AOS Pop Music

• Riff/ostinato


  A repeated melodic and/or rhythmic pattern, often found in the bass line. The term 'riff' is synonymous with 'ostinato', though the former is more usually applied in pop and jazz styles. A riff will normally be short; perhaps 1-4 bars in length. Many pop songs rely heavily on riffs, such as 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder. The genre of funk often uses riffs in multiple layers over each other.
• Glissando/slide


  The technique of sliding from note to note, so that the pitch rises or falls in a completely smooth line. The trombone, operated by slide, is obviously capable of a very effective glissando, as are fretless string instruments. Glissando on the guitar is perfectly possible with the finger sliding up or down the fretboard, often producing a slightly uneven effect as the finger slides across the frets. On other wind instruments, a combination of embouchure and throat control, gradual uncovering of tone holes (clarinet, saxophone) or half-valving (trumpet) can overcome the fact that pitches are normally produced in discrete semitones. On keyboard instruments, a glissando is essentially a very rapid scale, usually executed using a sweeping gesture with the fingernail. Glissando in the bass synthesizer can be heard very clearly near the start of Stevie Wonder's 'Maybe Your Baby'.
• Pitch-bend


  Consists of moving away from and then usually back to the original pitch of a note using a small-scale glissando; typically a pitch-bend will cover a small interval (anywhere between microtones and minor thirds). On the guitar, this effect can be produced by pulling the string with the fingers of the left hand. On a modern electric keyboard or synthesizer, pitch-bend can be controlled using a dial, wheel or toggle.
• Melisma/syllabic


  In vocal music there is a distinction between different kinds of word-setting. Most of the time, each syllable of the lyric will be sung to a separate note; this is called syllabic setting. Sometimes, for a more expressive effect, a syllable may be extended over several notes; this technique is called melisma. Melisma is a feature of much slow, expressive vocal music, but is especially typical of contemporary R&B, where performers often improvise elaborate, usually descending, melismas at the end of a phrase. An impressively virtuosic rising melisma can be heard at the start of Beyoncé's song 'Countdown'.
• Hook


  A memorable melodic fragment, used to capture (or 'hook') the listener's attention. An excellent example would be the two-bar sampled instrumental riff used in Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love'.
• Blue notes and the blues scale

  One theory for the origin of 'blue notes' is that a distinctive style of vocal music developed in the southern USA as the descendants of the black slave population sang improvised melodies using the 'minor' version of the pentatonic scale against harmony that was essentially major. The resulting mixture of different chromatic versions of the same scale degrees – major/minor 3rd and major/minor 7th – sounded particularly expressive and came to be associated with the genre of blues. Hence the flattened 3rd and flattened 7th came to be known as 'blue notes'. These may be flattened by a full semitone, or sometimes by smaller intervals ('microtones'), making them all the more expressive because not 'in tune' in the conventional sense. Jazz musicians used the flattened 5th a similar way. The combination of these phenomena into a scalic shape is known as a 'blues scale'.
• Pentatonic scale


  As the name suggests, this is a five-note scale, usually found in the form C D E G A ('major' form) or A C D E G ('minor' form). This scale is found in ancient societies all over the world. It plays a vital part in the origins of western popular music because it is present both in the folk traditions of Western Europe and in those of West Africa, from where millions of people were transported to the New World to work as slaves. The blues and early jazz styles which developed in America evolved from pentatonic melody. The scale was originally used in music that is primarily melodic rather than harmonic in conception and it does not contain any of the semitones which help define tonality in the major/minor system.
• Modes


  Modes are alternative scale formations to the standard major and minor scales of western classical music. The seven modes (see illustration) have been used and written about since ancient Greek times and were the principal method of categorising melody in the medieval period. Each of them corresponds to a 'white note' scale on a keyboard, thus they have the same notes as a C major scale, but because they each have different 'tonics', they have different patterns of tones and semitones. These patterns may be transposed to start on any note, thus it is possible to use, for example, a Lydian mode on C, which would consist of the notes C D E F# G A B. The Dorian and Aeolian modes are closely related to the minor pentatonic scale as they use the minor 3rd and minor 7th. They are both frequently encountered in European folk music and in blues-influenced music, and therefore common in pop melodic styles. Songs by Stevie Wonder in the funk genre often use the Dorian mode transposed up a semitone to E flat (e.g. 'Superstition', 'I Wish'). The vocal melody of Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love' is essentially in the Dorian mode.

  
• Chord extensions and additions

  Pop music encompasses a very wide spectrum of levels of harmonic complexity. Many pop songs rely on a restricted and simple chord vocabulary; perhaps only the three primary triads (I, IV and V). However, some artists enjoy working with an enriched palette of sounds, often drawing on influences from jazz and classical music. The addition of notes to a triad (or exchange of certain notes for others) is an important way of generating a variety of different harmonic 'colours' without changing the function of the chord root. Sevenths are extremely common extensions of triads; for example, a twelve-bar blues progression using chords I, IV and V will often turn each of these chords into a 'dominant 7th' by placing a minor 7th above the major triad. Further extensions of triads by placing additional thirds above the triad+7th are possible, creating progressively richer and more dissonant harmony; 9th, 11th and 13th chords are all commonly featured in jazz from a relatively early period. These higher discords are most characteristically heard over a dominant function chord; the additional notes create a further sense of tension which needs resolution through a cadence.

  
• Pedal note


  A pedal note is a repeated or sustained note in the bass, over which the harmony changes (which may produce dissonance in passing). The name comes from the bass register notes played by playing the pedal board on a pipe organ. A pedal note played at the top of the texture is called an 'inverted pedal' and one played in the middle of the texter an 'inner pedal' or 'internal pedal'. A clear example of a tonic pedal is heard at the start of 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' by Muse; the repeated octave Ds in the bass act as a tonic pedal, over which the chords change gradually through chromatic alteration.
• Power chord


  A power chord is one consisting only of the root and fifth; these notes may be doubled in higher octaves. This chord originates from guitar performance technique, especially of electric guitarists of the 1950s-1960s. The amplified sound of the open fifth and octave makes a very strong and simple sound, free of the complexities of higher overtones produced by major or minor 3rds; hence the name. As the lower strings of the guitar are tuned in 4ths, the chord is usually produced by playing the root on a fret of a lower string while the 5th and octave are played two frets higher on the next two strings up. They are an extremely common feature of guitar-based rock music.

  
• Sus4 chord


  Another common chord type is produced by substituting a 4th for a 3rd in a triad; this is known as a sus4 chord, implying a relationship with the idea of a suspension in classical music, although there is no need to prepare or resolve the sus4 chord.

  
• Verse and chorus


  Much pop music is based on simple repetition of a melody with its accompanying chord progressions. A 'verse' is the unit of the lyrics sung to the same recurring melody. Some songs consist only of a string of verses, with different lyrics set to the same music; this is called 'strophic' form and may be represented as AAAA (etc.). A slightly more common structure is to alternate the changing lyrics of a verse with a recurring unit of lyrics called a 'chorus' which has its own music to contrast it with the verse. This can be represented as ABABAB (where A is the verse and B the chorus).
• Intro/outro


  Introduction has often been abbreviated to 'intro' and the term 'outro' has been coined to suggest a symmetrical balance and relationship between opening and closing sections. The length and function of an introduction may be very varied; it may simply set up the chord pattern and rhythmic groove to be used in the song, as in Stevie Wonder's 'I Wish', or it may offer a complex, multi-layered soundscape, as in 'Knights of Cydonia' by Muse. The same may be said of an outro; a common feature is simply to fade out on a repeated riff, as in 'Get Lucky' by Daft Punk. Alternatively, a whole new world may open up in an extended coda, as happens in Muse's 'United States of Eurasia' whose conclusion quotes from Chopin's Nocturne Op.9 no.2.
• Middle 8/bridge


  The 'middle 8' is the B section in an AABA standard song form. Many songs follow this traditional pattern, in which each section is eight bars long. The term 'bridge' is sometimes applied to this 'middle 8' though this is more common in jazz. In pop songs, 'bridge' is more frequently used to describe a section of music offering some contrast to the verses and choruses and is usually placed about three quarters of the way into a song. An example is the section beginning 'Don't treat me to these things of this world' in Beyoncé's song 'Single Ladies'.
• Breakdown


