NO on Music Theory Print

No wave

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

Characteristics#

No wave is not a clearly definable musical genre with consistent features, but it generally was characterized by a rejection of the recycling of traditional rock aesthetics, such as blues rock styles and Chuck Berry guitar riffs in punk and new wave music. According to Village Voice writer Steve Anderson, the scene pursued an abrasive reductionism which “undermined the power and mystique of a rock vanguard by depriving it of a tradition to react against”. Anderson claimed that the no wave scene represented “New York’s last stylistically cohesive avant-rock movement”. The term “no wave” might have been inspired by the French New Wave pioneer Claude Chabrol, with his remark “There are no waves, only the ocean”.

Nocturne

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

History#

The term nocturne (from French nocturne “of the night”) was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening party and then laid aside. Sometimes it carried the Italian equivalent, notturno, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Notturno in D, K.286, written for four lightly echoing separated ensembles of paired horns with strings, and his Serenata Notturna, K. 239. At this time, the piece was not necessarily evocative of the night, but might merely be intended for performance at night, much like a serenade. The chief difference between the serenade and the notturno was the time of the evening at which they would typically be performed: the former around 9:00 pm, the latter closer to 11:00 pm. In its form as a single-movement character piece usually written for solo piano, the nocturne was cultivated primarily in the 19th century. The first nocturnes to be written under the specific title were by the Irish composer John Field, generally viewed as the father of the Romantic nocturne that characteristically features a cantabile melody over an arpeggiated, even guitar-like accompaniment. However, the most famous exponent of the form was Frédéric Chopin, who wrote 21 of them. Later composers to write nocturnes for the piano include Gabriel Fauré, Alexander Scriabin, Erik Satie (1919), Francis Poulenc (1929), as well as Peter Sculthorpe. In the movement entitled ‘The Night’s Music’ (‘Musiques nocturnes’ in French) of Out of Doors for solo piano (1926), Béla Bartók imitated the sounds of nature. It contains quiet, eerie, blurred cluster-chords and imitations of the twittering of birds and croaking of nocturnal creatures, with lonely melodies in contrasting sections. American composer Lowell Liebermann has written eleven Nocturnes for piano, of which No.6 was arranged by the composer as Nocturne for Orchestra. Other notable nocturnes from the 20th century include those from Michael Glenn Williams, Samuel Barber and Robert Helps. Other examples of nocturnes include the one for orchestra from Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1848), the set of three for orchestra and female choir by Claude Debussy (who also wrote one for solo piano) and the first movement of the Violin Concerto No. 1 (1948) by Dmitri Shostakovich. French composer Erik Satie composed a series of five small nocturnes. These were, however, far different from those of Field and Chopin. In 1958, Benjamin Britten wrote a Nocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments and strings, and the third movement of his Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (1943) is also titled “Nocturne”. Nocturnes are generally thought of as being tranquil, often expressive and lyrical, and sometimes rather gloomy, but in practice pieces with the name nocturne have conveyed a variety of moods: the second of Debussy’s orchestral Nocturnes, “Fêtes”, for example, is very lively, as are parts of Karol Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella (1915) and Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Symphonic Nocturne for Piano Alone (1977–78).

Noh

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

Origins#

The kanji for means “skill”, “craft”, or “talent”, particularly in the field of performing arts in this context. The word Noh may be used alone or with gaku (; entertainment, music) to form the word nōgaku. Noh is a classical tradition that is highly valued by many today. When used alone, Noh refers to the historical genre of theatre that originated from sarugaku in the mid 14th century and continues to be performed today. Various performing art elements in sangaku as well as elements of dengaku (rural celebrations performed in connection with rice planting), sarugaku (popular entertainment including acrobatics, juggling, and pantomime), shirabyōshi (traditional dances performed by female dancers in the Imperial Court in the 12th century), gagaku (music and dance performed in the Imperial Court beginning in the 7th century), and kagura (ancient Shinto dances in folk tales) evolved into Noh and kyōgen. Studies on the genealogy of the Noh actors in 14th century indicate they were members of families specializing in the performing arts. According to legend, the Konparu School, which is considered to be the oldest tradition of Noh, was founded by Hata no Kawakatsu in the 6th century. However, the founder of the Konparu school, which is widely accepted among historians, was Bishaō Gon no Kami (Komparu Gonnokami) during Nanboku-chō period in the 14th century. According to the genealogical chart of the Konparu school, Bishaō Gon no Kami is a descendant after 53 generations of Hata no Kawakatsu. The Konparu school was descended from the sarugaku troupe which had played active roles in Kasuga-taisha and Kofuku-ji in Yamato Province. Another theory, by Shinhachirō Matsumoto, suggests Noh originated from outcastes struggling to claim higher social status by catering to those in power, namely the new ruling samurai class of the time. The transfer of the shogunate from Kamakura to Kyoto at the beginning of Muromachi period marked the increasing power of the samurai class and strengthened the relationship between the shogunate and the court. As Noh became the shōguns favorite art form, Noh was able to become a courtly art form through this newly formed relationship. In 14th century, with strong support and patronage from shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Zeami was able to establish Noh as the most prominent theatre art form of the time.

