Music to Our Ears

I highly doubt that the artist John Cage sounds familiar to anyone who reads my blog, but for those of you that do, I do not blame you for clicking that big x in the upper right hand corner of your screen. For those of you this warning did not scare away, I would like to discuss some of John Cage’s music, and what makes him such an influential composer.

John Cage became a popular and influential composer after appearing in a public piano performance by William Marx who performed his three movement work 4’33”. The song in question has some very advanced music theory involved. It begins with the performer setting up a timer, starting the timer, and the closing the piano. By the time the timer goes off, the performer takes a bow, and moves on to the second movement, where they start the timer once more and close the piano. The well renowned third movement involves a pristine sounding clanking of wood as the piano is closed for the third time. In total, the song lasts for 4 minutes and thirty-three seconds, which is where the name comes from. This unheard of and extensive use of complex theory appeals to listeners who have a very long attention span, so many miss out on the opportunity to engage in Cage’s beautiful compositions.

Another one of John Cage’s famous works, ASLSP, is played on a grand orchestra that takes up an entire church. Imagine playing an instrument that large! This piece appeals to listeners who really enjoy listening to slow songs with very pretty chords, and really uses tempo control to the next level.

This is the very simplistic sheet music. The most recent performance of this piece was in 2001 and has been going on ever since. It’s planned to end in the year 2640, and will next change notes in February of 2024. What a fun song to listen to! ASLSP stands for As Slow as Possible, if you had not already figured it out, and its truly a worldwide event in the music world whenever a note change occurs since it only happens every few years.

In case you have not realized, this is my take on a late April Fools blog post. John Cage truly is a successful musician and for some reason people buy his humorous music that often can’t even be played. For example, one of his most popular compositions is written for a cactus played with a feather. Here is a picture of him performing that piece.

So far I have really only discussed how chord progressions entrance our ear, but using some of the same logic behind chord progressions, we can see that the melodies of some songs are a bit more thought out then we first believed. I will admit, when Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” came out, I was addicted to it, as were most people. So much so that I asked my saxophone private lessons teacher to obtain a copy of the music so I could play it for myself.

Source: IMDB

When I later received the music, I was caught off guard by the fact it was written almost entirely with two notes, an A and a G. In the key of G, the A is the second note of the scale, which is known as the semitonic, and obviously the first note of the scale, the G, is the tonic. At first I thought the music was just too simple and stupid. After all, even I could write a song with just two notes, but the key was the A in the melody. If you take a listen to the song, you will notice that when Timberlake sings the chorus “Nothing I can see…you when…dance dance dance” all these words are on the same note, the semitonic A. The ones I omitted, but and you, are closely related on the tonic of the scale and add a brief resolution. However, this semitonic note is so crucial in the chorus because it allows our ear to tune into the note right above the tonic where we want to be. By building a minute amount of tension with the note above the tonic, we want to keep listening to hear the phrase resolve.

But the theory behind staying on the second note of a scale goes a bit deeper. In every chord in a major key, the second note of the chord fits in a musically sound manner. Though it would take too long to show every combination of the second note and how it fits into a chord, choosing the semitonic as the note to write a melody around is a safe choice since it will fit into nearly any chord progression. Therefore, combining a semitonic based melody and an addicting progression will make your song irresistible, and is seen in many recent pop hits like Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Want To Live Forever” and the Weekend’s “I Can’t Feel My Face”.  Because of this example of melodical music writing, it is easy to see that even a musically simple song that utilizes primarily two notes can be addicting to our ears if the song writer knows what they are doing.

 

It’s the 2000s. Computers have become such a large necessity that nearly every house has one. You go downstairs into the office to check your email, and you see an email from your high school friend. Despite every instinct telling you the link could be a scam or a virus, you click the link where your taken to a dancing man and the sound of eighties electronic drums.

By now, everyone knows the same annoyance in clicking a link and being Rick Rolled, after all, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” gets stuck in your head every time you hear it and is sure to ruin your day. Interestingly, this song shares musical parallels to Asian pop music, which makes music theorists wonder why the one hit wonder made it so big in America.

Source: epuzzle.info

Similar to the “four chords” progression I have discussed before, Asian pop music relies on a four chord progression that the call “The Royal Road” progression. This four chord system begins on a major four chord, then to a major five chord, followed by a minor three chord, and ends on a minor six chord.  What this progression does so differently from the American four chords is its emphasis on tension. Our ear wants a chord progression to end and resolve on the tonic chord, a major one chord, but the closest we get to resolution is the minor three chord which shares two notes with a major one chord. By omitting the major one chord, the four, five, and six chords can build tension while never completely resolving, and although four and five chords are comfortable chords to our ear, the missing context of the one chord’s resolution only helps to build upon the tension of the song.

