Pop analysis – Techniques of harmony and analysis in popular music

The year is 1965 and George Martin suggests to The Beatles that they use a string quartet on «Yesterday». This is one of the first times strings are used in this way in a pop song. In the world of jazz, with Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, this has been done before. But to place classical musicians into a pop arrangement is new. Today this is common practice.

How do you facilitate the meeting between musicians who rely on notation and musicians who play by ear? Have classical forms of notation any practical purpose in this arena of machines and electric instruments? Can traditional rules of tonal harmony be useful? Does ‘cross-over’ have a value in itself, or is the combination of pop and classical musicians an impossible construction?

These are the questions we ask in this course. We will study examples from jazz, pop, and cross-over. We will analyze successful arrangements and compositions for various ensembles: strings, big band, and symphony orchestra. We will also analyze harmonic and sonic qualities in pop songs.

Knowledge:

A candidate with completed qualification in MUSV3128

• Has increased overview of the various ways orchestras is used in popular music, now and in the past, both stylistically and in different instrumentations and genres.
• Has increased understanding of how classical musicians are used in popular music contexts.
• Has increased knowledge of the function of song arrangements.
• Has increased knowledge of how one can use music theory in ear-based music contexts.

Skills:

A candidate with completed qualification in MUSV3128

• Can formulate her/his knowledge in a convincing way in both written and oral forms.
• Can analyze examples of popular music from different genres and historical eras for their harmonic, formal, and arranging properties.

Lectures and seminars.