Noha

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

Kashmiri Nowheh#

Noha is a specific genre that commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali in Urdu language, and is itself separate from classical Marsiya. In Kashmir during the mid 20th century, a new genre began to develop parallel to classical Kashmiri marsiya that was observed free from literary conventions, techniques and standard forms of prosody, spontaneously came to know as “Nowha”, and locally preferred as “Koshur Nowha” however initially called “روان”. Before this evolution, Kashmir has its own rich heritage of commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali in native Kashmiri language through much evolved historical to classical Kashmiri Marsiya. Kashmiri nowha has historically not competed with traditional marsiya given the local ceremonial context. However in 1923, a first of its kind, free elegiac verses were recited from Kamangarpora in downtown city of Srinagar as the muharram procession commenced towards Shia dominated Zadibal, for the first time beyond the dawn Years later, Mirza Ghulam Mehdi Beigh of sonwar, later migrated to Daulat Abad, Nowpora in Srinagar gave a proper standardized form to Kashmiri Nowha, and began to recite a macaronic styled nowha himself “Aye Gul-e-gulzar Ali Akbaram Urdu: اے گلِ گلزار علی اکبرم” that is still being recited by his descendant Manzoor Hussain Beig with zuljanah processions of capital city. With decades after, kashmiri nowha became so popular that all contingents of mourners in Kashmir tried their skill in reciting and evolving this genre. Later, Kagazgar family in Srinagar also came to the forefront and began to compose a parallel genre Nowha, in comparison to Marsiya. With regard to literary techniques, prosody is essential element now as the metre of nauha should be synchronous with rhythm of flagellation or chest hitting practice. Few new type nowhas are influenced by Iraqi latmiya, with a lapse of one beat.

Noise in music

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

Definition of noise#

In conventional musical practices sounds that are considered unmusical tend to be treated as noise. Oscillations and Waves defines noise as irregular vibrations of an object, in contrast to the periodical, patterned structure of music. More broadly, electrical engineering professor Bart Kosko in the introductory chapter of his book Noise defines noise as a “signal we don’t like.” Paul Hegarty, a lecturer and noise musician, likewise assigns a subjective value to noise, writing that “noise is a judgment, a social one, based on unacceptability, the breaking of norms and a fear of violence.” Composer and music educator R. Murray Schafer divided noise into four categories: Unwanted noise, unmusical sound, any loud system, and a disturbance in any signaling system. In regard to what is noise as opposed to music, Robert Fink in The Origin of Music: A Theory of the Universal Development of Music claims that while cultural theories view the difference between noise and music as purely the result of social forces, habit, and custom, “everywhere in history we see man making some selections of some sounds as noise, certain other sounds as music, and in the overall development of all cultures, this distinction is made around the same sounds.” However, musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez considers the difference between noise and music nebulous, explaining that “The border between music and noise is always culturally defined—which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus … By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.”

Noise music

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

Etymology#

According to Danish noise and music theorist Torben Sangild, no single definition of noise in music is possible. Sangild instead provides three basic definitions of noise: a musical acoustics definition, a second communicative definition based on distortion or disturbance of a communicative signal, and a third definition based in subjectivity (what is noise to one person can be meaningful to another; what was considered unpleasant sound yesterday is not today). In common use, the word noise means unwanted sound or noise pollution. In electronics, noise can refer to the electronic signal corresponding to acoustic noise (in an audio system) or the electronic signal corresponding to the (visual) noise commonly seen as ‘snow’ on a degraded television or video image. In signal processing or computing, it can be considered data without meaning; that is, data that is not being used to transmit a signal, but is simply produced as an unwanted by-product of other activities. Noise can block, distort, or change the meaning of a message in both human and electronic communication. White noise is a random signal (or process) with a flat power spectral density. In other words, the signal contains equal power within a fixed bandwidth at any center frequency. White noise is considered analogous to white light which contains all frequencies. According to Murray Schafer, there are four types of noise: unwanted noise, unmusical sound, any loud sound, and a disturbance in any signaling system (such as static on a telephone). Definitions regarding what is considered noise, relative to music, have changed over time. Ben Watson, in his article Noise as Permanent Revolution, points out that Ludwig van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge (1825) “sounded like noise” to his audience at the time. Indeed, Beethoven’s publishers persuaded him to remove it from its original setting as the last movement of a string quartet. He did so, replacing it with a sparkling Allegro. They subsequently published it separately. In the 1920s, the French composer Edgard Varèse was influenced by the ideals of New York Dada associated via Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia’s magazine 391. He conceived of the elements of his music in terms of sound-masses. This resulted in his compositions Offrandes, Hyperprism, Octandre, and Intégrales of the early 1920s. Varèse declared that “to stubbornly conditioned ears, anything new in music has always been called noise”, and he posed the question “What is music but organized noises?” In attempting to define noise music and its value, Paul Hegarty (2007) cites the work of noted cultural critics Jean Baudrillard, Georges Bataille, and Theodor Adorno and, through their work, traces the history of “noise”. He defines noise at different times as “intrusive, unwanted”, “lacking skill, not being appropriate” and “a threatening emptiness”. He traces these trends starting with 18th-century concert-hall music. Hegarty contends that John Cage’s composition 4'33", in which an audience and performer sit through four and a half minutes of “silence” (Cage 1973), represents the beginning of noise music proper. For Hegarty, “noise music”, as with 4'33", is that music made up of incidental sounds that represent perfectly the tension between “desirable” sound (properly played musical notes) and undesirable “noise” that make up all noise music.

