Creating listening charts in American Popular Music

When analyzing a song there are words that, if understood, can help with development of listening charts. The listening charts throughout American Popular Music give examples of what to look for in specific songs, but not an overview of general concepts that can be applied to any song.

Terms to understand

Understanding some basic music terminology can be helpful when interpreting a song’s meaning. These terms can also be used in listening charts to identify patterns and composition styles in songs.

Bar/measure: A part of a song that contains a certain number of beats

Chorus: The part of the song that is repeated multiple times after each verse

• In Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the lyrics that are repeated multiple times are “We are never, ever, ever getting back together. You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me but we are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together like, ever.” This would be considered the chorus of the song.

Form: The overall structure of a song that uses letters to indicate the pattern of a song

• A song with the form AABB would mean that a song has two sections that are repeated (AA is the first section and BB is the second)

Genre: A distinct group of music with a specific sound

• Pop, Country, Classical, and Blues are all music genres

Hook: A memorable musical phrase

• The hook in Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” would be “We are never ever getting back together” because it is the most memorable line to the listener. It is important to note that not all hooks will be the title of the song

Instrumental: A song using just instruments but no words

• The song “Für Elise” by Beethoven would be considered an instrumental because the song has no words

Instruments: The tools used to make the sounds to create a song

• Pianos, flutes, drums, and guitars are all instruments that are often used in music composition

Riff: A repeated pattern designed to generate rhythmic momentum

• Riffs are often used to open a song, then repeated throughout the song

• Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” begins with a guitar riff that is repeated throughout the song

Solo: A portion of a song or whole song where just one instrument or vocalist is performing

• All of Taylor Swift's songs are considered solos because she is the only person singing

• Many of Beethoven's compositions are solos because they only involve the piano

Stanza: A portion of a song, much like a paragraph in an essay

Syncopations: A temporary change in the sound of the song caused by making a quieter beat in a song more prominent

Tempo: How fast or slow the music speed is

• Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is a fast-paced song; a song similar to this would be said to have a fast tempo

Timbre: How intense the sound of the music is

Vocals: The words/lyrics in a song

When analyzing a song here are some things to remember

• Listen for meaning
  • What are the words or instruments trying to say? Is a story being told? Why did the artist choose the lyrics?
• Think creatively and critically about music
  • Is there a hidden meaning or pattern you notice within the song? What do the song lyrics say about the artist or time period?
  • For example, In Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” she says, “This time I'm telling you, I'm telling you, we are never ever, ever getting back together.” This could mean the artist is still coping with a recent break-up and wants to express her feelings of anger and resentment.
• Understand popular music, culture, and history
  • Knowing the history of the composer/artist of a song can help you understand the meaning of the music
  • Doing research on the artist/composer of the song can provide information that may help explain the meaning of the song (i.e. time period, artist’s childhood, historical events)
    • For example, songs written during the Great Depression may have a sad meaning due to the economic difficulties during that time period

Reference

Starr, L., & Waterman, C. (2010). American popular music. New York: Oxford University Press.