  A breakdown section is one in which the texture suddenly thins to just one or a few parts; for example, just the bass and/or drums or a vocal a cappella. A breakdown is often a feature of electronic dance music; an example is the section from about 1:05 to 1:35 in 'Aerodynamic' by Daft Punk, in which there is an extended electric guitar solo section based on a repeated riff.
• Middle 8/bridge


  The 'middle 8' is the B section in an AABA standard song form. Many songs follow this traditional pattern, in which each section is eight bars long.
• Bridge


  (in pop songs) A section of music offering some contrast to the verses and choruses, usually placed about three quarters of the way into a song
• Breakdown


  A section in which the texture suddenly thins to just one or a few parts, e.g. just the bass and/or drums or a vocal a cappella
• Instrumental


  A section where the voices drop out and the instruments take over the main melodic interest, either playing the music of the vocal sections or a new melody and character
• Instrumental


  • The passage from c.2:40-4:00 in 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' by Muse, which gradually evolves into a classical style piano cadenza
• Break


  A short solo passage, usually for an instrument, which interrupts the textural flow of the music
• Drum fill


  A short solo passage, often featuring a very rapid and virtuosic succession of different drum sounds in a complex rhythm, that bridges over the gap between lines or sections
• Beats per minute (bpm)


  A way to represent the tempo of a song, contrasting with the classical tradition of using Italian terms and metronome markings
• Groove


  The rhythmic 'feel' of a piece of music, relating to the kinds of rhythmic patterns used and aspects of performance like whether quavers/8th notes and/or semiquavers/16th notes are swung or straight
• Backbeat


  A strong accent on the 2nd and 4th beats of a 4/4 bar, often emphasised by a loud snare drum stroke
• Irregular metre


  Asymmetrical or changing metres, contrasting with the vast majority of popular music in 4/4
• The 'middle 8' is more common in jazz than in pop songs, where 'bridge' is more frequently used
• Labrinth, whose real name is Timothy McKenzie, is a British singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist
• Labrinth's life and career

  1. 1989: Born in London, introduced to studio-based music by his older brother

  2. 2009: Produced his first track and began working with various British rappers, singers and producers

  3. 2010: Signed by Simon Cowell's 'Syco' record label, who released his debut single 'Let the Sun Shine'

  4. 2011: His second single, 'Earthquake', became a major hit, also featuring Tinie Tempah

  5. 2019: Wrote the music for the American TV series 'Euphoria'

  6. Continues to be a major contributor to the British pop scene as a collaborative artist
• Labrinth's studio albums


  • Electronic Earth (2012)
  • Imagination & the Misfit Kid (2019)
• Electronic Earth (2012)


  Key singles: 'Let the Sun Shine', 'Earthquake', 'Beneath Your Beautiful'
• Imagination & the Misfit Kid (2019)


  Key single: 'Misbehaving'; The album is currently available via digital download or streaming (due to be released in hard media in 2020)
• Research suggestions for Labrinth

  • Mp3 format; digital storage and downloading of music
  • Remixing
• Commentary on 'Express Yourself' from 'Electronic Earth' (2012)

  1. 0:00-0:15 Intro: High-pitched synth with bell/glockenspiel tone playing single line melody in slow note values; whole tone scale used; much delay and vibrato on the sound, giving an other-worldly 'sci-fi' effect; harmony in major 2nds added

  2. 0:15 Verses: Relaxed tempo and funky groove begins; a retro sound with EQ/filter on voice for a 'scratchy' rough effect; drum sample (from James Brown 'Funky Drummer') and guitar riff; harmony in 2-bar repeating pattern: I – Ib – IV – V; backing voices join in harmony; vocal phrases leave large gaps for instrumental response

  3. 0:53 Choruses ('Express Yourself'): Still based on the same chords as the verse; bigger sound with syncopated kick drum and synth brass sound; sampled backing vocal loop

  4. 1:13 Verse: 1:22 sustained synth sound; 1:33 'do-do' backing vocals in chords in syncopated rhythm