Noise pop

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

Characteristics#

Noise pop is characterized by a mixture of dissonant, abrasive noise and guitar feedback combined with pop-oriented songwriting. AllMusic describes the style as occupying “the halfway point between bubblegum and the avant-garde”. Accordingly, noise pop “often has a hazy, narcotic feel, as melodies drift through the swirling guitar textures. But it can also be bright and lively, or angular and challenging.”

History#

AllMusic cites the Velvet Underground as the earliest roots of the genre, with their experiments with feedback and distortion on their early albums. Scottish band the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 debut, Psychocandy, is considered to be the earliest archetype for the noise pop genre, the band drew influence from the Velvet Underground, with their releases inspiring later prominent noise pop acts such as Meat Whiplash and The Flaming Lips. Many early noise pop artists were associated with the British C86 movement.

Noise rock

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

Etymology#

The term “noise rock” is a portmanteau of “noise” and “rock” music. The earliest known use of the term was on April 25, 1970, in an issue of Record World by writer John Kornblum, who used the phrase “psychedelic-noise-rock”. On July 22, 1972, writer Nat Freedland published an article in Billboard magazine which outlined the influence of Germany’s krautrock scene on English rock bands. He concluded by asking, “Is America the next step for teutonic noise rock?”

Noisecore

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

Characteristics#

Noisecore is characterized by a rejection of conventional song structures such as verse and choruses, embodying a lo-fi aesthetic, accompanied by extremely fast and erratic drumming, often dominated by blast beats, alongside heavily distorted guitars, which incorporate feedback and noise.

History#

Noisecore emerged in the mid-1980s as a fringe development of the hardcore and early thrashcore scenes. Pioneers of noisecore include bands such as Meat Shits, who introduced growling and blast beats to the genre, Deche-Charge, and Seven Minutes of Nausea, who released Does Abstinence Kills in 1986 and later a split with Seth Putnam’s Anal Cunt in 1989. Subsequently, Anal Cunt and Fear of God later pioneered, noisegrind, a more grindcore-oriented noisecore derivative genre.

Nomos (music)

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

Etymology#

The root sense of the Greek word νόμος is “that which is in habitual practice, use or possession”; its specific musical sense is “melody, strain”. In the particular application to these melody types called nomoi, it may be translated as “set piece”.

Types#

There are four types of nomoi, two vocal and two purely instrumental: # Kitharoedic nomoi, the earliest type, sung to the accompaniment of a kithara, associated with Terpander of Sparta (early seventh century BC) # Auloedic nomoi, sung to the accompaniment of an aulos, first devised by Clonas or Ardalus of Troezen # Auletic nomoi, extended compositions for solo aulos, introduced at the Pythian games in 586 BC # Kitharistic nomoi, solo instrumental works for kithara, introduced at the Pythian games in 558 BC

Nonsense song

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

History#

The roots of this song type can be traced as far back as “Shoo, Fly, Don’t Bother Me” and “Jimmy Crack Corn” to the 1890s “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay”. The Jazz Age created many nonsense songs, such as “Ja-Da”.

