During my undergrad, I heard the performance majors’ groans percolate through the theory classes: “Why do we need to learn what a Neapolitan chord is?” “Who cares about the rules of counterpoint?” Typically, when the performers fell asleep, that’s when I sat up.
Music analysis is a powerful tool used to understand how and why music works. Analysis can be used for a variety of reasons by musicians of any genre. Using classical music theory and/or other techniques, music around the world can be better understood.
In this brief article, I’ll cover some of the most common analysis techniques.
What can be learned from music analysis?
In a grandiose way, music analysis is trying to grasp why the particular rhythms and pitch configurations move us humans the way they do. Music theory and analysis investigate the power of frequencies and sound waves and how humans have learned to manipulate them and in turn manipulate ourselves. Sound waves are part of the very essence of the universe, so it seems appropriate to spend some time on this topic.
Back down on Earth, what music analysis aims to do is uncover patterns and reasons for what we hear and experience. It asks questions like: “How was this piece structured? Why is that structure successful?” or “Why does this rhythm move us?” Or “How are the pitches related throughout the piece?” These are just a few of the most basic questions music analysis has asked over the years.
Like music theory, analysis searches to explain why music is such a powerful force!
Aural music analysis
An often-overlooked form of music analysis is to use your ears! Though this may not be as “rigorous” as other types of analysis, it’s an important part of any analysis. Aural analysis is critically listening to the music – active and careful listening. Our ears are able to process many micro and macro elements of the music that may or may not be apparent when looking at the music written out on a staff. Key musical elements you may want to listen for are:
- instrumentation
- scale type or “pitch world”
- tempo and meter
- form
- melodic shape
- articulation
- dynamics
- music and lyric relationships
- who is performing
- surprising moments
- emotional response (mood)
The output of this type of analysis is typically a descriptive response. Whether written or spoken, the description aims to examine and explain the music in a way that increases our understanding of it. It should help the audience hear the music in a more nuanced and, hopefully, appreciative way.
I believe this type of analysis should be a common addition to all types of analysis. At times when studying music theory, I got so deep into the “paper relationships” that I lost what it meant to the piece as a whole. Using our ears, rather than our eyes to investigate music is something every musician should be able to do.
Roman numeral analysis
Roman numeral analysis, a technique all music majors must learn, is all about harmony and structure. This analysis fundamentally explores the “vertical” nature of music (I’m using vertical to mean if you are looking at a staff the notes stacked on top of each other). This form of analysis works very well for music that was written with key signatures and written in the major and minor modes (this analysis doesn’t work well on modes such as Dorian, Phrygian, etc.).
Roman numerals help show the harmonic relationships of tonal music. The roman numerals themselves come from scale degrees.
Uppercase numerals indicate a major chord, lowercase indicates a minor chord. Figured base notation is typically added to give more information about the interval structures from the bass note up. See my article here that talks about figured bass.
One of the fantastic uses of this analysis is it cuts through the note-to-note intricacies to reveal deeper structures. It can show more plainly what the ear is hearing when you strip away some of the complexity of the ornamentation.
Another use is to show the cadential moments in the music. Cadences are typically important structures in the music and roman numerals help define the different types of cadences.
Roman numeral analysis works well for the common practice period (Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods) but is not so useful for earlier Renaissance or Middle Ages music or music form the 20th century onward. However, there are plenty of 20th and 21st century composers working in neo-baroque, neoclassical, and neo-romantic idioms that lend themselves to roman numeral analysis.
Roman numeral analysis many not (probably doesn’t) work well on music outside of the Western music tradition. Music from other traditions has different, perhaps non-harmonic, organizational structures. Many times, they use scales in a different manner. Western music during the common practice period organized scale degrees and chords into a hierarchy of importance. Other music most likely doesn’t employ the same hierarchy. For example, some Thai music if analyzed through the lens of roman numerals looks like it just oscillates between I and V over and over. By this standard the music appears boring and repetitive, but this is because roman numerals are only able to show unimportant relationships in the music.
Roman numeral analysis can work well on pop music, but a LOT of pop music regularly breaks the “rules” of classical chord progressions and voice leading as you can see in this example from Linkin Park. A chord progression of i – vii – VI is not your “standard” classical progression. And look at the “non-chord tones” in the melody! This is a perfect example where roman numerals do not help all that much to tell the story of this music.
Shenkarian Analysis
Shenkarian analysis takes roman numerals to their limits when it comes to showing the most fundamental structures of the music. The goal is to distill melodic and harmonic movements down to the most essential components of the music. Typically, Shenkarian analysis shows the bass and harmonic structure moving from I to V and back to I. There are usually small departures noted but most common practice music does fall into this large-scale structure. This analysis also shows the main outline of the melody by especially pointing out the moments in the music that establish a melodic progression moving from scale degrees 3-2-1.
This book by Heinrich Schenker is a great way to see his analysis in action:
Centric Analysis
Centric analysis can pull elements from roman numeral tonal analysis but also must approach music with a more atonal ear. Roman numerals may be useful but be careful because they may not have the same type of hierarchy associated with them in tonal music. Centric music is music that has a “most important pitch” that the music continually returns to, but it does not have all the expectations tonal music has. This is different than atonal music in that it typically works within some sort of scale or key signature but values different interval relationships than typical tonal music. For example, some modal music falls into the centric music category. Folk songs can exhibit more of these qualities where there is a chord progression happening it just does not fit tonal norms. Early music and music from non-Western traditions should be approached in this manner.
