“Voicing Form in Rock and Pop, 1991–2020”

Drew Nobile, Music Theory, and 2021–22 OHC Faculty Research Fellow.

Popular songs are not just composed; they are sung. My project looks at relationships among song form (verses, choruses, etc.), lyrics, and especially how those lyrics are sung. My argument is that the sound of the voice is not a so-called “secondary parameter” but a fundamental aspect of song structure, one as central to a song’s identity as its notes and chords. Expanding our concept of musical structure in this way recasts traditional notions of musical complexity and value, which may help finally put to rest the tired notion that popular music is musically simplistic.