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Music Theory Analysis Blog

By Hannah Grace

Hi everyone! Hannah here. Hope you’ve all been well. I am delighted with the response that my first post here received. I’ve been really enjoying reading all of your comments and messages. I noticed that I received a lot of requests from people asking for me to put some of the theory concepts that I explained in my previous post into context. I’ve decided that the best and most concise way for me to do this is for me to analyze and explain the structural and stylistic elements in two well-known contemporary pieces of music. I believe it is so important for us to fully understand and appreciate the musical and songwriting complexity behind our favorite songs. For my analysis, I have chosen two contrasting popular songs that most of you guys will be familiar with, “You Belong With Me”, by my favorite artist Taylor Swift, and “Royals”, by Lorde. I’m hoping that by me describing the use and function of the most essential music theory concepts such as harmony and instrumentation in these songs, I will provide you with an even clearer understanding of how such concepts are so pivotal to the creation of the songs that we love and listen to everyday.

Song 1- “You Belong With Me”, Taylor Swift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

Lyrics:

You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset She's goin' off about somethin' that you said 'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night I'm listenin' to the kind of music she doesn't like And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers Dreamin' 'bout the day when you wake up and find That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you Been here all along, so why can't you see You belong with me You belong with me

Walkin' the streets with you and your worn-out jeans I can't help thinkin' this is how it ought to be Laughin' on a park bench, thinkin' to myself "Hey, isn't this easy?" And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down You say you're fine, I know you better than that Hey, what you doin' with a girl like that?

She wears high heels, I wear sneakers She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers Dreamin' 'bout the day when you wake up and find That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you Been here all along, so why can't you see You belong with me Standin' by and waitin' at your back door All this time, how could you not know, baby You belong with me You belong with me

Oh, I remember you drivin' to my house In the middle of the night I'm the one who makes you laugh When you know you're 'bout to cry And I know your favorite songs And you tell me 'bout your dreams Think I know where you belong Think I know it's with me

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? Been here all along, so why can't you see You belong with me Standin' by and waitin' at your back door All this time, how could you not know, baby You belong with me You belong with me You belong with me Have you ever thought just maybe You belong with me You belong with me

Subject- What Inspired “You Belong With Me”?

Taylor Swift was inspired to write the song “You Belong With Me” after she overheard one of her close male friends having a heated argument with his girlfriend on the phone. Swift created a storyline where a girl overhears her crush fighting with his partner on the phone, and wonders why he can’t see that he should be with her instead. She initially began to write the song’s lyrics with “You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset”. Swift co-wrote this song with Liz Rose, produced it with Nathan Chapman and recorded it in 2008, before it was released on April the 18th, 2009 by Big Machine Records- Swift's label at the time. It was the third single from Swift’s second studio album, Fearless (2008). Unrequited love is essentially the song’s primary theme. You Belong With Me’s plot is beautifully confessional and intricate enough to fully interest listeners, while being universally relatable enough to appeal to people of all ages, and from all backgrounds, hence its success. Swift discusses the subject of the song further at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2legtqwxJU

Style

The song “You Belong With Me”, has both country and pop aspects to it, with many people arguing that is a total pop song, such as Kate Kiefer of Paste Magazine. In my opinion, it is on the whole a contemporary country-pop song, and neither one or the other, in spite of it being the third single on Swift's album “Fearless”, which released in the country genre. Below I will discuss two of the key elements of the country-pop style of songwriting that is evident in this song- its energy, and its powerful lyrical content.

1. One of the musical conventions within the country-pop genre is a high energy level, and standout intensity. The song “You Belong With Me” not only features the typical big country chorus that one anticipates in most country/country-pop songs, but also has a great energy level throughout the entire song. The song’s energy is wonderfully controlled, with the choruses being naturally more energetic than the verses, apart from the reintroduction of the chorus straight after the bridge. The dramatic bridge is one of the standout features of the song. Following country-pop conventions, the bridge in this song involves an intensity and climax of emotion, while providing us with more information about the story, through detailed lyrics (“I remember you drivin’ to my house in the middle of the night/ I’m the one who makes you laugh/ When you know you’re about to cry/ And I know your favorite songs/ And you tell me about your dreams..”). While this is common to all songs that include a bridge part, it is particularly conventional in country-pop songs, especially when we consider how the energy completely dissipates immediately after the bridge as it approaches the return of the chorus. The dissipation of the dong’s energy is so essential and successful in contributing to the song’s high drive as studies have shown that consistent high-energy in songs tend to bore the musical senses to the song’s message. When the energy eventually returns after the quietened chorus, there is more focus on the chorus when it comes back in than there would have been if the energy level hadn’t dropped at all. This musical concept is executed perfectly in this song.

2. A) Additionally, the lyric-writing in “You Belong With Me” is very typical to the country-pop style. Country-pop songs tend to include lyrics that are the perfect blend between being narrative and detailed like most country songs’ lyrics are, while also being simple, and catchy, like most pop songs’ lyrics are. “You Belong With Me” tells Taylor Swift’s story of having desire for an out-of-reach love interest in lyrics that are memorable, not overly complicated, and sound like they were effortlessly written- without it feeling like it only happened due to several co-writers' active intervention, like many contemporary pure pop songs do. Similarly, the rhyming in the song’s lyrics is natural, loose, and doesn’t sound forced. In some parts of the song there is a strict rhyming scheme, in other parts of it the lyrics don’t rhyme at all. The pre-chorus' lyrics interestingly alter slightly (although still very similar in message- Swift is comparing herself to her crush’s popular girlfriend) in the second pre-chorus. This is particularly noticeable due to the melody remaining the same for the second pre-chorus as it was the first time we heard it. In the first two lines of the pre-choruses there is a call and response technique used, in relation to both the song’s lyrical and melodical content. This is a very enjoyable aspect of the song’s pre-chorus, that is very attention-grabbing, and memorable for listeners.

B) Another aspect of Swift’s clever country-pop style lyric-writing in “You Belong With Me” is the creation and development of strong characterization. There are basically three characters within the song’s story- Swift speaking as herself, using the first pronoun, her male friend who she is in love with and who she is speaking to in the lyrics, and Swift’s crush’s girlfriend who Swift feels very different to. Swift captures various details about all three of these characters in a very natural way. From what Swift’s crush’s girlfriend wears and the things about her that make her conventionally “cool”, to the precious time that Swift sometimes gets to spend with her crush, and how she feels about it, we learn a lot about the situation and what exactly all of the people involved are like, in a way that feels anything but forced. This aspect of the song is extremely successful at drawing listeners in to Swift’s world.

