Teaching guide: Area of study 2 – Pop music

Introduction
This resource is a teaching guide for Area of Study 2 (Pop music) for our A-level Music
specification (7272).
In the listening part of the exam students will be tested on their recognition of musical
elements heard in unfamiliar music from this Area of study.
In the essay part of the exam students will be required to answer one question,
focusing on the work of one (for AS) or two (for A-level) of the named artists. Students
will always be able to choose which artist(s) to write about, but they will usually be
expected to make detailed reference to at least two contrasting examples of their work.
The ‘suggested listening list’ is exactly what it says; students and their teachers are
encouraged to use the list as a starting point from which to build a small library of
recordings which they know well and can recall and write about convincingly in the
exam.
Familiarity with the styles of all the named artists is needed for the listening questions,
but it is envisaged that detailed study of particular pieces could be limited to two or
three artists in preparation for the essay section.

Glossary
The list below includes terms found in the specification, arranged into musical elements,
together with some examples.

Melody
Riff/ostinato
A riff is repeated melodic and/or rhythmic pattern, often found in the bass line. The term
‘riff’ is synonymous with ‘ostinato’, though the former is more usually applied in pop and
jazz styles. A riff will normally be short; perhaps 1-4 bars in length. Many pop songs rely
heavily on riffs, such as ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder. The genre of funk often uses
riffs in multiple layers over each other.
Pitch bend and glissando/slide
The technique of glissando is literally, sliding from note to note, so that the pitch rises or
falls in a completely smooth line. The trombone, operated by slide, is obviously capable
of a very effective glissando, as are fretless string instruments. Glissando on the guitar
is perfectly possible with the finger sliding up or down the fretboard, often producing a
slightly uneven effect as the finger slides across the frets. On other wind instruments, a
combination of embouchure and throat control, gradual uncovering of tone holes
(clarinet, saxophone) or half-valving (trumpet) can overcome the fact that pitches are
normally produced in discrete semitones. On keyboard instruments, a glissando is
essentially a very rapid scale, usually executed using a sweeping gesture with the
fingernail. Glissando in the bass synthesizer can be heard very clearly near the start of
Stevie Wonder’s ‘Maybe Your Baby’.
Pitch-bend is related to glissando and consists of moving away from and then usually
back to the original pitch of a note using a small-scale glissando; typically a pitch-bend

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will cover a small interval (anywhere between microtones and minor thirds). On the
guitar, this effect can be produced by pulling the string with the fingers of the left hand.
On a modern electric keyboard or synthesizer, pitch-bend can be controlled using a
dial, wheel or toggle.
Melisma/syllabic
In vocal music there is a distinction between different kinds of word-setting. Most of the
time, each syllable of the lyric will be sung to a separate note; this is called syllabic
setting. Sometimes, for a more expressive effect, a syllable may be extended over
several notes; this technique is called melisma. Melisma is a feature of much slow,
expressive vocal music, but is especially typical of contemporary R&B, where
performers often improvise elaborate, usually descending, melismas at the end of a
phrase. An impressively virtuosic rising melisma can be heard at the start of Beyoncé’s
song ‘Countdown’.
Hook
A hook is a memorable melodic fragment, used to capture (or ‘hook’) the listener’s
attention. An excellent example would be the two-bar sampled instrumental riff used in
Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy in Love’.
Blue notes and the blues scale
One theory for the origin of ‘blue notes’ is that a distinctive style of vocal music
developed in the southern USA as the descendants of the black slave population sang
improvised melodies using the ‘minor’ version of the pentatonic scale against harmony
that was essentially major. The resulting mixture of different chromatic versions of the
same scale degrees – major/minor 3rd and major/minor 7th – sounded particularly
expressive and came to be associated with the genre of blues. Hence the flattened 3rd
and flattened 7th came to be known as ‘blue notes’. These may be flattened by a full
semitone, or sometimes by smaller intervals (‘microtones’), making them all the more
expressive because not ‘in tune’ in the conventional sense. Jazz musicians used the
flattened 5th a similar way. The combination of these phenomena into a scalic shape is
known as a ‘blues scale’.

Harmony and tonality

Pentatonic scale
As the name suggests, this is a five-note scale, usually found in the form C D E G A
(‘major’ form) or A C D E G (‘minor’ form). This scale is found in ancient societies all
over the world. It plays a vital part in the origins of western popular music because it is
present both in the folk traditions of Western Europe and in those of West Africa, from
where millions of people were transported to the New World to work as slaves. The
blues and early jazz styles which developed in America evolved from pentatonic
melody. The scale was originally used in music that is primarily melodic rather than
harmonic in conception and it does not contain any of the semitones which help define
tonality in the major/minor system.

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Pentatonic scales in ‘major’ and ‘minor’ form:

Modes
Modes are alternative scale formations to the standard major and minor scales of
western classical music. The seven modes (see illustration) have been used and written
about since ancient Greek times and were the principal method of categorising melody
in the medieval period. Each of them corresponds to a ‘white note’ scale on a keyboard,
thus they have the same notes as a C major scale, but because they each have
different ‘tonics’, they have different patterns of tones and semitones. These patterns
may be transposed to start on any note, thus it is possible to use, for example, a Lydian
mode on C, which would consist of the notes C D E F# G A B.
The Dorian and Aeolian modes are closely related to the minor pentatonic scale as they
use the minor 3rd and minor 7th. They are both frequently encountered in European folk
music and in blues-influenced music, and therefore common in pop melodic styles.
Songs by Stevie Wonder in the funk genre often use the Dorian mode transposed up a
semitone to E flat (e.g. ‘Superstition’, ‘I Wish’). The vocal melody of Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy in
Love’ is essentially in the Dorian mode.
The seven principal modes, showing the position of semitones:

