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Welcome!

Search for your favorite movie, composer, or music theory topic, or simply browse the blog posts below! You can also browse the categories listed in the sidebar.
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Good or Evil? The "Cathedral Motif" in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

4/15/2019

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Here's a leit motif, called the "Cathedral Motif," that weaves its way through the entire score of Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame.

We hear it, for example, in D major when Clopin sings with reverence about the bells of Notre Dame.

We also hear it, for instance, in D minor when Frollo sings about his soul descending into Hell.
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What do you think?

It's well-known among film music fans that leit motifs represent certain characters, emotions, or ideas.

But so, so, so often, leit motifs are more complicated than that. As the cool kids say, leit motifs can be semantically flexible: carrying a wide array of meanings that ebb and flow over the course of a film.

This is certainly the case with the "Cathedral Motif," which perhaps shows how a Cathedral can be a place of both sanctuary and imprisonment, or how a soul (in Christian theology, at least) can ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell, or how religion can be (ab)used for both good and evil.

And it's also the case with other leit motifs in Hunchback, such as the theme from "Out There" that we also hear during Quasimodo's public humiliation, or the recitative-like melody with which both Quasimodo and Frollo sing so much of their music.

​But enough of what I have to say. What do you think? I'm really curious to know!
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Let's Talk About Modal Harmony - Disney Style! (Days 4-5)

4/5/2019

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Well, well, well. I had SO many ideas yesterday, that I didn't get around to posting ANY of them!

So I guess I'll just have to do a double post today. :-)

And since the last few posts have mostly discussed the Lydian mode, I figured I'd spend today writing about two other modes, which are rarely discussed in music theory classes: the major blues and the Mixolydian b6.

The Major Blues in "Carryin' the Banner" (​Newsies)

One of the modes that rarely gets discussed in music theory classrooms (because racism) is the blues mode. As the name suggests, it originated with the blues genre in African-American music and then later entered the jazz repertoire along with all the other modes we've been discussing (plus even more - jazz is a galaxy of modes).

Alan Menken's score for the 1992 film Newsies uses the blues mode extensively, setting the scene in early 1900s New York City and characterizing the newspaper-selling orphans as poor, emotionally broken, and transgressive. By contrast, he used the major mode for more "innocent" characters, like mothers and nuns. It's important to acknowledge the racist underpinnings of Western musical culture, which associates a "white" mode like major with innocence and a "black" mode like the blues with transgression, even if this blog isn't the space to dive into that discussion at length. That's why modal contrasts like this are used by film composers, and it's why audiences pick up on them, even if neither the composer nor the audience is necessarily aware of the racist undercurrent driving their musical experience.

Anyway, there are two primary blues scales: the major blues and the minor blues. Since Menken used the major blues in Newsies, that's the one I'll focus on in this blog post.

The major blues scale is constructed like this:

1. Start with a major scale.
2. Grab five of those notes - 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 - to create a "major pentatonic scale."
3. Then add a sixth note - the "blue note" - which is a half-step lower than scale degree 3.
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In Newsies, the opening song's verses use a D major blues scale, with a jazzy accompaniment that breaks all the rules of classical music theory. Here's the melody, with the scale degrees labeled and the "blue notes" color-coded:
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Things get really interesting, though, in the bridge section. After several verses and choruses featuring the rambunctious newsies singing their energetic, syncopated blues, we suddenly hear a group of nuns solemnly singing in major about Jesus. (Hollywood is as Christian-centric as it is white-centric, but again, that's another discussion.) Then one of the kids' mothers sings the same major-mode melody about how terrible it is that her son ran away to join the newsies, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME the newsies sing their syncopated blues tunes. This contrast is especially poignant in the 2nd measure of the sheet music excerpt below, where the mother is singing F# (scale degree 3 in D Major) at exactly the same moment that the kids sing an F-natural (the "blue" note in D Major Blues):
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This is an interesting moment of "polymodality" – having two different modes going simultaneously. But it's also a dramatic moment: the polymodal effect here is not just a stylistic thing, but even more so a way of dramatizing the split between a God-fearing mother and her rebellious, runaway child.