Melody and Harmony

One of the most beautifully crafted aspects of “You Belong With Me” is its melodic construction. The melody is wonderfully contoured, and is one of the aspects of the song that really makes it work. One of the techniques used to create such an interesting melody is melodic inversion. The song is largely pentatonic (F#major), and Swift’s vocals span just a little under two octaves, from F#3 to C#5. Before discovering this, I'd have personally guessed that the range was even larger, however this is probably due to the melody being high in pitch.

The melody displays typically downward moving pentatonic melodic cells, which work incredibly with the more melancholic lyrics in the song, in the first verse for example. For a song that mostly has a high energy level, the melody sounding like what the lyrics are describing help to make it a more meaningful song. Unfortunately, Taylor Swift throughout the years has gained a reputation (excuse the pun!) for writing light-hearted high-school like songs about having crushes on guys. This has been largely due to songs like “You Belong With Me” mostly appealing to teenage girls, in terms of its target audience. However, this song’s intriguing melody helps to combat that idea, as while the song’s subject is undeniably simple and universal, more depth is added to it when the melody reflects the emotions that the song is capturing, as the song on the whole sonically captures it too. While songs in the country-pop style are often said to more or less all sound the same melodically, songs like “You Belong With Me” and its attention-grabbing use of melodic inversion clearly breaks this convention.

One very interesting musical concept that is employed in this song is the alternation of the moving pentatonic cells. For the pre-chorus the melodic cells that I’ve been discussing become upward moving pentatonic cells, which is almost an exact melodic inversion of the verse patterns (the verses consisted of downward moving pentatonic cells). This alternation is the most perfect musical technique that could have been utilized at this part of the song as it is the pre-chorus meaning the intensity should be building in preparation for the even more intense chorus. This technique adds significant cohesion to the melody without listeners even being aware of it! It is the ideal link to the chorus.

The chorus melody features the key/tonic note a lot more, and is substantially higher in pitch, as successful contemporary country-pop songs’ chorus melodies tend to be. Similarly, the addition of backing vocalists singing harmony lines throughout the chorus increases the intensity level at this point in the song. These harmony lines continue into the second verse and pre-chorus, which create contrast between the first and second verses. It also helps to increase the intensity in preparation for the second chorus, which is even bigger than the first, in preparation for the emotional bridge! The higher range which the majority of the notes of the chorus’ vocal part fall into works well as lyrically, the chorus is the most emotion-dense, expressive, and plaintive part of the song. When one analyzes how lyrics and melodies in this song work together, it is extremely clear that the melody consistently gets higher whenever the lyrics change from being narrative as they are in the verse to more openly emotional, as they are in the chorus and bridge. This musical concept that Swift cleverly employs in this song helps us to see the meaning and emotion behind the song, rather than just its catchy melody.

Rhythm

“You Belong With Me” has a moderate tempo that is common to the country-pop style- 130 Beats Per Minute (BPM), which is “Allegro” - a brisk speed, 32 bars (measures) per minute. It is an undeniably up-tempo song, this contributing to how the song really sounds like what it is about. It has a time signature of 4/4, the most common time signature in contemporary music, hence its alternative name- common time. The verses in this song utilize a syncopated rhythm. This is where the notes fall on the off-beats, or the weaker beats in the bar. It can add an element of unpredictability to a song. A straight rhythm is used in the pre-choruses just after these syncopated verses- most of the notes fall on the onbeats, as they typically do in music. This transition from syncopation right into straight rhythm is made beautifully at this point in the song, as it helps to emphasize the shift in the song’s subject/lyrical content, and a direction towards a new part of the song- the chorus. For most parts in the song, the electric guitar plays rhythm, in a muted style.

Instrumentation and Timbre

It is said that the most country element of “You Belong With Me” is the catchy intro to the song that is played on the banjo. The song’s chord progression is F♯–C♯–G♯m-B, yet Swift has played it in different keys live such as in the key of G major on the Speak Now World Tour- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8sMmwJNQSI.

The new wave electric guitars that we consistently hear throughout the song add to its pop sound. When one truly focuses on the guitars of this song, it can be hard to believe that it started with a heavily banjo-based introduction! In terms of timbre, Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly has described Swift’s vocals in the song to be relatively light and twangy, adding to the country element to the style, and has said that the melody is very “lilting”, in terms of its shape, again common to the country style of melody writing. In spite of it being said that Swift’s vocals are rather thin in timbre throughout the song, one enjoyable aspect of the song is in my opinion the heavy emphasis placed on her vocal line, as the instrumentation throughout the verses is quite simple. This naturally means all focus is turned to the vocal line and Swift’s vocal timbre. The song essentially consists of a typical country rhythm section and track, yet each of the different instrumental sections of the songs are produced to a very high standard. The instruments all come in and drop out at the perfect times throughout the various sections in the song to provide the listeners with contrast, and to keep them engaged in the song, while also melodically conveying the story Swift tells through her lyrics.

Structure

At 3 minutes and 52 seconds, “You Belong With Me” is neither a particularly long nor short song. The average country-pop hit is between 3 and 5 minutes long, so this song’s length fits perfectly within this range making it very radio-friendly.

The song follows a very standard verse-chorus-bridge structure, that is typical to the country-pop genre. It consists of a perfect combination between sounding predictable in a “successful hit” type of way, while also sounding interesting and unique enough to stand out from most other songs- in terms of certain elements that are present within particular parts of the song’s structure as I discussed above (for example, melodic inversion during the pre-choruses). This is a more detailed description of the song’s structure, and what parts of the song come in when (see below).

Intro: 4 bars

Verse 1: 16 bars

Pre-chorus: 8 bars

Chorus: 8 bars

Verse 2: 16 bars

Pre-chorus: 8 bars

Chorus: 16 bars

Instrumental: 8 bars

Bridge: 16 bars

Chorus: 24 bars

One noticeable element of the song’s structure that is utilized in this song which is commonly employed within contemporary country-pop music is the technique of the elongated final chorus. This concept helps to really drive home the song’s message, while letting the song to have a final opportunity to captivate its listeners with its hook’s melody! This is definitely achieved successfully with “You Belong With Me”, and it thankfully doesn’t sound forced either, as each time we hear the chorus in this song it is longer than it was the previous time we heard it. This element of unpredictability within a song that has such a predictable, and stylistically expected structure is always bound to be popular with listeners, as seen through how popular “You Belong With Me” was internationally.

