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Chords To 1300 Songs Analyzed Statistically For Patterns

Posted by samzenpus on from the math-of-music dept.

First time accepted submitter hooktheory writes "We looked at the statistics gathered from 1300 choruses, verses, etc. of popular songs to discover the answer to a few basic questions about pop music. First we look at the relative popularity of different chords based on the frequency that they appear in the chord progressions of popular music. Then we begin to look at the relationship that different chords have with one another. To make quantitative statements about music you need to have data; lots of it. Guitar tab websites have tons of information about the chord progressions that songs use, but the quality is not very high. Just as important, the information is not in a format suitable for gathering statistics. So, over the past 2 years we've been slowly and painstakingly building up a database of songs taken mainly from the billboard 100 and analyzing them 1 at a time. At the moment the database of songs has over 1300 entries indexed. Knowing these patterns can give one a deeper more fundamental sense for how music works" This reminds me of the work done by two Rutgers grad students last year trying to find a formula for a hit song.

34 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Sorry, I have to: by Zapotek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pachelbel Rant

    1. Re:Sorry, I have to: by dov_0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That was an awesome clip. Anyway. They wanted to analyse MUSIC and chose chart toppers? Music?

      --
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    2. Re:Sorry, I have to: by BobZee1 · · Score: 2

      http://youtu.be/oojzmjJ3ugE

      --
      dumber people are doing harder things everyday
    3. Re:Sorry, I have to: by InvisibleClergy · · Score: 2

      After all, music is only things which True Scotsmen make. Anything else is, I don't know, cow dung.

  2. Interesting... by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just what we need, a database for the RIAA to use to play Whack-A-Mole on upcoming songwriters for 'copyright infringement'. There are only so many chord progressions possible. This will allow the holders of the eternal copyright to sue somebody because the chord progression they wrote mirrors a song their grandparents heard in the womb and thus infringes.

    Yet another argument for 7 year copyrights. Too bad we can't convince our Congresscritters of this...

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    1. Re:Interesting... by sackbut · · Score: 2

      I don't think that chord progressions are subject to copyright. Otherwise mashups would not work so well, or Axis of Awesome could not do this (4 Chords) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpB_40hYjXU

    2. Re:Interesting... by jamstar7 · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1397511/

      According to this documentary, mashups are not legal per US copyrights.

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    3. Re:Interesting... by Forever+Wondering · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Just what we need, a database for the RIAA to use to play Whack-A-Mole on upcoming songwriters for 'copyright infringement'.

      This type of analysis has been going on for decades. I remember meeting a guy [circa 1992] who had a consulting business based on doing just that. He would put a [suspect] music CD into his CDROM drive and [with custom software he wrote] have it analyze the note sequences looking for fragments that matched fragments of his clients' songs/catalog. IIRC, the criterion was either 11 notes or 11 bars [I can't remember which] of music.

      There are only so many chord progressions possible.

      Per copyright law, things that have "only one way to do them" can't be copyrighted. Also, the work must be of sufficient length (e.g. a 3 chord sequence could not be copyrighted but a 50 chord sequence could). Although circuit courts have varied on this, in general, the courts have held that to grant a copyright on a short [enough] sequence is tantamount to trying use a copyright to get patent-like protection. For the most part, this gets rejected.

      For specific examples of this, read Alsup's decision in the recent Oracle/Google dispute (including the citations to precedents). Or the second Westlaw mashup (again with citations).

      This will allow the holders of the eternal copyright to sue somebody because the chord progression they wrote mirrors a song their grandparents heard in the womb and thus infringes.

      IIRC, just having a long chord sequence that matches isn't always grounds for claiming infringment. In particular, if the defendant can show that they got there through non-infringing means (e.g. they kept all their composition sheets and could prove that they created the work from scratch, it's not infringing even if a portion happens to match). Unfortunately, I can't recall the case law to cite for this [just an article I read way back when].

      Yet another argument for 7 year copyrights. Too bad we can't convince our Congresscritters of this...

      Yes, the current length is insane [and unconstitutional IMHO] ...

      --
      Like a good neighbor, fsck is there ...
    4. Re:Interesting... by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 2

      >> copyright infringement

      Melody is copyrightable, chord changes are not.

    5. Re:Interesting... by SlippyToad · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't think that chord progressions are subject to copyright

      Considering how theory and harmony work, chord progressions are utterly non-copyrightable. I believe the majority of pop songs use the chords I, IV, V, I, in that order, at 120 bpm.

