Neo-Riemannian Theory and the Analysis of Pop-Rock Music.

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Guy Capuzzo, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: This article outlines the use of neo-Riemannian operations (NROs) for the analysis of certain pop-rock chord progressions whose features invite a transformational approach. After presenting the NROs used in the paper, I delineate the general features of the progressions under discussion, distinguish the progressions from the late-Romantic progressions analyzed with NROs by Richard Cohn, Brian Hyer, Henry Klumpenhouwer, and David Lewin, and contrast pc parsimony (one or two pcs shared by two triads) with p parsimony (one or two pitches shared by two triads). I then offer a series of analyses, which fall into three categories: sequences, progressions with chromatic lines from 8ˆ or 5ˆ, and a song that combines triads and seventh chords. I close with an analysis of a complete song.

Additional Information

Publication
Music Theory Spectrum 26.2: 177-199
Language: English
Date: 2004
Keywords
Neo-Riemannian operations (NROs, Neo-Riemannian Theory, Pop-rock chord progressions

Email this document to