Song 2- “Royals”, Lorde https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM

So, I hope you guys all enjoyed reading my analysis of Taylor Swift’s stellar “You Belong With Me”. The second song that I have chosen to analyze is the electropop adult contemporary hit “Royals” by the New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. Recorded in 2012, and released in 2013, Lorde co-wrote this song with her producer Joel Little who Scott Machlan (her A & R representative) paired her with. While sounding relatively simple in terms of its production and even songwriting, “Royals” is in fact a very musically intricate song, and is in many ways very different to “You Belong With Me”. I will begin my analysis of “Royals” by providing you with the song’s lyrics below.

Lyrics:

I've never seen a diamond in the flesh I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies And I'm not proud of my address, in the torn up town No post code envy

But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

And we'll never be royals It don't run in our blood That kind of lux just ain't for us We crave a different kind of buzz Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen B And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule) Let me live that fantasy

My friends and I we've cracked the code We count our dollars on the train to the party And everyone who knows us knows that we're fine with this We didn't come from money

We're bigger than we ever dreamed, and I'm in love with being queen (Ooh ooh oh) Life is great without a care We aren't caught up in your love affair

Subject- What Inspired “Royals”?

The song “Royals” was inspired by Lorde’s disapproval of the excessively luxurious lifestyles of artists in the modern music industry. This topic unlike the subject of “You Belong With Me”, is uncommon to hear songs discussing, especially successful pop hits like “Royals”. In my opinion, this unique theme is one of the song’s standout elements. In “Royals”, Lorde in essence expresses her disliking of the sumptuous lifestyles displayed by many contemporary pop artists in both their songs and music videos, and owns the fact that she doesn’t believe she’ll ever be like them. It is an honest criticism of the materialism and consumerism that is so dominant in our society today. Lorde even bothers to ridicule particular luxury items that are plentiful in some peoples’ lives that she knows she’ll never get near, such as diamonds. There are also interesting references to drinking alcohol and taking drugs in the lyrics ("Grey Goose / trippin' in the bathroom").

Matthew Perpetua of BuzzFeed has said that he believes the issues addressed in “Royals” are primarily income inequality, the alienation between different social classes, and what it is like to grow up in New Zealand “immersed in American cultural imperialism”. This is definitely accurate, as where Lorde grew up definitely played a large part in this song. Lorde refers to the town she grew up in as “no postcode envy”, capturing that it is a town that would not particularly be desirable to live in. A critic from The New York Times has also shared a very similar opinion, as it was said that the track’s verses heavily focus on what it is like to grow up in a drab reality amidst an increasingly popular culture that flaunts luxury brands and celebrates everyday consumption to the fullest. Such comparisons are key focuses in the song.

There is humorous irony in the lyrics “We’ll never be royals”, as mentions of Lorde becoming “Queen”, and “Your ruler” follow them. This could however be Lorde’s way of hinting towards a need for new priorities in society, in terms of who is considered worthy of a high societal status- perhaps people like herself who come from more humble backgrounds and are more creative, rather than most modern-day hip-hop artists who simply inherit their fame and success in a royalty-like way.

In spite of the deep resentment and judgement that Lorde conveys towards people who live this luxuriously and flaunt their excessive wealth, it can definitely be said that Lorde expresses a certain level of jealousy and insecurity in this song, as she understandably seems to feel relatively inadequate in comparison to these more privileged people that she talks about. She honestly expresses that she’s not proud of her address for example, a simple line in the first verse that says so much about how she has formed insecurities about her humble background and lifestyle, especially when she compares it to other’ luxurious lives. This is why she is annoyed at people for flaunting their wealth.

In my opinion, “Royals” displays a back-and-forward relationship between Lorde owning her modest background and embracing her lifestyle that is next to devoid of royalty-like luxuries, and her partially fantasizing about what it’s like to live like that, wondering why she can’t have it and why privileged people choose to flaunt their wealth so much, as it makes people like Lorde feel envious and insecure, and not good enough. This is a very human and natural approach to writing about this song’s subject, as it expresses universal vulnerability, curiosity, and desire. This really helps to create a rapport between Lorde and her listeners. In my opinion, this anti-luxury anthem’s thought-provoking subject is dealt with in a way that is both clever, and relatable for listeners.

Structure

As I mentioned above in relation to “You Belong With Me", the average pop hit getting frequent radio plays would typically be between 3 and 5 minutes long. At 3 minutes and 10 seconds, “Royals" is a relatively short song that is very radio-friendly. It was in fact this very song that saw Lorde’s transition from being an alternative artist to an international pop phenomenon, as “Royals” was number 1 in the Hot 100 Chart for nine consecutive weeks, has sold triple platinum, and even went on to win two Grammys for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year in 2014.

It was also “Royals” which made Lorde the first female artist to have a song hit number 1 on the Billboard Alternative chart since 1996. Its simple structure and length have definitely contributed to how popular the song has been with radio stations and listeners alike.

“Royals” follows a very conventional song structure that would be very familiar to listeners worldwide as it is used in many a contemporary pop hit. This structure is:

Verse 1 – Pre-chorus – Chorus – Verse 2 – Pre-chorus – Chorus – Bridge – Chorus.

It is so common that by chance, this is also the structure that Swift uses in “You Belong With Me".

Also, repetition is an evident aspect of this song’s structure in terms of its lyrics. For example, the pre-choruses both begin with “Gold teeth, Grey Goose...”. this technique (when used tastefully like it certainly is in this song!) can be a very successful structural technique, as it can make a song more memorable and catchy.

In terms of the song’s rhyming structure, the lyrics follow the most popular form- ABAB. This means that the first and third lines of a section of the song, ie. the A lines rhyme with each other, and the second and fourth lines ie. the B lines rhyme with each other. This spreads out the song’s rhymes nicely, and creates a lovely flow to how the lyrics read.

A final aspect of this song’s structure that really strikes me is that it is very interesting to see that the pre-choruses are longer than the verses are (6 lines per pre-chorus versus 4 lines per verse). This is an unusual, effective structural technique that helps to create a build-up of anticipation and intensity as we approach the longest and most important element of the song- the 7-lined chorus. When we compare it to “You Belong With Me”, it is a lot different, as “You Belong With Me” has verses with 6 lines in them, and pre-choruses with 4 lines in them.