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Chord extensions and additions
Pop music encompasses a very wide spectrum of levels of harmonic complexity. Many
pop songs rely on a restricted and simple chord vocabulary; perhaps only the three
primary triads (I, IV and V). However, some artists enjoy working with an enriched
palette of sounds, often drawing on influences from jazz and classical music.
The addition of notes to a triad (or exchange of certain notes for others) is an important
way of generating a variety of different harmonic ‘colours’ without changing the function
of the chord root. Sevenths are extremely common extensions of triads; for example, a
twelve-bar blues progression using chords I, IV and V will often turn each of these
chords into a ‘dominant 7th’ by placing a minor 7th above the major triad.
Various types of added 7th chords with their common notation. Left to right: major
seventh, dominant 7th, minor 7th, half-diminished 7th, diminished 7th, minor triad with
major 7th:

Further extensions of triads by placing additional thirds above the triad+7th are possible,
creating progressively richer and more dissonant harmony; 9th, 11th and 13th chords are
all commonly featured in jazz from a relatively early period. These higher discords are
most characteristically heard over a dominant function chord; the additional notes
create a further sense of tension which needs resolution through a cadence. The
example below shows dominant 9th, 11th and 13th chords in the key of C major (i.e.
rooted on G). For the 11th and 13th, it is common not to present the whole chord, thus
avoiding the clash of a minor ninth between the 3rd (B in this case) and the 11th (C). This
can lead to alternative methods of notation shown here; the ‘D minor 7th over a G’ is
effectively an incomplete G11 and likewise the incomplete G13 looks like ‘F major 7th over
G’. As long as the function is understood, jazz musicians tend not to be over-fussy
about notation.

The chords are assumed to be diatonic unless an accidental (or a + or – symbol) is

placed next to a particular figure.
Some common chromatic alterations. Left to right: a dominant 7th with flat 9th, a
dominant 9th with sharp 11th, a dominant 7th with flat 9th and flat 13th.

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For copious instances of the use of extended and altered chords, the output of Stevie
Wonder in his ‘classic period’ can be recommended. The song ‘You are the Sunshine of
My Life’ provides a concise example.
Pedal note
A pedal note is a repeated or sustained note in the bass, over which the harmony
changes (which may produce dissonance in passing). The name comes from the bass
register notes played by playing the pedal board on a pipe organ. A pedal note played
at the top of the texture is called an ‘inverted pedal’ and one played in the middle of the
texter an ‘inner pedal’ or ‘internal pedal’. A clear example of a tonic pedal is heard at
the start of ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ by Muse; the repeated octave Ds in the bass act
as a tonic pedal, over which the chords change gradually through chromatic alteration.
Power chord
A power chord is one consisting only of the root and fifth; these notes may be doubled
in higher octaves. This chord originates from guitar performance technique, especially
of electric guitarists of the 1950s-1960s. The amplified sound of the open fifth and
octave makes a very strong and simple sound, free of the complexities of higher
overtones produced by major or minor 3rds; hence the name. As the lower strings of
the guitar are tuned in 4ths, the chord is usually produced by playing the root on a fret
of a lower string while the 5th and octave are played two frets higher on the next two
strings up. They are an extremely common feature of guitar-based rock music. The
chord symbol notation e.g. E5 shows that the 5th only (and not the 3rd) is to be used:

Sus4 chord
Another common chord type is produced by substituting a 4th for a 3rd in a triad; this is
known as a sus4 chord, implying a relationship with the idea of a suspension in
classical music, although there is no need to prepare or resolve the sus4 chord.

Structure
Verse and chorus
Much pop music is based on simple repetition of a melody with its accompanying chord
progressions. A ‘verse’ is the unit of the lyrics sung to the same recurring melody. Some
songs consist only of a string of verses, with different lyrics set to the same music; this
is called ‘strophic’ form and may be represented as AAAA (etc.). Examples of this
approach are often found in folk-like songs, such as ‘The Priest’ and ‘Blue Boy’ by Joni
Mitchell.

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A slightly more common structure is to alternate the changing lyrics of a verse with a
recurring unit of lyrics called a ‘chorus’ which has its own music to contrast it with the
verse. This can be represented as ABABAB (where A is the verse and B the chorus). A
very straightforward example of this approach can be seen in Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow
Taxi’ in which the recurring lines ‘Don’t it always seem to go/That you don’t know what
you’ve got ‘til it’s gone/They paved paradise/And put up a parking lot’ are set to the
same music at the end of each verse.
Intro/outro
Introduction has often been abbreviated to ‘intro’ and the term ‘outro’ has been coined
to suggest a symmetrical balance and relationship between opening and closing
sections.
The length and function of an introduction may be very varied; it may simply set up the
chord pattern and rhythmic groove to be used in the song, as in Stevie Wonder’s ‘I
Wish’, or it may offer a complex, multi-layered soundscape, as in ‘Knights of Cydonia’
by Muse. The same may be said of an outro; a common feature is simply to fade out on
a repeated riff, as in ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk. Alternatively, a whole new world may
open up in an extended coda, as happens in Muse’s ‘United States of Eurasia’ whose
conclusion quotes from Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9 no.2.
Middle 8/bridge
The ‘middle 8’ is the B section in an AABA standard song form. Many songs follow this
traditional pattern, in which each section is eight bars long.
The term ‘bridge’ is sometimes applied to this ‘middle 8’ though this is more common in
jazz. In pop songs, ‘bridge’ is more frequently used to describe a section of music
offering some contrast to the verses and choruses and is usually placed about three
quarters of the way into a song. An example is the section beginning ‘Don’t treat me to
these things of this world’ in Beyoncé’s song ‘Single Ladies’.
Breakdown
A breakdown section is one in which the texture suddenly thins to just one or a few
parts; for example, just the bass and/or drums or a vocal a cappella. A breakdown is
often a feature of electronic dance music; an example is the section from about 1:05 to
1:35 in ‘Aerodynamic’ by Daft Punk, in which there is an extended electric guitar solo
section based on a repeated riff.
Instrumental
Another way in which contrast can be created in a pop song is by dropping the voices
out and letting the instruments take over the main melodic interest. This can take the
form simply of the instruments playing the music of the vocal verses and/or choruses,
as can be heard in c.2:20-2:40 in Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’. Alternatively, it could
be a whole new section with its own melody and character; a particularly dramatic
example of this can be heard in ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ by Muse in which the
passage from c.2:40-4:00 gradually evolves into a classical style piano cadenza.
In the context of a pop album as a whole, some artists like to include wholly
instrumental tracks as a contrast; for example in Stevie Wonder’s double album ‘Songs
in the Key of Life’, the instrumental track ‘Contusion’ appears between the songs
‘Village Ghetto Land’ and ‘Sir Duke’.
Break
A break is simply a short solo passage, usually for an instrument, which interrupts (or
‘breaks’) the textural flow of the music.