Examples#

“Sarasponda”, a children’s folk song
“Nonsense Song (Titine)” a song written by Charlie Chaplin, used in Modern Times (1936)
“Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)”, written by Edward Robinson; Jerry Brandow; Lenny Kent; Leonard Ware; Willie Spottswood in 1938
“Three Little Fishies”, written by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins; with music by Saxie Dowell in 1939
“Mairzy Doats”, composed by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston in 1943
“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”, written by Al Hoffman, Mack David and Jerry Livingston in 1948
“Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo”, written by Helen Deutsch in 1952
“Rubber Biscuit”, written by Charles Johnson and first recorded by The Chips in 1956; later known from the Blues Brothers cover version.
“Surfin’ Bird”, written by Al Frazier, Carl White, Sonny Harris and Turner Wilson Jr. in 1963. Performed by The Trashmen and the Ramones.
“Chim Chim Cher-ee”, written by the Sherman Brothers in 1964
“The Name Game”, written by Shirley Ellis in 1964
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, written by the Sherman Brothers in 1968
“I Am the Walrus”, written by John Lennon in 1967
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, written by Paul McCartney in 1968
“Dig a Pony”, written by John Lennon in 1969
“Prisencolinensinainciusol”, written by Adriano Celentano in 1972
The Israeli rock band Kaveret, active 1973–1976, are known with their songs with nonsense, wordplays and surrealistic stories.
“Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot”, by novelty band Caramba, released in 1981 on the self-titled album. Other songs on the album are also of the same nonsense song genre.
The closing theme song of the 1970s-80s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati by Jim Ellis features gibberish lyrics.
“Monster In The Mirror” from Sesame Street (1989)
“The Gibberish Song” from Judy and David’s Boombox (1999/2000)
“Gibberish”, from the 2003 Relient K album Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right…but Three Do
“Chacarron Macarron”, written by “El Chombo” in 2006
“Why This Kolaveri Di”, an Indian song from 2011 by actor Dhanush.
“Ja Ja Ding Dong”, a song from the 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Igowallah”, written by Daniel Thrasher in 2023
“The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)”, written by Las Ketchup in 2002 has a nonsensical chorus that hides as Spanish to non-native speakers.

Nordic folk music

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

Scandinavian music#

The dulcimer and fiddle are the two most characteristic instruments found throughout Scandinavia. In Norway, the eight- or nine-stringed hardanger fiddle is also found. Gammaldans are a kind of dance song played by harmonica and accordion, popular in both Sweden and Norway in the late 19th and early 20th century. Circle dancing while singing ballads is a historic part of the folk traditions of all of northern Europe. Only the Faroe Islands have maintained this tradition to the present day, though it has been revived in some other areas. Iceland is home to many ancient musical practices no longer found elsewhere in the Nordic area, such as the use of parallel fifths and organum. Greenland’s Inuit population has their own musical traditions, which have been melded with elements of Nordic music, such as the kalattuut style of Greenlandic polka. Finland was long ruled by Sweden, so much of Finnish culture is influenced by Swedish. There are a number of Swedes living in Finland, and vice versa. These communities have produced traditional and neo-folk musicians like the Swedish-Finn Scea Jansson and Gjallarhorn, and the Finnish-Swedish Norrlåtar and JP Nyströms. Baltic psalteries are a family of related plucked box zithers played throughout Finland (kantele), the Baltic states (kannel in Estonia, kanklės in Lithuania and kokles in Latvia respectively) and northwest Russia (krylovidnye gusli). A bowed lyre (Swedish tagelharpa, Estonian talharpa or hiiurootsi kannel, Finnish jouhikko or jouhikantele) was formerly played among Swedes living in Estonia, but usage declined until a recent revival. In the 19th century, all the Baltic states saw an influx of foreign instruments and styles, resulting in fusions like the zither kokles and German-influenced ziņģe singing style of Latvia.

Nordic jazz

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

Characteristics#

The distinctive Nordic jazz sound emerged in the 1960s, influenced significantly by American composer George Russell, who lived in Scandinavia from 1964 to 1969. Russell taught his Lydian Chromatic Concept at Lund University and worked with young Nordic musicians including Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen, and Jon Christensen, who would become central figures in Nordic jazz. The establishment of ECM Records in 1969 by German producer Manfred Eicher proved crucial for Nordic jazz’s international recognition. Jan Garbarek’s “Afric Pepperbird” (1971) became the first Norwegian jazz album on ECM, followed by Keith Jarrett’s “Belonging” (1974) featuring Garbarek and other Nordic musicians. These recordings established what became known as the “ECM sound,” characterized by spacious production and atmospheric qualities. Nordic jazz typically employs modal harmonies and minor-based tonality, often incorporating elements from Scandinavian folk music. Production characteristics include extensive use of reverb and emphasis on natural acoustics, creating what critics describe as a “crystalline” or “ethereal” sound quality. The aesthetic has been described as reflecting a “state of being” rather than “state of becoming,” distinguishing it from more rhythmically driven jazz styles.