Melody

One of the main elements of the song’s melody that stands out is the melodic scale, that although is commonly used, is difficult to notice. It is called the mixolydian mode. The mixolydian mode is in essence an extremely old scale that would be typically associated with alternative rock and blues music. The mixolydian mode is essentially the scale on the white piano keys that begins at G. It is an ascending sequence that consists of a root note, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step (to the octave). The contemporary Mixolydian scale is the fifth mode of the major scale- Ionian mode. It can be constructed by beginning on the dominant- the fifth scale degree of the major scale, hence it sometimes being referred to as the dominant scale.

If you have ever heard the term “modal” used to describe a song before, this refers to a song that is written in a mode such as the mixolydian mode, as melodies and songs written in modes are neither major nor minor. This causes them to have a very unique sound that does not have a happy or sad feel to it. When we compare “Royals” to “You Belong With Me” for example, it is clear that the latter (being in the key of F sharp major) clearly has a major tonality to it, yet Royals’ tonality is mysteriously undefinable.

Royals’ chord progression is the most mixolydian progression of all- D-C-G. This is a simple three-chord V-IV-I progression. It is in the key of mixolydian D major, although you could also interpret it as being in the key of mixolydian G major. The effect that Royals’ mixolydian chord progression has on the song is immense. The vocal melody that Lorde sings sounds neither upbeat nor unhappy, but has a special quality of confidence yet ambiguity to it, conveying the mixed feelings that Lorde feels in the song. The mixolydian melody at times makes it sound like Lorde feels triumphant and proud in her lacking, in spite of the element of darkness and spite that parts of the melody such as the line “We aren’t caught up in your love affair” radiate. The fact that the mixolydian melody of this song sounds like the song’s lyrical story that we are provided with a deep understanding of is a success. Similarly, the added mystery that the melody adds to some of the lyrics can be intriguing. However, some of the song’s truth that the lyrics don’t tell that the melody conveys by how it sounds instead is mind-blowingly powerful. The power of good lyrics grows when a song’s lyrics is married to melodies and chords that reveal their base truths. Lorde clearly conveys a profound understanding of this with her songwriting, which is why songs such as “Royals” are so impactful.

Like many a melody of a hit song, Royals’ melody builds from quite a low note range in the verse, to a more middle range in the pre-chorus, before reaching the song’s highest notes in the chorus.

The verse melody is very conversational, with several of the melodic phrases sounding exactly like how one would speak the line, only slightly more exaggerated, emphasizing certain parts. There is a very relaxed feel to it as there are pauses after each line and it has a slow moving pace to it. Melodically the end of the verses’ last lines “In a torn-up town, no post code envy”, and “We didn’t come for money” build-up to the pre-choruses. This clearly exemplifies Lorde’s clear understanding of the musical concept and convention of melodically increasing a song’s drive and intensity as the different melodic sections move on, just as we can see in “You Belong With Me” too.

The melody of the pre-choruses then picks up the song’s pace, as the speed of the lyrics double at these parts of the song. It does not in any way sound rushed, but it creates an increased sense of energy instead, and has a purposeful, repetitive feel to it, matching the song’s particularly descriptive lyrics at this point in the song.

Like many contemporary hit songs, the chorus melody has no pauses in it. It consistently moves forward, overlapping lines, to create a heightened sense of momentum. We are prepared for this by this point in the song as there are already less pauses in the pre-chorus than there were in the verse. Unsurprisingly, the highest note in the song is on the song’s title word- “royals”, in the choruses. This informs us that Lorde wanted it emphasized as this is her way of letting us know that it is a word we should really pay attention to.

Harmony

Just like it has been said about Taylor Swift’s vocal line in “You Belong With Me”, it has been said that Lorde’s vocal line is relatively thin, but clear. Her vocal line is filled out with catchy harmonies though, that particularly stand out in the chorus on lines such as “Baby I’ll rule” which is repeated several times, and before that, we hear harmony-dense pre-choruses. The harmonies in this song are noticeably prominent, rather than them just being indistinguishable background melody lines that you have to strain to hear! In terms of the production of this song and its harmonies, the harmonies are stacked, which adds to its contemporary electropop sound. The repetitive nature of this song’s melody and harmonies truly contribute to how memorable it is.

Another interesting aspect of Royals’ harmony line is the dissonance used. Dissonance is a melodic concept where notes deliberately clash to create a scary, alarming sound, that can even sound off-pitch. This is particularly noticeable in the second verse. At 1:37 in the song, on the “We count our” words, the second line of the verse, the harmony is very dissonant but tight. This technique is unusual, and is very attention-grabbing. Many artists are actually too afraid to use it as they fear sounding off-key.

Additionally, not only does Lorde utilize harmonies successfully to the benefit of her song “Royals”, but she is very experimental, and abundant with them. For example, the vocal harmonies in the verses feature many fourths and fifths. This can particularly be heard on the line “...I cut my teeth on wedding rings...” in the first verse, the song’s second line. This helps to create a very eerie, ethereal effect to the song, that a simple harmony line of a third wouldn’t create.

Rhythm

Lorde’s “Royals” has a relatively slow-paced tempo of 85 beats per minute, this is what is referred to in music as “Andante”- a moderately slow musical tempo. Royals’ tempo is significantly slower than that of an average contemporary electropop song, as the average modern pop song has a tempo of around 116 BPM, 31 beats per minute faster than “Royals”. “Royals” follows a very strict simple time in a 4/4 time signature for almost all of the song, in spite of the speed of the song picking up at certain parts due to the lyrics doubling. This is most evident in the transition from the verses to the pre-choruses.

The one part of the song where a less strict rhythm is followed is the bridge section. The bridge is relatively short, it comes in after the second chorus, and it repeats the same pattern as the pre-chorus, only with a much looser rhythmic structure and pulse than the pre-choruses have. Much of Royals’ rhythm is kept by catchy, repeated finger snaps and kick drums, both very common to the contemporary alternative pop style of music. These drop in the bridge. The song’s last rhythmic beat that is heard in the song sounds final, dramatic, and abrupt, in contrast to the repetitive, predictable nature of the song’s rhythm up until then. This however is hinted at in the unexpected, sudden pause in the song’s rhythm before the several drumbeats that come just before the first line of the chorus “And we’ll never be royals”. Such aspects of what is otherwise a relatively predictable song, keep listeners consistently interested. The pause that comes before the drumbeats falls on the line “We aren’t caught up in your love affair”. The fact that it is this lyric that the pause falls on emphasises the admirable independence and freedom that Lorde is conveying, especially when one considers her age- Lorde was only 16 when she wrote “Royals”.