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Drum fill
A particular type of break is often found at the end of a line of lyrics or of a section, in
which the performer bridges over the gap between lines or sections with a short solo
called a ‘fill’. The drum kit is very often used to fulfil this function. A drum fill will often
feature a very rapid and virtuosic succession of different drum sounds in a complex
rhythm, driving the music forward to the start of the next section.

Tempo, metre and rhythm

bpm (beats per minute) and mm (metronome marking)
In pop music, especially that generated in a studio, it has become conventional to
represent the tempo of a song using beats per minute. This contrasts with classical
tradition, which tends to show tempo using an Italian description (such as ‘allegro’) and
a metronome mark, which shows how many notes of a particular durational value (e.g.
a crotchet/quarter-note) are played in a minute. Bpm is a more straightforward concept
to understand for those who do not read music and it offers DJs a precise way of
matching the beats of successive songs on a playlist.
Groove
It is a little difficult to define ‘groove’, but it is essentially the rhythmic ‘feel’ of a piece of
music. This will relate to the kinds of rhythmic pattern (e.g. riffs) used but also to
aspects of performance, for example whether quavers (8th notes) and/or semiquavers
(16th notes) are swung or straight. ‘Swung’ refers to a pattern found in jazz from the
early 20th century onwards in which pairs of equal notes are made slightly unequal by
lengthening the first and shortening the second in relation to each other. Groove is a
particularly important element in music which is rhythmically driven, such as funk, hip-
hop and rock.
Backbeat
A backbeat is a feature of various types of popular music from the 1940s onwards. It
consists of a strong accent on the 2nd and 4th beats of a 4/4 bar, which are classically
thought of as the ‘weak’ beats. In pop music, the backbeat is often emphasised by a
loud snare drum stroke on beats 2 and 4 (usually alternating with bass drum on beats 1
and 3).
Irregular metre
While the vast majority of popular music is written in 4/4, some musicians, especially
those influenced by the ‘progressive rock’ movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s,
have experimented with asymmetrical or changing metres. In Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living
for the City’, the wordless interlude first heard at 1:10-1:25 includes several changes
between 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 to bring some variety to the steady 4 in a bar of the verses.

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Introduction to the named artists
For each artist, the following has been provided:
• a short biographical introduction
• select discography
• suggestions for related research topics
• a suggestion of a passage of their work to listen to and write about as an exercise in
practising for the 10-mark unprepared listening questions on the exam paper; a
commentary on the passage is provided.

Stevie Wonder
Life and career
Early years: Born Steveland Hardaway Judkins, 13 May 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan
USA. His mother was a songwriter. He was born prematurely and this led to the
development of a condition which caused him to lose his sight.
In 1954, Stevie’s mother and father divorced; he moved to Detroit with his mother and
took a new surname – Morris. Stevie learned several musical instruments including
harmonica, piano and drums.
In 1961, aged 11, he auditioned for Berry Gordy (CEO of the recording label Tamla)
and was offered a recording contract. He was marketed as ‘Little Stevie Wonder’. His
royalties would be paid into a fund to which he would have access from the age of 21.
He received an allowance of $2.50 per day and his mother was paid expenses
(including for a tutor).
Child star: Stevie was teamed with the producer and songwriter Clarence Paul. Two
albums were recorded and several singles were released, but none did very well. In
1963, a live recording of a tour performance was released, including the track
‘Fingertips’, which made Stevie, at 13, the youngest person ever to have a no.1 single.
He also made his film debut. His voice was beginning to change, which led to
uncertainty over his future. However, he co-wrote and recorded many hits (e.g. ‘Tears
of a Clown’ for Smokey Robinson, ‘For Once in My Life’, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m
Yours’).
The ‘classic’ period: A few important milestones coincided for Stevie; in 1970, he got
married to the singer and songwriter Syreeta Wright, with whom he would collaborate
on several songs; he turned 21 and allowed his contract with Tamla-Motown to lapse in
order to assert his own independence.
Stevie Wonder’s albums of this period (c.1970-79) are characterised by:
• A much stronger degree of control over all aspects of the music; Stevie wrote music
and lyrics, sang and played many instruments and had a hand in production;
• A more unified approach to albums; not just a collection of singles, B-sides and
covers;
• A desire to tackle contemporary social issues, especially to do with injustice related
to race and class.
He won many awards and had many hits during this period, but he was also sometimes
criticised for being difficult or pretentious. The major albums from this time frequently
appear on top-100-of-all-time lists. He recovered from a serious car accident in 1973.

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The ‘commercial period’ (1980-1990): Stevie Wonder was at the height of his fame at
this time. This period was characterised by:
• A return to simpler hit-writing;
• Collaboration with many celebrity musicians – anyone from Barbra Streisand to
Bruce Springsteen;
• High-profile charity work, especially helping the anti-apartheid movement.
•
Later career (1991-now): His rate of output of new songs slowed down, but he
continued to write, tour and lend his star quality to important causes.