      The chords for "Twist and Shout," "La Bamba," and a dozen other little pop dance songs are flat-out identical. There are ONLY seven choices if you stick to simple triads in key. If you aren't playing simple triads in key, you're wandering towards jazz.

      Melody and lyric are what make a song individual. Chord progressions are like building blocks. It would be akin to patenting the fucking brick.

      --
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  3. And they found that... by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...they were all either:

    • I, IV, VI, V
    • I, IV, II, V
    • I, VI, IV, V or
    • I, V/7, VI, I/5, IV, I/3, II7, V

    Right? Or maybe that's just pop songs from the past twenty years....

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    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    1. Re:And they found that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Exactly what I was thinking when I read this. There's nothing mysterious about the chord progressions of songs. Pick a key and play that sequence. It's basic music theory.

    2. Re:And they found that... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 2

      Except when it's ABACAB

    3. Re:And they found that... by mortonda · · Score: 2

      Yeah, anyone who has actually had formal music training should know that. Maybe that explains the current state of music. :(

    4. Re:And they found that... by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Interesting

      BTW, the reason for the popularity of many chords (or lack thereof) is likely because so much pop music is guitar-centric. An A major chord would only be common if you're playing in D major, E major, A major, or sometimes in D minor (with a raised 7th).

      • Playing in D major isn't great for solo guitar work because with standard tuning, you've lost the fundamental. Now if your guitarist is willing to keep an axe in drop-D, sure, but....
      • Playing in E major results in having to play a B major chord as your V, which is kind of a clumsy chord to play (compared with many other non-complex chords, anyway).
      • The key of A major is awkward for tenors. Although the middle A is comfortable, the high A is powerfully high, and the low A is below the bottom of their usable range, so you can't safely write music that spans an octave from tonic to tonic. And even for guys with lower voices, the low A just sounds too boomy.

      You'll notice that D, major, A major, and E major are the 5th, 6th, and 7th most popular keys. And although D minor is the 4th most popular key, not all A chords in D minor are going to be major chords.

      I would also expect the probability of moving from any given chord to another would be strongly correlated with the standard chord leading rules, assuming you analyze them with numbered chord notation rather than by the actual note names. Certain chords naturally follow other chords, and although you don't have to always use such pairs in that order, good composers will tend to do so the majority of the time.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    5. Re:And they found that... by redneckmother · · Score: 3, Funny

      Uhhh, Formulaic "music" earned the proverbial shitton of money for groups in prior decades... /p>

      For instance, Journey...

      Posted with effuse apologies to my cohabitant, who is a Journey "groupie".

      Also, see my sig :-)

    6. Re:And they found that... by Deep+Esophagus · · Score: 2

      Right? Or maybe that's just pop songs from the past twenty years....

      I wish he had included the year of the song's release in his analysis. It would be interesting to see if chord preferences have changed much over the past 100+ years.

      As a barbershop quartet singer, I tend to favor simple melodies that follow the circle of fifths fairly closely, because those are the songs it is easy to improvise harmony parts to go along with. That preference spills over into the type of music I listen to, not just sing... and it's the reason my dislike of an era's music increases with newer music. You just can't get four guys together crooning an a cappella arrangement of "Oops, I did it again" or "Umbrella".

      Unless you're Big Daddy, I guess. That's a nifty group who cut a few albums in the 80s and 90s retrofitting contemporary hits into doo-wop and rockabilly styles. "Super Freak" is an awful, awful song unless it's done as a sweet ballad in Everly Brothers harmony...

    7. Re:And they found that... by Vintermann · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Anyone who had good formal music training should know that chord function is not identical with chord progression, and function may vary from style to style. Also that different styles of music vary along different parameters. Expecting a brave new chord progression in most styles is silly. And, in those styles where you're supposed to expect "original" chord progressions like prog rock, they usually turn out to not be all that original in the big picture.

      If variation is all you want in music, white noise is provably the perfect kind of music for you.

      The current state of music is that it's more diverse and plentiful than ever.

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    8. Re:And they found that... by sgunhouse · · Score: 3, Funny

      Here I figured it was the song ABACAB by Genesis

    9. Re:And they found that... by Nerdfest · · Score: 2

      Justin Beiber's baby would confirm what a lot of people have been saying.

    10. Re:And they found that... by nothings · · Score: 2

      tl;dr: RTFA, not just the pictures.

      Full version:

      Unfortunately, you misread the site. The site doesn't report the popularity of chords by name at all. If you'd read the lead-in to the chord chart, you'd see the explanation. Or if you'd thought about the most popular chords being "G F C Am Dm Em", the main traids in the key of C, you might be suspicious. Or if you had read the following analysis on the site which explains his theories for their popularity, you'd have seen your misinterpretation.