Instrumentation And Vocals

Royals’ instrumentation consists of finger snaps, bass and percussion, and a hip hop beat kept by kick drums. It unsurprisingly also features some electronic effects as its simple production is enhanced by ProTools software and synthesizers. It has been said that Royals’ minimal production enables Lorde to sing any melody she wants, layering them over each other in a “stacked” way. At times, this can even have a choral-like effect on how vocals and harmonies sound together. This musical convention is becoming more and more popular with contemporary electropop and alternative artists, as it really emphasizes a song’s vocals to the full. Royals’ hip-hop oriented minimalist style of instrumentation and production has been compared to James Blake, Grimes, and Animal Collective. Similarly, due to “Royals” having synth-heavy production, it has been compared to Noah “40” Shebib and Purity Ring.

In terms of the vocals in “Royals”, Lorde sings a mezzo-soprano vocal range, spanning from F#3 to F#5 notes. As I have mentioned above, “Royals” is a very vocals-based song. Lorde has said herself that her “voice needs to have the focus. {Her} vocal-scape is really important”. Her vocals in the song “Royals” have received a lot of phrase. The A.V. Club has described her “mystifying and alluring” voice as being “the alpha and omega of her talent”. Similarly, Billboard has described Lorde’s voice as being “dynamic, smoky and restrained”, while Pop Matters have said that Lorde’s vocals on the track are particularly “unique and powerfully intriguing”. Critics have on the whole been extremely impressed by Lorde’s vocals. This definitely makes up for the fact that the song’s instrumentation and production are both very simple.

Style

Lorde’s exact musical style has been debated at length, as songs such as “Royals” seem to fit into many different genres. “Royals” has been described as an electropop, art pop song that has elements of electronic and grime music, and influences from R & B, alternative music, and indie pop. Several critics have noted the hip-hop influence on several of Lorde’s like “Royals”, due to its unconventional pop sound, and minimalist production, common in the hip-hop style. It is ironic that a song that conveys disapproval of the lifestyles of hip-hop artists would be classified as a contemporary hip-hop song. However, this is in my opinion makes it all the more effective, and attention-grabbing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine has said he believes Lorde’s style is predominantly indie-electro and dream pop.

In my opinion, while the single “Royals” did incredibly in the pop charts, it is not a pure pop song. While it is a song that has many influences and elements from different musical styles in it, I think Lorde’s own unique style of her own is very evident. This makes it all the more interesting to me. Even the fact that “Royals” uses the mixolydian mode means that it does not fit a common major or mind chord. This sets it apart from pure pop songs, as pure pop songs tend not to be modal. Lorde is clearly a diverse artist who is experimental with her music as seen in “Royals”. In an interview with NME in 2017, Lorde confirmed this by saying "I don’t think about staying in my genre lane".

Timbre

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Royals’ timbre to discuss is Lorde’s unique indie vocal tonality. Lorde’s voice is low-pitched, sultry, and husky. Her singing has been compared to Lana Del Ray, Amy Winehouse, and Florence Welch. Some critics have even noticed similarities between Lorde and Ellie Goulding and Adele, all of which share a low vocal tonality, and have very distinct voices that have been popular among contemporary listeners of pop music. Consequence of Sound’s Chris Coplan has said that Lorde’s vocals are charmingly “romantic and playful”, while The Guardian’s Duncan Grieve said they were both “vulnerable and imperious”. These descriptions of Lorde’s vocals perfectly match the mixolydian modal tone of “Royals” (its unusual, neither major nor minor sound), the complexity of the song’s subject and sentiments of youth discussed in it, and the contrasting emotions conveyed in the song. Ann Powers from NPR has found Lorde’s vocals to be perfect at capturing “the exquisite ennui of a precocious teenager”, which is essence the entire purpose of the song “Royals”.

Conclusion

I really hope you guys enjoyed this blog post, and that you found it helpful to learn about how several of the most important music theory concepts and contemporary musical conventions have been used extensively and in unique ways in two modern songs that have been very popular internationally. I think the fact that they are on the whole very contrasting (in spite of having a few things in common with each other) makes this all the more interesting.

For those of you who are songwriters, I would definitely recommend that you try to experiment with some of the theory principles I have discussed such as melodic inversion that we saw in Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me”, and the mixolydian mode that Lorde uses in “Royals”. Engaging with these concepts is bound to expand your writing horizons more than you could ever have imagined!

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to helping you guys out with more of your music theory questions next week! 😊

Hannah Grace

References Used:

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/the-mixolydian-mode-sc-515

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Belong_with_Me

https://thehitformula.com/tag/lorde/

https://theboot.com/taylor-swift-songwriting-tips/

https://signaturesound.com/timesignatures/

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hannahgmusicblog-blog · 4 years

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Music Theory Blog by Hannah Grace

By Hannah Grace

My name is Hannah Grace, and I’m a 19-year-old singer-songwriter who has a deep love of learning and sharing my knowledge on anything and everything music related! I study Music Performance at the Bray Institute of Further Education (BIFE), I have learnt so much from this course so far. One of the areas I have particularly learnt a lot about is music theory. In this blog post I will discuss the basic concepts of music theory so I can hopefully help some of you guys see the intricacies behind even the most simple songs that we enjoy listening to!

The Stave, And Clefs

I think the easiest concepts for me to begin with, are the stave, and clefs. Firstly, “the stave” is in essence the word that collectively refers to the five lines and four spaces between them on which musical notes are written. The images that I will include in this blog entry will include pictures of scales and musical pieces notated on the stave. It is off the stave that music is read when one is sight-reading. On the stave there is either a treble clef or bass clef. The treble clef is the higher of these two clefs, the bass clef is lower.

The notes in the treble clef begin on the bottom line on E and rise from there- E, G, B, D, F for the notes on the lines, and F, A, C, E for the notes in the spaces. There are some fun, easy ways of memorizing these such as, “Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit” for the line notes, and simply the word FACE for the space notes.

The notes in the bass clef begin on the bottom line on G, and rise from there- G, B, D, F, A for the notes on the lines, and A, C, E, G for the notes in the spaces. Some ways to remember these would be “Girls Buy Dresses From AWear” for the line notes, and “All Cows Eat Grass” for the space notes.

Below is an image of what a treble clef (top), and bass clef (bottom) look like.

