EM on Music Theory Print

Emo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Emo originated in hardcore punk and is considered a form of Early emo bands used melody and emotional or introspective lyrics and that were less structured than regular hardcore punk, differentiating them from the aggression, anger, and structures of traditional hardcore punk. According to Chris Payne, author of Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion, emo is “often more melodic, more vulnerable than traditional hardcore — and often really over the top. There are also really performative aspects in emo.” Sandra Song of CNN describes emo as a “softer approach to hardcore punk, with warbly vocals and evocative lyrics that have other bands derisively calling it the sound of ’teen angst.’” Em Casalena of American Songwriter stated that the genre is characterized by an “angsty yet kind of miserable vibe”. Despite being rooted in hardcore punk, emo has also been associated with other related genres, such as alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop punk. During the 2000s, it became common for bands to fuse emo with harder styles such as heavy metal and metalcore to varying degrees by incorporating metallic riffs, guitar solos and breakdowns into their songwriting. Bands who have released songs in this style include From First To Last, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, Underoath and My Chemical Romance. Andrew Sacher of Brooklyn Vegan has expressed his belief that the year 2001 was a “crossroads” of sorts for the genre, stating that “emo came in a lot of different varieties” during that year. He said: “There were bands who were still playing the style of second wave emo that was prominent in the 1990s, as well as bands beginning to define the sound of the third wave. Some bands leaned more towards post-hardcore, others more towards pop punk, others towards indie rock, and others towards softer, acoustic guitar and piano-based music.” The New York Times described emo as “emotional punk or or That is, punk that wears its heart on its sleeve and tries a little tenderness to leaven its sonic attack. If it helps, imagine Ricky Nelson singing in the Sex Pistols.” Author Matt Diehl called emo a “more sensitive interpolation of punk’s mission”. Lyrics, a focus in emo music, are typically personal and confessional, Themes usually deal with topics such as failed romance, self-loathing, pain, insecurity, suicidal thoughts, love, and relationships. Emo guitar dynamics use both the softness and loudness of punk rock music. According to AllMusic, most 1990s emo bands “borrowed from some combination of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Weezer”. Some emo leans toward the characteristics of progressive music with the genre’s use of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, and extreme dynamic shifts.

Emo pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Emo pop is a fusion between emo and pop-punk characterized by “bright, emotional, and heavily singable” melodic composition. AllMusic describes emo pop as blending “youthful angst” with “slick production” and mainstream appeal, using “high-pitched melodies, rhythmic guitars, and confessional lyrics concerning adolescence, relationships, and heartbreak.” MasterClass describes emo pop as featuring “soaring vocals and upbeat songs with melancholy lyrics.” During the 2000s, emo pop artists would fuse the “lyrical and visual elements of emo with radio-friendly sonics of pop-punk.” Quinn Villarreal of SiriusXM said: “If you were born between 1990 and 2000, this is the emo you know and heard feverishly across U.S. pop stations.” and less extreme use of loud/soft dynamics.

Emo rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Publications have described emo rap as taking influence from hip hop, nu metal, post-hardcore, and cloud rap. Emo rap departs from the traditional tones found in modern mainstream hip hop in favor of more emotional and personal lyrical content, described by The Wall Street Journal as “giving their elders the finger.” Lyrics tend to focus on topics such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, consumption of drugs and alcohol, nihilism, suicide, and self-medication. The genre is characterized by its combination of musical elements commonly found in conscious hip hop with indie rock instrumentals. Sampling often uses 2000s pop punk and emo songs. Much of the sampling has been influenced by artists who inspired the genre, such as Mineral, Underoath, and the Postal Service. Some emo rappers also make use of original instrumentation. Horse Head of the collective GothBoiClique has described the music as “…sort of nostalgic, but it’s new too…no one’s really done shit like this. It’s like emo rap and melodic trap”. Fans of the music are sometimes referred to as “sad boys”, in reference to emo rapper Yung Lean’s music group by the same name.

Emo revival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Bands of the emo revival are predominately influenced by acts from the Midwest emo scene of the 1990s and early 2000s; according to Ultimate Guitar staff writer Maria Pro, the terms second-wave emo and Midwest emo are used interchangeably to describe that time period’s scene. Revival bands often display a “DIY sound” and lyrical themes ranging from nostalgia to adulthood. Pro, however, further writes that the revival only borrowed from the second wave in terms of aesthetics; sonically, it featured a distinct fusion of math rock, post-hardcore and pop punk.

Empfindsamkeit (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The German noun “Empfindsamkeit” is usually translated as “sensibility” (in the sense used by Jane Austen in her novel Sense and Sensibility), while the adjective empfindsam is sometimes rendered as “sentimental” or “ultrasensitive”. “Empfindsamkeit” is also sometimes translated, and may even be derived from the English word sentimentality, since it is related to the then-contemporary English literature sentimentality literary movement.

History#

The empfindsamer Stil is similar to and often considered a dialect of the international galant style, which is marked by simple homophonic textures (a single, clear melody, supported by subordinate chordal accompaniment) and periodic melodic phrases. However, unlike the broader galant style, empfindsamer Stil tends to avoid lavish ornamentation. The dramatic fluidity that was a goal of the empfindsamer Stil has encouraged historians to view mid-century Empfindsamkeit as a slightly earlier parallel to the showier and stormier phase called Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) that emerged around 1770. These two trends are together regarded as “pre-Romantic” manifestations, because of their emphasis on features such as extreme expressive contrasts with disruptive incursions, instability of key, sudden changes of register, dynamic contrast, and exciting orchestral effects, all of which are atypical of musical classicism as practiced in the second half of the eighteenth century.