Pop ballads from the 1970s to the 1990s

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson, entitled "Pop Ballads from the 1970s to the 1990s." My name's Mr. Norris. Now I'm going to be taking you through today as we start to have a look at this really important genre of pop music that has persisted for many decades now and has evolved over the course of those decades as well. We're going to be looking at some of the key features, exploring some really iconic artists and examples, and we're also going to be trying to build on our understanding of it through composition as well. So let's get to it. Our outcome for today's lesson is I can recognise key features of pop ballads and create a pop ballad chord sequence. Some key words: pop ballad. This is an important genre of pop music, typically a slow song with romantic or sentimental lyrics, and we'll get more into that as we go. Diatonic. Diatonic harmony uses only notes from within the key, so that's a major or a minor key. Root position. A root position chord has the root note, which is the note in its name, at the bottom. And then, finally, chord inversion. A chord inversion is a chord with notes repositioned so that the root note is not the lowest note in the chord. So again, you may be familiar with some of those terms, or you may not, but we'll get into them as we go. The first part of today's lesson is looking at key features of pop ballads. Pop ballads have been one of the most enduring genres of pop music over the last 50 years. They have many common features. What are the most obvious similarities between these pop ballads from the 1980s and the 1990s? There are three examples: I'd like to focus on tempo, time signature, and instrumentation, and then see if you can think of any other features that they have in common as well. So you can pause my video while you have a listen. Try and pick out some similarities and common features. Let's have a look then. So a typical pop ballad will have a slow tempo; a 4/4 time signature, most of the time, not always; typical pop instrumentation with a prominent piano or electric piano, and that's a key point there; sentimental or romantic lyrics, often they're on the theme of love, not always, but very often; an expressive vocal melody; simple drum patterns with a strong backbeat, so usually the drums are quite stripped back and not too complex; sustained chords to thicken the texture; and a verse-chorus structure. You wouldn't have been able to pick that up in those clips there, because they're just short. But if we were to listen to the whole song, 99% of the time you'll find there's a really typical verse-chorus structure. So those are some of the key features we'd expect to hear, and not every pop ballad will have all of them, but these are really typical features that you probably would expect to hear most of the time. Unlike rock music, which is centred on the electric guitar, pop ballads are often based around a keyboard instrument: piano, electric piano, or sometimes synthesiser. This isn't always the case, but this is quite a common thread in pop ballads is to have the piano as the most prominent instrument in the band. I'd like you to listen to these two clips from Elton John's 1970 hit, which is called "Your Song." In both clips, the piano is very prominent. And I'd like you to, first of all, in the first clip, describe what the piano is doing. And then, in the second clip, identify how is the texture different and what instrument is missing from the typical pop band lineup. So you can pause my video, have a listen to those two clips, and answer those questions as you do. Let's go through that then. So the piano is playing broken chords. That's when the notes of a chord are not all played at the same time. That's quite a common technique in pop ballads. In the second clip, the string instruments join in playing sustained chords, and interestingly, there's no drum kit. So usually in pop ballads, you'd expect to hear a drum kit. And particularly in a normal pop band lineup, you'd expect that. But in that clip there, there wasn't any drum kit. The typical instruments in a pop ballad are vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit, and it's also common to have some strings or brass sounds as well. Often, they'll be synthesised rather than live instruments. Let's check your understanding. True or false? The guitar is the most prominent instrument in a pop ballad. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer, then, is false, and that's because the piano or electric piano is usually the most prominent instrument in pop ballads, whereas the guitar is often the most prominent in rock music. So well done if you got that one there. Which of these is not a typical feature of pop ballads? Is it 4/4 time signature, fast tempo, backbeat in the drum groove, or verse-chorus structure? Again, I'll give you a few seconds to pick out which one is not typical. And the correct answer, then, is fast tempo. Typically, pop ballads have a slow or, at most, moderate tempo. So well done if you got that. As well as typical pop band instrumentation, what two families of instruments are the most common in pop ballads? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer, then, is strings and brass. Those are quite common in pop ballads, particularly as the texture thickens in the songs. You do get woodwind instruments as well, but these are slightly more typical and common. In ballads, the slow tempo and the sustained chords help to reflect the romantic or the sentimental theme of the lyrics. I'd like you to listen to this iconic pop ballad that's sung by Whitney Houston, who is a very famous singer and performer of pop ballads. The lyrics are quite typical of pop ballads. Which two families of the orchestra can you hear playing in the accompaniment? And can you identify the time signature? So pause my video, have a listen, and try and answer those two questions. Let's get into that then. So strings and brass were the two families that were playing in the background. And the time signature is 12/8 in this case. Now, as we've already said, most pop songs have a 4/4 time signature, but this is in 12/8. And while it still has an overall feel of four strong beats, each beat is divided into three quavers instead of two. So you might know that 12/8 is a compound time signature, where each beat, instead of having two quavers in it, has three. There's still a really clear backbeat on the snare that sits on beat two and beat four. I'd like you to listen again in a second, and as you're listening to it, I'd like you to try to hear and count the subdivision of each beat. One-and-a-two-and-a-three-and-a-four-and-a. Try and feel that, and feel the way that it is in groups of three rather than two. So you can pause my video and have a go at that. Which three of these are useful to support the romantic or sentimental lyrical message in ballads? Is it expressive vocal techniques, slow tempo, backbeat in the drum groove, or sustained chord texture? I'll give you a few seconds to choose your three that help to support that message in the lyrics. And the correct answers here, then, would be expressive vocal techniques, a slow tempo, and a sustained chord texture. Although there usually is a backbeat in the drum groove, that doesn't really do anything to support the lyrical message on its romantic and sentimental themes. Suggest two typical pop ballad artists. And we've listened to two already, so if you can name them, go for that. You can pause my video while you do that. Two artists you might have named here, then, are Whitney Houston and Elton John, but there are many other artists who are famous for their pop ballads as well. For task A, I'd like you to listen to the following clip and answer the questions. First is describe three ways in which this instrumentation is typical of pop ballads. What is the tempo and the time signature? Suggest a suitable artist. What instrument is performing sustained chords towards the end of the extract? What specific feature of the drum groove is common to many pop ballads? Then, finally, what is the structure of this piece if it has a typical pop ballad structure? So you can pause my video and give those questions your best shot. Let's review those answers then. For question one, the instrumentation is typical because the piano is prominent. That's a really key point. There's also vocals, guitar, bass guitar, and drum kit, which are typical of the genre, and then there are backing vocals used to thicken the texture. The tempo is slow, and the time signature is 4/4. A suitable artist might be Elton John, although there are various other ones you could have mentioned legitimately as well. The instrument performing sustained chords towards the end of the extract is backing vocals. A specific feature of the drum groove common to many pop ballads is the backbeat on the snare, but you might have also just mentioned that it's a simple drum kit pattern. It's quite a stripped back drum kit. And then, finally, the structure, if it's typical of a pop ballad, is a verse or a structure based on alternating verses and choruses. So well done if you got some of those questions right there. And that shows that you're starting to develop your understanding of the key features of pop ballads. Now we're going to move on to looking at creating a pop ballad chord sequence. Pop ballads use diatonic harmony. That means they use the notes and chords from within a key, either a major key or a minor key, and not notes from outside that key. The chord sequences also rely heavily on four chords in particular, which are the primary chords, I, IV, and V, and chord vi as well, which is a minor chord. Using chord inversions gives more options to create sequences that sound different and unique even though they use similar chords. Now, a chord inversion, or sometimes called an inverted chord, is a chord in which the notes are repositioned so the root note is not the lowest note in the chord. We've got an example there of an F major chord in root position. And when you're playing chords, particularly when you're first learning an instrument, normally you'll be playing in root position chords. So this would be an F major chord in root position (bright tone) with F at the bottom. That's the root note at the bottom. In first inversion, we can see there that we don't have F at the bottom. We now have an A at the bottom. So it's the same notes of the same chord, but they're rearranged so that now A is at the bottom. Let's see what that sounds like. (bright tone) So it sounds very similar, but it has a slightly different character, doesn't it, because it now doesn't have that F at the bottom. And in the second inversion, again, we've got the same three notes but arranged with C at the bottom this time. And we would call this a second inversion F chord. (bright tone) So three different versions, three inversions, of the same chord there. Let's listen to all three back to back. And try to notice how, although they use the same notes, they create a slightly different feeling, a slightly different character. Here's the three chords back to back. (bright music) We might describe root position chords as feeling the most grounded and finished, whereas you might describe chord inversions as feeling slightly unfinished or slightly more ambiguous. When we experiment with chord inversions, we can add expression and emotion to our music because of the different feelings and characters that they create. This is why it's a really common technique in pop ballads. Let's check your understanding. What is a root position chord? Is it a chord that includes the root note, a chord that has the root note at the bottom, or a chord that has the root note at the top? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here, then, is a chord that has the root note at the bottom. That's what root position chord is. What is a chord inversion? Is it a chord where the root note is not at the bottom, a chord where the notes are not all played at the same time, or a chord where the notes are sustained? Again, I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here, then, is a chord inversion is a chord where the root note is not at the bottom. So a root position chord has the root note at the bottom. A chord inversion does not have the root note at the bottom. Effective chord sequences use a mix of root position and inversions. Starting with chord I in root position helps to establish the key. So that's a really useful grounding point for the start of a chord sequence. Let's have a look at this chord sequence here. This uses chord I, IV, and V in the key of C. Now let's just have a look at this being played in root position. Here we go. (bright music) So we can see there the chords are all in root position, with C, F, G, and C at the bottom of each chord. Now let's look at it with a mixture of root position chords and inverted chords called inversions. (bright music) So that used a mixture there of chords in root position and chords in inversions. And you can see there that although it's using the same chords, because they're using inversions, it creates a different mood and a slightly different character to the root position version. If you're playing a keyboard, you might have noticed that using inversions also helps with the ease of changing chords, so that player didn't have to move their hands very much to jump between the chords. Whereas when you're playing in root position, you have to jump around a little bit more. So it actually makes it, in some ways, easier as a keyboard or piano player. When we're using the chords in the key of C major, we can build an 8-bar pop ballad chord sequence. So there's our chords in the key of C. Now have a look at the chord sequence at the bottom. What conventions of chord sequence writing does this example follow? So think about how you've written chord sequences before. Think about norms of writing a chord sequence, and what conventions does this meet? I like to think in particular about the chords used and their order. So how have they chosen which chords to use, and how have they decided the order? Let's have a listen, and you can do that as we're listening. (bright music) (metronome clicking) You can pause my video while you're coming up with an answer for that. Okay, let's go over that one. So when building a chord sequence, you want to start on chord I, usually in root position, because this helps to establish the key. And that's one thing that that chord sequence did effectively there. You want to use mainly primary chords I, IV, and V, and chord vi works well as well. And again, that chord sequence used a lot of the primary chords with some secondary chords in there as well. We want to use chords ii and iii sparingly. They take a little bit more care to use well. But do avoid chord vii, that's not an effective one to use. And experiment with the order to find originality. And you might notice in that sequence there there was some repetition of chords. So it started with chord I played twice. That's absolutely fine, and sometimes that can help to create the mood that you're going for. Then you want to aim to use no more than four chords, like in that example there. If you use too many chords, it'll just become too complex. Now I'd like you to listen to this sequence, and it's the same sequence as before, but this time we've got some chord inversions used. You've got notation there, and we're going to listen to it, too. I'd like you to try and pick out which bars have used chord inversions. So let's have a listen through, look at the notation, and see if you can work out which bars use chord inversions. Here we go. (bright music) (metronome clicking) So if you need some more time to work that one out, you can just pause my video. And let's take a look then. So in this example, bar two, six, and seven all used inversions. If we look at the notation down at the bottom there, you can see that, in bar two, six, and seven, the notes are not in their root position form. So this composer has decided to use chord inversions in those bars because of the mood and character that they create. Let's watch a video now as to how we create a simple chord sequence. I'm going to create a simple 8-bar chord sequence in the key of C major. Because we're writing a pop ballad here, like most pop music, we're mostly going to be using our primary chords I, IV, and V. In this case, that would be C, F, and G. We can also use some of our secondary chords such as D minor, E minor, and A minor. So that's chord ii, iii, and vi, but most of what we want to use are going to be the primary chords. It's also generally a good idea, when we're writing a chord sequence, to either start or finish on chord I. In a lot of cases, we will do both. So we will start and finish on chord I. That really helps it feel grounded in the key and makes it clear what key we are in. Before I create it, I've chosen a suitable instrument for a pop ballad. I've gone for a piano. And I've set the tempo at a nice slow BPM, so that's 70 BPM. That's a suitable slow tempo for a pop ballad. Now, I've already created my 8-bar sequence, and I'm going to show you in a second. But when you're doing it, you'll need to do some experimenting with different combinations of chords to come up with your 8-bar pattern, and you can use the table to put it in. I've put the metronome on, so I'm going to record in time with that as I don't