Nordic popular music

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

Denmark#

Alphabeat
Aqua
Aura Dione
Barcode Brothers
Christopher Nissen
Drew Sycamore
Emmelie de Forest
Infernal
Junior Senior
Kato
Lukas Graham
Martin Jensen
Medina
Michael Learns to Rock
MØ
Mercyful Fate
Safri Duo
Volbeat
Whigfield

Faroe Islands#

Eivør
Synarchy
Týr

Finland#

Alma
Anna Abreu
Apocalyptica
Benjamin Peltonen
Blind Channel
Bomfunk MC’s
Darude
Hanoi Rocks
HIM
Isac Elliot
Krista Siegfrieds
Lordi
Nightwish
The Rasmus
Sara Forsberg
Sunrise Avenue
LAMORI - from Åland

Iceland#

Björk
Emilíana Torrini
GusGus
Kaleo
Laufey
Of Monsters and Men
Sigur Rós
Skalmold
Svala

Norway#

A1
A-ha
Alan Walker
Ane Brun
Annie (singer)
Astrid S
Aurora
Bel Canto
Broiler
Cashmere Cat
Christine Guldbrandsen
Dagny
Dance with a Stranger
Dimmu Borgir
Donkeyboy
D’Sound
Espen Lind
Fra Lippo Lippi
Flunk
Highasakite
Ida Maria
Ina Wroldsen
Jarle Bernhoft
Jenny Hval
Katzenjammer
Kaizers Orchestra
Kate Havnevik
KEiiNO
Kings of Convenience
Kygo
Leaves’ Eyes
Lene Marlin
Lemaitre
Lido
Madcon
Mayhem
Marcus & Martinus
Maria Mena
Marit Larsen
Matoma
M2M
Moyka
Nico & Vinz
Röyksopp
Sandra Lyng
SeeB
Secret Garden
Sigrid
Sirenia
Sissel
Susanne Sundfør
Stargate
Theatre of Tragedy
Thomas Bergersen
TNT
Tungevaag & Raaban
Turbonegro
Tristania
Wardruna
Ylvis By 2016, Norway had the 20th largest global music market. Currently four Norwegian artists have achieved a Top 10 placement on the Billboard Hot 100, including A-ha’s “Take On Me” which went to 1st place in 1985, Ylvis’ “The Fox” which went to 6th place in 2013, Nico & Vinz’s “Am I Wrong” which went to 4th place in 2014, and Kygo’s “It Ain’t Me” which went to 10th place in 2017.

Sweden#

A
Teens
ABBA
Ace of Base
A.C.T
Agnes Carlsson
Alesso
Amon Amarth
Army of Lovers
Aronchupa
Avicii
Basshunter
Benjamin Ingrosso
Bladee
Blue Swede
Bosson
Boy In Space
Crazy Frog
Da Buzz
Darin
Dr. Alban
Eagle-Eye Cherry
Elliphant
Eric Prydz
E-Type
Europe
First Aid Kit
Felix Sandman
Galantis
Garmarna
Ghost
Hives
Icona Pop
John Martin
Little Dragon
Leila K
Loreen
Lykke Li
Meja
Mohombi
Miike Snow
Miss Li
Neneh Cherry
Opeth
Otto Knows
Play
Rednex
Roxette
Robyn
Sabaton
Seinabo Sey
September
Sahara Hotnights
Swedish House Mafia
Teddybears
The Cardigans
Therion
Tove Lo
Tove Styrke
Yung Lean
Zara Larsson

Nortec

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

History#

Nortec originated in 1999 when Pepe Mogt started by experimenting with samples of old banda sinaloense and norteño albums and altering them on his computer or filtering them with analog synthesizers. He had picked up on the idea by listening to the percussive and angular grooves of the tambora and norteña music played at a family social event. Through some contacts in recording studios located in Tijuana’s notorious Zona Norte red light district, Pepe compiled tracks of isolated instruments from multitrack recording of tambora and norteño demo recordings that had been abandoned at the studios by the bands that recorded them. He began to burn these tracks onto CD-Rs, which he would later distribute to friends under the condition that they make a new track using the material. Those first raw tracks were compiled onto the “Nor-tec Sampler”, the first release from Mil Records followed by the release “The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1” and then “The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3”.

Norteño (music)

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

Repertoire#

The norteño repertoire covers canción ranchera, corrido, ballad, bolero, chotís, cumbia, huapango norteño, mazurka, polka, redowa and waltz. Image:Ramón Ayala.jpg Ramon Ayala, a norteño musician known as the “King of the Accordion” Image:Los Tigres Del Norte 1.jpg Los Tigres del Norte performing at a Californian casino in 2006

Origins#

Emperor Maximilian I brought Central European music to México during his reign (beginning 1863) in the Second Mexican Empire. By 1864, he had accumulated marching bands and musicians to entertain him. In 1867, the Mexican Republic executed Maximilian, thereby ending the Austrian empire in Mexico. Many of Maximilian’s former soldiers and fellow countrymen fled north and dispersed into what is now the southwestern United States. Norteño music developed from a blending of Mexican and Spanish oral and musical traditions, military brass band instrumentation, and European musical styles such as polka and waltz. European immigrants from Germany, Poland, and Czechia to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States also brought dance traditions such as the varsovienne. The focus on the accordion in the music of their home countries was integrated into Mexican music, and became an essential instrument. It was called norteño (“northern”) because it was most popular in the northern regions of Mexico. The late 1910s and 1920s were the golden age of the corrido, a form of ballad. Mexicans on both sides of the border came to San Antonio, Texas, to record in hotels. Their songs memorialize the Mexican political revolution of the time. Los Alegres de Terán and Los Donneños were among the first norteño bands. Later in the century, the genre became more commercial with the works of Los Relámpagos del Norte and other groups. More recent bands such as Intocable integrate elements of rock music and other popular styles.

