Popular Song

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Music Theory

6 songs to unpack Ionian mode and the major scale

The polyphonic aspects of Western classical music distinguish it from other musical traditions such as Indian Сlassic...
SONGWRITER

El Manisero: essential rumba song behind Caribbean music world expasion

El Manisero or The Peanut Vendor is an essential rumba song written circa 1928 by the leading Cuban composer Moisés...
SONGWRITER

Caldonia: the song that spawned the term rock and roll

Caldonia is a 1945 song released by Louis Jordan, an American songwriter and saxophonist whose popularity in the 1940s...
SONGWRITER

Mairzy Doats lyrics inspired by 15th century nursery rhyme

Mairzy Doats is a notable nursery rhyme song written in the 1940s when parody and humor songs were in high demand. The...
FILM

Dum Maro Dum: psychedelic Hindi lyrics in Western arrangement that influenced generations

Dum Maro Dum is a popular Hindi song written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Rahul Dev Burman for the 1971 Bollywood...
SONGWRITER

Wabash Cannonball: the ballad of the railway Flying Dutchman

Wabash Cannonball, also known as The Great Rock Island Route, is an influential American folk song the first known...
Poetry

Guajira Guantanamera: song meaning and origin of the lyrics

Guantanamera is a demonym—a word that identifies a group of people in relation to a particular place—in this case, used...
SONGWRITER

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy: the reveille that defined a generation

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is an iconic World War II tune written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince for the military musical...
Music Theory

Authentic cadence exemplified by The Beatles songs

In theory, a cadence refers to a harmonic turnaround that appears at the end of a musical phrase, and the role it plays...
SONGWRITER

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: Iron Butterfly's longest song anticipated metal genres

Released in 1968 by the American psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida remains to be one of the most... 3 comments
SONGWRITER

Minnie the Moocher: essential step in the history of scat singing by Cab Calloway

Minnie the Moocher is an iconic jazz composition showcasing essential examples of scat singing—a vocal technique for...
Music Theory

8 songs to introduce Aeolian mode and natural minor scale

Over the past centuries, the composition of polyphonic music has been primarily focused on seven diatonic scales...
SONGWRITER

Foxey Lady and the Hendrix chord

Foxey Lady is one of the most distinctive Jimi Hendrix live songs played by him at almost every gig starting in 1967....
SONGWRITER

Taking off with Pistol Packin' Mama

Pistol Packin 'Mama is a fast-paced upbeat song with humorous albeit somewhat silly lyrics that became a hit in the...
Music Theory

5 songs featuring Dorian mode

Out of all seven diatonic scales, the major and minor scales have been the two most prevalent in Western music...
Music Theory

Popular songs using Lydian mode

In Western music, the vast majority of classical compositions and popular songs are written using only two diatonic... 6 comments
SYNTHESIZER

Plainsong: The Cure's psychedelic liturgy on the edge of the world

Plainsong is the opening track of the album Disintegration released in 1989 by the English rock band The Cure. The...
SONGWRITER

Bésame Mucho: song meaning and source of inspiration behind the famous Mexican bolero

Bésame Mucho is one of the most famous songs in music history that has been tirelessly performed for the past eighty... 1 comment
Music Theory

Locrian mode: music examples and harmonic structure

Music theory describes seven diatonic scales of which the major and minor scales are the most functional and therefore...
Music Theory

Picardy third: cadence for a happy ending in classical music and popular songs

In musical theory, the term Picardy third is used to refer to a special way of ending a minor piece with a major chord....
SONGWRITER

Twist in My Sobriety: rare oboe solo in Tanita Tikaram's best song

Twist in My Sobriety is a song by British pop-folk singer Tanita Tikaram released as a single from her debut album...
Music Theory

Popular songs featuring Phrygian mode and Neapolitan chord

Western music theory describes seven diatonic scales that are the basis of corresponding musical modes, among which the...
SONGWRITER

Salma Ya Salama: historical record by Sayed Darwish, the father of Egyptian popular music

Salma Ya Salama is a famous song written by songwriter Sayed Darwish who is considered to be the most influential...
Music Theory

Mixolydian mode: famous examples in classical and pop music

In the 17th century, the major and minor scales became the basis for almost all classical music compositions. This... 13 comments
Music Theory

The Andalusian cadence: distinct chord progression of flamenco that captivated all pop music genres

The Andalusian cadence is a musical term denoting a chain of four chords that appear sequentially through each step of...
Music Theory

Microtonality: the variety of approaches to microtonal music in world cultures

In theory, microtonal music describes a piece that contains one or more intervals measuring below a semitone. Although...
SONGWRITER

The fusion of traditional Mexican music in María Grever's songs

María Grever, born Maria Joaquina de la Portilla Torres, was a Mexican songwriter who, combining the musical cultures of...
Choir

Gershwin's Summertime: the most recorded song draws inspiration from Ukrainian lullaby and African American spiritual

Written by the American composer George Gershwin in 1934, Summertime aria is now the most recorded song in the history... 3 comments
Classical Guitar

The native heart of Peruvian folk as explored by ethnomusicologist Alomía Robles

It has been a little more over a century since the Peruvian composer Alomía Robles crossed the Andes in search of...
SONGWRITER

The smoky alto of Chabuca Granda elevated the Creole waltz to the international level

Chabuca Granda is the single most important figure in the history of Peruvian music. Though identified with the city of...

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