If you'd like to hear an alternate interpretation of the modal harmony in this song, check out Hunter Farris's podcast episode about it. It's also an interesting, if very different, take on both the harmony and its dramatic implications.

Mixolydian b6 (aka "the Wonder Mode")
​in Hunchback of Notre Dame

I've gotten so many requests to analyze music from Hunchback of Notre Dame, especially from a Twitter follower of mine named Jeff Wilcox. So.... this one's for you, Jeff! ;-)

Legendary music theory YouTuber Jake Lizzio has called the Mixolydian b6 scale "the wonder scale," because it's often used in popular music and film music to evoke feelings of, well, wonder. It's exactly the same as the standard Mixolydian mode, but with scale degree 6 lowered by a half step:
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But what makes this "Wonder Scale" so... wondrous?

How is this scale different from all other scales?

As Lizzio explains in his YouTube video, the first half of the Mixolydian b6 scale is exactly the same as major, while the second half is exactly the same as minor. It's like if the happy major mode and the sad minor mode had a baby and exactly half of each parent mode's genes ended up in the baby. That baby would be the bittersweet Mixolydian b6 - "The Wonder Scale."
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What's cool about this mode is that it has a major I chord but a minor IV chord. None of the other modes we've looked at are like this. Not the major or the minor; not the Lydian, the Phrygian, or the regular Mixolydian. Not Aeolian, not Ionian, not Dorian, not Locrian, and not the Major Blues.

The Mixolydian b6 is totally unique among all of these modes by having a major I and minor IV.

Alan Menken takes advantage of this unique characteristic in Quasimodo's dreamy I-want song, "Out There." Cooped up in the bell tower for most of his life, his physical deformations hidden from the ablist public, Quasimodo dreams of what it would be like to move from his shadowy hiding place to the bright, sunny village square, even if just for a single day. And he sings this in the bittersweet "wonder" mode, rocking back and forth between major I and minor IV, evoking both the uniqueness of this mode and the swinging of his bells:
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So this concludes Modal Harmony Week over here at Disney Music Theory! I hope you enjoyed it, learned a bit, and are as excited as I am to continue diving into the magical world of Disney. :-)
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Let's Talk About Modal Harmony - Disney Style! (Day 3)

4/3/2019

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The Lydian Mode in "Belle" (Beauty and the Beast), Part 2

Wow, is this fun!

In yesterday's blog post, I explored the use of the Lydian mode for little bursts of pizzazz in the otherwise major-mode opening of "Belle." As I explained in that post, all of the singing in the first two verses is in major. Lydian is used ONLY by the orchestra, either to add some space between lyrics or to underscore spoken dialogue.
ALL OF THIS CHANGES AT THE END OF VERSE 2.
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Yes, Belle, this is going to be nerdy! And I can't wait to share it with you. ;-)

First things first: here's a video of the song and the structural charts of the first two verses from yesterday's post. Then we'll see how things are different after verse 2.
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If you compare these charts for Verse 1 and Verse 2, you might notice that the first verse ends with a spoken dialogue, and the second verse doesn't.

Well, actually, the second verse DOES end with a spoken dialogue, but it comes after a lengthy verse extension that is ENTIRELY in Lydian.

Here's how that verse extension begins:
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If you examine this passage closely, you'll notice two tell-tale signs that this isn't just in Lydian, but, like, really in Lydian:
  1. The singers keep hammering at #4 in the melody, while the orchestra holds the tonic in the bass. This highlights, over and over and over, that characteristic tritone which makes Lydian so unique. (The first 8 measures are in G Lydian, so the singers emphasize C#. This is then repeated a minor third higher, in the chromatic mediant key of Bb Lydian, before Belle breaks down into a wail of frustration with a heart-wrenching Dm7 chord).
  2. The orchestra keeps alternating between I chords and II chords, with the tonic held in the bass, which is a classic technique for chordally emphasizing the 1-#4 tritone that makes Lydian so unique. (Although you can't always see the tonic bass in this piano reduction, the chord symbol "A/G" means that it's an A chord [II] with a G in the bass.)
After this, the verse extension continues with a spoken dialogue. As in the previous dialogue from Verse 1, we hear that playful Lydian melody in the cellos, as Belle talks shop with the bookstore owner.

