Conventions of Pop

When was rock 'n' roll prominent?

1950s and 1960s

When were rock anthems prominent?

1970s and 1980s

When were Pop ballads prominent?

1970s, 1980s and 1990s

When were solo artists prominent?

From 1990 to the present day

Which decade did Disco first appear?

1970s

Which decade did Britpop first appear?

1990s

Which decade did Hip-hop first appear?

1980s

What was rock 'n' roll a combination of?

Gospel and traditional rhythm and blues

What is Rock 'n' Roll?

A genre of popular music that originated in the USA during the 1950s; the beginning of modern pop music

Electric guitar

Usually played by the lead guitarist, most songs are centered around this instrument. May have to play solo parts in songs. On stage performances, you should plug this instrument into an amplifier. Most important instrument in the development of popular music.

Rhythm and blues

Originally a North American precursor to rock 'n' roll, now a term used for a style of music developed from hip-hop

Chord pattern

The order of chords in a particular piece of music

Merseybeat

A genre of popular music from Liverpool that dominated the charts in the early to mid 1960s

12-bar blues

A very common structure used in North America by the first blues musicians. Usually it only uses chords I, IV and V

Refrain

A section of a song that is often repeated, usually the section that contains the title of the song

Anacrusis

An upbeat

Strumming

The playing of chords on the guitar using all the strings as quickly as possible

Lick

A short feature for a solo instrument in popular music, usually an electric guitar

Bass guitar

A four or five stringed guitar used mainly to underpin the musical texture and play the root note of chords

Drum kit/set

Collection of instruments played by drummers in a band.

What does a Drum kit consist of?

Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals, hi-hat, crash and ride

Back beat

The standard pop/rock drum beat where the bass drum plays on beats 1 and and 3, and the snare drum on beats 2 and 4

Doo wop

the nonsense syllables singers would use in song arrangements

Outro

A popular music term for a coda. An ending to a song.

Passing note

A note that does not belong to the harmonising chord in the between two that do

Riff

A short melodic or rhythmic idea, which is often repeated within a piece and that helps to make it memorable

Instrumental

A section of music with no vocal part

Strophic

Strophic form is the term applied to songs in which all verses of the text are sung to the same music

Middle eight

contrasting section of eight bars (see "bridge"), usually involves a change of key.

Melody of of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Conjuct, melodies are clear and easily heard over the rest of the texture. Large amount of repetition to make the song memorable.

Harmony, tonality of Popular Music (Rock Anthems)

Diatonic, limited chromaticism, important use of 7th chord, simple chord patterns, modal

Rhythm of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Relies heavily on syncopation

Texture of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Homophonic - clear melody with accompanying patterns made up of chords

Instruments of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Electric guitar, electric bass, double bass, drums, piano, electric organ, voice. Some brass and woodwind instruments.

Structure of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Songs written in a strophic structure: operated in a verse/chorus manner. 12 bar-blues used.

Dynamics of Popular music (Rock Anthems)

Dynamics tended not to change

Talk box effect

A device used to treat the sound of an electric guitar to make it sound like the human voice

Synthesizer

instrument which puts sounds together like real musical instruments

Reverb

An electronic effect which can give the impression of different hall acoustics.

Melismatic

many notes per syllable

Music Technology

Dubbing, remixing, looping, panning and scratching, synthesizers, drum machines, reverb, echo, distortion

Features of Ballads?

Slow tempo, Build-up to the chorus, strophic form, modulation in final chorus, lyrics about love