Scales

Moving on to scales, a scale is a group of notes that are arranged by either an ascending or descending order of pitch. In a scale that ascends, each note is higher in pitch than the previous one, and in a scale that descends, each note is lower in pitch than the previous one. One way for you to discern whether or not a group of notated notes is a scale or not is that in a scale, there will always be a note on every single line and space for an octave of the stave. An octave (as shown below) is a series of eight notes that occupy the interval between (and including) two notes, one of which has twice or half the frequency of vibration of the other. There are two most common types of scales that I am going to explain below- the major scale, and the minor scale.

The Major Scale

One of the two most common scale types is the major scale. Major scales are in fact the most common scale type as they are used more than minor scales are- the average contemporary pop song is written in a major key after all, and therefore uses a major scale. Whether major or minor, scales are defined by the order of which semitones and tones occur. Semitones are half steps, and tones are whole steps.

The order in which semitones and tones occur in a major scale is:

Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Tone – Semitone

Alternatively, in whole and half steps it would be:

Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole – Whole – Half

No matter what note you start on, if you use this pattern you can create a major scale. The starting note will always be the name of your major scale/the scale’s key. For example, if the tonic/first note of your scale is C, your major scale is a C major scale, it is in the key of C major.

Typically, songs written in major keys are associated with sounding happy and upbeat. While this is correct in that major keys are often used to convey bright feelings and situations, many songs with more negative themes or emotions behind them are written in a major key, and still sound dark or unhappy. An example of a typical cheerful sounding song written in a major key that comes to mind is the country song “Someday You’ll Love Me” by Conway Twitty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSpe5_wiJkU). This song is written in the key of G major, and sounds very celebratory. In stark contrast to this song, a song that I know that is written in a major key that sounds very sad is “Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPj3GAYYZ0). This song is in the key of A major, yet undeniably sounds anything but happy, and is not what is generally expected from a song that is written in a major key.

The Minor Scale

The next type of scale I will discuss is the minor scale, my personal favorite type of scale! One of the main differences between a major and minor scale is that minor scales feature flattened thirds, major scales don’t. This means that in minor scales, the third note is three semitones above the first note, whereas in major scales, the third note is four semitones above the first note. This unsurprisingly, creates a massive difference in sound. As I have already mentioned, the order in which semitones and tones occur in major and minor scales differ.

The order in which semitones and tones occur in a minor scale is:

Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone

Alternatively, in whole and half steps that would be:

Whole– Half – Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole

Just like with major scales, you can start a scale on any note, and by rising following this pattern, you can create a minor scale. For example, if you begin on an A minor note and follow this pattern, you will be playing an A minor scale, and you will be in the key of A minor. It should be mentioned that there are in fact three different types of minor scale: the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale. Each of these types of minor scale use a slightly different pattern of semitones and tones, however they all share the minor third feature.

Typically, songs written in minor keys are associated with sounding sad and pessismistic. While this is correct in that minor keys are often used to convey negative feelings and situations, many songs with more positive themes or emotions behind them are written in a minor key, and still sound optimistic and cheery. An example of a typical gloomy sounding song written in a minor key that comes to mind is the country song “Hurt” by Johnny Cash (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI). This song is written in the key of A minor, and sounds very solemn. In stark contrast to this song, a song that I know that is written in a minor key that sounds very upbeat is the pop hit “...Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4). This song is in the key of C minor, yet undeniably sounds upbeat and celebratory, and is not what is generally expected from a song that is written in a minor key.

Keys

The next key musical concept (excuse the pun! 😊) that I will explain for you guys is what exactly “the key of a song” means. When referring to a song’s key, we are in essence talking about the song’s tonal center. The tonal center of a song means that there is a note in the song that we can view as the song’s “home base note”. Believe it or not, each note in the song gravitates towards that note. For example, if the song is in the key of F major, each note in the song gravitates towards F. If we were to use a minor key- if the song was in the key of A minor, each note gravitates towards A minor. There are 12 keys in music.

Here are all 12 below:

1. Key of C

2. Key of Db/C# (en-harmonic keys)

3. Key of D

4. Key of Eb

5. Key of E

6. Key of F

7. Key of Gb/Key of F# (en-harmonic keys)

8. Key of G

9. Key of Ab

10. Key of A

11. Key of Bb

12. Key of B/Key of Cb (en-harmonic keys)

I will now give you an example of a well-known song that is in each of these major keys, and links to listen to them.

1. Key of C - “Imagine”, John Lennon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8

2. Key of Db/C# - “Give Me Love”, Ed Sheeran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFk3aOvAUvc

3. Key of D - “Things I’ll Never Say”, Avril Lavigne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnKg4pfjrr0

4. Key of Eb/D# - “Pumped Up Kicks”, Foster The People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oLzX0RPquk

5. Key of E - “Where Is My Mind?”, The Pixies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49FB9hhoO6c

6. Key of F - “Somebody That I Used To Know”, Gotye ft. Kimbra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7DtJJSVPsk

7. Key of Gb/Key of F# - “I Knew You Were Trouble”, Taylor Swift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUn1tzyTYeo

8. Key of G - “Creep”, Radiohead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk

9. Key of Ab/G# - “Every Breathe You Take”, The Police https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

10. Key of A - “September”, Earth, Wind & Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk

11. Key of Bb/A# - “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Queen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

12. Key of B/Key of Cb - “Yellow”, Coldplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3MklmMDOY

The Concept Of The Relative Minor

You might wonder why all of those keys I mentioned above are major. There isn’t one minor key to be found among them, is there? This is due to the relative minor concept. The relative minor of a particular major key (or alternatively the relative major of a certain minor key) is the minor key which has the same key signature as that major key, but a different tonic (starting note). All of those 12 major keys I have mentioned above have relative minor keys.

Here they are:

1. Key of C major = Key of A minor

2. Key of Db/C# major = Key of Bb/A# minor

3. Key of D = Key of B minor

4. Key of Eb = Key of C minor

5. Key of E = Key of C# minor

6. Key of F = Key of D minor

7. Key of Gb/Key of F# = Key of Eb/D# minor

8. Key of G = Key of E minor

9. Key of Ab = Key of F minor

10. Key of A = Key of F #minor

11. Key of Bb = Key of G minor

12. Key of B/Key of Cb = Key of G#/Ab minor

I will now give you an example of a well-known song that is in each of these minor keys (the relative minor keys of the 12 major keys I have discussed), and links to listen to them.

