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conventions of pop and rock & roll - Coggle Diagram
conventions of pop and rock & roll
key terms
A cappella: voices, without instrumental accompaniment
Backbeat: emphasis on second and fourth beats of the bar
Bridge: a section that links the verse and chorus. Sometimes called the pre chorus
Broken chord: each note played separately on guitar, usually done with finger picking
Call and response: often used between the lead vocalist and the backing singers
Coda: the end section of a song
Distortion: an effect used on guitars: a dirty, fuzzy sound
Fill: at the end of a phrase, the drummer plays a more complex part to fill it in
Flanger: a guitar effect that makes a whooshing sound
Glissando: a slide between two notes
Harmonic pace: how often the chords change
Hook: the catch part of the song
Looping: technology based method of repeating a short musical idea
Melisma: lots of notes sung to a single syllable
Middle eight: the section of a song where there is a new different tune
Modulation: a key change
Multitracking: each part is recorded separately and then put together
Panning: putting more or less sound through each speaker so that a sound comes from the left or the right
Portamento: when a singer slides between notes
Reverb: adds a sense of space to a sound
Riff: a repeating melodic or rhythmic idea
Riffing: highly decorated singing
Rubato: expressive slight changes of tempo
Sampling: when a short extract of another recording is used in a song
Syllabic: each syllable is sung with one single note
Unison: everyone is singing or playing the same note
Key parts of a pop song
Layers: melody, chords, bassline and beat
Countermelodies: most often played by lead guitar or backing singers
Verse chorus structure with an intro, coda, middle eight and instrumental break all being common features
pop songs often feature, riffs, a hook and modulation
instruments/voices and what they might do
Singers
Vibrato: where the note wobbles in pitch slightly
Falsetto: most often used by men to sing higher notes but can also be used by women
Scat: where singers sing nonsense syllables
Vocals may be multi tracked
Guitars
The lead guitar plays melodies such as solos or riffs
rhythm guitar can be acoustic or electric and plays chords which are often strummed
bass guitar plays the bassline and sometimes glissandos
Drum kits
Are made up of snare, hi-hat, bass drum, tom toms and crash symbols
The snare often emphasises the backbeat
Drum pads and drum machines are alternatives to traditional drum kits
Keyboards
Piano and synthesizers are the main types of keyboards in pops but electric organs may be heard too
Pianos are often used in ballads and can play melodies, chords and basslines
Synthesizers are electronic keyboards that can play any type of sound
Rock and roll
uses the 12 bar blues ( I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I )
features swung quavers
often uses the walking bass
often has repeated lyrics
instruments often used include, Saxophone, piano, double bass, guitar