Norteño-sax

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

History#

Norteño with sax originated in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, in the 1940s. Over the years, its popularity had spread to several other regions of Mexico; mainly in the country’s landlocked states. It would also gain popularity among the Mexican community in the United States from said Mexican region. Even though norteño-sax had its origins in Nuevo León, as did traditional accordion-led norteño, the former eventually became more culturally associated with states such as Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí; in part due to it being more popular there than its native region. The term “norteño-sax” or “norteño with sax” did not become widely used until the 2010s. Prior to that, it was known simply as “norteño” music. The genre eventually received its own name in order for it to be distinguishable from other styles of norteño music. More recent norteño-sax artists have incorporated modern elements into their music in terms of instruments and lyrics without abandoning their traditional roots.

Northern soul

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

1960s#

The term “Northern soul” emanated from the record shop Soul City in Covent Garden, London, which was run by the soul music collector Dave Godin. It was first publicly used in Godin’s weekly column in Blues & Soul magazine in June 1970. In a 2002 interview with Chris Hunt of Mojo magazine, Godin said he had first come up with the term in 1968, to help employees at Soul City differentiate the more modern funkier sounds from the smoother. Godin referred to the latter’s requests as “Northern soul”: I had started to notice that northern football fans who were in London to follow their team were coming into the store to buy records, but they weren’t interested in the latest developments in the black American chart. I devised the name as a shorthand sales term. It was just to say “if you’ve got customers from the north, don’t waste time playing them records currently in the U.S. black chart, just play them what they like – ‘Northern Soul’”. The music style most associated with Northern soul is the heavy syncopated beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Motown Records, usually combined with soulful vocals. These types of records, which suited the athletic dancing that was prevalent, became known on the scene as “stompers”. Notable examples include Tony Clarke’s “Landslide” (popularised by Ian Levine at Blackpool Mecca) and Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love” (purchased by Richard Searling on a trip to the United States in 1973 and popularised at Va Va’s in Bolton, and later, Wigan Casino). According to Northern soul DJ Ady Croadsell, viewed retrospectively, the earliest recording to possess this style was the 1965 single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” by the Four Tops, although that record was never popular in the Northern soul scene because it was too mainstream. The venue most commonly associated with the early development of the Northern soul scene was the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. The club began in the early 1950s as a beatnik coffee bar called The Left Wing, but in early 1963, the run-down premises were leased by two Manchester businessmen (Ivor and Phil Abadi) and turned into a music venue. Initially, the Twisted Wheel mainly hosted live music on the weekends and Disc Only nights during the week. DJ Roger Eagle, a collector of imported American soul, jazz and rhythm and blues, was booked around this time, and the club’s reputation as a place to hear and dance to the latest American R&B music began to grow. Pubs such as the Eagle in Birmingham were frequented by young blue-eyed soul singers such as Steve Winwood, who released songs similar to the early U.S. soul music. By 1968 the reputation of the Twisted Wheel and the type of music being played there had grown nationwide, and soul fans were travelling from all over the United Kingdom to attend the Saturday all-nighters. Until his departure in 1968, resident ‘All Niter’ DJ Bob Dee compiled and supervised the playlist, utilising the newly developed slip-cueing technique to spin the vinyl. Rarer, more up-tempo imported records were added to the playlist in 1969 by the new younger DJs like Brian “45” Phillips up until the club’s eventual closure in 1971. After attending one of the venue’s all-nighters in November 1970, Godin wrote: “it is without doubt the highest and finest I have seen outside of the USA … never thought I’d live to see the day where people could so relate the rhythmic content of Soul music to bodily movement to such a skilled degree!” The venue’s owners had successfully filled the vacancy left by Eagle with a growing roster of specialist soul DJs including Brian Rae, Paul Davies and Alan ‘Ollie’ Ollerton. The Sapphires, especially their songs “Slow Fizz”, “Gotta Have Your Love” (which reached No. 33 on the Billboard R&B chart), “Evil One”, and “Gonna Be a Big Thing”, became popular in the Northern soul scene, including during the early days at the Twisted Wheel Club.

Northwestern hip-hop

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

1980–1986#

1982 marked the year “The King Crewsade” radio show started on KBOO based in Portland Oregon. Host Chris Blanchard, aka “King Vitamin” hosted this call in rap show with rudimentary scratch mixes featuring Sugarhill Records and songs like Planet Rock.

