Most pop songs are based on a dozen or so of the most familiar chord sequences that were “discovered” in the late 18th century. In the present age, someone such as Adele is an original singer because of her voice, her attitude and her style. But the chords and sequences she and most pop writers are using have been around for a very long time. Perhaps the originator of the three-minute pop song was John Dowland, way back in Shakespeare’s time, but one must argue that the modern pop song as we know it was created by Franz Schubert.
Schubert was a remarkable talent. Melodies poured out of him. He wrote 600 songs (also called “Lieder” or “Art Songs”, pieces specifically composed for a solo voice with piano accompaniment) plus nearly as many piano pieces, some 150 part songs, 40 liturgical compositions (including several masses) and around 20 stage works like operas and incidental music. His orchestral output includes thirteen symphonies (seven completed) and several overtures. Schubert’s chamber music includes over 20 string quartets, and several quintets, trios and duos.
Schubert: Father of the modern songwriter
Like today’s songwriters, his intention was to write music that would be instantly enjoyable. There’s not a moment where he is trying to catch you out or where you have to listen 10 times before you get your head around a song. He wants you to get it the first time; there’s verse-chorus, voice and piano underneath, and he wants you to remember a catchy chorus.
Some of these simple rules of songwriting Schubert used continue to be the simple rules of songwriting today, and there’s nothing much about Adele or Simon & Garfunkel or Leonard Cohen’s songs that would have seemed alien to the Viennese composer in terms of the chords, or the shape, the song structure in way the verse leads into the chorus, or the piano accompaniment. In fact, the thing that would strike Schubert as most odd about an Adele song is the fact that she wrote it herself rather than being its subject.
Schubert came to many of the same conclusions as modern songwriters – that writing random song after song is no use, that creating 20 songs and a journey is a much more satisfying form (see the similarity of modern-day albums!). And so that’s what he did with his song cycles. They are longer pieces where people go on a journey, and each song forms the next part of the story.
The fact is that if you strip that all away and ask what it is he is trying to do, he’s trying to write songs about love, or trying to understand the mysteries of life – and do so in a way that is instantly enjoyable. He was a young man (by our standards, very young) so there is some naivety to the songs and there’s a delicacy which, for some people, doesn’t fit in with the modern world. But leaving that aside, he is trying to create something that is instantly liked by lots of people and enjoyed by them wherever they are.
Adele’s voice and style make her an original. But the chords and sequences she uses have been around for a very long time. Photograph: Getty Images
That is not really very different from what Adele is doing. Her songs are based on a piano format, with verse-chorus, addressing the issue of love and relationships and shaping the voice around that; emotions are expressed; the length; the format – Adele wants her songs to be instantly enjoyed. Who doesn’t love “Hello”, “Turning Tables” or “Easy on Me”?
Speaking of Adele, Emmy, Brit and Bafta-winning composer Howard Goodall, who has written and presented a show charting the development of music from classical composers to pop stars: “I want to show a straight line that runs through to the present day,” he said.
Goodall uncovered musical connections between classical composers and their pop and rock counterparts of the modern day, although admittedly the current stars may be unaware of their debt.
His examples included linking Schubert and Adele, whose hit songs include Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You.
“Strip away the cultural differences, the clothes and anything that dates them, and there is a strong connection,” Mr Goodall said. “The musical shape, the architecture of it, the kind of chords, the way the accompaniment works and the way voice sits on it, even the subject matter, are remarkably similar.”
He compared Adele’s work, including best-selling album 21, with Schubert’s song cycles such as The Winter Journey and Swan Song. “They’ve got catchy tunes, and are emotionally straightforward.”
Schubert’s Schubertiads
Schubert enjoyed a good time and, in his day, he was famous for his musical parties known as ‘Schubertiads’ when he would gather with his friends and fans and showcase some of his latest songs. Now doesn’t that sound like a modern-day intimate indie Album or EP Launch?!
Schubert truly took the work of a songwriter to the next level in his day, and in a way popularised music that was intimate, memorable, and catchy – qualities we all look for in a good modern-day song.
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