HOWEVER, this time it's more complex (and the dialogue's much longer). As you can see in the sheet music below, this cello tune is played several times in D Lydian. Then, it's transposed up a minor third, to its chromatic mediant, F Lydian. After we hear it in F Lydian a few times, it then returns back down to D Lydian. These chromatic-mediant modulations mirror those in the Lydian singing just before this, where the music had modulated from G Lydian up to Bb Lydian.

Chromatic mediants, in case you don't know, often indicate some powerful emotional shift. So in the first passage, the energy of the group bursts suddenly higher with the shift from G Lydian to Bb Lydian, leading Belle to wail in misery: "There must be more than this provincial life!" Then, at the bookstore, as Belle begins talking about her favorite book, she gets emotionally carried away: with the shift from D Lydian to F Lydian, she begins to talk about why this is her favorite book, full of "far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise..."
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All of this is followed by Verse 3, which mostly follows the structure of Verse 2, and then we get to Belle's big solo -- "Ooooooohhh, isn't this AMAZING?" -- which is, you guessed it, also in Lydian. And then we get Gaston's solo, which is in Mixolydian.

But we'll save that for another day. :-)
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Let's Talk About Modal Harmony - Disney Style! (Day 2)

4/2/2019

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The Lydian Mode in "Belle" (Beauty and the Beast), Part 1

My dear fellow nerds!

I have a confession to make.

In yesterday's blog post, I promised that today's post would discuss the use of the Lydian mode in music from Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

Welllll... the thing is... this music is SO fascinating, and SO complex, that I was only able to get to ONE song from Beauty and the Beast today!

And not only that...

I only got through a 3rd of that song!

So, without further ado, I present to you the first couple verses of "Belle," that amazing opening number from Beauty and the Beast. Tomorrow, I'll continue with the middle section, and hopefully the ending, as well.
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"Belle" is in the key of D Major. Pretty simple, right? But the thing about modal harmony is that, although you could certainly have an entire song in the key of D Lydian, it's often used for brief splashes of color in an otherwise major or minor piece.

For example, consider the first few verses of "Belle." Whenever someone is singing, the music is in D major (except for the brief sequences that pass through C major and Bb major).

But in between the major-key singing are all these little bursts of Lydian, which I've highlighted in purple in the map above.

There's this spunky two-measure bit, which leaps about and emphasizes the tritone between scale degrees 1 (D) and 4 (G#):
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... which reappears later, inverted and foreshortened, as a two-chord sighing figure in C Lydian (C-F#) and Bb Lydian (Bb-E):
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These little bits of Lydian are like mini-transitions, or mini breaths of fresh air, or little bursts of color, within the much larger framework of D major.

And then there's this playful cello solo in the background music when Belle is having spoken conversations with various villagers, which highlights the #4 (G#) in D Lydian:
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Give a listen to this song, while following along with my structural map, and see if you can hear these little bursts of Lydian. Doesn't it just make the listening experience so much richer and more delightful? That's the thing about music theory. It helps us notice details of the music that we never would have noticed before. And once we notice those details, it totally changes the whole listening experience.

Whew, ok, that's the intro and first two verses! Tomorrow, I'll continue with the third verse, Belle's solo, and perhaps even (gasp) Gaston's solo in (gasp) D MIXOLYDIAN! (How earthy!)
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Let's Talk About Modal Harmony - Disney Style! (Day 1)

4/1/2019

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In our Facebook group, we had a great discussion about uses of the Lydian mode in Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Wall-E. But also, several people asked what modes are, how they're different from "normal theory," and how one can go about learning them.

