The Death of Melody?
Summary
TLDRThe video script addresses the perceived decline of melody in Western music genres, including pop, film scores, and modern classical music. It argues that melody, traditionally central to music, has been overshadowed by other elements like rhythm and tone color. The script points out examples from popular music where simple, repetitive hooks replace complex melodies, and contrasts this with the rich, expressive melodies of the past. It questions whether this shift is due to changing musical styles, technological influences, or societal preferences for bite-sized content, and suggests that this trend could be harming the expressive potential of music.
Takeaways
- 🎶 The video discusses a perceived decline in the importance of melody in Western music, across genres like pop, film scores, and classical music.
- 🎵 Melody is traditionally considered one of the four central components of music, along with harmony, rhythm, and tone color.
- 🔍 The script argues that melody can imply harmony, rhythm, and tone color, suggesting it is the most fundamental musical element.
- 📉 Examples are given of popular songs that have simple or non-existent melodies, indicating a trend towards less melodic music.
- 🎧 The video points out that modern music often prioritizes catchy hooks and beats over complex melodies.
- 🎬 In film music, composers like Hans Zimmer have moved away from distinctive melodies in favor of atmospheric sounds and rhythms.
- 👨🎨 The script suggests that the decline of melody might be linked to the rise of electronic music, rap, and the digital age's preference for bite-sized content.
- 📚 The video references an article in Keyboard Magazine that discusses the historical shift from melodic to hook-driven pop music.
- 🔑 The script proposes that the public's preference for easily digestible, repetitive content could be influencing the reduction of melody in music.
- 🤔 The video concludes by questioning whether the loss of melody is a permanent trend or something that can be revived, hinting at future exploration in upcoming videos.
Q & A
What are the four central components of music according to Aaron Copland?
-Aaron Copland stated that music was made up of four central components: melody, harmony, rhythm, and tone color.
How does the melody of a piece of music suggest harmony?
-Melody can suggest harmony by the way it moves around certain chords, as illustrated by the example of the famous Christmas hymn where the melody dances around an E minor chord.
What role does the instrument or voice play in the melody?
-The instrument or voice used to play or sing a melody provides its own tone color, which in turn lends character to the melody.
Why is the trend of having a limited range of notes in songs considered a problem by the speaker?
-The speaker considers it a problem because it indicates a decline in the use of melody as an expressive tool in modern music, which they believe is a significant and expressive part of music.
What examples does the speaker provide to illustrate the lack of melody in recent popular music?
-The speaker cites examples such as a One Direction song, a Taylor Swift song, and a Billy Eilish song, noting the limited range of notes used in their choruses.
How does the speaker connect the trend of lacking melody to the broader trends in music and culture?
-The speaker connects the trend to the rise of catchy hooks in pop music, the influence of electronic music, the dominance of rap and hip hop, and the digital age's preference for bite-sized content.
What is the speaker's opinion on the use of melody in modern film music by composers like Hans Zimmer?
-The speaker notes that while Hans Zimmer is capable of writing good melodies, his recent work in films like Dunkirk and Interstellar lacks distinctive melody, reflecting a trend in modern film music.
Why does the speaker think melody might be going out of fashion in music?
-The speaker suggests that melody might be going out of fashion due to the rise of catchy hooks, the influence of electronic music, the dominance of rap and hip hop, and the public's preference for bite-sized, immediately digestible content.
What historical examples does the speaker provide to show that melody has been considered 'dead' before?
-The speaker references Beethoven, Mahler, and the twentieth-century atonal movement as historical examples where melody was thought to be dying or had become unfollowable.
What is the speaker's plan for their next video on the topic of melody?
-The speaker plans to explore what makes a good melody, the meaning of expressive melody, and how we might save melody in their next video.
Outlines
🎶 The Diminishing Role of Melody in Modern Music
The speaker begins by acknowledging the channel's focus on film, music, and classical music, and then transitions into a discussion about the perceived decline of melody in Western music. They introduce the concept of melody as a fundamental component of music, quoting Aaron Copland's definition of music's four central components: melody, harmony, rhythm, and tone color. The speaker argues that melody inherently encompasses the other three elements, providing examples from a Christmas hymn to illustrate how melody suggests harmony and tone color. They also discuss the rhythmic characteristics of melody. The paragraph concludes with the speaker expressing concern over the trend of melody's absence in contemporary pop, film, and classical music, suggesting that this is a significant and sad development in the music industry.
🎵 The Evolution and Loss of Melody in Various Music Genres
The second paragraph delves into the trend of diminished melody in different genres of music. The speaker points out that while melody was once a central feature, it has been replaced by catchy hooks and repetitive patterns, especially in pop music. They provide examples from various songs, including a One Direction song and a Taylor Swift track, to demonstrate how limited melodic ranges are becoming more common. The speaker also touches on the influence of electronic dance music and hip hop, where sound design and rhythm often take precedence over melody. The paragraph further discusses how film composers like Hans Zimmer have moved away from traditional melodies in their recent works, reflecting a broader shift in the music industry. The speaker contrasts this with the melodic richness of earlier film scores by composers like John Williams.
