You've heard plenty of inane pop songs. They aren't interesting musically, you know exactly what they are going to do, there's no aha! moment to them. As a musician, I find them boring because many are constructed on the I-IV-V model, and I always know when each of those chords is going to hit. (If you aren't familiar with this notation, it just refers to the interval relationships of the song's chords. If the song is in C major, then the chords are C-F-G, since F is a fourth interval above C, and G is a fifth interval.)
By way of introducing Guitar Comic Rob Paravonian's hysterically funny Pachelbel's Canon rant, this week's Music Room is on insipid music. But you can also join in on where Pachelbel is following you, even if you won't eat at Taco Bell any more because it sounds too close.
Click through to enjoy, and I'll catch you at the bridge (no doubt more IV and V).
Pachelbel's Canon in D seems to be everywhere. It's been used as theme music in a number of movies, and it's the basis of many popular songs.
The Internet has introduced two more variations on the Canon. Jerry Chang, a Taiwanese guitarist, created a version of the Canon redone as a shredding hot guitar performance he called "Canon Rock." Chang posted his performance on YouTube and became an Internet star. Hundreds of people begged him for his guitar tabs and backing track, so they could play it as well. Then Chang was surpassed by one of his imitators in South Korea. Posting as funtwo, Jeong-Hyun Lim's version of Canon Rock was even better (although Chang's performance is more enjoyable to watch, since he smiles at the camera while Lim keeps his head down the entire time). The NY Times did an excellent write-up of the reaction to both videos, speaking with both Chang and Lim (as well as discrediting a funtwo imposter). (Some people thought Lim's performance was a fake, since his audio and video were out of synch. I have linked to a re-synched version. And off-topic but enjoyable, here's Lim performing an electric version of Vivaldi's Summer.)
Paravonian does not mention the Internet phenomenon of Canon Rock in his "I hate Pachelbel's Canon" routine. This performance, recorded at Penn State University, is a spoken rant synched with the eight chords of Canon in D, ending in a medley of songs ripped off from that construction. And since he's a musician, Paravonian doesn't have to worry about the comic's most important technique: timing.
Canon in D is a theme and variation piece with the same chords each time: D, A, b minor, f sharp minor, G, D, G, A. Some pop music tries to hide its origin by putting pieces in a different key, but any musician competent with intervals will recognize the construction as I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V. (Intervals in lower case are minor rather than major.)
Okay, that's a little more interesting than the usual I-IV-V construction that most pop songs use. So, bring up the songs you hate and why they're annoying! Are they using the Canon Construction? Can you think of any more besides what's already on Wikipedia's list?
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Previous Music Room Diaries
#4 - 4/07/07 Ear Playing vs Sight Reading
#3 - 3/31/07 Perfect and Relative Pitch
#2 - 3/25/07 Music Lessons
#1 - 3/18/07 Jokes & Stories