SO..... welcome to Modal Harmony Week! Let's start from the very beginning, and talk about various ways that modal harmony is used in Disney music. Today (Monday), I'll explain the basics of what modes even are, explain some brief examples from Little Mermaid and Nightmare Before Christmas​, and then the rest of the week will be devoted to exploring various other examples in the magical world of Disney music.
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What are "modes"?

 OK, so the first question is: what is a mode?

To answer this question, let's talk about video games.

When you play a video game, you can set it up in various modes: "practice mode," "beginner mode," "expert mode," and so forth. What does this mean? Essentially, modes define the entire system of rules in which a video game will function:

  • Will there be a time limit? If so, how long?
  • Will points be counted? If so, how?
  • What sort of challenges will be involved, and how difficult will they be?
  • How much XP will be required to kill each monster, how resilient will the monsters be to the gamer's attacks, and how much damage will they deal in return?

In music, modes work in a similar way. They tell us what notes will be used, how they will function, and how they'll combine into chords. Modes tell us what progressions to expect, which cadences to use, and what sorts of intervals will be used to make melodies. They even tell us what kinds of gestures to use.

(Disclaimer: modes are not dogmatic, and there are many ways to idiomatically "break" the rules of a mode. That's true of all music theory.)

Major and Minor

The two most famous modes are called major and minor.

"Oh yes!" you might be thinking. "I know what major and minor scales are!"

Scales tell us what notes we're likely to use.

But scales are only one tiny part of what makes the major mode "major" and the minor mode "minor."

Modes tell us way more than that. For example, in major and minor modes:

  • there's a perfect fifth between the first note of the scale (the "tonic") and the fifth note of the scale (the "dominant");
  • there's a perfect fourth between the first note of the scale and the fourth note of the scale (the "predominant");
  • cadences are almost always formed at the ends of phrases by following a dominant note or chord with the tonic;
  • the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th notes of the scale are "leading tones," which often resolve by step to the 1st, 3rd, or 5th notes of the scale;
  • it's so strongly preferable that the V chord should be major, and that the 7th note of the scale should be a half step from 1, that the minor scale is generally altered from its natural form in order to fit these expectations.

These features are so central to the development of Western music theory that most people don't even think about them as being particular to the major and minor modes.

But they are.

Other Modes

The phrase "modal harmony" refers to music that functions within other modes, i.e. not major or minor. (Major and minor modes are called "tonal harmony," and all the rest are called "modal harmony." The reasons are fascinating but for a different conversation.)

Just like major and minor, the other modes have their own scales, which tell us what notes to expect. But also, like major and minor, the other modes have other characteristics that tell us how cadences are formed, which chord progressions to use, etc.

The most common "modal" modes are:
  • Ionian and Aeolian. These use the same scales as the major (Ionian) and natural minor (Aeolian) modes, but they don't necessarily follow all the rules of tonal harmony. For example, they don't have to use V-I cadences, and parallel fifths are totally cool. Unlike minor, Aeolian doesn't usually change itself to accommodate major V chords and leading tones - minor V and flat 7 for the win!
  • Dorian. This is like a minor scale, but with a raised 6. It sounds very folksy. (Think of D minor, but with a B natural instead of a B flat.)
  • Phrygian. This is like a minor scale, but with a lowered 2. It sounds very creepy. (Think of C minor, but with a D flat instead of a D natural.)
  • Lydian. This is like the major scale, but with a raised 4. It sounds dreamy and magical. (Think of C major, but with an F#.)
  • Mixolydian. This is like the major scale, but with a lowered 7. It sounds very folksy. (Think of C major, but with a Bb.)
  • Locrian is the wonkiest of them all. It's like a minor scale, but with lowered 2 AND 5. It sounds wonky and is rarely used. (Think of C minor, but with a Db and a Gb.)