📉 The Decline of Melody and Its Impact on Music Expression
In the final paragraph, the speaker contemplates the reasons behind the decline of melody as an expressive tool in music. They suggest that the trend may be linked to the rise of digital communication and the preference for bite-sized, easily digestible content. The speaker also considers the historical cycles of music evolution, where melody has been declared 'dead' in various periods, but argues that the current age marks a distinct departure from using melody for expressive purposes. They hint at the possibility of exploring what constitutes a good melody and how it might be preserved or revitalized in future videos. The speaker concludes by inviting viewers to support the channel for more in-depth discussions on music and encourages them to subscribe and share the video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Melody
💡Harmony
💡Rhythm
💡Tone Color
💡Death of Melody
💡Hook
💡Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
💡Remix
💡Expressive Tool
💡Trend
Highlights
Aaron Copland's definition of music's four central components: melody, harmony, rhythm, and tone color.
Melody can suggest harmony, rhythm, and tone color, making it a powerful standalone element of music.
Many modern pop songs, such as those by One Direction, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish, feature limited melodic range, often spanning only a few notes.
The simplicity of modern pop melodies may contribute to their catchiness but reduces their expressiveness.
In recent film music, composers like Hans Zimmer have shifted away from melody towards tone colors, rhythm, and harmony, particularly in films like 'Dunkirk' and 'Interstellar.'
Melodic elements are still present in certain genres like children's films and mythic epics, but they are less prevalent in modern music.
The trend of minimizing melody has spread to modern classical music, as seen in James McMillan's 'The Seven Last Words from the Cross.'
The rise of electronic music and EDM further contributed to the decline of melody, emphasizing sound design and rhythmic hooks instead.
Rap and hip-hop often forgo melody entirely in favor of beats and repetitive hooks, changing the landscape of mainstream music.
Remixes have become a trend, often reducing original melodic content to a few seconds of catchy hooks.
The digital age, with its emphasis on bite-sized content, may have influenced the decline of complex melodic lines in favor of immediately digestible music.
Melody has been called into question before, such as during the atonal movement in the 20th century, but today’s trend is different in that melody is still present but used less expressively.
Historically, melody has been a crucial tool for emotional expression in music, and its decline marks a shift in how music engages listeners.
The speaker plans to explore what makes a good melody and how it might be 'saved' in a future video.
Melody's shift from an expressive tool to a secondary element may impact the future of both pop and classical music.
Transcripts
this channel has always focused on film
music and classical music that's always
been my goal but today I want to expand
a little and talk about a problem which
seems to have infected all of western
music I call it the death of melody bit
dramatic I know but wait and see Aaron
Copland the famous American composer
once said that music was made up of four
central components melody
harmony
rhythm
and tone color but the truth is melody
on its own encompasses all the other
three things on this list melody on its
own can and does suggest harmony take
these first notes of this famous
Christmas hymn even when it's just
melody on its own the melody is clearly
suggesting a harmony you can see how the
melody dances around an E minor chord
and so we might even hear a minor in our
head and what about tone color well in
order to sing or play any melody we need
an instrument to play it or a voice to
sing it and of course that instrument or
voice will come with its own tone color
and lend that color to the melody
[Music]
and rhythm
well melodies certainly have rhythmic
characteristics but really any melody
intrinsically has a rhythmic character
even if that rhythmic character is
simply free-flowing so melody is such a
wonderful and characteristic part of
music which can even on its own
encompass all the other building blocks
that Copeland says are central to music
so why then is melody dying I used to
hear so many people say this and I
wanted it not to be true but if you look
closer whether at pop film music or
classical music the absence of melody is
a huge trend take pop for example I
remember clubbing to this song as a
teenager what about the whole chorus of
that One Direction song that put them on
the map it has a range spanning three
notes
[Music]
or what if we go a little more recent
how about Taylor Swift the verse has
three notes the lead up to the chorus
has two notes and the chorus itself uses
no notes even more recent I heard this
Billy Irish song on the radio the other
day bear in mind that all of these songs
have been massive number one hits in at
least one major country in the world at
all of them lack an interesting melody
now I'm in no way saying that these
songs are bad songs in fact this week
I've been finding the Ailish song
incredibly catchy perhaps because of its
hypnotic repetitious Ness these songs
may be good songs for other reasons but
you wouldn't describe any of them as
having a strong melody and if there is
melody there it's not used as an
expressive tool you might say but it's
not supposed to have melody that's part
of the style that's what gives it its
edge but that's exactly my point
melody has gone out of fashion it's not
cool to write a good melody anymore we
just want a cool beat with good tone
colors perhaps these songs are