1. Key of A minor - “Miss Me More”, Kelsea Ballerini https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ll1DrlZgqk

2. Key of Bb/A# minor – “Waiting For Tonight”, Jennifer Lopez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66jPJVS4JE

3. Key of B minor - “Radioactive”, Imagine Dragons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO_WxYC34eM

4. Key of C minor - “Toxic”, Britney Spears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU

5. Key of C# minor - “Jolene", Dolly Parton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixrje2rXLMA

6. Key of D minor - “Crazy In Love”, Beyonce ft. Jay-Z https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwtNLUqkMY

7. Key of Eb/D# minor - “River Lea”, Adele https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qiu59lZShCo

8. Key of E minor - “Zombie”, The Cranberries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts

9. Key of F minor - “Nobody’s Home”, Avril Lavigne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFSNE18Ywc

10. Key of F #minor - “What’s My Name”, Rihanna ft. Drake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RYhAN8kQoM

11. Key of G minor - “Goodbye To Yesterday”, Stig Rasta and Elina Born https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfR0bQZhlqM

12. Key of G#/Ab minor - “Poker Face”, Lady Gaga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo

Key Signatures

Key signatures are one of the ways in which we can tell what key a song is in. They are drawn right after whatever the clef sign on the stave is (eg. the treble clef if the song’s pitch is relatively high). The key signature will display what notes in the song are sharp and what notes are flat. The number of sharps and flats that are in the key signature can be very indicative as to what key the song is in. For example, if there are no sharps or flats in the key signature, the song could be in the key of C major. Alternatively, it could be in the key of A minor. If there is a sharp in the key signature, the song could be in the key of G major. It could be in the key of E minor either. I will include an image of what is referred to as the “Circle of Fifths” below, which clearly illustrates major keys and the relative minors, and key signatures. How do you tell whether a key signature is indicating that the song is in a major key or its relative minor? Songs in major keys can sometimes sound like they are in their relative minor key, and vice versa – songs in minor keys can sometimes sound like they are in their relative major key. One of the main ways to figure out which key a song is in is to decipher the song’s tonal center. For example, if you have seen that a song’s time signature has no sharps or flats in it and you’re wondering whether it is in the key of C major or A minor, one way of figuring out which of the two it is would be to look for a tonal center home bass note as I previously mentioned, in the first bar of the melody to see what the song’s tonic is. For example, if the notes involve A, C, and E, this is likely to tell us that the song is in A minor, as A, C, and E make up the tonic chord in the key of A minor. Similarly, if the notes involve C, E, and G, this is likely to tell us that the song is in C major, as C, E, and G make up the tonic chord in the key of C major. Another way to check this is to apply this same method to the last few notes in the final bar of the song, as more often than not, it is either the first or last chord of a song that indicates its key. If the first and last chords are both the same as each other, that means the likelihood of your guess being correct is even greater. As a songwriter, I personally know myself that if I am writing in the key of E minor for example, I am highly likely to begin and end the song with an E minor chord.

Modes

The next concept I will discuss is modes. If any of you have ever heard a song being referred to as being “modal” in its sound rather than fully major or minor, this is related to what I am about to explain. Modes are basically seven musical scales that each have different sounds and defining qualities. The names of the seven modes are the Ionian mode, Dorian mode, Phrygian mode, Lydian mode, Mixolydian mode, Aeolian mode, and Locrian mode. To play a modal scale, you essentially begin on any white key on the piano and play the white keys only until you reach the octave note- eg. the D to D notes.

While no modal song is entirely major or minor, every mode can be divided into either the more major side or minor side of the modes. The major modes are the Ionian mode, Lydian mode, and Mixolydian mode. The minor modes are the Dorian mode, Phrygian mode, Aeolian mode, and Locrian mode.

Every single one of these scales are diatonic. This means that they have seven notes and two intervals that are semitones (half steps) and five intervals that are tones (whole steps).The below table displays some basic information on all of the modes, including the patterns used to form them in whole notes (W), and half notes (H). I will now describe each individual mode in more depth.

The Ionian Mode

The Ionian mode which is known as the first mode (see the above image) is essentially another name for the C major scale. The C major scale has no sharps or flats in it, and is therefore created by playing an octave of white keys on the piano only (C to C). An example of a song that uses this mode is “Let It Be” by The Beatles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYfEBY9NM4.

The Dorian Mode

As seen above, the Dorian mode is the second mode, and is composed of natural notes beginning on D. It is in fact very similar to the Aeolian mode. An example of a famous song written in this mode is Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IpYOF4Hi6Q.

The Phrygian Mode

The Phrygian mode is the third mode. It consists of natural notes starting on E. It is one of the lesser heard modes in terms of modern music, but was quite common in old classical and jazz music.

The Lydian Mode

The fourth mode is the Lydian mode. This mode is created by playing the natural notes on the piano, beginning on the F note. It is the brightest sounding of all of the modes, and is in fact quite like the Ionian mode, but it has a raised fourth note that the Ionian mode doesn’t have. In a Lydian scale the fourth note is sharpened. The iconic Simpsons TV show theme song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzS3QYb868) is perhaps the most famous piece of music that makes use of the Lydian mode. Similarly, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac is an example of a song written in this mode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZRURcb1cM).

The Mixolydian Mode

The fifth mode is the Mixolydian mode. It is perhaps the most commonly used of all of the modes, especially in contemporary pop music. It consists of natural notes beginning on G. This mode is very similar to the Ionian mode, except the Mixolydian mode features a flattened seventh mode (that is in fact very common in traditional Irish music) that is not in the Ionian mode. An example of a modern pop song that makes great use of the Mixolydian mode is “Green Light” by Lorde (from her captivating album “Melodrama”), a song that I am very fond of - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMK_npDG12Q.

The Aeolian Mode

The sixth mode is the Aeolian mode, which is also known as the natural A minor scale. This is because it is composed of natural notes that begin on A. Because of this, it has no sharps or flats in it, so in this way it is similar to the Ionian mode. An example of a song that uses this mode is Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7Hj-ea0VE.

The Locrian Mode

The final mode is the Locrian mode. It is composed of natural notes that begin on B, as the above image shows. While the Locrian mode is referred to as a minor mode, it is often said to in fact be a diminished scale.