have a drumbeat yet. Here we go, and this is my chord sequence. I'm going to start on chord C. That's called one. (metronome clicking) (bright music) Then I go to chord V, that's G. Then I'm going to go to chord IV, that's F. I'm going to stay there for another bar, so two bars of F. Now I'm going to a secondary chord, chord vi, A minor. Then chord V. That's G. Then chord IV. That's F. And then I'm going to finish on chord I. That's C chord. So my sequence there is C, G, F, and then A minor, G, F, C. So I've started and finished on chord I. Seven out of eight of my chords are my primary chords, but I've also used that A minor, chord vi, in there to add a little bit of interest. And I've recorded it in time with the metronome. So that's my 8-bar sequence. And in a second, I'm going to look at how we develop that using some inversions. Now let's take a look at adding chord inversions. Now let's look at using some chord inversions. I've got my chord sequence there at the bottom. It mostly uses primary chord C, G, and F, and I've got an A minor chord in there as well. And I've recorded it in. At the moment, all of those chords are in root position. When we have a chord sequence with all the chords in root position, it sounds quite lumpy and doesn't sound very natural. There's a lot of jumping around. (bright music) Now when we add chord inversions, what it allows us to do is to have less jumping around on the instrument. For example, if I've got my C chord here, instead of jumping down to a G chord down here, I could use a chord inversion just there by keeping the G at the top. That way, there's very little movement in my hand, and it sounds like quite a natural movement. So when you're using chord inversions, try to think about keeping your hand as close to itself on the keyboard as possible, avoiding jumping around, and that will help you to use chord inversions really effectively. Try and minimise the movement of your hand between the chords. So I'm going to start on a C chord. (bright tone) And then I'm going to use that chord inversion on that G chord, 'cause that sounds quite nice. So I've got B, D, and G. Now from there, if I move just down one step to my F chord, I can also use an inversion there. (bright tone) But then on bar four, I want to do something different. So maybe on bar four, I'll go to a root position F chord. I'm not just playing the same version of F twice. I'm playing two different versions. So I'll show you my first four bars again. I've got root position C chord. (bright tone) Then I'm trying to avoid moving my hand too much, so I've got this inverted G chord. Then down one step to an F chord, which is also an inversion. Then a root position F chord. Bar five, I think I'll go to a root position A minor chord, and then I could try an inversion on G, perhaps. And then another inversion on F. And then that means that when I move back to C, there's very little movement here. So I'll show my second half again. I've got a normal root position A minor chord, inverted G chord, inverted F chord, and then a C chord. So my whole sequence there has limited movement around the instrument, limited jumping around, so it sounds much more melodic. When I've practised it, I'm going to record it in and get rid of my original root position one, and I'm going to record in my new sequence. (metronome clicking) So root position C, (bright music) then the G chord with the inversion really close. The nearest F chord, an inversion. Then a root position F chord. Then I'm going to a root position A minor. Then this close G inversion. Then this F inversion. And then finishing on my root position C chord. So that's my chord sequence using some inversions. I think that's a big improvement on the root position version, because it sounds much more natural, and it's much more interesting to listen to as well. To summarise some of that then, the steps we take are create an 8-bar chord sequence in C major, using mostly chord I, IV, V, and vi. Experiment changing some chords into chord inversions, and the emphasis there is on some, not all of them. If I had to minimise hand movement while playing this on a keyboard, you want to try and keep the chords fairly close together, and use inversions to do that if you need to. And then record in your chord sequence with the chord inversions. And the key point here is try to avoid using too many chord inversions. If you use it on all the chords, it will sound over the top, and it won't ground the harmony in the key. So you need some root position chords there, but experiment with some chord inversions as well. Let's check your understanding. Which two of these G major chords are chord inversions? I'll give you a few seconds to work it out. And the correct answers, then, are A and C. The one in the middle there, option B, we can see is in root position, whereas the other two have a different note other than G at the bottom. Which four chords are the most common in pop ballads? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answers, then, are chord I, IV, V, and vi. Or if you're in the key of C, that'll be C, F, G, and A minor. For task B, I'd like to create a chord sequence for a pop ballad, including chord inversions. Your steps are to create an 8-bar sequence in C major, using mostly chord I, IV, V, and vi. Start and finish on chord I, and try to avoid chord vii. Experiment changing some chords into chord inversions. Try to minimise your hand movement by keeping chords fairly close together. And then record in your chord sequence with the chord inversions, keeping in time with the metronome. Those are the chords that we will use in C, and there's a template there for you to write out your chord sequence as well. So you can pause my video now, and give this your best shot. For the second part of this task, let's have a look at this chord sequence composed by a pupil. How could they make this chord sequence in C major more typical of a pop ballad? Here we go. (pensive music) Just pause my video while you complete your answer. And we might have said here, then, that although it's supposed to be in the key of C, this is unclear as it doesn't start or finish on chord I and chord I isn't used at all. It also doesn't use any inversions. So grounding it more in the key of C, by using a C chord and using inversions, would make it slightly more typical of a pop ballad. Well done if you picked up on either of those points. For the final part of today's lesson, we're looking at writing a bass line with chord inversions. The bass line dictates the chord inversions in a sequence as it plays the lowest notes. In the chord sequence C, F, G, C, the bass would normally play the root notes of those chords. So it plays C, F, G, and C. As the F and G chord, in this example, are played as inversions, the bass player will instead play the bottom note of the inversion. So rather than just playing the root note of the chord, if you want an inversion, then the bass player needs to play that different note in the bass. The bass part then becomes C, C, B, and C. If we look at that notation there, we can see that is the four lowest notes. Let's see how we create a bass line using chord inversions. Now I'm going to add a simple bass line to my chord sequence. As we know, a chord inversion is determined by the lowest note in a chord. So if we have a bass instrument playing, it's important that they're playing the same note as the bottom note of the chord inversion. In my original chord sequence are these eight chords, C, G, F, F, A minor, G, F, C. If I was writing a simple bass line based on the root note of each chord, I would simply play each of those notes. So I would play C, G, F, F, A minor, G, F, C. But because I've used some inversions, I need to work out what the lowest note of each chord is. Now, if I can remember from when I played my chord sequence, that's great. But if I can't remember, I can open up my chord track and just have a look. So here in my first chord, I can see my bottom note is C, 'cause that was a root position C chord. (bright tone) My next bottom note there is B, so I had an inverted G chord. So my first two notes of my bass line are going to be C and B. My third chord was also an inversion. That's an A there. So I've got C, B, A, and then my fourth one was not an inversion. I've got an F root position for chord four. So my first four notes are going to be C, (dark tones) then B, then A, then F. Then if I carry on looking through, I'll see that, in bar five, I had a root position A minor chord, so the note A. Then an inverted G chord, that's a B at the bottom. Then an inverted F chord with a C at the bottom. And then a normal C chord with a C at the bottom. So if I take those last four bars together, I've got A, B, C, C. So that's the first step. Work out what notes are at the bottom of each chord. And when you've done that, then all we need to do is record a simple bass line using them. You could do just sustained notes if you wanted, or, if you want to make up a simple rhythm that fits, feel free to do that. Remember to put your metronome on, so if you are doing a rhythm, you're playing it in time. Here we go then. (metronome clicking) (gentle music) And that's my bass line recorded in using the lowest note of each chord, including the ones that use chord inversions. Let's go over those steps. So firstly, identify which chords have used inversions. Then identify the note at the bottom of each chord. And, finally, record a bass line using those notes instead of just using the root notes. Let's check your understanding. The bass note always plays the root note of the chord. True or false? The correct answer, then, is false. And that's because the bass note often does play the root note, but in a chord inversion the bass would play the bottom note of the inversion rather than the root note. For task C, you're going to add a bass line to your chord sequence. Make sure the bass plays the lowest note of each chord. Make sure you've played either a semibreve or a more interesting rhythm to fill each bar, and you've recorded your bass line on a bass instrument. You can pause my video and give that task your best shot. For the final part of today's lesson, I'd like to have a look at this chord sequence here and identify which notes should the bass player play based on this chord sequence with chord inversions. So we've got the chord names there, but some of those chords have inversions. What would be the four notes the bass player would play? You can pause my video while you work that out. The correct answers here then would be F, E, D, and B flat. And that's because the second chord, the second bar, uses an inversion so it shouldn't play the root note in that bar. Instead, we've got E in the bass of that chord. Well done if you got those four notes correct. Let's summarise today's lesson then. Pop ballads typically use a slow tempo, romantic lyrics, diatonic harmony, 4/4 metre, and a verse-chorus structure. A piano or a keyboard is often prominent in pop ballads and strings or brass are commonly used to thicken the texture. Typical artists include Whitney Houston and Elton John. A mix of root position and chord inversions can be used when composing chord sequences to create interest. And chord inversions affect the bass line as it has to play the lowest note of each chord. So thanks for taking part in today's lesson. I hope you've enjoyed getting stuck into the genre of music. And I hope you feel that you've started to learn some new tools to use in your composing, both in this genre and in other styles as well. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next lesson. Thank you.