Pop and Rock Harmony

Abstract

Pop and Rock songs represent most of the so-called Commercial Music. Therefore, knowing their basic characteristics is of great importance for composers. From a set of representative songs, a statistical analysis is carried out, which takes into account the types of chords used, their position (root or inverted) and the added notes (seventh, ninth, etc.), as well as the mode (major o minor) and the harmonic complexity of the songs. In the latter case, a distinction is made among: Main Chords, Diatonic Chords, Secondary Dominant Chords and Modal Interchange Chords. Finding these chords in any key is performed with the Harmonic Wheel, which greatly simplifies this task.