Triadic Chords

A chord is a harmonic set of pitches/notes that sound simultaneous when played together. The most common and simple type of chord is the triad. Triads (or triadic chords) are essentially three-note chords that are formed using a 1-3-5 (root, 3rd, 5th) pattern. There are four types of triadic chords- major, minor, diminished, and augmented. These are the types of chords that form the structure of countless songs of all genres, internationally. Triads are classified according to the intervals that are formed above the root. For example, if the triad has a major third and a perfect fifth above the root, it is a major triad, whereas if the triad has a minor third and a perfect fifth, it is a minor triad. These are called consonant triads. Major and minor chords are seen as more “reliable”, stable chords than augmented and diminished chords, hence them being used a lot more than the latter two types of triads are. The augmented triad is very dissonant, the diminished chord even more so. This is due to the latter containing what is called a tritone. A tritone is essentially an augmented fourth, but in the case of a diminished triad, it is a diminished fifth.

Triads are sometimes expanded to have a seventh chord to them. If a chord is called a seventh chord, (for example, A7 rather than just A), this typically means that a dominant seventh is present. This is when the triad is essentially a major chord that has a minor seventh. Due to all seventh chords having dissonant intervals, any seventh chord will be dissonant. This makes these chords sound a lot more jarring but in a way attention-grabbing, than regular major or minor chords. One genre that makes great use of seventh chords is jazz.

The below image displays how the four different types of triadic chords that I have discussed are formed.

Triadic chords can be played with other chords to form a chord progression, eg. chords I, vi, IV, V. In the key of G major, this popular chord progression would be G, Em, C, D. This is because G is the first note in the G major scale, E minor is the sixth note in the G major scale (the major key’s relative minor- the sixth note of a major scale is always the relative minor), C is the fourth note in the G major scale, and D is the fifth note in the G major scale. A well-known song that uses this chord progression is “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vv-BfVoq4g.

Note Lengths

As well as having a pitch, every note that you see written on the stave has a duration/its own assigned note length. How each musical note that you see on the stave looks, indicates how long the note is meant to be played/heard for, whereas, with pitch, the line/space on which the note is indicates the note’s pitch- exactly how high or low it will sound. The below image explains what the note values are, and how they work. Similarly, it displays the rest beats that are notated on the stave too, what type of rests last for how many beats. There are also alternative names for the note value names shown below that you may be more familiar with. A whole note can also be called a semibreve, a half note can also be called a minim, a quarter note can also be called a crotchet, an eighth note can also be called a quaver, a sixteenth note can also be called a semiquaver.

When you see a piece of music in 4/4 time for example, the above note lengths will be used in such a way that there are 4 beats in every bar. For example, this could be created with one whole note, two half notes, a half note and two quarter notes, and so on. The below image shows the popular Christmas song Jingle Bells (which has a time signature of 4/4), and how its four beats per bar are created, and notated on the stave using note values.

Time Signatures

Another key concept in terms of rhythm and meter, is the time signature. A time signature is what tells you a song’s meter. Time signatures are found at the beginning of every row of bars of music. The two numbers in the time signature (e.g. 4/4) indicate how many beats are in each bar. A song that has a time signature of 4/4 has four crotchet beats per bar, a song with a time signature of 3/4 has three crotchet beats per bar of music, a song with a time signature of 2/4 has two crotchet beats per bar, and so forth. The most common time signatures are:

1. 4/4 - Common time. This is the most common meter in music (hence its name!), in particular in contemporary pop and rock music. When we are reading music for a song that has a 4/4 time signature, the time signature tells us that each bar in the song will contain four crotchet/quarter note beats. An example of a well-known song that has a 4/4 time signature is “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by The Eurythmics.

2. 3/4 - Waltz time. This is the second most common meter in music, and is especially used in Country and Western music. This genre is known for its waltzes. When we are reading music for a song that has a 3/4 time signature, the time signature tells us that each bar in the song will contain three crotchet/quarter note beats. In 3/4 time, the first beat of every bar is the bar’s downbeat, and the following two beats are the upbeats. An example of a well-known song that has a 3/4 time signature is “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica.

3. 2/4 - March time. This time signature is most common among marching band songs, hence its name! March songs are known for their driving pulse and steady, strict rhythm. The 2/4 time signature is half of the 4/4 time signature, as when we are reading music for a song that has a 2/4 time signature, the time signature tells us that each bar in the song will contain two crotchet/quarter note beats. The nursery rhyme “Bobby Shafto’s Gone To Sea” is an example of a well-known song that has a 2/4 time signature.

4. 6/8 time. A time signature of 6/8 involves counting six eighth notes in every bar of music. In 6/8 time, you count the beat: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on. Songs in this time signature can tend to have a waltz feel to them, making them sound similar to songs written in 3/4 time. The 6/8 time signature has been very popular among traditional Irish music throughout the centuries. The majority of Irish trad music jigs are written in 6/8 time. An example of a contemporary rock song that uses a 6/8 time signature (for the entire duration of the song too) is The Beatles’ “Baby’s In Black”. The below image displays the typical 6/8 notation, it is quite different to that of a bar of music in 4/4, 3/4, or 2/4 time.

At first it can be hard to hear the rhythmic difference between time signatures in songs, but when you get more familiar with it, it gets a lot easier. I’d recommend you give all four songs I gave as examples to the four time signatures I discussed above a listen, and see if you can recognize the different time signatures in each of them. Links to listen to them are below:

1. 4/4- “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”, The Eurthymics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg

2. 3/4- “Nothing Else Matters, Metallica - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGnKpE4NCI

3. 2/4- “Bobby Shafto’s Gone To Sea”, the traditional English nursery rhyme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6V9j9GRK9U

4. 6/8- “Baby’s In Black”, The Beatles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJFpUb7JGYo

My Own Transcription

As you can see in the images above, I have created a transcription for the melody, rhythm, and chords for one verse and one chorus from the iconic song “When I’m Gone”, also known as “The Cup Song”, by Anna Kendrick that featured in the famous movie Pitch Perfect. I’ve always liked this song for its confident, bittersweet message, and uplifting melody. It holds a special place in my heart as I sang it with my classmates at my primary school graduation, and have won a talent show singing it too! It is a great example of what an upbeat contemporary country-pop song both sounds like, and looks like transcribed. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjcOzqxu4JQ

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post, and that you now have a clearer understanding of the basic theory concepts that are so important in music.

Have a great week, and talk soon!

Hannah Grace 😊

References Used:

https://www.songkeyfinder.com/songs-in-key/b-major

https://www.basicmusictheory.com/locrian-mode

https://www.essential-music-theory.com/music-note.html

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