successful because they have very little
melody and I think that's a point worth
thinking about and it's also very sad of
course having a melody which spans one
to three notes makes it extremely easy
to sing along with to this trend of no
melody has passed on to other areas of
Western music to take film music
superstar Hans Zimmer he's actually
extremely capable and extremely skilled
at writing a good melody when he needs
to take the drunken swagger of Jack
Sparrow's theme how well these notes
express the character
[Music]
but when you look at his more recent
smash hits say Dunkirk or interstellar
or inception you won't find a lot of
distinctive melody in the most popular
tracks of these films amazing tone
colors great rhythm moving harmonies but
very little melody and honestly you
could say that handsomer is right to do
this he is where he is because he's
constantly on top of trends and on top
of his business and having an overly
melodious score just wouldn't be right
for these films but then we should ask
ourselves why not when did melody go out
of fashion and why compare all this with
the melodies of John Williams who wrote
some of his best tunes in the 70s 80s
90s and naughties
or even earlier to the Golden Age of
cinema
we do still hear this kind of melody in
film music but it tends to be confined
to mythic epics or to children's movies
the trend has even spread to modern
classical music take a fantastic well
loved high-quality piece of modern
classical music the seven last words
from the cross by James McMillan
it has great harmony such as these bars
which set up the whole piece
great tone color such as this moment
when Christ hallucinates from
dehydration
[Music]
and then there's this tortured lashing
delirious rhythm of them hammering
excruciating nails into the cross if you
thought Billy Eilish was edgy maybe give
this piece a listen my point is this
work is amazing but you wouldn't
describe it as a melodious piece it has
melody often fragments of melody but by
classical standards it's not melodious
maybe that's unfair but I think that
melody is not one of the principal
qualities of this piece so what happened
to melody well it's very difficult to
say but I think this has been building
up for some time in the trends of pop
music and popular culture and then
perhaps from there it's fed through to
other kinds of music there's an article
in the keyboard magazine that has some
good thoughts on this pop music didn't
always lack melody
[Music]
at some point pop-music discovered the
power of a strong hook and how catchy a
repetitive hook could be take Led
Zeppelin's whole lotta love
[Music]
notice we call this a hook
rather than a full-blown melody it's a
set of notes or rhythms which a bit like
an advertising jingle is bite-sized and
easily memorable and I think that this
idea of a catchy hook took over at some
point until songs were more and more
just hook with not much house going on
with the rise of electronic music we
were given techno technology driven
music and while most of this music
wasn't necessarily mainstream it
reflects a real lack of melodious 'no
savor of other qualities
that's an excerpt from I wanna be a
hippie which reached number one in
several countries in Europe in the 90s
and this trend did eventually seep into
the mainstream to take the rise of EDM
electronic dance music this genre has
massively explored the possibilities of
sound design rather than melody in dance
music and it shows some of these tracks
are amazing feats of sound design and
catchy hooks with little or no melody at
all and then there's the domination of
rap or hip hop where of course the
performer doesn't so much sing as rap
and the accompanying music is often just
a beat with an endlessly repeated hook
[Music]
[Music]
then there's the rise of the remix to
where there take an old longer song and
remix it but more and more DJ's will
just surgically remove 10 second or even
five second snippets from a song and use
that to form their new catchy hook
transforming it from older more melodic
music to a catchy hook with very little
melody and in fairness that remix is
more tuneful and some or perhaps this
loss of melody even relates to the
digital age of texting tweeting the
bite-sized thought perhaps the public
doesn't want longer streams of thought
anymore they just want something
bite-sized immediately digestible which
can both satiate and numb them
immediately it's hard to say why
something would go out of fashion but I
do think that these trends and ideas in
recent music history might give us some
idea to why melody now seems to be one
of the least engaging elements in modern
music history has often cried the death
of melody with Beethoven with Marla and
with the twentieth-century atonal
movement where melody sometimes became
unfollow Abel but I think this age today
marks a point where melody really isn't
being used as an expressive tool anymore
it still exists as in there are still
notes that you can follow and sing along
with but it no longer has the expressive
quality of the melodies of the past and
I think this is going to be the topic of
my next video what makes good melody
what does it mean to have expressive
melody and how might we save melody I
don't know if these questions have an
answer but I think we have to look at
them if we want to have a better
understanding of the music of the past
the present and the future I hope you
enjoyed this video I plan to continue
making videos like this on music of all
kinds if
you want to help support this channel
help me to produce more content like
this or simply buy me a coffee to say
thank you then you can visit my patreon
page and join the community and if you
enjoyed this video then do subscribe
like the video and share it with your
friends thanks for watching
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