I'm bored. Let's hear some music.

OK, cool! Let's take a listen and a look at some awesome bits of Disney music to see how these  modes actually work in practice.

Mixolydian: "Fathoms Below" (Little Mermaid)

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Alan Menken's score for The Little Mermaid (1989) begins with a sea shanty called "Fathoms Below." At first glance, you might think it's in C major, but it's actually in the folksy key of C Mixolydian.

The C Mixolydian scale is almost identical to C major, but the last note is a half step lower:
  • Major: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
  • Mixolydian: C - D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C

This does two things. First, it destroys the half-step leading tone between 7 and 1 that is so central in tonal (major and minor) harmony. Second, it makes the dominant V chord minor, rather than major. Take a look, for example, at the final v-I cadence in the last two bars. The dominant chord is G minor, not G major, and the melody emphasizes the whole step between Bb (7) and C (1).

"BUT WAIT!!!!!!!" you might protest. "There are B naturals in measures 3 and 11! How is that mixolydian and not major?"

Yes, it's true! But these B naturals are not part of any chords. They both appear as passing notes in an F major chord. By contrast, the final cadence uses Bb as a fundamental chord tone in the G minor dominant harmony.

This is typical of modal harmony. Although characteristic tones are often used for characteristic moments, they can be altered for less significant moments. Let's explore this particular idea in more detail with our next example, from Nightmare before Christmas​.

Phrygian: "Sally's Song" (Nightmare Before Christmas)

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Danny Elfman's score for Nightmare Before Christmas is honestly the best thing about the movie. (Sorry!) But seriously, it's really neat music.

Part of what makes "Sally's Song" so cool is that it cleverly takes advantage of the similarities between E minor and E Phrygian.

Minor and Phrygian use almost identical scales, except that 2 is a half step lower in Phrygian:
  • E minor: E - F# - G - A - B - C - D - E
  • E Phrygian: E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E

So to get a sense of what I mean, take a look at measures 1-2. The melody outlines an E minor triad, and – notably – does not include scale degree 2, which is the primary difference between these two modes. So if you just hear the first few measures, you'd rightfully think this is in minor. But then measure 3 comes as a total surprise: highlighting scale degree 2, F natural, it suddenly jolts us into Phrygian. Phrygian's power in this song is not just from being an unusual mode, but from interrupting the more typical minor mode.

In measures 8-9, Elfman pulls another clever trick. Measure 8 feels like it's shifted to the relative major, G major, and the melody outlines a G major triad. But then in measure 9, although we get an A in the melody, the background chord is an F natural chord -- suddenly jolting us away from major and into Phrygian.

Now, you might be wondering: if the power of E Phrygian lies in the use of F natural, then WHY are there so many measures with F#s in them? (I've highlighted them in blue in the sheet music above.) This, too, is part of the ambiguity between E minor and E Phrygian. In these blue measures, the F# is part of a dominant V (B7) chord, which establishes us in E minor. Again, rooting the song in E minor makes the revelation of E Phrygian all the more powerful.

Whew, that's a lot!

Yeah, it is! And it's SO much fun!

Let's pause here, and tomorrow I'll write about another mode – Lydian – in Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin​. Can't wait. :-)
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The Magic of Lydian in "Little Mermaid"

3/26/2019

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What makes the underwater background music in Little Mermaid sound so magical? It's a combination of many factors, including the harmony, melody, rhythm, articulation, instrumentation, and formal structure. 

One of these factors is its use of the Lydian mode, which is often associated with wonder, magic, and dreams. Part of Lydian's charm comes from the fact that, unlike major and minor, it has major chords on both I and II. It also has a tritone between 1 and 4 which has often been used to great effect (think of the Simpsons theme or "Maria" from West Side Story).
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But in the case of the Little Mermaid, things are a little more complicated. The ostinato shown above can be thought of as I-II7 in Bb Lydian, but it can also be thought of as IV-V7 in F major. If you think of it as F major, then it's as if the music is wavering around the dominant without resolving. In the song "Part of Your World," this makes sense as she's spending the first part of the song talking about how unsatisfied she is. But then, when she finally puts a name to her dream – "I wanna be where the people are" – that wavering IV-V7 finally resolves to I in F major. Ah, resolution...

