides Per Page
9/16/2018 Outline • Musical forms Musical Form • Sonata allegro form • Example – Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik Module 2 of Music: Under the Hood John Hooker Carnegie Mellon University Osher Course September 2018 1 2 Musical Forms Musical Forms • The main point is not the specific form • Most common musical structure – The main point is that the music must be intelligible – Exposition – The listener • Introduce the main musical ideas should not • Tonic key get lost – Development • Explore implications of main ideas • Other keys – Recapitulation • Return to original ideas with sense of closure • Tonic key 3 4 Musical Forms Musical Forms • Some basic forms • Block structure common in “classical” period – Binary – AB • Haydn, Mozart, etc. • Common in dances, pop music (verse-chorus) • Organic development more common in “Baroque” period – Sonata allegro – AABA with B = development – Blocks correspond to keys • Best known form in Western music – Makes for easy listening • Chorus-verse-chorus in pop music • Still the standard today – Rondo – ABACA – Sonata Allegro form – Theme and variations is best known – Passacaglia/chaconne • 121 of Beatles’ 211 songs have more or less this form • Variations over repeating bass • For example, Richard Rogers’ Blue Moon 5 6 1 9/16/2018 Sonata Allegro Form Sonata Allegro Form • AABA structure – AA: Exposition, repeated • Main theme in tonic • Secondary theme in dominant Diagram of sonata allegro form – B: Development • Multiple keys, usually minor – A: Recapitulation • Main theme returns in tonic • Secondary theme in dominant I VV Various I VII – Many variations! keys 7 8 Sonata Allegro Form Example • Basic contradiction? • Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (1787) – Secondary theme in recapitulation is in dominant key. -
Understanding Music Past and Present
Understanding Music Past and Present N. Alan Clark, PhD Thomas Heflin, DMA Jeffrey Kluball, EdD Elizabeth Kramer, PhD Understanding Music Past and Present N. Alan Clark, PhD Thomas Heflin, DMA Jeffrey Kluball, EdD Elizabeth Kramer, PhD Dahlonega, GA Understanding Music: Past and Present is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu- tion-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This license allows you to remix, tweak, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as you credit this original source for the creation and license the new creation under identical terms. If you reuse this content elsewhere, in order to comply with the attribution requirements of the license please attribute the original source to the University System of Georgia. NOTE: The above copyright license which University System of Georgia uses for their original content does not extend to or include content which was accessed and incorpo- rated, and which is licensed under various other CC Licenses, such as ND licenses. Nor does it extend to or include any Special Permissions which were granted to us by the rightsholders for our use of their content. Image Disclaimer: All images and figures in this book are believed to be (after a rea- sonable investigation) either public domain or carry a compatible Creative Commons license. If you are the copyright owner of images in this book and you have not authorized the use of your work under these terms, please contact the University of North Georgia Press at [email protected] to have the content removed. ISBN: 978-1-940771-33-5 Produced by: University System of Georgia Published by: University of North Georgia Press Dahlonega, Georgia Cover Design and Layout Design: Corey Parson For more information, please visit http://ung.edu/university-press Or email [email protected] TABLE OF C ONTENTS MUSIC FUNDAMENTALS 1 N. -
Handout For: 'Repetition's Sonic Connection in Lyric Writing By: L Dunn
Handout for: ‘Repetition’s sonic connection in lyric writing by: L Dunn ● Chorus or Refrain: is the repeated section in a song that’s function is to crystallize the idea, the intent, the emotional point and statement the song is making and is often repeated verbatim at least 3 times in a song’s structure. I should note for those who don’t already know, that a ‘refrain’ is defined as the same lyric line, word for word, that ends each separate verse section (the last line of the verse). It can occasionally appear as the first line instead of the last line of each verse. It differs from the ‘chorus’ which is a separate multi-lined section of it’s own that generally follows a verse or pre-chorus. But a chorus can also be the first section, leading off a song. ●Pre-Chorus or Lift: is a repeated song section, often using the same lyric each time it repeats. This section precedes the choruses in a song’s structure. ●anaphora: is the repetition of a word or short phrase at the beginning of successive lines. This is a very commonly used device in lyric writing, here are 2 examples: * “When Will I be Loved” by Phil Everly, recorded by: The Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, John Fogerty, and Tanya Tucker among others. I’ve been pushed down/I’ve been pulled ‘round/when will I be loved I’ve been made blue/I’ve been lied to/when will I be loved *“Who’s Cheatin’ Who” by Charly McClain, recorded by Alan Jackson. -
God Is a Woman Deconstructed Excerpt from the Vocal Melody Analysis Section
God Is a Woman Deconstructed Excerpt from the Vocal Melody Analysis Section Ariana Grande’s God Is A Woman is the second single from her 2018 hit album, Sweetener. Co-written by Grande along with some of the biggest names in songwriting, including Max Martin, Ilya, Savan Kotecha and Rickard Goransson, God Is A Woman packs quite the musical punch and quickly became a favorite of listeners around the world. To date, the song has landed in the Top 10 on over 20 charts throughout the world, peaking at #1 in the US on the Billboard Dance Club Songs and Mainstream Top 40 charts. God Is A Woman is largely driven by its vocal melody and Ariana Grande’s signature vocal chops. The song features infectious hooks throughout, embellished by Grande’s effortless vocal runs and lush harmonies. Below you’ll find an excerpt from the Vocal Melody analysis section of the Hit Song Deconstructed report, God Is A Woman Deconstructed. © 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed, All Rights Reserved - 1 - Table of Contents (click to go to each section) Overview >> Verse 1 >> Pre-Chorus >> Chorus >> Key Form Abbreviations A=Verse | PC=Pre-Chorus | B=Chorus Vocal Melody Part Classifications Main melodic parts, such as upper-case A, B and C, reflect the main melodic structure of each line in a song section. Melodic sub parts, such as lower-case a, b, and c, reflect melodic structure both within and across lines. The vocal melody part classifications in each section are specific to that particular section and do not relate to other sections with the one exception being for the two verses. -