Overview of albums

Early period Key singles/comments

1962 The Jazz Soul of Little ‘Fingertips’; material mainly by Clarence Paul and
Stevie Henry Cosby

1962 Tribute to Uncle Ray covers of Ray Charles songs

1963 With a Song in my covers of jazz standards

Heart

1964 Stevie at the Beach covers of surfer songs, to tie in with beach movies

1966 Up-Tight mix of covers and original songs; ‘Uptight (Everything’s

Alright)’

1966 Down to Earth mostly covers

1967 I was Made to Love The title track was co-written with his mother (others
Her mostly covers)

1967 Someday at Christmas Christmas special…

1968 Eivets Rednow Instrumentals; mix of originals and covers

1968 For Once in My Life More original/co-written work by Wonder. 1st use of
Clavinet.

1969 My Cherie Amour Title track is an original; mix of originals and covers

1970 Signed, Sealed & Title track is an original; mix of originals and covers
Delivered

1971 Where I’m Coming All songs by Wonder and Syreeta Wright; anticipates
From next period

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 Classic Period Key singles/comments

1972 Music of My Mind All songs by Wonder/Wonder & Wright; Wonder plays
most instruments

1972 Talking Book Album charted at #3 and earned Wonder a Grammy;

‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’, ‘Superstition’ both
#1 singles

1973 Innervisions Album peaked at #4, several hit singles: ‘Living for the
City’, ‘Higher Ground’, ‘Don’t You Worry ‘bout a Thing’

1974 Fulfillingness’ First Album peaked at #1; hit singles include ‘Boogie on
Finale Reggae Woman’, ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin’’

1976 Songs in the Key of Ambitious double album, possibly his high-point; hit
Life singles incl. ‘I Wish’, ‘Sir Duke’, ‘Isn’t She Lovely’

1979 Stevie Wonder’s Unusual double album, which began life as sound-
Journey through ‘The tracks to a documentary; many purely instrumental
Secret Life of Plants’ tracks, with much use of synthesizers; not well
received

Commercial Period Key singles/comments

1980 Hotter than July ‘Master Blaster (Jammin’)’ was a #1 hit, celebrating
through the use of Reggae style, the end of the war in
Zimbabwe; ‘Happy Birthday to You’ was a #2 hit,
calling for Dr Martin Luther King’s birthday to be made
a public holiday in the USA

1984 The Woman in Red Soundtrack to rom-com film; ‘I Just Called to Say I
Love You’ was a huge #1 hit and won both an Oscar
and a Golden Globe for best original song

1985 In Square Circle Another very popular album, featuring the #1 hit ‘Part-
Time Lover’

1987 Characters Although receiving several nominations, this was not

so popular and failed to win any awards

Later Period Key singles/comments

1991 Jungle Fever Soundtrack to Spike Lee’s movie of the same name

1995 Conversation Peace Felt to be a return to the feel of the ‘Classic’ period;
included the hit single ‘For Your Love’

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2005 A Time to Love Featured several celebrity cameos – Prince, Paul
McCartney – and a performance by Wonder’s daughter

Research suggestions
• Instruments: Clavinet, Fender Rhodes piano, Moog synthesizer
• Genres: Funk, Soul
• Politics and Society: Music and the Civil Rights movement in the USA

Listening exercise
‘Bird of Beauty’ from ‘Fulfillingness’ First Finale’ (1974)
Commentary on 0:00-1:45
Typical of Stevie Wonder’s fusion of funk and Latin genres
• Constant semiquaver groove, typical of a Latin-Funk fusion
• Harmony features added notes (7ths, 9ths) and chromatic shifts, tritone
substitutions
• Tempo and metre: relaxed 4-in a bar
0:00-0:25 Introduction
• A distinctive ‘sawing’ or ‘laughing’ sound (produced by the cuíca, a Brazilian drum
with variable pitch)
• Cuica rhythm:

• Drum-kit: kick-drum on beat 1, snare and hi-hat in a complex riff

• On repetition (after 2 bars), wordless female backing vocals are added;
chromatically descending 7th chords in parallel (3 voices); singing the syllable ‘doo’
in sustained chords, then repeated notes in syncopated rhythm
• Vocal rhythm:
•

•
•
• Electric (synth) bass also descends with the voices: chromatic chord progression
iii7-flat iii7-ii7-Vb5-I9
• This 4-bar pattern is repeated with the voices changing to ‘aah’ for the chromatic
descending chord sequence
•
0:25-1:05 Verse 1
• Solo voice begins with a rising octave anacrusis (on the dominant), then follows the
descending chromatic line of the harmony
• The first two phrases of the verse (1st eight bars, 0:25-0:45) repeat the chord
sequence and backing of the intro
• Next phrase begins with a sequential repetition of the melody, up a step (moving to
the supertonic minor)
• Harmony moves from supertonic to dominant (ii to V) via a tritone substitution of ii at
0:56-1:01
• Backing is the same as in the intro, but without the backing vocals

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1:06-1:46 Verse 2
• Backing vocals are reintroduced as in the intro
• Repetition of same structure as Verse 1
• Repetition of same backing as Verse 1
• Slight change of harmony at the end to move towards chorus: chromatic step
down from dominant to flat V (on way to IV for start of chorus)

