Four Chords Is All You Need: The Limited Nature of Pop Music

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2641 ^ | William M. Briggs

[Mojave]

Skwisgaar!

[FreedomPoster]

Going on 40 at this point. The first album was released in ‘71.

[dfwgator]

There's always dreck. Conversely, the "Who Do You Love" side of Quicksilver's "Happy Trails" album (1969) is a marvellous example of the art of the fugue.

"Well, I'm partial to the fugue.....Can I say that to a girl I hardly know?"

[FrankR]

I don't know if it was as high as 80%, but a lot of slow songs during that period used "four chord turnovers", as they were called.

Having played in rock bands from about 1960, through my teen years, through the Air Force years, and off and on since that time...both lead guitar and later keyboards, I can attest to that fact.

About 90% of old rock and roll songs were three chord blues riffs (i.e. tonic, subdominate and dominate).

The Beatles came along and changed all that, using chord progressions seldom heard of before their time.

But, music is for the listeners, and the old rock and roll music was....FUN. Yes there were mundane and simplistic lyrics...but one of the basics of the most popular songs was getting the listeners and fans to sing along. That's where the simplistic lyrics came in...people love to sing along and they don't like complicated lyrics.

Some of the most popular songs had very simple lyrics, like "Hanky Panky"...a really stupid song, IMNO...however, we did learn it, and when we played it live venues "Hanky Panky" would always fill up the dance floor, and you could see many of the dancers "mouthing" the lyrics...FUN stuff.

If classical music was the "limo", and pop standards was the Sedan...the old Rock and Roll was the old jalopy with a rumble seat.

Back to four chord turnovers...The Righteous Brothers blockbuster "Unchained Melody" was 4-chord turnover, as was "In the Still Of the Night"...and many more Doo-wop songs.

For a "formal" musician to cast aspersions on 4-chord music and old rock and roll is ironic, as the little rock songs have sold millions compared to the lackluster sale of their music.

Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a lot of different kinds of music; my take on it has always been, "I like some of all kinds of music, but I don't like all of any of it."

I don't like RAP, however, to me RAP is just "bitching to a beat"...no music involved.

I know, I know...let me be the first ... I guess that makes me a "racist"...(hell, I'm white, breathing makes me a racist to those who use that word to control people.)

[ReluctantDragon]

A - D - A - E

Peggy Sue. Buddy Holly. Some of the best songs had only three chords.

[tickmeister]

As a lifelong amateur musician, I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to analyze what makes good music. I could go on all day, but to distill it to the basics, good music is not about complexity, it is about emotion.

Analyze the audience at any public concert. 2% are there for the nuances of the performance. 98% are there to transcend their current pains and problems and find a state of grace for an hour or so. That is a good thing.

Complex, innovative music will always have an audience, but a small one. You won’t hear it unless you seek it out. It won’t be on the radio or TV.

[Psycho_Bunny]

It's actually surprisingly easy. The reason most modern musicians have trouble understanding fugue composition is because - as a culture - we've come to accept the elimination of complex counterpoint in our music. Even good musicians simply haven't been exposed to it that often.

I'm talking about band musicians, though....orchestral musicians still live in counterpoint.

Interestingly however, is that even in modern orchestral works (mostly in film) counterpoint is disappearing.

Personally, I think it's more laziness than anything else.

[DManA]

For YOU it is easy. Maybe you are a SUPER genius? :)

[Doulos1]

Very good points, I agree wholeheartedly.
One of my favorite genres was the black
music of the late fifties-early sixties.
Sam Cooke, Fats, Chubby Checker, Otis,
Bo Didley, Muddy, etc. Most of the white
musicians in America and Europe immitated
these guys. Elvis was very much influenced by
the southern-black-gospel-blues.
Music is truly the mother of all melting pots.
I like some of all of it, except cRAP.

[Para-Ord.45]

bm

[frposty]

Some pop music makes it onto the air with little more than the 4 chords but plenty of pop music has a simple chord progression as its foundation with wonderful creativity and beauty in the way it moves between the chords and how the cords are played. You might say there’s a song within the song.

You could call the song within the song the ‘arrangement’ but in any event that’s where musicans and composers really show their stuff, also the vocalists.

Actually, classical works usually have a relatively simple foundation with much, much embroidery.

[ßuddaßudd]

Speaking of music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqCyTM1bF6Q
the bike tricks are wicked

[hosepipe]

If "the group" has a drummer the music will not be very good..
Example: Bluegrass needs no drummer...

[31R1O]

Have you ever heard Blues Traveler’s song Hook? Not only does it openly rip off Canon in D it then mocks those who don’t listen to the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdz5kCaCRFM

Great song

[chasio649]

How does this explain AC/DC?

---

Because they are so good they only need 3.

[TNoldman]

ping

[SC Swamp Fox]

Link to the Pachelbel Rant

[fred2008]

Reverse the opening chords of Beethoven's 5th and you pretty much have a 1970’s heavy metal anthem.

Smoke on the Water. So sayeth Deep Purple lead guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, to Richard Quest.

The interview is on YouTube. Quest was blown away by that. Good interview.

Ritchie learned classical guitar to get the basic finger positions down and went from there. His guitar mentor was Big Jim Sullivan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Jim_Sullivan

Yeah. I am an old DP fan. Fire up "Highway Star" and turn me loose in a sports car and you will find heaven on earth.

[Blind Eye Jones]

A very selective and restrictive approach and attitude — like saying classical symphony has only four movements. Why so limiting. Actually rock is an animal that will breed with anything it can get its hands on. There are all kinds of hybrids which shows its complexity: pop rock, blues rock, punk rock, grunge, country rock, prog rock, rockabilly, ska, metal, etc. Prog rock bands (classical inspired rock) like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Jethro Tull, Gentile Giant have put out some of the most complex music in rock. So, the four chord statement is actually quite wrong and misleading — but certain people like throwing it out their just to make their favorite music (usually classical music) seem more important than it is (they call it `serious music`) which in turn makes them feel more important.

[Psycho_Bunny]

God knows I wish I were some sort of genius.

Think of it like this: take someone who ACED geometry and algebra, but never went on to study calculus. The first time they encounter calculus they're going to be all "Whoa...wait. What the hell? I can't do this. This is insane."

But they can do it. They've already mastered geometry and algebra. All they need to do is go back to school for a couple semesters. By the end of the calculus course, they'll just think "Wow....how'd I think this was impossibly difficult?"