Pop Music and How People Made It Popular
Pop structures are difficult to ignore in popular music. Whether it is the key, rhythm, song structure, or melody, people are naturally drawn towards certain trends. For instance, the key of C or G major tends to be a very happy key in which many pop songs reside, due to their simplicity and vibe. The following songs all were pop music at some point, and as such, have parts of them that appealed broadly to the general public. I’ll be highlighting how these songs appealed to people as I revise my listening logs.
“Maple Leaf Rag”
Artist: Scott Joplin//Genre: Classical/Ragtime//Listens: 2
I found this work very interesting. The technique necessary to not only compose but play this piece is outstanding. The composer used rhythm mostly to convey his ideas. This was intended to be played in ball rooms, as the bouncing bass parts suggest. The song moves fast and has a natural rhythm to it. The melody is syncopated and very fast, adding groove to the rhythm. It is difficult at times to tell what time signature the song is in. It almost free-flows between different parts. The bass line ascends and then comes back down. It’s extremely unpredictable but each little bass part seems to return back to the one of the scale before switching to a different passage. Around 1:17, the mood changes slightly to something more mysterious before returning to a nearly exultant stanza that seems to be more in line with the rest of the song. There’s a consistent switching back and forth between all of these parts. Although the notes for these parts are variant, each part seems to end similarly and follow a similar rhythmic structure, hitting a quarter note with a pause before continuing to the next part of the piece.
“Maple Leaf Rag” appeals to listeners because of its energy, and the setting in which it was written to be played. People coming to the clubs during this time expected to dance, and the music played by the musicians reflected this desire. The tempo of the rag is put in the forefront by the bouncing steady bass parts, making it easy for the dancers to pick up on the rhythm of the piece. This can be compared to how modern dance music has a steady kick drum throughout. The variant themes of this piece gives the dancers something to respond to emotionally while dancing.
“El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez”
Artist: Los Hermanos Banda//Genre: Mariachi//Listens: 3
I liked this work a lot. I like the way the vocals slide between notes. To communicate the story, the composer used a simple composition to let the lyrics and story stand out. The timbre of the accordion brings a new dynamic into the track. It doesn’t seem like the vocals and accordion play at the same time. They play with a call and response idea where the vocals happen, and then the accordion responds, indicating the end of a measure. The meter is waltz-like, allowing for dancers to dance along if so desired. This song seems to be made for community consumption and a dance would be the perfect place to hear this song. The sounds lie in the mariachi tradition, with not much room for experimentation, so there isn’t much to say about the intent of the composition apart from it being a traditional composition in the style of musica norteña.
People latch on to call and response structures because they inherently involve the listener or make the listener feel a part of the song. The simplicity of this song allowed for people listening to join in. Mariachi was a way for people to receive news and new stories. People weren’t solely listening for musical value, they also got something out of it intellectually. This is unique in its intent, and doesn’t follow the traditional “dance to this” motive of some popular music.
“Wondrous Love”
Artist: Anonymous 4//Genre: Religious//Listens: 3
“Wondrous Love” is very interesting. It starts out with shape singing, which is very traditional for certain shape singing choirs in the south. The song is purely vocals and is definitely a hymn for church environments. The harmonies tend to stay pretty steady and don’t move around a lot. The lyrics are super simple and seemingly intended for larger crowds to learn the music while hearing it. The melodies are very happy and seem to reflect the lyrics in their joy.
Church music had its own reasons for its popularity. Looking past the obvious exposure to large crowds, the music really hits people when they are singing it. If a song like this is popular, it is because it is really beautiful and enjoyable to sing. This is also different from a lot of pop music themes, but fits within its own category perfectly.
“Just a Little While to Stay Here”
Artist: Eureka Brass Band//Genre: Revival Hymn//Listens: 3
This music is very fast. It features a heavy brass instrumentation. It is joyful and upbeat. there are a lot of parts kind of doing their own thing, but following the barebones structure that the song requires. It sounds really wild. There are walking bass lines and the chords are really pretty and interesting. It seems to be in 4/4. It features pretty strong swing elements. I like this song a lot. It has good vibes.
This song fits well with “Maple Leaf Rag” and feels almost like an evolution of the ragtime sound. I think people must have really enjoyed the energy that these songs put forth. This feels like music that would soundtrack happily walking through a city at noon. I could see people dancing to this at a club too. It feels like the musicians themselves are dancing as well.
“Hotter than That”
Artist: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five//Genre: Jazz//Listens: 2
This song starts out strong with a trumpet solo. It is super fast with a lot of instruments at first. Everything but piano and drums drops out for a verse-like structure over which the soloist plays. The trumpet screams in a very unique way. The saxophone comes in sounding as if it is interrupting the trumpeter. It performs a similar type of solo. Louis Armstrong comes in and sings after the second solo. He sings almost as if he is an instrument himself. He is scatting over the beat as well as singing words. The guitar provides accompaniment for the vocal part and features a call and response between Louis and the guitarist. The song ends with all the instruments coming back in and leads to a full force ending with all of them playing strongly. This song was cool and I like the way the vocals act as another soloing instrument.
This song fits with “Just a Little While To Stay Here” and “Maple Leaf Rag” in that they all put forth this insane energy which almost begs for people to dance to. There is also space for music lovers to appreciate this, as talented instrumentalists play off of each other and solo throughout the song. This also provided entertainment value which could be another way these songs became popular, as watching this live must have been a spectacle.
While these tracks all vary greatly, they are all popular music and became popular for a reason. It’s interesting to think about how people latched on to these tracks and what they gained so much visibility. Tracks with energy had some of their popularity rooted in how one could dance to them. Beautiful religious songs caught traction because people enjoyed singing them with one another. Mariachi caught traction because it served a purpose in the culture of Mexico. Although all of these songs are very different, they all managed to stand the test of time and are being listened to today, some over 70 years from when they were recorded. That’s testament to the strength of these songs as pieces of popular music.