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Joni Mitchell
Life and career
1943 Born in Alberta, Canada as Roberta Joan Anderson. She was raised in small-
town western Canada where her father was a shopkeeper and her mother was a
teacher.
Childhood Mitchell did not do particularly well in school, but found important creative
outlets in poetry, painting and music. She taught herself the guitar and was attracted to
country music. She had a severe case of polio as a child, which weakened her hands;
to help her play the guitar, she experimented with different tunings to compensate for
this. This became a defining feature of her mature style. By the age of 18, she had
broadened her listening and performing interests and had had her first paid work as a
musician.
1964 Having dropped out of art college, Mitchell began to work as a freelance folk
musician and had some local radio work. However, she felt she must move to a bigger
city to get on and left for Toronto. This was a very difficult time financially and
personally; she found she was pregnant and had to give her baby daughter up for
adoption. She worked in the fringe of the music business and was forced to write
original material because established artists would not allow cover versions of their
songs to be performed.
1965 Mitchell moved to New York City with American folk singer Chuck Mitchell, whom
she married that year. In the late ‘60s she toured widely and came to the attention of
the influential musician David Crosby (founder member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills
and Nash). This eventually led to a recording contract with Reprise records.
1970 Her second album Clouds won her a Grammy Award (for best Folk Performance),
while her third, Ladies of the Canyon became a huge hit. It contained the single Big
Yellow Taxi, which became a key song of the environmental movement. This album
shows her widening stylistic range, moving away from simple acoustic and guitar-based
textures to embrace studio effects, with several songs conceived at the piano rather
than on guitar. This was followed in 1971 by Blue, which cemented her reputation as
one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time.
1975-80 During this time, Mitchell began to move away stylistically from her folk-pop
origins and towards jazz. She collaborated with the bass player Jaco Pastorius on the
albums Hejira and Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. During this time, she also named an
album after jazz legend the bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus, who had heard her
music and asked to work with her. This change in style did not prove so popular with
her established fan-base, but she regarded it as her most personal work so far.
1980s During this decade, Mitchell signed to a new record company – Geffen Records
– entered into a second marriage – to bassist Larry Klein – and embarked on world
tours. She continued to produce new material and began to incorporate synthesizers
and drum machines into her work.
1990s Mitchell’s reputation as a singer-songwriter was renewed by her album Turbulent
Indigo (1994). She and Klein divorced. Her voice by now had changed significantly,
partly through age and overuse and partly through the long term effects of her
childhood polio and long-term smoking habit.
2000 Both Sides Now released; this featured covers of several of her old songs and
some jazz standards. Compilations and retrospectives formed an increasingly large part
of her recorded output. From 2005 she gave very few public performances.

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2015 Mitchell suffered a brain aneurysm and was hospitalised for a time, but made
sufficient recovery to perform again after a year.

Selected discography – studio albums

Year Title Key singles/comments

1968 Song to a Seagull

1969 Clouds Original version of ‘Both Sides Now’

1970 Ladies of the Canyon ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, ‘Woodstock’; her

breakthrough album

1971 Blue Regarded as one of the greatest albums of

all time. ‘River’, ‘Carey’, ‘A Case of You’.

1972 For the Roses

1974 Court and Spark Her most commercially successful album;

‘Court and Spark’, ‘Free Man in Paris’

1975 The Hissing of Summer ‘In France they Kiss on Main Street’
Lawns

1976 Hejira ‘Coyote’, ‘Black Crow’; features Jaco

Pastorius on bass guitar

1977 Don Juan’s Reckless A double album in an experimental jazz

Daughter fusion style (also with Pastorius)

1979 Mingus Some of the music is by Charles Mingus

himself (with lyrics by Mitchell)

1982 Wild Things Run Fast Influenced by the synth styles of 80s music.

1985 Dog Eat Dog As above only more so (no acoustic guitar!)

1988 Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm

1991 Night Ride Home

1994 Turbulent Indigo Regarded as something of a comeback to

form

1998 Taming the Tiger

2000 Both Sides Now Two covers of Mitchell originals; ‘Both Sides
Now’ and ‘A Case of You’. Lush orchestral
backings.

2002 Travelogue Similar retrospective idea to ‘Both Sides

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 Now’ but more of her own material

2007 Shine

Research suggestions
• Genres: folk-rock; jazz-rock fusion
• Instruments: Drop-D and other alternative guitar tunings
• Politics and Society: music in the ‘hippie’ ‘counter-culture’ of the 1960s; the female
perspective in song lyrics
Listening exercise
‘Woodstock’ from Ladies of the Canyon (1970)
Commentary on 0:00-1:53
• Begins with an improvisatory electric piano solo with a fuzzy tone and tremolo,
using the minor pentatonic scale with occasional chromaticism (e.g. in the opening
flourish). There are many examples of open 5ths and 4ths in the harmony, making a
folk-like drone and creating a timeless feeling.
• 0:35: a rhythmic riff begins in a steady 4/4, with broken 4ths and 5ths in the left
hand and mid-register 2-part chords in the right.
• 0:46: the vocal melody begins – at first simply alternating between the tonic and flat
7th
• This eventually reaches up to the higher flat 7th and then further to the high tonic an
8ve higher than the original pitch; the harmony moves to the subdominant and then
back again (the use of I and IV being another folk-like element)
• 1:07: a second strain of the vocal melody begins as the first; there is a slight hiatus
before the word ‘band’ on the high tonic at 1:14-1:15
• The final words ‘my soul free’ are extended and sustained in 1:22-1:24
• There is an expressive melisma on the word ‘stardust’ at 1:30
• At 1:40-1:45, the voice descends into a low register for ‘to the garden’, moving via
the Dorian raised 6th
• 1:45: backing voices enter in harmony in a wordless chordal riff, with an insistent
repeated rhythm (all 8 quavers of the bar articulated, except the 3rd)

© AQA 2020
Muse
Career
• A British alternative rock band
• Formed in 1994 in Devon, where they met as college students
• Members:
o Matt Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards)
o Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards)
o Dominic Howard (drums, percussion)
• Musically, very accomplished players – multi-instrumentalists
• Debut album released in 1999
• Interested in a variety of musical genres; influences include
o ‘progressive rock’, heavy rock and glam rock
o the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix (extended techniques/effects)
o classical and romantic period music
o science fiction
• Grew in popularity during the early 2000s
o 2004 headlined at Glastonbury Festival
o Won MTV Europe awards
o 2005 signed to Warner Bros. record label
o 2006 ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ reaches #1 in UK Album Charts
• 2006-8 Toured Europe, Australia, US: the band gained a reputation as one of the
best live rock bands ever
• 2012 Wrote the official single of the London Olympics and also played at the closing
ceremony

Discography – Studio albums

Year Title Key singles/comments

1999 Showbiz UK #29 Album. Modest commercial success.

The album contained material from the last few
years that the band thought would be commercially
viable (therefore avoiding their more experimental
work).
Compared with Radiohead by critics.

