• The Rolling Stones Corpus Study: The observations about rock harmony in the reading by Temperley are drawn from a large-scale corpus study run by David Temperley and Trevor de Clerq published in 2011. The study explores a large selection of songs from the 50's to 90's included in the Rolling Stone's list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." 

  • • • What type of popular music does this study exclude? How might that change the results Temperley and de Clerq observed?

      • What were the primary findings presented in the reading in regard to harmony? (The handout here summarizes some of the main data presented.)

        • • Next to the tonic chord, what is the most common chord in popular music? (How does that compare to Western art music?) Where does the IV tend to progress to in popular music? The V? Which types of chords are most common: Triads or extended chords? Root-position or inverted chords?

          • What observations did the authors make in regard to harmonic succession and correlation?

          • How do the findings compare to the way harmony functions in common-practice Western art music? (Consider the review material from Theory I linked in the reading.)

      • Corpus studies have recently become an important tool in music theory for exploring patterns in large collections of music.  What is a corpus study and how might a study like this be used to guide theory, analysis, and composition?

• Loops, Shuttles, and Progressions: Define the following terms from the reading: harmonic progression, chord loop, chord shuttle, schemata, and cyclic pattern.

  • • Provide an example of a chord shuttle and harmonic schema typical in popular music. 

    • Compare and contrast the way that harmonic progressions work in common-practice Western art music and the use of chord loops in popular music. (Consider some of Chenette's arguments from the reading). 

• Cadence: How does Temperley define "cadence" in the context of popular music? How are cadences defined in Western art music? What harmonic movement is common and important for defining cadential closure in the classical style? 

  • • There are plenty of examples of songs that shuttle between just two chords, neither of which are V. Consider the following songs. How are cadences defined in these songs? What are some of the musical cues you find yourself listening to? (You can find additional examples of shuttle progressions in the anthology - see the link below). 

      • • Bruce Springsteen, "Glory Days" (This song shuttles between I and IV, A and D)

        • Kinks, "Tired of Waiting for You" (This song shuttles between I and ♭VII, G and F)

• The "Four Chord" Song: Listen to the "Four Chord" song by the Australian comedy band Axis of Awesome. The four-chord progression they refer to is also called the "singer-songwriter progression" or the "axis progression" (named after the popularity of this video.)

  • • What is the joke the artists are making?  Do you agree? 

    • The artists focus on one progression that is especially popular, but examples abound in popular music of entire songs that repeat only a 2-, 3- or 4-chord loop. Consider some of the examples below. Why do you think this is so common in popular music (as compared to other musical styles)? Are these songs less musically complex or interesting? 

      • • 2-chord songs: These songs only use two chords: 

          • • Alecia Keys, "Fallin'" (Em, B7)

            • Ed Sheeran, "Sing" (Em, Am)

            • Etta James, "I'd Rather Go Blind" (Am, Bm)

            • Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A. (E, B)

        • 3-Chord Songs: These songs repeat the same 3-chord progressions throughout the entire song: 

          • • Tom Petty, "Free Falling" |:  D   G  |   D   A   :| 

            • Blondie, "The Tide is High" |:  G   |  C   D   :| 

            • Bruno Mars, "Just the Way You Are" |: D |  D | Bm7 | Bm7 | G | G | D | D :|  

      • How do these artists use musical features other than harmony to add interest, build intensity, and create structure, form, phrasing, and contrast?

      • Think about some of your favorite pop/rock songs. What makes a song interesting or complex to you?  

Activities

• 12-Bar Blues Worksheet (Open Music Theory): Write and voice 12-bar blues progressions in different keys and identify unusual chords in altered blues progressions. (PDF | MuseScore | Worksheet Playlist). 

• Analysis in Repertoire: See the anthology sections below to study examples of blues progressions, progressions with I, IV, V, the use of IV/5 in examples from the repertoire. Analyze the chord progressions, paying attention to harmonic rhythm, phrase, and form. What are some of the common chord loops that use I, IV, V. Can you think of any other songs that only use these 3 chords?

• Harmonization: Harmonize each of the following melodies using only I, IV, and V chords (in major or minor). Notate the chords using Roman numerals (below the staff) and chord symbols (above the top staff). Then, compose a simple chordal accompaniment in 3-way close voicing, applying voice leading guidelines from Unit 2.

  • • Harmonization 1: “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof (1964), mm. 1–7 (PDF | MuseScore)

    • Harmonization 2: “Come on Eileen” by Drexy's Midnight Runners (instrumental opening) (PDF | MuseScore)

• Composition: For each of the progressions outlined below, compose a chord progression using both Roman numerals and lead sheet notation. Each example should be in a different key. Indicate harmonic rhythm (e.g. | I   IV  |  V  | I   IV  | V | ). Then, select one or two of your progressions to compose a chordal accompaniment and melody. Compose the harmony in a 3- or 4-part texture, applying voice leading guidelines from Unit 2. Add a rhythmic accompaniment; use one of the accompanimental patterns here (PDF | MuseScore) or create your own. Then, compose a simple melody for your progression that uses only chord tones. 

  • • A 4-bar chord progression that uses only I, IV, and V chords. 

    • A 4-bar chord progression that uses a I-IV plagal shuttle. 

    • A 4-bar chord progression that uses a plagal sigh. 

    • A 12-bar blues progression. 

Want to learn more? 

For other intro reading for pop music analysis and pop harmony, check out: 

• De Clercq, Trevor Owen. “The Blues,” Section 4.2 in Sections and Successions in Successful Songs: A Prototype Approach to Form in Rock Music, pp. 123–153. Ph.D Dissertation (University of Rochester, 2012). 

• Katz, Jonah. “Harmonic syntax of the twelve-bar blues form: A corpus study.” Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 35, no. 2 (2017): 165–192.

• Biamonte, Nicole. “Pop/Rock Tonalities.” In Tonality Since 1950, pp. 90–101. Edited by Felix Wörner, Ullrich Scheideler, and Philip Rupprecht. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017. 

• Doll, Christopher. “Some Practical Issues in the Aesthetic Analysis of Popular Music.” In The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis: Expanding Approaches, pp. 3– 14. Edited by Ciro Scotto, Kenneth M. Smith, and John Brackett. Routledge, 2018.

• Hubert, L. “The Times They Were A-Changin’”: A database-driven approach to the evolution of musical syntax in popular music from the 1960s.” Empirical Musicology Review 10, no. 3 (2015): 215–238.

• Nobile, Drew. “Harmonic Syntax,” in Form as Harmony in Rock Music. Oxford University Press, USA, 2020.

• Olivet, Dean. [Comparison of Billboard Top Hits between 2017 and 2018 in terms of key, tempo, mode, meter, chord progression, etc.] Flypaper, 2018, 2019. 

• Temperley, David, and Trevor de Clercq. “Harmony and Melody in Popular Music.” In The Routledge Companion to Music Cognition, pp. 165–177. Routledge, 2017.

• Walser, Robert. “Popular Music Analysis: Ten Apothegms and Four Instances.” Analyzing Popular Music 1, no. 1 (2003): 16–38.

• Explore a list of popular chord progressions and listen to each on Wikipedia's Chord Progression page.