This avoidance of resolving the progression allows the music writer to continue writing more verses and choruses that never quite feel like the end of the song. While our brain searches for resolution, the building tension grabs onto us and entices us with what is to come next. For this very reason, we feel a helpless need to let the video keep playing. We want to listen to Rick Astley sing in the hopes of his song eventually resolving, but we never completely get there. In turn, Astley’s song captured the hearts of millions and the addictiveness of his music led to the famous internet trend we all can’t help but enjoy listening to.

Whether it be his claim to fame “Hamilton” or his more recent work in “Moana”, Lin-Manuel Miranda has become one of the biggest composers in the last decade. More recently, he wrote the soundtrack to Encanto, where one song seemed to be a smash hit above the rest.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” quickly took over the top of pop charts, but what made this song so popular? There are likely three reasons for this occurrence, the first of which is the Afro-Cuban influence on the song. Afro-Cuban music traditionally has a sort of dance feel and what makes it easier to dance than repetitive music? Take Santana’s popular “Oye Como Va”, an Afro-Cuban inspired song that only uses two alternating chords the entire time.

In a typical Afro-Cuban inspired way, Miranda’s song has a dance feel by utilizing a minor one, minor four, major five chord pattern repeatedly. The repetitiveness is also comforting in that the sequence comes back to the root chord, the one chord, very often.  This would explain why so many people enjoyed the song for how it compelled them to dance.

One of the more intelligent musical choices that Lin-Manuel Miranda uses in his writing is his shifting between keys, time signatures, and modes very readily. Within the song are many notable changes in the time signature and speed of the song, which can seem exciting to the listener. It also helps build on the mysteriousness of this unknown character, Bruno. One place in particular the time signature of the piece changes is when one of the girls sings “Hey! Grew to live in fear…”, which sounds awfully faster than other parts of the song.

The last primary reason I believe the song is so successful is for changing to a major key and utilizing the four chords I had mentioned a few weeks ago. When one of the girls begins singing “He told me that the man of my dreams”, the key of the song shifts to a major key, and you can hear the major one, major five, minor six, and major four chord that we have all become so familiar with. This sequence then is used to clash all of the minor chord sequences early on when the song hits a climatic moment. This stands out to the listener in a way they cannot predict by adding dissonance to the piece (when two directly next to each other notes play). Additionally, Miranda’s clever understanding of madrigal style music provides this piece with a seamless transition into the climax of the song. Together, this culmination of my theory on the song’s success offers a plausible explanation for why, despite the song title, people could not stop talking about Bruno.

What originally kept me from writing about the minor keys was that I worried I would add too much confusion to the readers of this blog, but it has become more apparent that for some of the songs I hoped to dive into the theory of I need to teach minor keys.

Like the Do Re Mi… pattern of the major scale, minor scales also have eight notes that follow a consistent chord pattern, but the chords are mildly more complex. Additionally, a minor key is better visualized as starting and ending on La. This means a minor scale would sound “La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La”. Once again, each note can be assigned a number, but not he same value as a major scale. In this case, the La would be the value one, Ti would be two, Do would be three…you get the gist. Its just more crucial to understand that the minor scale causes some of the chords to change sound a bit from what a major scale would have.

The first quality of chord in the scale is a minor one chord, which contradicts the first chord in a major scale. Following this is a diminished two and then an augmented third. Don’t worry if you do not know what these two types of chords are as I will make a deliberate effort to simplify them if they come up or skip them entirely. A fourth chord in a minor scale is minor. The fifth chord is major just like in the major scale, so this one is quite easy to remember. The sixth chord is major, followed by a diminished seven chord. Once again, you should not need to know any of the chords that are not major or minor chords.

Source: Piano-Keyboard Guide

This portion of the post is only important for those who have in depth knowledge of music theory and may want to offer a correction to the terminology I am using. I referred to a minor key as if there was only one type of minor key when there are many different types with different series of chord than the ones listed above. For the music theory I am going to discuss in this blog series, I will only be covering harmonic minor chords.

Although this may feel like a lot of information now, I hope I can use the information presented in this post to analyze what some would say is the most influential song of this past year.