2001 Origin of Symmetry UK #3 Album

Features string arrangements.
Includes cover of ‘Feeling Good’.

2003 Absolution UK #1 Album; also their 1st to chart in the US

‘Time is Running Out’ made top 10 singles
Overall theme of Apocalypse; ‘symphonic rock’
influence present in some tracks

2006 Black Holes and UK #1 Album

Revelations
The band took a more active role in producing.
‘Supermassive Black Hole’ #4 in singles chart.

© AQA 2020
 Political and sci-fi themes.

2009 The Resistance UK #1 Album

Includes the 3-part ‘symphony’ ‘Exogenesis’ and the
single ‘Uprising’

2012 The 2nd Law UK #1 Album

Includes ‘Survival’, chosen as official song of the
London Olympics.
‘Madness’ nominated for Grammy award.

2015 Drones UK and US #1 Album

Returns to a more straightforward rock sound.
Title refers to political themes; critical of western
military interventions.

2018 Simulation Theory Based on the idea that reality is a simulated illusion;
the album draws on 1980s synth pop

Research suggestions
• Instruments: Electric guitar techniques and effects
• Genres: Progressive (Prog) Rock; Glam Rock

Listening exercise
‘Resistance’ – from ‘The Resistance’ (2009)
Commentary on 0:00-2:03
Typical features of Muse’s style:
• Driving rock drums
• Eerie, melancholy minor key harmony (with a classical/baroque idea of ground bass
descending A-G-F-E)
• Mixture of acoustic and electronic instrument/effects
0:00-1:09 Introduction
• Begins with low pitched synthesizer tone, gradual rising glissando
• 0:06 fast rhythmic electronic pulsing sound enters; fades in and fades out at about
0:12
• 0:12 quiet synth chords enter (quasi-vocal tone)
o minor key
o 3-part chords – 3rd at the top
o bass descends by step from tonic to dominant; x2
o upper parts move after the bass, creating syncopation and suspensions
• 0:31 distant sounding drum-fill
• 0:31-0:41 slight modification of the synth sound (higher octave added and more
vibrato)
• 0:41 distant sounding piano enters
o single line melody
o much reverb on the sound
o melody is based on a repeated rhythm (featuring a 3-quaver anacrusis) and
arch-shaped melody

© AQA 2020
 o piano riff rhythm:
• On downbeat of piano riff (0:44), constant semiquaver pulse in tom-toms enters
• Along with repeated quavers in bass guitar
• Synth chords continue as background
• Drum fill at end of section just before voice enters (1:08-1:10)
1:10-1:37 Verse
• Voice enters with rising dominant 7th arpeggio in crotchets, followed by suspension
and resolution in dotted rhythm
• This melodic shape is repeated in a kind of sequence
• Drum kit becomes more prominent with typical pattern of kick drum on 1 and 3,
snare on 2 and 4; constant semiquavers continue in tom-toms and other drums in a
more varied pattern
• Chord sequence is still based on the intro
• 1st phrase ends on an imperfect cadence at 1:23
• Then the melody is repeated (1:24-1:37)
• Second phrase turns to VI (making an interrupted cadence)
1:37-2:03 Pre-chorus
• Antiphonal exchange between backing voices (in harmony on ‘it could be wrong’)
and lead vocal
• New, more rhythmically active melody:

•
• Melody used in sequence
• Prominent lead guitar doubles the backing voice and lead voice melody
• The 8-bar sequence is repeated starting at 1:52 with a distant sounding vocal
descant, including several dissonant suspensions

© AQA 2020
Beyoncé
Life and career
1981 Born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles in Houston, Texas, USA. Her mother was a
hairdresser/salon owner; father a sales manager for Xerox.
She showed early promise in singing and dancing at school and performed as a soloist
and group member in many school and church groups. Eventually, she appeared on a
TV talent show in an all-girl group (but they failed to win the competition).
1995 Her father gave up his job in order to manage the group. This put a lot of strain on
the family, and Beyonce’s parents separated for a while.
1996 The all-girl group changed its name to ‘Destiny’s Child’. They released their first
album in 1997. This had modest success, but the group gradually gained more
popularity and critical nominations, culminating in Survivor (2001). During this time,
there were tensions between group members and their management. Beyoncé began
to develop an independent singing and film acting career.
2003 Beyoncé released her first solo album Dangerously in Love which reached no.1 in
the album charts and included two no.1 singles (Crazy in Love and Baby Boy). An
important feature of the album was her collaboration with rapper Jay-Z, who eventually
became her husband; she had already featured on his single ’03 Bonnie and Clyde.
The album was nominated for many awards and led to a successful concert tour.
2005 Destiny’s Child disbanded, leaving Beyoncé free to pursue her solo career
exclusively.
2008 Beyoncé and Jay-Z married, becoming the most prominent ‘power couple’ of
contemporary American popular music. Her albums and singles continued to dominate
the charts and she appeared in more films. She starred as blues singer Etta James in
the film ‘Cadillac Records’.
2009 Beyoncé sang at President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony.
2016 Beyoncé released Lemonade; a combined film and album.
Discography (solo studio albums)
Note: all these albums occupied the #1 slot in the US album charts

Year Title Key singles/comments

2003 Dangerously in Love Includes #1 singles Crazy in Love and Baby

Boy.
B became 1st female artist to simultaneously
top the singles and albums charts in both the
US and UK

2006 B’day Includes #1 single Irreplaceable 10 weeks at

the top.
Other singles include:
Déjà vu
Beautiful Liar (duet featuring Shakira)
Many themes of the album relate to the film
Dreamgirls in which Beyoncé starred.

