So Mr. Sadowski decided to give us this project, telling us the parameters of the project are simply having to correspond to Music Theory. Well, that left a wide variety of potential things for me to cover.
"It should be about something that interests you"... I'd like to hereby assert my dominance over the typical student by stating that anything I don't know about is basically 'interesting' to me in that sense. Just kidding about the dominance part. Indeed, many things I don't know about are mysterious and relatively entertaining to learn about, but I was still at a loss of what to do. I glared at this screen for 0.2 seconds...
....Seeing as I am not the best at figuring out what the heck works in terms of chord syncopation, I will learn more by going to a source I probably know best- pop songs. Yay!!!! Now I have an excuse to blast the radio in my parents' car.
**INSERT IMAGE HERE OF STEREOTYPICAL POP SONG COVER**
The origin of pop is pretty interesting.***INSERT ANECDOTES HERE*
When I was in 6th grade, I actually started to branch out from my previous fixation on classical music. From Baroque to bass. I thought the beats were interesting and rather appealingly aesthetic (k, I didn't know what aesthetic meant, but in retrospect it would've been the perfect word to describe my thoughts).
Back then, the mainstream music industry was still obsessed with rap. Artists such as 50 Cent, Boyz II Men, etc. were still popular (blah blah blah blah blah blah blah )
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These days, the Top 40 Charts are a little more diverse. Indie artists such as Foster the People, country artists such as The Band Perry, alternative artists such as Gavin DeGraw, dance artists such as Lady Gaga, and many others have all found their place in the popular niche.
However, there is a reason why they have become popular. iTunes is a primary proponent of a given song's popularity; whichever single has the most downloads within a given time period after its debut ends up being more reknowned. But what incentives do people have to download certain songs over others? How would producers/DJ mixers know what is going to appeal to the people?
Answer: By analyzing common themes/chords used in previous songs. Similar to how the Supreme Court bases their current court case analyses off of successful precedents, artists are making songs that may seem different at a glance, but actually have common thematics running through them.
Two unique groups have found out about this phenomenon and put songs all together into what is commonly known as a 'mash-up'.
***INSERT PICTURE OF DJ EARWORM***
Since 2007, DJ Earworm has made an-end-of-the-year mashup of the songs that stayed on the Top 40 charts longest/climbed up the highest. How does he make the mashups sound good? By taking advantage of common chromatics.
***INSERT PICTURE OF AXIS OF AWESOME***
From wikipedia.com:
"Four Chords" is one of The Axis of Awesome's best-known works. It is a medley of popular songs that all follow the pop-punk chord progression. The work is an attempt to outline the perceived formulaic nature of popular music. The "Four Chords", in Roman numeral analysis, are written I - V - vi - IV.[6] Since these four chords are played as an ostinato, the band also uses a vi - IV - I - V, usually from the song "Save Tonight" to the song "Torn". The band plays the song in the key of D so the progression they use is D-A-Bm-G. Many of the songs featured in the medley have been transposed from their original keys.
The medley of songs that composes the "Four Chords" song is continually varied, often incorporating new releases. The Axis' song "Birdplane" (itself a parody of the Five for Fighting song "Superman") is always included, as well as Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" and "Down Under" by the Australian band Men at Work. The melody usually starts with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'".
In 2011, Axis of Awesome played a version of this song at Red Nose Day 2011.
On 20 July 2011, Axis of Awesome released an official music video for "Four Chords" on their YouTube channel.
Songs in the official music video [7]
- Journey -- Don't Stop Believing
- Black Eyed Peas -- Where Is the Love
- Jason Mraz -- I'm Yours
- Train -- Hey Soul Sister
- Elton John -- Can You Feel The Love Tonight (from The Lion King)
- Akon -- Don't Matter
- Lady Gaga -- Paparazzi
- The Last Goodnight -- Pictures of You
- Maroon Five -- She Will Be Loved
- The Beatles -- Let It Be
- Theme from America's Funniest Home Videos
- Beyonce -- If I Were A Boy
- Kelly Clarkson -- Behind These Hazel Eyes
- Jason DeRulo -- In My Head
- Avril Lavigne -- Complicated
- Akon -- Beautiful
- Timberland featuring OneRepublic -- Apologize
- Eminem featuring Rihanna -- Love the Way You Lie
- Lady Gaga -- Pokerface
- Aqua -- Barbie Girl
- MGMT -- Kids
- Five for fighting -- Superman
As some of the songs are relatively unknown to me, I will take a select few and analyze them, doing the same with DJ Earworm's most successful singles- Blame it on the Pop (2009) and **something* (2011)