Have you ever heard your grandparents tell you that “All new music just sounds the same?” Well, in part they are correct, but this trend is nothing new. Ever since the sixties, much of the music of the time has chosen to use the same chord progression. From the Beatles to Jason Derulo, the combination of chords that make up these songs has been dubbed “The Four Chords”. This set of chords is the reason that you can sing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing while listening to Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry.

First popularized by the Australian comedy group The Axis of Awesome, the four chords are a trend in countless songs that just seems to work. All though the order of the chords varies, the songs all use some variation of the following chords in a major key: major one, major fifth, minor sixth, and a major four.

Source: Axis of Awesome comedian Jordan Raskopoulos on Being Transgender – The Guardian

Though many offer different explanations for why the minor sixth chord has a place in this sequence of chords has, it’s quite easy to see why the other three chords appear so often. Not only do most of these chords appeal to the ear due to their major tonality, but the sequence of one, five, and four contains every note in the scale. This means that by using these four chords in a song, singers can employ a wide range of notes that will sound proper to the ear, rather than having to stay centered on only a few notes of the scale. Additionally, the inclusion of a major one chord offers resolution to the listeners, so repeating a pattern with a major one chord in a sequence appeals to the ear in this manner as well.

As for the minor six chord in the sequence, my rationale behind the inclusion in this sequence is that the one minor chord in the sequence appeals to the ear by easing tension, as well as being like a major one chord. Although I will not go into an in-depth explanation on the makeup of a minor sixth chord, the chord shared two of its three notes with a major one chord. Incorporating a minor chord in this sequence not only emulates some of the other chords which appeals to the ear by keeping a common tone between note changes but going from a more uncomfortable sounding minor chord to a pleasant major chord.

So next time you listen to a song on the radio that sounds oddly familiar to another song you know, try looking up the chord progression of the song. It’s possible that you’re onto something and may have just discovered another one of the songs built upon these four chords.

Unlike the Titanic Theme, James Horner’s work on Avatar’s music takes us to strange and fantastical worlds that only could only be made through Cameron’s masterfully crafted digital effects. In a contrary fashion to last week’s Titanic theme analysis which seemed to follow musical sense and was written to simply follow what our ears want to hear, Avatar does the unexpected.

Remember back to last week how both of Horner’s major works went from a minor six chord to a major five chord to please the ear. Following this expected chord change, the ear naturally wants to hear the change to a major fourth chord (the next in the Titanic sequence), or a one chord which will leave the listener with a satisfying end to the phrase. Instead of following either of these paths, Avatar’s music travels to the major second chord of the scale.

Stop. Wait.

The Nashville Number System for Piano: A Beginner’s Guide

If you recall back to my second blog post where I explained the relationship between chords and scales, I said that in a major scale the second chord would be minor (ii). So why would Horner choose a different chord (II)? By doing the unexpected musically, Horner takes us to another world. Rather than take any expected path, the major second chord does not lie in the key to the song, so the listener knows something is up. Due to being a major chord, the listener’s ear is still attuned to the chord played, except something will sound notably different to them which is the chord not being fully inside of the key.

Then once again, the next and final chord transition breaks traditional rules the ear enjoys listening to. Horner chooses to take the theme back to a minor six chord, thereby ending the phrase on a minor chord rather than a major chord. As I said earlier, our ears love to hear the transition from minor chords to major chords, switching this order sometimes leaves the audience feeling unsatisfied before traveling to the next phrase of the music. This creative decision leaves a hint of uncertainty of what is yet to come musically, reflecting the uncertain safety of the Pandora wilderness in the movie.

Both of Horner’s breakthrough movie soundtracks utilize the same opening patterns, but his musical genius helps to further force the listener into the movie’s storyline by cleverly choosing to follow or break traditional music rules. Titanic brings the listener satisfaction through the music reflecting the happiness in the lover’s eyes whereas Avatar’s theme takes us on an unexpected and uncertain journey.

With the recent release of Avatar 2: The Way of the Water dominating theatres worldwide, I thought it would be interesting to explore the music of James Cameron’s most popular films, Aliens, Avatar, Avatar 2, and Titanic. All three of these films boast massive success, placing them in some of the highest grossing films in history, all under the same director, but what many may not know is that the three movies are all scored by a hidden figure, also ironically named James.

James Horner scored both Avatar and Titanic, which both employ a very similar melody to encapsulate the audience in an expansive world, or a tragic love story. His music primarily acts pleasing to the ear by following a minor chord with a major chord. This simple fact holds true in both the Titanic theme (My Heart Will Go On) and the theme from Avatar (Jake’s First Flight). Both musical sequences begin with a minor six chord at the beginning of the phrase. In Titanic, this would be where Celine Dion sings “Near”. Both musical sequences then take the minor chord and move it down to a major fifth chord, the nearest consecutive major chord (Where Dion sings “Far”).

Source: IMDB; James Horner

This transition from a major to minor chord appears pleasing to the ear since our ears tend to find major patterns in music more pleasing. Furthermore, the notes of a scale most pleasing to the ear are the first, fourth, and fifth notes, so the contrasting tone traveling from the sixth scale degree to the fifth stands out to us as a listener.

The two differ greatly after this point, but the similar introductions work to capture the attention of the audience’s ear due to its pleasing nature. Since the titanic theme is much simpler to explain musically, I will finish the song off this week and go in depth into the Avatar theme next week.

From the fifth scale degree, the titanic theme travels to the fourth chord of the major scale, which you may remember is another chord that our ears are attuned to. Once again traveling to a major chord is pleasing to the ear, so we feel attached to this melody. Afterwards, a bit more of switching between these three chords occurs before the end of the phrase happens. At this high point in the phrase where Dion sings “On and on” and the flute beautifully enters, the chord transitions to the first chord of the scale. The entire pathway the song follows to finally end the phrase on the one chord truly helps listeners find a satisfying end to the phrase, and is one of the reasons the song may be so popular.

I am hoping that by including this brief music lesson as one of my early blog posts, I can mostly explain why much of music is so pleasing to the ears. Last semester, my mistake was in attempting to teach too much theory rather than analyze music, so hopefully with this post alone I can correct that.

The foundation of most music is the scale. Whether it is the newest pop songs or the classical Entertainer, most of music follows simple rules that are pleasing to the ear based on this scale. I bet that at some point in your education, you have been taught that a scale is Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, so I will try to use this base understanding for music theory purposes.

Imagine that each of the words on the scale had a numerical value attached to it in the order you would sing the scale. Do would be one, Re would be two, all the way until Ti would be seven, and the top Do would be eight. Both the major and minor scales in music have 8 notes, but I should not need to differentiate between the two for the purposes of this blog.

Alongside the scale numbers is the associated types of chords that go with each portion of the scale, which I will just give to you readers rather than go through countless weeks of explaining. In a major scale, the chord that goes with one is a major chord. Then a minor chord goes with two. A minor chord once again with three.  A major chord with four and five. A minor chord with six. What is referred to as a diminished chord for the seventh note of the scale, and a major chord for the eighth notes. Although the minor scale has a different pattern of chords, I do not expect this to be an issue since minor scales are much less common than major scales in popular music.

You don’t need to remember that information dump now since I will be able to reiterate much of the information as we go, but hopefully I was able to express that there is a natural relationship between a scale and the order of chords that goes with a scale. This is the primary foundation of all of music theory and is what I will use in the upcoming weeks to show the relationships found in music. Just simply try and remember that a scale is associated with numerical values and that different steps on the scale have different chords associated with them.

Try to imagine your favorite song. Got one? Perfect. Its hard to imagine a world without music. As someone who has sung in a multitude of choirs, played in bands and orchestras, written my own music, and taught music to children in my old high-school district, music is a crucial part of my life. I hope that through this blog, I can not only illustrate my passion for music, but compel others to consider why they may associate with different songs, artists, or genres so deeply.

Not everyone will feel the same sort of attachment to music as I have, but nearly everyone can agree that music means something to everyone, and that music holds a special place in our hearts. Without music, what would we listen to on our way to class, as the background of the latest blockbuster movies, what we play while working out, or just what we jam to with our friends. As Greg Gilpin’s Why We Sing puts it: Music builds a bridge, it can tear down a wall, music is a language that can speak to one and all.

In a historical context, every culture to exist has utilized music in some way. Some use it in more distinct ways than others. This worldwide culmination of music has led us to use it in almost every aspect of day-to-day life, and although I am not entirely sure what direction I will take this blog by the end of the ten weeks, it is possible I may go in depth about some of the musical differences between American, European, and Asian cultures.

Currently I have a few plans on what direction to take this blog and hopefully I can take some well-known songs and make some sense of why they are so popular or why they leave such an impact on the listeners, but I may have to alter to a more historical context if I run out of the number of ideas I already have.

In the coming weeks, I hope to teach everyone just a little bit of musical knowledge that I will attempt to simplify into non-musical terms, though this blog may be harder to follow for people who do not have any sort of musical background. I will also be open to suggestions for songs to cover in later entries if any readers would be interested in me trying to figure a little bit more about their favorite songs.