# AI Wiki - Music - Pop Music ## Overview Pop music took its modern form in the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. It grew out of "traditional pop" (Tin Pan Alley songwriting, Broadway and show tunes) and absorbed rock and roll, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, country, dance, hip hop and electronic music along the way. From about 1967 "pop" was often set against "rock" as the more commercial, accessible side. Pop songs are typically 2.5 to 3.5 minutes long, built on a verse–chorus structure with repeated choruses and catchy hooks, simple harmony and melody, and rhythms made for dancing. Pop puts recording and production first: Phil Spector's wall of sound in the 1960s, multitrack recording, synthesizers in the 1980s, sampling from the 1980s, and today's producer-songwriter teams. Reference artists: the Beatles, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Prince, and modern writers and producers such as Max Martin. For a player, pop is the place to learn how a few diatonic chords, a good melody and a clear form make a song. Almost every pop song can be played with open chords, a capo and a strumming pattern, or with block chords on the piano. ## Song Forms - **32-bar AABA form** (Tin Pan Alley, until the 1950s): four 8-bar sections, the third (B, the "bridge" or "middle eight") contrasting with the others. "Over the Rainbow" and "I Got Rhythm" use it; it declined in the 1960s as verse–chorus took over. - **Verse–chorus form** (dominant since the 1960s): intro – verse – (pre-chorus) – chorus – verse – (pre-chorus) – chorus – bridge – chorus (often repeated) – outro. - **Verse**: tells the story; the lyrics change each time; usually lower and calmer. - **Pre-chorus**: builds tension, often moving away from the tonic (starting on IV or vi). - **Chorus**: the hook and the title, higher and louder, the same lyrics every time. - **Bridge**: contrast before the last chorus, often new chords. - **Hooks**: a short melodic, lyrical or instrumental phrase that repeats (often the title line, or a synth/guitar riff). ## Harmony Pop relies on the diatonic chords of a major key (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals]]), especially I, IV, V and vi. The most famous loops are rotations of the same four chords: | Progression | In C | In G | Nickname / note | |---|---|---|---| | I – V – vi – IV | C – G – Am – F | G – D – Em – C | the "four chords" (Axis of Awesome medley, 2008) | | vi – IV – I – V | Am – F – C – G | Em – C – G – D | the "sensitive female chord progression" (Marc Hirsh), sounds minor | | I – vi – IV – V | C – Am – F – G | G – Em – C – D | the 1950s / doo-wop progression | | IV – I – V – vi | F – C – G – Am | C – G – D – Em | starts off the tonic | | I – IV – vi – V | C – F – Am – G | G – C – Em – D | | See [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]] for more. ```chords {title: The four-chord loop and its rotations, in G} {key: G} {time: 4/4} {start_of_verse: I–V–vi–IV} | [G] / / / | [D] / / / | [Em] / / / | [C] / / / | {end_of_verse} {start_of_chorus: vi–IV–I–V} | [Em] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / / / | [D] / / / | {end_of_chorus} {start_of_bridge: I–vi–IV–V (1950s)} | [G] / / / | [Em] / / / | [C] / / / | [D] / / / | {end_of_bridge} ``` Other common pop colours: - **Borrowed iv**: the IV chord turned minor (F to Fm in C, C to Cm in G) for a bittersweet turn back to I. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Relative and Parallel Keys]]. - **♭VII and ♭VI** borrowed from the parallel minor (B♭ and A♭ in C), as in rock. - **sus2, sus4 and add9 chords** instead of plain [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads|triads]], for a more open sound (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Suspended and Added-Tone Chords]]). - **Slash chords** and **pedal points**: a fixed bass note under [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Chord Transitions|changing chords]] (C – G/B – Am gives a descending bass C – B – A). - **Key change** up a half or whole step for the last chorus (the "truck driver's modulation"). ## Melody and Rhythm - Melodies are short, repeated and singable, often built from the major or minor pentatonic (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]]), with the chorus sitting higher in the singer's range than the verse. - 4/4 time with a backbeat on 2 and 4 is the norm; ballads may use 6/8 or 12/8. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Rhythm and Time Signatures]]. - Rhythm-section parts are often syncopated eighth or sixteenth notes; dance pop puts the kick drum on every beat ("four on the floor"). ## On Guitar - **Open chords + capo**: play G – D – Em – C or C – G – Am – F shapes and move the capo to fit the singer. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords]] and [[AI Wiki - Music - Capo and Transposition]]. - **The all-purpose strum**: D – D U – U D U over a bar of 4/4 (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns]]). Accent beats 2 and 4. - **Anchor-finger voicings**: with the third and fourth fingers left on the B and high E strings at fret 3, G, Cadd9, Dsus4 and Em7 change with almost no movement. This is the sound of a lot of acoustic pop. - **Arpeggiated verses, strummed choruses**: picking chord notes in the verse and strumming in the chorus is the simplest way to build dynamics. ```chord G 320033 210034 --- Cadd9 x32033 x21034 --- Dsus4 xx0233 xx0134 --- Em7 022033 012034 ``` ## On Piano - **Block chords with voice leading**: keep the right hand in one place by choosing inversions, and let the left hand play the roots. I–V–vi–IV in C with almost no hand movement (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]]): ```chord instrument: piano columns: 4 --- symbol: C pitches: C4 E4 G4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: C (I) --- symbol: G/B pitches: B3 D4 G4 fingering: 1-2-5 title: G/B (V, 1st inversion) --- symbol: Am pitches: A3 C4 E4 fingering: 1-3-5 title: Am (vi) --- symbol: F/A pitches: A3 C4 F4 fingering: 1-2-5 title: F/A (IV, 1st inversion) ``` - **Left-hand patterns**: root on beat 1, root–fifth–octave broken patterns, or octaves pulsing in eighth notes. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]]. - **Pulse**: repeated eighth-note chords in the right hand (piano-ballad style, as in "Let It Be" or Adele's ballads), with the sustain pedal changed on each chord (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Sustain Pedal]]). ## Songs to Study - **The Beatles – "Let It Be"** (1970): verse on C – G – Am – F (I–V–vi–IV), piano ballad pulse. - **Ben E. King – "Stand by Me"** (1961): the 1950s I–vi–IV–V loop in A. - **ABBA – "Dancing Queen"** (1976): pop production and a strong chorus hook. - **Journey – "Don't Stop Believin'"** (1981): I–V–vi–IV in E, piano riff. - **U2 – "With or Without You"** (1987): D – A – Bm – G over a pedal bass. - **Michael Jackson – "Billie Jean"** (1983): a minor-key bass-line vamp; groove-driven pop. - **Adele – "Someone Like You"** (2011): piano [[AI Wiki - Music - Arpeggios|arpeggios]] on A – E – F♯m – D. - **Ed Sheeran – "Perfect"** (2017): I–vi–IV–V in 12/8 feel, open-chord guitar with capo. ## How to Practise 1. Learn I–V–vi–IV in G (G, D, Em, C) and C (C, G, Am, F), with the all-purpose strum. 2. Play all rotations of those four chords and notice how the mood changes when the loop starts on vi. 3. On piano, play the voice-led C – G/B – Am – F/A with the right hand, roots in the left. 4. Take one song you like, map its sections (verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge) and the chords of each. 5. Use a capo to put a song in your singing key, keeping the same shapes. ## Key Points - Origin: mid-1950s US/UK, rooted in Tin Pan Alley and rock and roll; production-centred. - Form: verse–(pre-chorus)–chorus–bridge; earlier, 32-bar AABA. - Harmony: diatonic I, IV, V, vi loops (I–V–vi–IV and rotations, I–vi–IV–V), plus borrowed iv, ♭VII, sus/add9 colours. - Melody: short, repeated hooks, often pentatonic. - Guitar: open chords, capo, D–DU–UDU strum, anchor-finger voicings. Piano: inverted block chords, left-hand roots, pedal. ## Open Questions - Which chord changes in "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Let It Be" depart from the I–V–vi–IV loop (bridges, chorus)? - What separates a "pre-chorus" from a second verse half in practice? Find a songwriting source with clear criteria. - How do modern pop producers voice synth chords differently from piano voicings? ## References - Wikipedia, "Pop music": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music - Wikipedia, "I–V–vi–IV progression": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%E2%80%93V%E2%80%93vi%E2%80%93IV_progression - Wikipedia, "Verse–chorus form": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verse%E2%80%93chorus_form - Wikipedia, "Thirty-two-bar form": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-two-bar_form ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Suspended and Added-Tone Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Relative and Parallel Keys]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Capo and Transposition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Piano Chord Inversions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Sustain Pedal]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Rock Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Folk Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Country Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Reggae Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Cadences]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Progression Recognition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Ear Training]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Fingerpicking]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Funk Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Jazz Music]]