http://thebadplus.typepad.com/
Interesting article about opera just posted there.
Quote:
If you charted the course of harmonic progressions in the biggest radio hits from say, Elvis to now you’d watch a steady shrinking of chromaticism. There are good musical reasons for this! I hasten to add. But at this point, we can’t take any more harmonic information away. Chromatic harmony is nonexistent in the equation of most indie rock, radio pop, and hip-hop.
What I’m talking about is quite obvious in Byrne’s 2004 solo disc, Grown Backwards. The pleasantly surreal versions of two 19th-century opera arias use the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. His original pieces mostly use the 8 notes of the diatonic scale except when there’s a few blue notes borrowed from funk.
Indeed, I believe that all of Byrne’s songs from any period of his career are non-chromatic. They work -- and the best of them are, of course, immortal -- because he is a master of lyrics, beats, juxtaposition, and was born with one of the great singing voices.
But there’s no reason for Byrne or anyone else involved in music, from beginners to professionals, to automatically dismiss the “The major-minor system of common practice classical music” as uncool, forbidden, or even very difficult.
I think “The major-minor system of common practice classical music” is about to come back, actually. It’s why I’m so intrigued by the 12-tone Bach quote that frames the Lady Gaga video “Bad Romance.” (Oh, only 68,580,375 views on You Tube so far. Maybe each viewer could each donate a dollar to arts education!) And I’ve sensed for years that the kind of hip hop that favors menacing suspensions in minor keys is ready to explode into Wagnerian harmony. When "No More Drama” by Mary J. Bilge was everywhere, I thought, “Here we go” -- but it hasn’t happened yet. (Anybody reading this looking for where to take their prized homegrown beat collection into outer space? Put some progressions from Götterdämmerung in there and see what happens. I’m not guaranteeing it will work but if does, it could be big.)
I like how he brings up how rare non-diatonic stuff is in pop now. My mom has a book of songs like Stardust and Blue Moon and there's way more stuff going on than in any of the modern songs I've learned
That is quite interesting... it is really clear looking at old popular standards how much less complicated harmony is now. Kinda lame, in a way.
I want one as well.
