The Universal Song

I’m convinced that music is the most efficient way to communicate a message that can be learned and repeated line by line or note for note by masses of people.

It just works, seems to me that’s why people make little nursery rhymes out of things they need to remember, and that’s probably why all major religions have music that embodies their holy texts.  Music is a very powerful gateway into our memories and subconscious.

In reflection of that statement, there are obvious formulas and patterns at play that seem to work.  Mastery of these formulas and patterns is at the heart of songwriting for the widest possible audience.  I have a high appreciation for artists with the widest audiences, as I realize the connection that they have made on so many apparent and esoteric levels with masses of people, none of which is possible without mastery of the formulas and patterns.

Many aren’t even aware how much “math” they have mastered.  On the compositional side of things : key, chord structure, arrangement, melody, and tempo. Couple that with some obvious stuff on the lyrical side: rhyme scheme, subject matter and use of the dramatic arc. These are all things that have recurrent formulas and patterns. Keep in mind that all of this has to be dynamically reinterpreted within the confines of popular culture on a weekly basis on order to make “hits.”

At least  50 some years of “popular” music has embodied obvious patterns, but patterns themselves go all the way back to the ancients.  Human beings like certain things… Always have, always will.  Maybe after thousands of years we have boiled it down to what really works.

But then again, what do I know…I’m jus sayin’