Multimodality and Tonal Ambiguity

in Rock’s Aeolian Progression

Mark Richards
Florida State University
mcrichards@fsu.edu

SMT Annual Meeting 2017

 Conditions for Ambiguity

1) Progression or phrase lacks an initial tonic harmony

2) Melody:
- Suggests more than one tonal center
- Suggests a tonality that conflicts
with that of the surrounding music
Harmonic minor mode
Major mode?
Aeolian mode?
Mixolydian mode?
Dorian mode?
?
Assertion
I. Disambiguating Tonality
II. Examples with Tonal Ambiguity
I. Disambiguating Tonality
II. Examples with Tonal Ambiguity
Example 1 – Types of Information for Determining
Center and Function in Popular Music – Doll 2017

1. Schema
2. Meter
3. Phrasing
4. Repetition
5. Texture
6. Scale
7. Duration
8. Pedal
9. Arpeggiation
10. Penultima
11. Loudness
12. Parallel
13. Expression
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
 Example 2 – Categories of Emphasis

Harmonic  Arpeggiation  Pedal Point

Emphasis  Dissonance Resolution  Melodic-Harmonic Divorce

Temporal  Beginning / End Position (in  Stresses – Meter, Hypermeter,

Emphasis Vocal Phrase, Section, Song) Grammar (Lyrics)

 Note Repetition  Change in Texture, Timbre,

Rhetorical
 Duration Melodic Style
Emphasis
 Melodic High / Low Points  Loudness

 Parallels Between Sections or

Contextual  Tonality in Other Sections of the
Between Different Songs
Emphasis Song
 Aeolian-Mode Bias
Poetic
 Meaning of Lyrics
Emphasis
Aeolian-Mode Bias
II. Examples with
Tonal Ambiguity
 Modal Migration

Melody outlines different tonic

triads at different times, producing
a shifting of the tonal center.
Example 5 – “Little Red Corvette”, Prince, intro and verse 1
Example 6 – The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”, intro, verse, pre-chorus, and chorus
Example 6 – The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”, intro, verse, pre-chorus, and chorus
Example 8 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, chorus
Example 9 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, verse 2 and chorus

F# Aeolian F# Dorian

F# Aeolian F# Dorian
Example 8 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, chorus
Example 9 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, chorus
Example 9 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, verse 2 and chorus
Example 8 – U2, “Stand Up Comedy”, chorus
III. Conclusion
 Selected Bibliography
Biamonte, Nicole. 2010. “Triadic Modal and Pentatonic Patterns in Rock Music.” Music Theory Spectrum 32/2: 95–110.

de Clercq, Trevor, and David Temperley. 2013. “Statistical Analysis of Harmony and Melody in Rock Music.” Journal of New Music Research 42/3:
187–204.

Doll, Christopher. 2017. Hearing Harmony: Toward a Tonal Theory for the Rock Era. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Everett, Walter. 2004. “Making Sense of Rock’s Tonal Systems.” Music Theory Online 10/4.

Moore, Allan. 2012. Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Popular Song. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

Nobile, Drew F. 2015. “Counterpoint in Rock: Unpacking the ‘Melodic-Harmonic Divorce.’” Music Theory Spectrum 37/2: 189–203.

Richards, Mark. 2017. “Tonal Ambiguity in Popular Music’s Axis Progressions.” Music Theory Online 23/3.

Spicer, Mark. 2017. “Fragile, Emergent, and Absent Tonics in Pop and Rock Songs.” Music Theory Online 23/2.

Stephenson, Ken. 2002. What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Mark Richards
Florida State University
mcrichards@fsu.edu