Themes and Streams of American Popular Music

three things that make music popular

appreciated by a large group of people, mass distributed, it tends to feed on itself

riff

a short musical gesture that repeats (mainly instrumental, though can be vocal)

hook

a memorable musical phrase (can be lyrical or instrumental)

melody

the main sung or played line, can be sung/played in a high or low range, that is smooth or jumpy, etc.

groove

the rhythmic drive of a piece that can be laid back, swinging, driving, funky, rocking, etc.

affect

the emotion of the music

timbre/tone color

the sonic fingerprint of a voice or instrument and can be described using terms like breathy, nasally, bright, dark, shrill, scratchy, or brassy

tempo and dynamics

the speed and volume of the music

composer

writes the basic tune to the song, could write the lyrics and create the arrangement as well

lyricist

writes the lyrics to the tune that the composer has written

arranger

decides which instruments should be playing, which parts should be repeated, what dynamics and tempos should be used

A & R (artist and repertoire) personnel

goes and seeks out new talent, some of them will go on to be producers

producer

oversees the final production of the work, the money to create it, how it is to be recorded, developing the new talent found

european american stream

based on the ballad and strophic songs

african american stream

based on a short repeating pattern, heavy beats on 2 and 4- comes from the gospel tradition

latin american stream

comes in waves throughout the decade, tango, habanera, and rumba