Friday, September 18, 2020

Why has this one note taken over pop music?

"I would say the overall sound of pop in the last decade or so has been the supertonic.… It's the easiest songwriting trick in the world to just hang out on the supertonic for as long as you want over any chords, and then resolve the tension by just moving up or down one note." 

That's what Andrew Huang says in this video. He not only gives a convincing demonstration with a lot of songs, but also explains why this one note has become ubiquitous:


One of his examples is a Justin Timberlake song I ranked #22 in my list of the best songs of the 2010s.

Previously (2009): "The 2 most overused chord progressions in pop music today."

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