1986–1992#

In 1986, the first radio show in Spokane to play rap and hip-hop on commercial radio was The Power Switch on POWER 104 FM (KXVO). Hosted by TJ Collins, Collins also featured local rappers and began airing mixes by GrandMixer GMS (who was a young teenager at the time). Nastymix Records, the Northwest’s first hip-hop label was founded with the local release of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Square Dance Rap”. Def American released Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992 No. 1 hit “Baby Got Back”, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. This award came after Nastymix’s last release, Criminal Nation’s 1992 album Trouble in the Hood.

Nouvelle Chanson

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

Characteristics#

Nouvelle Chanson, whilst influenced by the forefathers of French Chanson (cited above) has developed through modern influences such as rock and electronica. There is a tendency for theatricality and the adoption of personas, alongside intensely poetic lyrics incorporating surreal and metaphorical elements. Wry, intelligent humour is also often prevalent. However the defining characteristic of Chanson, both old and new, is that it focuses on the French language as vehicle and instrument. There is an emphasis on craftsmanship with many of the artists classically trained and/or having studied music academically (cf. Benjamin Biolay studied at the National Conservatoire, Lyon, Emilie Simon studied musicology at the University of Montpellier, and Ana Silvera has performed with the English National Opera and at the Royal Opera House) giving an intellectual aspect that sets this style of music apart from other genres such as pop, rock and ‘anti-folk’.

Nova Cançó

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

Historical context#

The Nova Cançó movement originated at the end of the 1950s, twenty years after the installation of the Spanish State with its repressive policies against the Catalan language and Catalan culture. The late 1950s were a period of economic and political change in Spain: Spain ended its policy of economic autarky, and Francoist Spain was admitted to the United Nations, which required the government to improve its image abroad. In this new context, at the beginning of the 1960s, new cultural projects emerged in Catalonia. In 1961, the record label Edigsa and the cultural organization Òmnium Cultural were founded, and the first edition of the children’s magazine Cavall Fort was published. In April 1962, the publishing house Edicions 62 released its first book. Little by little, the Catalan language, the public use of which had been expressly forbidden after the fall of Catalonia in the Spanish Civil War, began to regain a public presence. A notable example is the magazine Germinàbit, published by the Abbey of Montserrat, which in October 1952 became the magazine Serra d’Or. In 1957, the writer Josep Maria Espinàs gave lectures on the French singer-songwriter Georges Brassens, whom he called “the troubadour of our times.” Espinàs had begun to translate some of Brassens’ songs into Catalan. In 1958, two EPs of songs in Catalan were released: Hermanas Serrano: Cantan en catalán los éxitos internacionales (“The Serrano Sisters Sing International Hits in Catalan”) and José Guardiola: canta en catalán los éxitos internacionales. They are now considered the first recordings of modern music in the Catalan language. These singers, as well as others such as Font Sellabona and Rudy Ventura, form a prelude to the Nova Cançó.

