The theoretical side of music can essentially be divided into three separate concepts that all contemporary music contains. I will go into detail on these concepts, and relate them to stylistic conventions in music. These are:
- Rhythm
- Harmony
- Melody
Rhythm:
Rhythm in music is built up of different note values, and is affected by the tempo and time signature. In contemporary music, the most common time signatures are 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8. These appear on sheet music like this:
The top number determines the number of beats in each bar, while the lower number determines what the type of beat is. In this case, There are 4 beats per bar, and the beats are crotchet notes. 4/4 is also known as common time.
A time signature like 6/8 however would therefore dictate that there are 6 beats per bar, and the beats would last for a quaver note.
Note values can vary massively, here are the most commonly used notes in contemporary music:
A whole note, also called a semibreve, lasts for 4 crotchet beats, or one whole bar in common time (4/4)
A half note, also called a minim, lasts for 2 crotchet beats, and therefore lasts for half a bar in 4/4.
A quater note, more commonly called a crotchet, is arguably the most commonly used note in music, and lasts for a single beat in common time.
an eighth note, or a quaver, lasts for half a crotchet beat, and lasts only an eighth of a bar in 4/4.
A sixteenth note, also called a semiquaver, lasts for a quater of a crotchet, or one sixteenth of a bar in 4/4.
There are many more notes than just these, however these are the most likely to be used in popular music. Using these note values we can start to build up basic rhythms. A good way of visualising rhythm, is by studying the drums in a piece of music, as this is a purely rhythmic instrument.
The most basic drum beat to start with is often called the “backbeat” and was made famous by the Beatles in the 1960’s. Here is what the pattern looks like on manuscript:
This rhythm became known as the “backbeat” as is places a snare drum on the second and fourth beat of the bar, or the “backbeats.”
This rhythm is in a 4/4 time signature, and only uses two types of note; Crotchets and Quavers. The hi-hats remain constant with a simple quaver rhythm all the way through, while the bass drum and snare are playing crotchet notes, alternating between each other. This rhythm has become standard for most pop music as it is simple and easy to follow.
A good example of this rhythm being used is in the song Billie Jean by Michael Jackson:
Harmony:
The major scale:
Harmony in music is essentially referring to the chords in a piece of music that provide the backing for the overlaying melody lines. Most popular music uses the chords of a Major Scale to provide the harmony. Here is a Major Scale in C major:
C major is a good example to use in this case as it contains no sharp or flat notes. the structure of the major scale is as follows, ascending from the route note of C:
Tone, Tone, Semi-tone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semi-tone.
We use roman numerals to view the chords of a scale, with capital numerals being major chords, and lowercase numerals being minor. In any major scale, the chords I, IV, and V are major, therefore all major scales have the following pattern:
I – ii – iii – IV – V – vi – vii
This means the chords in C major are as follows:
C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B minor (flat 5)
(The seventh chord in the major scale is a minor chord with a flattened 5th, also called a half diminished chord, and is almost never used in popular music.)
The Minor Scale:
The structure of the natural minor scale is as follows:
Tone, Semi-tone, Tone, Tone Semi-tone, Tone, Tone.
Every major key has a relative minor key as well; a relative minor uses the same notes as the major, however it’s played from the starting note of the 6th note in the relative major.
Therefore the relative minor scale of C major would be A natural minor, as A is the sixth note of C major.
Chord Progressions:
With the major scale covered, we can start to look at some of the chord progressions used in popular music.
The most common and catchy chord progressions in modern popular music are what we call [I-V-vi IV] progressions. Although the chords aren’t always strictly in this order, these are the chords used in the progressions and there are countless examples to choose from. A famous example is ‘Let It Be’ by The Beatles.
‘Let It Be’ is in the key of C major, and the chords are [ C | G | Am | F ] following the I-V-vi-IV pattern.
An example that I transcribed is the chorus section from ‘Dosed’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and is in the key of G major:
The Chorus section uses the same I-V-vi-IV pattern, but this time in a different key.
These are just a couple of examples, the list can go on and on…
Melody:
A melody in a piece of music is a sequence of notes that are generally memorable, and are often sung by the vocalist, but sometimes played. A famous example of a memorable melody is from the middle section of ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles:
In most modern popular music, melody is often written using a pentatonic scale. The major pentatonic scale is constructed from the notes of the major scale that the piece is in, and it only uses the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th notes of the scale. Therefore this scale only contains 5 notes and therefore this is where it gets its name. We can also use arpeggios and chord tones to write melody around the chords underneath. Chord tones are just the notes that the chord contains.
< C major pentatonic scale
Melody can also be written using a normal major scale, however when doing so, we tend to avoid using the 4th note. We call this note the ‘Avoid note,’ and this is because it generally doesn’t sound nice over the route chord, however it would work over the other chords of that key. In a minor scale however, the 4th note generally sounds really nice over any of the chords.
Repetition is possibly the most effective technique to use in a melody line, as this goes to make the melody catchy and easily memorable to listeners. Even if it’s only one or two notes this can still prove to be immensely effective.
This video of Joe Satriani gives a really good insight into how to build up an effective melody, especially when composing melody for instruments rather than the voice.
In this video, Satriani talks about starting melody on ‘suspended notes’ and then resolving them to one of the chord tones. A suspended note is essentially a note that the chord doesn’t contain. Another point he makes a big deal of is not to overcrowd a melody. If you write something too complex it becomes hard to follow and generally won’t work as an effective melody.
Most popular melody lines use a combination of all the techniques mentioned above. and the ones that do will often be the best.
Hey Jude Transcription:
To finish off, here is my transcription of the verse in Hey Jude: