Rock-theories

Rock Theory

Imagine Dragons' “Enemy” sets up a need that it then cruelly ignores. “Bruno” fulfills this unmet desire.

“Say It Ain’t So” opens with a striking dissonance. This kicks off a harmonic journey that keeps a harmonically stable song exciting.

Part two of our investigation into the harmonic and melodic adventures we call unjazz, featuring Rihanna, Drake, SZA, Doja Cat, and so much more.

Artists like Drake and singers like SZA have invented new ways of treating harmonic and melodic dissonance. I call it “unjazz”!

The Weeknd and Max Martin rigorously constructed a hit song out of a set of four-note segments of a pentatonic scale. Read all about it!

Why change chords for the chorus? Let’s compare the Pet Shop Boys' “West End Girls” and “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE.

Let’s see how a great songwriter like Paul McCartney could turn even parallel motion to his advantage.

The unlikely journey of “Old Town Road”, from sparse, barely tonal Nine Inch Nails instrumental to completely surprising ultra megahit.

In the 1980s, many songs changed keys for the chorus. Let’s follow Madness' hit “Our house” as the band takes this to ridiculous extremes.

What makes music melodious? We investigate this question. And we take a bad song and make it better.