      The site reports the popularity of key signatures by name.

      It reports the popularity of chords by pseudo-name: relative to the key signature by transposing all the songs into the key of C. Yes, that's a dumb thing for him to do, but that's what he did, and it's identical to what you propose he should do. (The per-song analyses do actually use roman-numeral notation.)

      Your explanation is therefore bogus; the A chord is not necessarily particularly rare as far as we can tell. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Probably it is, actually, which leads me to my second argument: your reason for why it's rare is wrong.

      It is absolutely true that the popularity of many chords in guitar music is due to what's convenient on the guitar. But I'm doubtful that A chords are very rare in guitar music. More likely, the pop music analyzed here is not very guitar-centric.

      Let's look at an actual guitar band. The easiest to use is the Beatles, since they're well studied. They got less guitar-y in their later albums, though. Here's a source.. Note that relative minors have already been adapted in the same way.

      Top six keys in order on the site in the slashdot article:
      C G Eb F D A

      All beatles: G A E D C ...
      First two albums: E D A G ...
      Next three albums: A G D E ...
      Abbey Road: A C E D F

      So, in this actual guitar band, before they started writing on piano, retuning songs by changing the tape speed, etc., the keys of E, D, and A were incredibly popular, so I bet the A chord was probably popular as well. (but I have no stats).

      And since guitarists don't actually avoid these keys, unsurprisingly, your explanation for why guitarists would avoid these keys are wrong. (1) The B chord is uncomfortable for a beginning guitarist, but the B7 chord is easily learned, so B doesn't present a problem for the key of E. (And the reality is that the difficulty of the chord isn't a big deal for serious musicians. They favor open chords not because they're easy, but because they sound better.) (2) The key of D doesn't present much problem, as not having the chord root not at the top just means you play inversions a lot, or use sparser chords. The fact it's not low is irrelevant when you have a bassist; and look at something like Nashville tuning. Indeed, the convenience of a flexible A7 for use as V, and the ease of Dsus2 and Dsus4, makes D a quite popular key signature on the guitar. (3) I don't know why your A theory is wrong, but since your E and D theories were wrong, and since the Beatles (with three different male singers) loved the key of A, I can't imagine it's correct.

      So, the actual explanation for why A is at 2% is that it's the "relative A" chord that is the major VI chord, or i.e. the V-of-ii chord. That makes it popular enough to be at 2% -- V-of-ii isn't unheard of, but not a particularly common chord in the key of C, the way the non-diminished triads from the key signature are.

    11. Re:And they found that... by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, I would agree, my Minor was in music, and in Music theory classes, they gave us a list of the Bach Approved Cord Progressions.
      This has been the gold standard in Western Music for hundreds of years. Too much variations of this will sound unmusical to western ears. Popular music is about being familiar, It has been for a long time, so popular music will not stay away from the familiar. That is why professional musicians can just jam with a brand new song, by hearing where the song is and where it has been, they know where it is going to go.

      When you "Break The Rules" which you are allowed to, use need a good reason to do so. Give music that extra spice, but it is akin to a jalapeno on a burger, vs. just eating a plat full of jalapeno's (if you break the rules for no good reason)

      The Tonic (I cord)
      and the Dominate (V Cord) are usually always work with each other. The Subdominate (IV cord is sometimes used too, because it is the inverse of the Dominate). The Submediant (VI Cord) is the natural minor code with the same key Signature of the Tonic cord.

      Now the Supertonic (II Cord) is often due to a secondary dominance (The V cord of the V cord) Or used to move to a minor function from a Subdominate(IV cord).

      The Mediant (III Cord) and Leading tone (VII Cord) are used very sparingly. Primarily because the Median and the Leading tone, are key notes in letting the listener know what mode the music is in Major or Minor (The VII also can tell if you have a Natural Minor or a Melodic Minor). So these notes are usually reserved to give the music its feel, and not be the boring job of being a Cord Root. Now you may see the III and VII cord in music, however they are often not really a III or VII cord anymore, they are part after a key change in the music (often due to Secondary dominance) and sticking to the new key, for a while (now the music may have a new key signature, or just more accidentals in that area).

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  4. Axis of Awsome already figured out the formula. by theNetImp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Don't need no computer analysis for that.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I

    1. Re:Axis of Awsome already figured out the formula. by jasno · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, this whole thing sounds like something a computer programmer came up with after learning 2 hours of music theory. If he would have spent a few more hours on music theory he would have realized how obvious his conclusions were.

