The Musical Characteristics of Pop

 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 4/4 rhythms because its stable and predictable, the steady beat allows listeners to tap along and dance.

Melody 

Pop music relies on repetition and hooks, pop music can also stay is a particular range so normal people can sing along to it.

Instruments 

Typical pop instruments include guitars, keyboards/synthesizers, drum/percussion, bass and vocals.

Textures 

The most common pop texture is homophonic because typically in pop songs it is a l4ead singer singing to an a accompaniment.

Lyrics 

Typical pop lyrics are about love, relationships and heartbreak, this is top relate to an audience whilst building an emotional song.

Instrumental Techniques  

A drum technique that pop music uses in the "Four-to-the-floor" method which is the kick drum kicking on every beat for a dance like rhythm.

Improvisation

Most improv in pop comes from the lead vocals because they can add riffs and runs without it seeming out of place in the song.

Important notation  

< Guitar chords for Happen To Me by Benee

3 Subgenres of Pop

-3 subgenres of pop are - Kpop, Hyper Pop and Indie Pop.

-All 3 subgenres refuse to stick to a certain style, Kpop can often mixes in Hip Hop styles and Hyper pop is a maximalist style that can mix electronic music, rap and pop together.

-K-pop is quite the polished style compares to the other 2 with higher budgets and better studio quality. K-pop heavily focuses on the visuals/choreography the music is considered "inseparable" to the dance. The vocals are often clean combined with multi-layered complex instrumentals. - LE SSERAFIM, j-hope - SPAGHETTI (Lyrics)

-Hyper-pop emerged in 2010's from the UK with artists like Charlie XCX and 100 gecs, hyper-pop is connected to internet culture and the LGBTQ+ community. Hype-rpop is known for its over exaggerated sound which mixes, hip hop, pop and electronic music together. The vocals are often distorted or pitch shifted, hyper-pop is one of the more experimental genres with a close knit community. - Appalachia

-Indie Pop emerged in the 1970s rooted in Punk music, indie pop is lower budget that kpop. Indie Pop usually comes from independent labels and the concerts are usually smaller venues. Social media is a big part in the exposure for indie pop with small communities being loyal fans. Wrecking Ball 

Opinions on Subgenre's 

My favourite is tied between hyper pop and kpop because I listen to both on a general basis. The reason I like kpop is because it is made to be catchy and its easy to listen and enjoy it because of the bigger budgets and I respect the kpop work ethic. The reason I like hyper-pop is because it is so interesting musical wise and when i first heard it I had never heard anything like it before.

Famous musicians in each subgenre 

- A famous Kpop band is KATSEYE they are known for mixing kpop elements with the general pop sound. They are a global girl group under the label HYBE who have many other famous kpop bands under them. They are known for their viral songs "Gnarly'' and ''Gabriela'', what made these songs os popular was the choreography that paired with it.

- A famous Hyper pop artist is Charlie XCX, she is labelled the ''queen of hyper-pop'' , she started off as a song writer and as a normal pop artist but after a few years of being unsuccessful she rebranded herself with her album ''brat'' which became the album of the summer.

- A famous Indie pop artist is Mitski she is famous for her song ''Washing machine heart'', she gained mass amounts of fame from 2020 due to the pandemic, she blended indie pop with emotional songs which left a powerful imprint of the listeners while suffering in the pandemic.

Evolution of Pop

- Pop music evolved in the 1950's with artists like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry when they mixed rock, blues and country sounds together. Then in the 1960's with the British invasion we saw artists like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones setting new standards for the genre with their new Motown like sound. Then in the 70's disco took over which gave us  fast beats  and more danceable songs. Then pop revolutionized in the 80's with Michael Jackson and Madonna which made drum machines and synthesizers. Then in 90's pop groups became a staple of the genre like the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys. Now pop has taken over the industry with its range of styles and different artists now competing to be number 1.

What Pop has in common with other styles 

Pop is similar to rock in a way that they use the same instruments but with different sounds, but in a way pop is just a combination of other genre's mixed together. The lyricism is the way pop is similar to most genres because love as a topic in songs is the most common theme in every genre.