Notes for a theory of form in popular music

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5965/2525530409022024e0105

Keywords:

form in brazilian popular music, period and sentence, macro and microform, segmentation, similarity and contrast

Abstract

This article integrates comprehensive research on the structure of Brazilian Popular Music (or MPB, in Portuguese acronym), focusing on aspects of form. The study, which essentially intends to establish a firm basis for a theory on form in popular music, is motivated by the lack of specific literature on the subject. It takes as main references for its formulations concepts and assumptions derived from the so-called Neue Formenlehre. Starting with a group of basic definitions (nominal form, structural layers and levels, S/C relations, and factors for segmentation), the study proposes typologies relating to the ideas of macro and micro forms, focusing especially on this last aspect, to which it is associated the conceptual duality of period and sentence (SCHOENBERG, 1967; CAPLIN, 1998). As a central point for discussion, we propose a more flexible perspective for both concepts, based on the observation of musical practice in the context of MPB. The construction of an analytical model focused on the proposed formulations and its application in four case studies are presented in the last sections of the article.

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Author Biography

Carlos de Lemos Almada, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Carlos Almada é compositor e professor associado da Escola de Música da UFRJ. Pesquisador com participação em dezenas de congressos nacionais e internacionais e com artigos publicados em vários periódicos científicos, tendo seus principais interesses de pesquisa focados em variação musical e estudos sistemáticos em música popular. Autor dos livros Arranjo (2001), A estrutura do choro (2006), Harmonia funcional (2009), Contraponto em música popular (2013), Nas Fronteiras da Tonalidade (2016), A harmonia de Jobim (2022), A melodia de Jobim (2023) e Musical Variation: Toward a Transformational Perspective (2023). É membro da Associação Brasileira de Teoria e Análise Musical TeMA, editor-chefe do periódico MusMat: Brazilian Journal of Music and Mathematics, líder do grupo de pesquisa MusMat e coordenador (juntamente com Hugo Carvalho) do Projeto MPB (www.projetompb.com.br). É detentor de Bolsa de Produtividade PQ-2 concedida pelo Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) para projeto de pesquisa ao qual este artigo é vinculado.

References

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Published

2024-09-19

How to Cite

ALMADA, Carlos de Lemos. Notes for a theory of form in popular music. Orfeu, Florianópolis, v. 9, n. 2, p. e0105, 2024. DOI: 10.5965/2525530409022024e0105. Disponível em: https://periodicos.udesc.br/index.php/orfeu/article/view/25849. Acesso em: 20 oct. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2024): Special Issue: 5th Brazilian Association of Musical Theory and Analysis - TeMA

Section

Special Issue

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