[Smt-talk] I - II- IV as a progression (counterpoint)

[jcovach]

I received a lot of responses to my post earlier today, some here on the list
and many others privately.  While I was indeed attempting to stir the pot a bit,
I should clarify that I do in fact think there are times when
counterpoint/voiceleading plays a central role in pop music.  Many years ago I
argued often and fiercely against those calling for an entirely new system of
analysis for pop music--one not based in "Beethovenian" practice (name the quote
if you can).  I still stand by those arguments.

And though it's been said many times many ways, I still think we tend to hear
what we're looking for if we're not careful.  Voiceleading is a kind of aural
streaming, and mapping the parts is made easier in traditional tonal music by
the presence of a score, and by a practice of attending to such things in the
proper writing of parts.  It's a central goal of the guild skills--which we
still teach--to get our students to hear this, very often when it's not so
obvious to them.

When the voiceleading is clear, things seem pretty settled.  But when it's not,
it then becomes a question of which model best captures the instance at hand. 
This seems like something most theorists agree about as a kind of basic
condition of our discourse, especially when we're talking about common-practice
music.  But if the model being posited normalizes the music from one style and
practice into an instance of another style and practice, there is good reason
for us to be skeptical, even if our skepticism later proves unfounded. 
Sometimes, such a cross-stylistic normalization works just fine and is quite
revealing.

Dahlhaus once said something like "to understand Schoenberg too quickly is to
run the risk of misunderstanding him completely."  I'd adapt that by saying to
understand pop harmony too quickly is to risk misunderstanding it.  It's because
these progressions can look so similar that we may be tempted to look past the
things that set them apart, and perhaps miss something crucial in the process. 
I'm not, by the way, saying anybody here has understood anything too quickly or
anything like that; I'm really only trying to make a broader point.  I'm usually
most suspicious when a passage in pop music seems to be working "just like
classical music."  But that could be a symptom of GDS--Gadamer Derangement
Syndrome!

Thanks for the many thoughtful remarks!!  jc


John Covach
Professor of Music and Chair, Music Department, University of Rochester
Professor of Theory, Eastman School of Music