Unit 5 Session Styles

  Individual practice and preparation    What practical preparation do you do before playing the song? E.g. sourced lead sheets, tabs, chord  charts  or notation; listened to songs on playlists; notated/learnt riffs by ear; selected correct equipment; took care of your voice with correct warm-up; made sure parts were  allocated  sensibly by instrument/ability etc.   Because I was already familiar with the song I just listened to it a few times to get the gist of the melody and lyrics again. Then I practiced the song with just a backing track. What musical preparation did you do? E.g. learning  appropriate scales ,  riffs  or rhythms; technical exercises to develop accuracy/speed; tone production; recording yourself and checking against original recordings.   I practiced the song throughout a few times and practiced bits where I'd go in my headvoice and when I'd switch to chest voice. I did multiple recordings of myself and trie...

  Musical characteristics of Pop Tonality   Typically pop music has a major tonality because pop music can be uplifting bright and happy. Usually, when pop music has a minor tonality it is to give the song more emotional depth. Harmony   Pop music typically has diatonic chord progressions, a common progression is - I-V-vi-IV. Pop harmonies are often repetitive and predictable to create memorable hooks. Extensions   Common pop music extensions are 7th's, 9th's and 13th's. These extensions add colour to songs because pop songs can feel quite generic and bland. Scales   The most common pop scales are the major scale, minor scale and the pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale is used for its simplicity and its used in pop, rock riffs and melodic phrases. Riffs   Pop riffs aim to be memorable and catchy, they are often played on guitars, bass' and synthesizers. They can work as a harmonic background for the lead singer.  Rhythms   Most pop songs use a ...