© AQA 2020
2008 I am … Sasha Fierce Double album, supposed to show 2 sides of
Beyoncé (Sasha Fierce being a bold,
outspoken alter ego for the singer).
Includes #1 single Single Ladies (Put a Ring
on It).
Other singles include:
If I were a Boy
Halo

2011 4 Singles include:

Run the World (Girls)
Best Thing I Never Had
Love on Top

2013 Beyoncé Singles include:

Drunk in Love (reached #2)
7/11

2016 Lemonade Multi-media release; album/film

Singles include:
Formation
Sorry

Research suggestions
• Genres: Contemporary R&B; Hip-hop; Rap
• Production: Sampling; ‘beatmaking’
• Beyoncé as a performer: her voice; her dancing; her image and commercial
success
• Social/political: female empowerment and sexuality in music; US racial politics
Listening exercise
‘Countdown’ from ‘4’ (2011)
Commentary on 0:00-1:34
The song has a playful, quirky character which comes from:
• the fast tempo (about 160 bpm)
• the use of slightly mechanical or childlike repetitions and sequences
• the ‘artificial’ synth sounds
• the mixture of features from different styles/genres
0:00-0:02
• opens with wordless solo vocal melisma on a rising pentatonic line which covers
more than an octave (compound minor 3rd); basically following a triadic shape;
• timbales come in just at the end with a fill taking us to the main part of the song
(suggestion of reggae style)
0:03-0:15

© AQA 2020
• Verse 1 Voice melody begins in high register (starts on 5th of chord); features typical
R&B melisma and vibrato;
• accompaniment uses 4 chord pattern d minor – g minor – F major – C major
• played by a horn section (trumpets, saxes) in staccato repeated notes in a rhythm
which sounds on the edge between being playful and aggressive (like a speeded up
reggae or Afrobeat or a military march); the rhythm uses a mixture of patterns (of
quavers and semiquavers) in a rather unpredictable sequence
• percussion sounds include; top line of horn section doubled by xylophone sound;
military sounding bass drum and cymbals used to punctuate phrases
0:15-0:24
• Repeats the previous section, but with addition of:
o repeated constant cymbal semiquavers
o strings added to the horn chords
• instruments drop out towards the end of the section, leaving a synth gliss
0:25-0:37
• this section features a vocal sample of a male group counting down from 10 to 1 in
chromatically descending chords (this is a sample from the opening of the song
‘Uhh ahh’ by Boyz II Men);
• the chords are built on 4ths;
• the sample intertwines with the female vocal lead, which circles round a few notes
in a narrow riff (spanning a 3rd);
• the snare drum (drum machine) keeps a constant 4-to-the-floor pulse
• there are rising electronic tones (filter sweeps) which gradually get higher as the
chords in the vocal sample descend;
• timbale fill just before the end of the section (on ‘one’).
0:37-0:49
• texture reduces again – just voice, some drum machine sounds and synth
• synth part has a high-pitched staccato riff (doubled by soft rim-shot sound)
• bass answers high pitched synth
• vocal melody very simple 3-2-1-7-1 shape repeated x3 (with dip down to lower 5th
as a melisma at end of each phrase)
• very rapid drum machine fill at end of section
0:49-1:00
• based on previous section, but brass riff returns;
• some vocal overdubbing of solo part at phrase ends (harmonising in 3rds );
• drum machine part more prominent;
1:00-1:11
• similar to previous section
1:12-1:34
• same music as at 0:37-0:49, but with added bass brass riff filling each phrase end

© AQA 2020
Daft Punk
Career
1987 Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met at secondary school
in Paris. Guy-Manuel played guitar and Thomas bass guitar and they formed a band
together with a friend. This rock band was formed in 1992 but soon disbanded after
negative reviews.
1993 Guy-Manuel and Thomas formed a new duo partnership, taking their name from a
poor review they had received, which referred to ‘a daft, punky thrash’. The new ‘Daft
Punk’ was based on synthesizers and drum-machine, rather than guitars.
1994 Their debut single ‘The New Wave’ was released, followed the next year by the
much more commercially successful ‘Da Funk’. These singles formed the core of their
first album ‘Homework’ in 1997.
1996 The duo went into partnership with Virgin Records. A period of international
performances to a small but growing fanbase in Europe and the USA began.
1999 In public performances, the duo started to wear helmets and costumes designed
to make them appear robotic, to match their heavily electronic musical style. They have
since always avoided exposing their ‘real selves’ to the glare of media publicity,
preferring the music to speak for itself and avoiding interview.
2001 Their second album ‘Discovery’ was released; its slightly more straightforward pop
style won them many new fans.
2005 ‘Human After All’ released. The duo became an increasing presence at major
festivals e.g. Coachella. A live album followed in 2007.
2009-10 Daft Punk wrote most of the music for the science-fiction film ‘Tron: Legacy’.
2013 The album ‘Random Access Memories’ was released, featuring much more use of
acoustic instruments and collaborations with many major artists such as Nile Rogers
(guitar) and Pharrell Williams (singer-songwriter/rapper/producer). This was
phenomenally successful, going platinum and reaching the no.1 album spot in many
countries. The album was released by Columbia, with whom the duo had signed a new
contract, having left Virgin.

