Wrong Arrangements

In pop/light/rock music, they are everywhere! But in light music, not much attention is paid to them. Harmonic rules are not all completely inviolable... Some are (see the augmented fourth interval) that cannot be listened to. In general, however, in light music, harmonic rules are not strictly followed.

hi and thank you......

could you give me an example of a wrong arrangement, explaining the reasoning behind your choice......

Here we are... 'Wrong in pop music' is a huge term, let's just say that the harmonic rules are not being respected, which is different. In pop music, the tendency is to create a catchy and appealing little tune rather than respecting the rules of classical harmony. In this case, one cannot speak of an actual mistake. I am posting the first page of the piano arrangement of Adele's 'Someone Like You' (Due to copyright reasons, I can only include this page, but I assure you that things do not change in the others)... I have written the errors in red according to classical harmony.

The errors are fifth successions by direct motion and octave successions by direct motion. I remind you that fifth and octave successions by direct motion are always forbidden, while a relationship of a fifth or an octave is only permitted between inner parts; they are forbidden between outer parts.

Regards.

thanks again, unfortunately I don't have all this musical culture to be able to understand; I know what a fifth and an octave are but for the most part no!🙂

in any case, said very practically, what would the violation of this rule entail for the listener? out-of-tune notes, particular sounds? if it weren't done that way, would the song lose its beauty and originality?

toniguitar wrote:

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thanks again, unfortunately I don't have all this musical culture to be able to understand; I know what a fifth and an octave are but not by parallel motion!🙂

in any case, speaking very practically, what would the violation of this rule entail for the listener? out-of-tune notes, particular sounds? if the song were not made that way, would it lose its beauty and originality?

In the key of C major, to choose a simple one that presents no alterations, a fifth is for example C-G; the interval of a fifth is calculated by taking into consideration the two extreme sounds (it is 5 because C, D, E, F, G are 5 notes). The same applies to the octave. A fifth relation occurs when, for example, starting from a two-note chord like a sixth, such as C-A, one arrives at the fifth E-B. This relation is called a fifth relation by parallel motion because by separating the two voices, the C rises to E and the A rises to B; so basically, when two voices in the same parts both rise to constitute a new fifth chord, there is a parallel motion relation; parallel motion therefore means that both voices rise or fall. As I was telling you in the previous post, a fifth relation is not always permitted! It is only permitted between inner parts and is an error between extreme parts; the reason is that the human ear pays more attention to sounds placed at the extremes rather than those in the middle. A fifth taken alone (C-G for example) is an insignificant dyad because it lacks a fundamental element, the third, also called the modal [note], in our case E, which gives, as the name suggests, the mode of the key. If I played the fifth C-G for you and asked you what key we are in, you would answer that we are in the key of C, but you would never be able to tell me if the key is major or minor, precisely because of the absence of the modal note. If the fifth relation occurs between inner parts, then it is permitted, because the fifth "blends"—let me use this improper term—with the other sounds that constitute the harmony of the piece. Another thing is fifth successions. A succession, as the term suggests, is the concatenation of two fifths by parallel motion, meaning, considering always the fifth C-G, for example, the C rises to D and the G rises to A. We find ourselves with two fifths by parallel motion, and this is always an error regardless of where this error is committed. It is obvious, however, that for both examples, one must consider the notes that rise or fall in the same parts. If a note constituting the second fifth comes from the tenor and the first was in the soprano, the fifths do not originate from the same parts!

So.

I have written the errors in red according to classical harmony.

And yet, I would not consider those octaves to be errors. In instrumental music, doubling a part with the bass is common practice and they are not considered parallel octaves... because precisely that is a doubling... not a real part. In Schumann, in Chopin, in Beethoven... how many can be found... and they are by no means octaves. As for fifths, okay... those are errors.

Anyway... in light music, more than anything else, the harmonic progressions often used in traditional... academic harmony are respected (but it is not always so). Progressions that are part of our "tonal reasoning" and all the theory at the base of musical scales, degrees, and their relationships... which is the basis of our tonal system, precisely.

But we cannot speak of "rules of harmony" or "traditional harmony" or "strict counterpoint" or anything similar in this genre.

compositor wrote:

So.

And yet, I would not consider those octaves to be errors. In instrumental music, doubling a part with the bass is common practice and they are not considered parallel octaves... because precisely that is a doubling... not an actual part. In Schumann, in Chopin, in Beethoven... how many can be found... and they are by no means octaves. As for fifths, okay... those are errors.

Anyway... in popular music, more than anything else, the harmonic progressions often used in traditional... academic harmony are respected (but it is not always so). Progressions that are part of our "tonal reasoning" and all the theory underlying musical scales, degrees, and their relationships... which is the basis of our tonal system, precisely.

But we cannot speak of "rules of harmony" or "traditional harmony" or "strict counterpoint" or anything similar in this genre.

I agree; in fact, in a previous post I also specified this thing, namely that we cannot speak of actual errors since in popular music the rules of harmony are not strictly followed. However, the discussion was about understanding current songs by applying the rules of harmony in relation to what would be marked as an error in an exam.

Greetings from Naples, tomorrow we return to Rome!