Classical Music
CONSEJERÍA DE EDUCACIÓN Dirección General de Participación e Innovación Educativa Identificación del material AICLE TÍTULO Classical Music NIVEL LINGÜÍSTICO A2.1 SEGÚN MCER IDIOMA Inglés ÁREA / MATERIA Música NÚCLEO TEMÁTICO Historia de la Música La unidad pretende introducir al alumnado en el conocimiento de la música del GUIÓN TEMÁTICO clasicismo, trabajando sus características principales, los géneros vocales e instrumentales de la época y los compositores más destacados. FORMATO Material didáctico en formato PDF CORRESPONDENCIA 2º de Educación Secundaria CURRICULAR AUTORÍA Almudena Viéitez Roldán TEMPORALIZACIÓN 6 sesiones. APROXIMADA Competencia lingüística: - Adquisición de vocabulario - Elaborar y formular preguntas al compañero - Discusión y puesta en común en voz alta de aspectos concretos del tema - Elaboración de textos - Lectura comprensiva COMPETENCIAS - Fomento de las destrezas orales BÁSICAS Competencia cultural y artística: - Conocimiento de música de otras épocas, inculcando una actitud de respeto hacia la misma Competencia para aprender a aprender: - Extraer características a partir de audiciones - Extraer información de textos y ordenarla cronológicamente - Establecer similitudes y diferencias entre diversos tipos de obras Se recomienda completar la unidad con la interpretación vocal o instrumental de OBSERVACIONES alguna pieza de música del clasicismo; también sería recomendable el visionado de un fragmento de alguna ópera clásica. Material AICLE. 2º de ESO: Classical Music 3 Tabla de programación AICLE - Comprender y expresarse en una o más lenguas extranjeras de manera apropiada - Conocer, valorar y respetar los aspectos básicos de la cultura y la historia propias y OBJETIVOS de los demás, así como el patrimonio artístico y cultural - Apreciar la creación artística y comprender el lenguaje de las distintas manifesta- ciones artísticas, utilizando diversos medios de expresión y representación CONTENIDOS Bloque 4: La música en la cultura y en la sociedad. -
How to Write a Rap Song
How to Write a Rap Song Though every artist can come at the same project with a completely different process, having a foundation to work from is useful if you're struggling to write your music. To write a rap song, follow these instructions. Part 1 Writing Lyrics Brainstorm While listening to a beat on repeat, allow yourself to free-associate or even 1 freestyle out loud to get your creative juices flowing. Do this for a while without setting pen to paper. When you're ready, make a list of every concept, unique perspective, or potential lyric that popped into your head. Allow these to guide and inspire the content of your song as you move forward. § Let your ideas brew for a while. Carry a notepad around with you so that if you get a flash of inspiration while you’re on a bus, working out, or buying groceries, you can capture the moment and hopefully expand on it. Write the hook If you were writing a term paper, you'd start with a thesis. But this is a rap 2 song so start with a hook (a.k.a. chorus). The hook should not only capture the theme of the song, but, more importantly, be catchy and unique as well. A great hook will often inspire other elements of the song such as the beat or other lyrics, so don’t settle for something that doesn’t prompt any other ideas. § If you’re having trouble coming up with something out of the blue, riff off of or respond to a line you love from another rap song. -
Musical Analysis, Lesson 8: the Compound Forms
© 2010 Thomas Tapper − Reinier Maliepaard: The compound forms Musical analysis, lesson 8: The compound forms The simple song forms (Binary and Ternary) are frequently compounded. A familiar use of this is found in the Minuetto and Trio, the Scherzo and Trio, and like movements of the Sonata, as well as in independent forms. These compound forms are ternary, taken as a whole. This fact is illustrated in the sketch that follows: Minuetto−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−Trio−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−Minuetto Part I Part II Part I −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−Part I Part II −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−Part I Part II Part I A simple Ternary −−−−−−−−−−−−−A simple Binary −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−A simple Ternary A B A In this instance, two independent forms are present (Minuetto and Trio), but when played as directed by the D.C. mark at the end of the Trio (Da Capo = from the beginning), the first form is repeated and the effect becomes that of three forms. The fact that Nos. One and Three are alike, and that they are separated by the presence of the second, or middle form, produces the Ternary, or three−part structure. The student should examine all the Minuetto and Trio movements (or their equivalents) in the Sonatas of Beethoven, to gain a clear idea of the total effect of the compound form. Frequently, after the repeat of the first form, for example the Minuetto, a free Coda is added to round out the conclusion and to prevent the identical effect in conclusion that has already been used. In this case, the sequence of the parts becomes, for example: Minuetto − Trio − Minuetto (repeated) − Coda The presence of the Coda does not add a fourth independent part, but merely prolongs, or amplifies, the movement of which it forms an integral portion.