Neo-Riemannian Theory and the Analysis of Pop-Rock Music guy capuzzoThis article outlines the use of neo-Riemannian operations (NROs) for the analysis of certain pop-rock chord progressions whose features invite a transformational approach. After presenting the NROs used in the paper, I delineate the general features of the progressions under discussion, distinguish the progressions from the late-Romantic progressions analyzed with NROs by Richard Cohn, Brian Hyer, Henry Klumpenhouwer, and David Lewin, and contrast pc parsimony (one or two pcs shared by two triads) with p parsimony (one or two pitches shared by two triads). I then offer a series of analyses, which fall into three categories: sequences, progressions with chromatic lines from 8 ˆor 5 ˆ, and a song that combines triads and seventh chords. I close with an analysis of a complete song.1. introduction P op-rock music overflows with harmonic diversity. Walter Everett writes of the "manifold tonal systems present in popular music, some no different than those of two hundred years ago, others hardly related at all, and still others combining aspects from both of these extremes." 1 This diversity has given rise to distinct analytic approaches to harmony and voice leading in pop-rock music. One approach, taken by scholars such as Matthew Brown, Lori Burns, Everett, Peter Kaminsky, and Timothy Koozin, em-ploys Schenkerian techniques. 2 Richard Middleton and Allan Moore argue against the use of Schenker for the analysis of pop-rock music, opting instead for approaches that feature musical gesture and root-motion formulae respectively. 3 Still other approaches are represented by the pioneering work of John Covach, Dave Headlam, Susan McClary, Philip Tagg, and Robert Walser. 4 Like the music it seeks to elucidate, the field of pop-rock studies is young, and consensus regarding analytic method has yet to emerge. This article advances the use of neo-Riemannian operations (henceforth, NROs) for the analysis of certain pop-rock chord progressions whose features, detailed below, invite a An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2002 meeting of the Society for Music Theory in Columbus, Ohio. For their comments and suggestions, I am grateful to
Describing a subset of the rock repertory, Walter Everett writes:Some songs alternate between unrelated key areas, each expanded in entire sections, creating a nontonal whole . . . [Other] songs are structurally diatonic and depend on normal tonal chord progressions, and yet no single overriding tonal center can be appointed conclusively because the song's various formal sections revolve around separate tonics . . . and closure is not provided by any overall directed voice leading (Everett 2008, 144-45; emphasis added).I have italicized the words "unrelated" and "nontonal" to raise two issues. First, Everett does not mean "unrelated" in the sense of a pair of keys being related. Pairs of keys in these songs are often related-even closely related. Second, as is evident from the last sentence of the quote, Everett's gauge of tonality is Schenkerian. Scholars including Everett routinely apply other gauges of tonality to the analysis of rock music, such as directional or progressive tonality, so it is reasonable to ask if the songs Everett refers to might be deemed tonal by some other measure (Everett 2004, §14-15;Harrison 2004;Ricci 2000). However, directional tonality accommodates two keys at most and only models songs that start and end in different keys, while the songs Everett describes often feature three or more keys. Further, the two key songs sometimes start and end in the same key. While scholars such as Richard Middleton have noted the tendency of rock songs to pair sections with distinct harmonic languages, and Lori Burns's analysis of a Tori Amos song proceeds from the premise that "each section of the song explores a different harmonic idiom," which prompts her to "avoid an ultimate Ursatz interpretation," the need for a gauge more precise than the catchall category "nontonal" becomes clear (Middleton 1990, 195-96; Burns 2008, 68).Example 1 illustrates the type of song alluded to in Everett's quote. "Good Day Sunshine" presents four sections-A, B, C, and D-and four keys-B major, A major, D major, and C major-all within the span of two minutes. The final chords of sections A and B act as the dominants of the keys of sections B and C but do not support an overriding tonic. Naphtali Wagner's analysis of the song supports this portrayal; he analyzes sections A and B in different keys but does not comment on sections C or D (Wagner 2003, 362-63). Everett views the song in the same way, stating that "a fourth, nonresolving tonal center is heard when [section D] ascends a half-step from B major" (Everett 1999, 59). For Wagner and Everett, a description of the song as nontonal as per Everett's quote is apt.However, I propose that "Good Day Sunshine" is a tonal song. It is an instance of what I term sectional tonality. Let us refer to a section as a distinct part of a song's formal structure, such as an intro, verse, bridge, transition, refrain, pre-chorus, chorus, solo, interlude, ending, or coda (Covach 2005). 1 Then, we can define sectional tonality (hereafter ST) as a type of tonality in which each s...
This paper studies a set of instructional materials by the renowned jazz guitarist and pedagogue Pat Martino, winner of Downbeat Magazine's 2004 reader's poll for jazz guitarist of the year. The materials, titled The Nature of the Guitar, represent an ongoing project of Martino's begun in 1972. The Nature of Guitar is remarkable in its degree of overlap with Neo-Riemannian ideas. After discussing excerpts from The Nature of Guitar that engage parsimonious voice-leading, I compare Martino's analysis of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" to that of Matthew Santa.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.