Triumph of the Unjazz
Part two of our investigation into the harmonic and melodic adventures we call unjazz, featuring Rihanna, Drake, SZA, Doja Cat, and so much more.
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Rock Theory
The Birth of the Unjazz
Artists like Drake and singers like SZA have invented new ways of treating harmonic and melodic dissonance. I call it “unjazz”!
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How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Takes Beethoven’s Ideas to #1
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!
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Where Did All the Chords Go?
Why change chords for the chorus? Let’s compare the Pet Shop Boys' “West End Girls” and “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE.
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All My Loving: Parallel Motion in the Beatles
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.
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The long and winding "Old Town Road"
The unlikely journey of “Old Town Road”, from sparse, barely tonal Nine Inch Nails instrumental to completely surprising ultra megahit.
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