      I'd be more interested in hearing why those chord changes are popular - i.e. an explanation of their psychological effect.

      --

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    2. Re:Axis of Awsome already figured out the formula. by thereitis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'd be more interested in hearing why those chord changes are popular - i.e. an explanation of their psychological effect.

      There's plenty of information culled from research sitting in Wikipedia. eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_neuroscience_of_music

      However, a more narrative explanation would make for more interesting reading (to me, at least).

    3. Re:Axis of Awsome already figured out the formula. by bogjobber · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't think that statistical analysis can glean anything terribly interesting other than confirming what we already know. Sure, an authentic cadence sounds satisfying, and because of that it's always going to very popular. But for anything even moderately more complex, most of it is going to depend on cultural factors for whether or not it becomes popular.

      Just look at the history of blues changes in western music. Go back 200 years and Beethoven was the only major European composer playing around with the V-IV progression IIRC. Most people absolutely hated it, and it sounded completely foreign to their ears. They nicknamed it coitus interruptus because it did not resolve "properly." Then blues explodes in the US, and from the 1950's on that's one of the most common progressions in Western music. Then in the 1970's everybody's so tired of blues-based rock that it gets passe again. It sounds boring. So over time it went from sounding unnatural and experimental to being so common that it was uninteresting to many musicians. Nothing about the actual theory or function of the chords changed, just cultural factors.

      Plus, it would be pretty difficult to do. Even if you spent a great deal of time on each song, it would be difficult to give consistent interpretations. Is that iii substiuting for tonic? Is that a tri-tone sub of the V, or just a passing chord? Things like that.

    4. Re:Axis of Awsome already figured out the formula. by k(wi)r(kipedia) · · Score: 2

      I'd be more interested in hearing why those chord changes are popular - i.e. an explanation of their psychological effect.

      Probably because they're popular? I know that's kind of begging the question. But these chord progressions can be found even in folk music. It's kind of asking why Microsoft Windows is so popular. It's popular because somehow it got popular.

      I've heard plenty of so-called "progressive" rock, and none of them can match the sheer power and inventiveness of Beethoven. Aside from the evolution of Jazz, mainstream Western music really hasn't progressed that much from the time of Beethoven. (Let's not talk about atonal, avant garde music which finds its place mainly in horror music soundtrack.) As for psychological effect, I suspect it's largely cultural as part of the Western musical tradition. Of course, this extends even to "Eastern" cultures like Japan, given the overwhelming popularity of Western music.

  5. Also, The Piano Guys' remix. by antdude · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Watch it on YouTube.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    1. Re:Also, The Piano Guys' remix. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've always preferred Four Chord Song

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  6. Re:Lets lock down this forumula so no one can prod by mug+funky · · Score: 3, Insightful

    i'm not sure how far you'll get trying to own all music related IP if you're unable to spell Copyright or Chord correctly...

  7. What chords you need for a pop hit: by skine · · Score: 2

    It really doesn't matter, so long as you have a good marketing department.

  8. What Song the Sirens Sang by Charles Sheffield by multiplexo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The science fiction author Charles Sheffield wrote a story about a similar idea in the late 1970s called What Song the Sirens Sang. The protagonist is a journalist investigating a politician who has come seemingly out of nowhere and is about to be nominated for president. He discovers that the secret to the politician's success is that he has developed a theory of communications that allows him to combine words and music to evoke optimum emotional responses. Check it out, it's a short read and very good.

    --
    cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
  9. Just under 1.5 billion distinct songs by tepples · · Score: 2

    I don't think there'd be enough matter in the universe for [copyrighting everything]. [...] Even for very short songs that's a lot of possibilities.

    A judge isn't looking for the whole songs to be identical; he's just looking for the songs to be "substantially similar". This cuts down to comparing the melodic hooks, as shown by the cases listed here. A nine-note hook was deemed an infringement in Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, so let's go with that.

    Model a "note" as a duration plus a pitch interval to the next note. There are seven distinct intervals in a diatonic (major or minor or modal) scale. Notes can be short or long; the performer's exact timing does not change the fundamental character of a melody. This gives fourteen possibilities for each note. But the last note does not really have a duration, nor does it have an interval to the next pitch because there is none. With eight duration/interval combinations, you end up with 14^8 possibilities, or about 1.48 billion distinct hooks. That's fewer than one for each person on the planet.

  10. GuitarPro? by grumpyman · · Score: 2

    Maybe they could have tried on guitarpro files? I'm not sure if they can be read by 3rd party but those a analogous to midi files.