Discography – studio albums

Year Title Key singles/comments

1997 Homework ‘Da Funk’, ‘Around the World’; influenced by

the French House scene

2001 Discovery ‘One More Time’, ‘Harder, Better, Faster,

Stronger’; much use of samples from ‘70s and
‘80s music

2005 Human After All ‘Robot Rock’, ‘Technologic’

2013 Random Access ‘Get Lucky’, ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’; a multi-

Memories award winning album, featuring collaborations
with many acclaimed artists

© AQA 2020
Research suggestions
• genres: Disco; House; Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
• instruments/production: sequencing; vocoder; drum machine;

Listening exercise
‘Instant Crush’ from ‘Random Access Memories’ (2013)
Commentary on 0:00-1:48
The sound is dominated by electronic instruments:
• synthesizers
• drum machine
• the voice has been fed through a vocoder
• in addition, there is a bass and a lead guitar
As is typical of their style, the song features much use of repeated loops in a minimalist,
understated texture. This, and the deliberately directionless harmony in the verse
section, gives a rather melancholy feeling.
0:00-0:29 Intro
• Drum machine: constant alternation between bass drum and snare on odd and
even beats; hi-hat cymbal on constant quavers
• Bass guitar line has roots of chords in repeated quavers
• Quiet synth riff uses syncopated rhythm, circling around G flat in a stepwise motion:

• This is then transposed to fit with chord changes.

• A 4-chord pattern is used: Gb major – Eb minor – Bb minor – Ab major (difficult to
decide which chord is the tonic, as the chords circle round in a modal way);chords
change once every two bars
• On the repetition of this 8-bar pattern (starting at 0:20), a higher synth melodic line
is added in groups of 3 arpeggiated quavers, which sometimes clash with the
continuing riff

0:29-1:30 Verse
• Interestingly, the voice enters half way through the repetition of the intro’s chord
sequence
• Voice melody uses a quiet, ‘deadpan’, almost expressionless tone in a relatively
high register for male singer (in head voice)
• Vocal melody structured as a rhythmic riff/sequence, always starting on the 2nd
quaver of the bar:

•
• At 0:41, the chord sequence begins again and the voice goes into a higher register
• This happens again at 0:56
• At 1:22 the voice jumps into a much higher register and is slightly louder, coming to
rest on a monotone B flat (tonic?)
• Short descending vocal melisma on ‘Oh’ at 1:28-1:30

1:30-1:48 Chorus

© AQA 2020
• A more active rhythmic groove is created:
o constant semiquavers in shaker
• Chordal riff in synth, featuring descending scale melody and syncopated rhythm:

• The bass moves in parallel with the synth melody

• The chords change every bar, so there is a faster harmonic rhythm, emphasised by
the descending scalic bass:
o B flat minor – G flat major – E flat minor – A flat major (feels like vi-IV-ii-V in
D flat major BUT there is a constant B flat pedal in the synth in the middle of
the texture)
• The voice melody is also much more rhythmically active, featuring several repeated
semiquavers and descending lines (almost like a diminution of the verse melody)

© AQA 2020
Labrinth
Life and career
1989 Born Timothy McKenzie in London. He was introduced to studio-based music by
his older brother.
2009 He produced his first track and began working with various British rappers,
singers and producers e.g. Tinie Tempah and Professor Green.
2010 He was signed by Simon Cowell’s ‘Syco’ record label, who released his debut
single ‘Let the Sun Shine’ that year.
2011 His second single, ‘Earthquake’, became a major hit, also featuring Tinie Tempah.
2019 He wrote the music for the American TV series ‘Euphoria’.
He continues to be a major contributor to the British pop scene as a collaborative artist;
singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Discography – studio albums

Year Title Key singles/comments

2012 Electronic Earth ‘Let the Sun Shine’, ‘Earthquake’, ‘Beneath

Your Beautiful’

2019 Imagination & the Misfit ‘Misbehaving’; The album is currently available
Kid via digital download or streaming (due to be
released in hard media in 2020)

Research suggestions
• Mp3 format; digital storage and downloading of music
• Remixing
Listening exercise
‘Express Yourself’ from ‘Electronic Earth’ (2012)
Commentary on 0:00-1:45
The song is typical of Labrinth in taking a soul classic (‘Express Yourself’ by Charles
Wright and the 103rd St. Rhythm Band – also covered by NWA) and putting modern
production sound around it.
0:00-0:15 Intro
• High-pitched synth with bell/glockenspiel tone playing single line melody in slow
note values
• Whole tone scale used; melodic line seems strange/disjointed
• Pitch line moves down a major 3rd, up an aug 4th, down a minor 6th etc.
• Much delay and vibrato on the sound, giving an other-worldly ‘sci-fi’ effect
• Harmony in major 2nds added at 0:08
• Added vibrato tone at 0:10
• 0:11-0:12 rising synth with crescendo
0:15 Verses
• Relaxed tempo and funky groove begins
• A retro sound with EQ/filter on voice for a ‘scratchy’ rough effect

© AQA 2020
• Drum sample (from James Brown ‘Funky Drummer’) and guitar riff:

• Harmony in 2-bar repeating pattern: I – Ib – IV – V

• 0:27 backing voices join in harmony
• 4th phrase in lead voice reaches higher
• 0:33 vocal phrase begins with an anacrusis ‘whatever you’ to a high note with a
downward bend on ‘do’
• Vocal phrases (‘Whatever you do’) leave large gaps for instrumental response
• 0:39 horn section staccato stab added; constant semiquavers in tambourine;
repeated tonic pedal in guitar
• 0:43 high tonic in falsetto for ‘do’
0:53 Choruses (‘Express Yourself’)
• Still based on the same chords as the verse
• Bigger sound with syncopated kick drum and synth brass sound
• Sampled backing vocal loop
1:13 Verse
• 1:22 sustained synth sound
• 1:33 ‘do-do’ backing vocals in chords in syncopated rhythm

© AQA 2020 and its licensors. All rights reserved.