Novelty piano

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

Novelty song

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

Late 19th century – 1960s#

Novelty songs were a major staple of Tin Pan Alley from its start in the late 19th century. They continued to proliferate in the early years of the 20th century, some rising to be among the biggest hits of the era. Varieties included songs with an unusual gimmick, such as the stuttering in “K-K-K-Katy” or the playful boop-boop-a-doops of “I Wanna Be Loved By You”, which made a star out of Helen Kane and inspired the creation of Betty Boop; silly lyrics like “Yes! We Have No Bananas”; playful songs with a bit of double entendre, such as “Don’t Put a Tax on All the Beautiful Girls”; and invocations of foreign lands with emphasis on general feel of exoticism rather than geographic or anthropological accuracy, such as “Oh By Jingo!”, “The Sheik of Araby”, and “The Yodeling Chinaman”. These songs were perfect for the medium of Vaudeville, and performers such as Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker became well known for such songs. Zez Confrey’s 1920s instrumental compositions, which involved gimmicky approaches (such as “Kitten on the Keys”) or maniacally rapid tempos (“Dizzy Fingers”), were popular enough to start a fad of novelty piano pieces that lasted through the decade. The fad was brought about by the increasing availability of audio recordings by way of the player piano and the phonograph; whereas much of Tin Pan Alley’s repertoire was sold in the form of sheet music and thus had to be simple enough for an amateur pianist to play, novelty piano brought virtuoso-level performance to the home and to those who would not normally attend classical concerts. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, “Hitler Has Only Got One Ball” (set to the tune of British Army bandmaster F. J. Ricketts’s popular World War Iera “Colonel Bogey March”) was sung by British troops. A 1940s novelty song was Spike Jones’ 1942 “Der Fuehrer’s Face”, which included raspberries in its chorus. Tex Williams’s “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” topped the Billboard best-sellers chart for six weeks and the country music chart for 16 weeks in 1947 and 1948. Hank Williams Sr.’s “Move It On Over”, his first hit song, has some humor and novelty elements (about a man having to share the doghouse when his lover kicks him out of the house), but contemporaries (among them Jerry Rivers) disputed this and noted that many men had been faced with eviction under similar circumstances. The 1953 #1 single “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?” became notable both for its extensive airplay and the backlash from listeners who found it increasingly annoying. Satirists such as Stan Freberg, Allan Sherman, and Tom Lehrer used novelty songs to poke fun at contemporary pop culture in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1951, Frank Sinatra was paired in a CBS television special with TV personality Dagmar. Mitch Miller at Columbia Records became intrigued with the pairing and compelled songwriter Dick Manning to compose a song for the two of them. The result was “Mama Will Bark”, a novelty song performed by Sinatra with interspersed spoken statements by Dagmar, saying things like “mama will bark”, “mama will spank”, and “papa will spank”. The recording even includes the sound of a dog yowling. It is regarded by both music scholars and Sinatra enthusiasts to be perhaps the worst song he ever recorded. Sinatra would record a few others before he left Columbia and joined Capitol Records in 1952. Dickie Goodman faced a lawsuit for his 1956 novelty song “The Flying Saucer”, which sampled snippets of contemporary hits without permission and arranged them to resemble interviews with an alien landing on Earth. Goodman released more hit singles in the same vein for the next two decades including his gold record RIAA certified hit “Mr. Jaws” in 1975, which charted #1 in Cash Box and Record World and was based on the movie Jaws. Among the more far out songs of this genre were the two released in 1956 by Nervous Norvus, “Transfusion” and “Ape Call”. The Coasters had novelty songs such as “Charlie Brown” and “Yakety Yak”. “Yakety Yak” became a #1 single on July 21, 1958, and is the only novelty song (#346) included in the Songs of the Century. “Lucky Ladybug” by Billy and Lillie was popular in December 1958. Lonnie Donegan’s 1959 cover of the 1924 novelty song “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)” was a transatlantic hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard charts two years after its release; it was one of the earliest top-5 hits to come from the United Kingdom in the rock era, preceding the British Invasion. Three songs using a sped-up recording technique became #1 hits in the United States in 1958–59, Sheb Wooley’s “The Purple People Eater” and two by David Seville: “Witch Doctor” and “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)”. Seville sped up his voice on his two number-one tracks to invent the title characters to each song, the latter of which would introduce the breakout characters that came to dominate Seville’s career, Alvin and the Chipmunks. The technique (which Dickie Goodman had also used on “The Flying Saucer”) would inspire a number of other knockoffs, including The Nutty Squirrels and Russ Regan’s one-off group Dancer, Prancer and Nervous. In 1960, 16-year-old Brian Hyland had a novelty hit with the song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”, by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, which topped the Billboard single chart. The Trashmen reached the top 5 with “Surfin’ Bird”, a surf rock medley of two novelty songs originally recorded by The Rivingtons. In 1964, the Grammy for Best Country and Western Album was awarded to Roger Miller. Miller was known to sing novelty songs. The British actor Bernard Cribbins had multiple novelty hits, starting with a satirical song from the revue And Another Thing entitled “Folk Song”, written by Ted Dicks and Myles Rudge. The show brought Cribbins to the attention of Parlophone head George Martin, who signed Cribbins to the label to record a single. Subsequently, Rudge and Dicks were asked to provide new material for Cribbins; their compositions “The Hole in the Ground”, about an annoyed workman who eventually buries a harasser, and “Right Said Fred”, about three workmen who struggle to move an unspecified heavy and awkward object into or out of a building (later also the name of a pop novelty band who named themselves after the song ), were top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart in 1962. The song spent a total of 13 weeks on the UK Singles Chart peaking at No. 23 in the chart of 17 February 1965. The song’s composers were granted an Ivor Novello Award in 1966 for the Year’s Outstanding Novelty Composition.

NO on Music Theory Print

No wave

Characteristics#

Nocturne

History#

Noh

Origins#

Noha

Kashmiri Nowheh#

Noise in music

Definition of noise#

Noise music

Etymology#

Noise pop

Characteristics#

History#

Noise rock

Etymology#

Noisecore

Characteristics#

History#

Nomos (music)

Etymology#

Types#

Nonsense song

History#

Examples#

See also#

Nordic folk music

Scandinavian music#

Nordic jazz

Characteristics#

Nordic popular music

Denmark#

Faroe Islands#

Finland#

Iceland#

Norway#

Sweden#

Nortec

History#

Norteño (music)

Repertoire#

Origins#

Norteño-sax

History#

Northern soul

1960s#

Northwestern hip-hop

1980–1986#

1986–1992#

Nouvelle Chanson

Characteristics#

Nova Cançó

Historical context#

Novelty piano

Novelty song

Late 19th century – 1960s#