You might be able to use roman numerals, but you will probably have to adjust expectations – meaning if you are looking for a I – V – I progression you may not find it. Other ways to approach this music is to investigate the melodic and bass patterns (as you would with pretty much any analysis method!). Examine how the pitches move toward the “center” note. You have to examine the piece of music on its own terms with its own musical vocabulary, you can’t rely as much on tonal crutches.
An interesting book I like that looks at a transitional figure and has some great analysis is Bela Bartok: An Analysis of His Music by Erno Lendvai.
Atonal (post-tonal) Analysis
Atonal music is a wide-ranging term that can apply to many kinds of music. Where centric and tonal music have a “center”, atonal music usually does not. Atonal music does not have a key and can break other tonal norms such as form and structure. Atonality was the natural progression from the intensely chromatic music of the late romantic period to abandoning tonal structures.
Atonal analysis, in my opinion, takes a lot of creative and critical thinking on the part of the analyst. When approaching an atonal piece, it is like a puzzle with no rules. With atonal music you will usually use set theory. Set theory is where each pitch is assigned a number (see below). By converting notes on the page to numbers it’s easier to see relationships and ways in which the composer manipulated the musical material. I have an article that goes into the relationship of numbers and music analysis here: Music theory and math – understanding connections – Global Music Theory
Set theory is one tool to use when investigating an atonal piece but you should also examine the phrase and formal structure of the piece. With atonality I find that investigating texture, dynamics, range, articulation, rhythmic manipulations, can expose a lot about how the piece was constructed. Many composers use these non-harmonic elements of music as structural – meaning perhaps instead of a V – I cadence, the texture goes from thin to dense to signify a breathing point in the music.
There are many fantastic books exploring the different approaches to post-tonal music, but a couple of approachable books to start with are:
Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory Fourth Edition by Joseph N. Straus
12-tone Analysis
Where atonal music has no preconceived rules or expectations, 12-tone music has a strict ideology behind it. The idea in 12-tone music is to play all twelve pitches in a specific order. Then the composer manipulates the order, texture, orchestration, dynamics etc. of the music. Some music follows this absolutely and some is a little more relaxed so be aware that there is some gray area. Once the prime row of a 12-tone piece is found and the manipulations of the row are pretty well laid out I find it is more interesting to not look so much at the pitches but all the other elements of the music to form a better picture of what makes the music work.
A good book exploring this topic is Twelve-Tone Tonality, by George Perle
Spectrum Analysis
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the formal name of this kind of analysis is, but it is where we capture a recording of the music and analyze the sound waves rather than only notes on a page. This method is great for music that can’t really be transcribed into staff notation. Or for music where a notated version offers no insights.
For example, for an ethnomusicology class I was assigned a Buddhist chant to analyze. In my naivety I started to write the chanting down. Needless to say, I quickly realized that was the wrong approach to the music. The shifts in pitch were too subtle to be captured on a staff. There was no discernable rhythmic pattern. The “melody” was non-existent. There was a lot to say about the context of the chanting (i.e. location of the chant, who was chanting, what were the words and intent behind the chanting, etc.) but I needed to comment on the musical quality of the chant as well. I took the recording and loaded it in some basic audio editing software and was able to more clearly identify the phrasing, the rise and fall of pitch over longer periods. Since this was chant, rhythmic patterns were mostly connected to the text of the chant but there were large scale sections where the music moved at a faster meter. Through the lens of the sound waves, I was able to line up the text and make more insightful connections between all the layers of the chant.
Approaching music outside of the Western tradition
Some music just can’t be approached using the tools of Western music theory. Well, let me take that back a bit, you certainly can try to use the tools developed by Western music theory and you may find something interesting, but you are more likely to miss the larger point of the music.
Many cultures don’t conceive of music as the West does. For example, there is a type of music that is more akin to a game. There is a loose set of rules, and the game is different every time it is played. Just like every soccer game is the same but different, that’s how this music is “performed.” More than that, the performers may not even really be identified. The people just join in and stop whenever they please on whatever pitch they please in whatever time and meter they please. The idea of writing down this music would make virtually no sense. This is where a contextual understanding of the music will tell a more interesting story than a detail note-by-note analysis.
With all that being said, I think the tools of Western music theory can be used to understand in broad strokes the music of other traditions, care just has to be taken to not miss what is really happening. There are many musical traditions that don’t lend themselves to being written down, so trying to forcefully write them onto a staff just butchers the music leaving most analysis tasteless and uninspiring.
Thoughts on the utility of analysis
There were, heck there still are times when I’m doing an analysis and I have to take a step back and ask myself, “what is the point?” Music theory can become so obsessed with the minutia of a piece of music – how does this 32nd note relate with a whole note two hundred measures later? – maybe the analysis does discover something interesting, but it can often beg the question, “who cares?” This is where the musicologist side of me comes out and I try to examine the music within the context of the composer, time period, location, basically, how does the music impact people!
Leave a Reply