So the use of Lydian here is a doubly whammy. On one hand, it already comes loaded with connotations of wonder and dreams. And on the other, it serves as a dominant prolongation of the relative major, refusing to resolve until Ariel finally puts a name to her dreams.

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History of Disney Music in 14 Minutes

2/14/2019

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To pass the time during my cancer treatment, I did a live stream on Twitter about the history of Disney music. Why not, right? :-)
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Alan Menken Loves 3rds!

1/9/2019

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Pop quiz! What's Alan Menken's favorite interval?

Answer: I don't know, but 3rds show up ALL over his Disney soundtracks!

He uses them in ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, emphatic gestures... have a listen to the examples in this video, and then read on to learn more!

Ostinatos establish a mood and anticipate motion.

Menken uses 3rds-based ostinatos to establish moods and anticipate motion. Ostinatos, in case you don't know, are musical patterns that repeat themselves over and over and over. For this reason, they both ground us in a particular sound-world and build up suspense over when, and how, the music will change.

In Newsies, the syncopations and brass orchestration of a 3rds-based ostinato set the movie in jazzy NYC, in a bustling orphanage where the newsies long for adventure.

​In The Little Mermaid, a 3rds-based ostinato is played smoothly and evenly by sweet violins, creating an aura of peace and satisfaction as Ariel lies down to sleep. What will tomorrow bring? We'll find out tomorrow; in the meantime, she basks in her happiness.

​In Aladdin, the end-of-bar accents, abrupt rests, and flurries of sixteenth notes in this 3rds-based ostinato create anxiety. Trapped by the guards, unable to escape, he prepares himself to jump for his life, colorfully depicted by a falling glissando.

​Here are those same examples in sheet music format:
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​Sequences create movement and anticipate arrival.

Menken uses 3rds-based sequences to create motion and anticipate arrival. Sequences are like ostinatos, but each time the pattern repeats it's a little bit higher or lower than the time before... like climbing on rungs in a ladder.
In Hunchback of Notre Dame, for example, the villainous Frollo sings a descending sequence of 3rds as his soul descends into Hell.

In The Little Mermaid, by contrast, Ariel sings an ascending sequence of 3rds as the sea witch, Ursula, rips her voice up and out of her throat.

Isn't Disney just lovely for children? Here are those same examples in sheet music format:
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​Free-flowing melodies are more flexible than ostinatos and sequences.

The challenge with ostinatos and sequences is that they're structurally very rigid. But that's precisely where they get their power: they're incredible at establishing moods and carrying the music in clear directions.

But Alan Menken also often uses thirds to create his own, free-flowing melodies, such as the following gruesome duet from Hunchback and snazzy, finger-snapping bridge from Newsies.

In the Hunchback duo, Frollo and Quasimodo sing short phrases based almost exclusively on thirds. Thirds are useful in duets, because they are very consonant, and they form the most basic building blocks of tonal chords. For these reasons, they're relatively easy to harmonize, which is a load off the shoulders when trying to blend two simultaneous melodies.

​This snazzy bit from Newsies uses open thirds, omitting the middle note of each interval. Leaping around from syncopated note to syncopated note, this use of open thirds creates a feeling of lightness, joy, and happy-go-luckiness:

Of course, the happy-go-luckiness of these open thirds can be snuffed in a puff, when used for a rigid, choppy, ostinato such as that in Randy Newman's song "Friends on the Other Side" from Disney's The Princess and the Frog.

​Good stuff. Here's the sheet music:
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Emphatic gestures add "punch and pizzazz" (quoth the Genie...)

A lot of folks think that music is just about long, flowing melodies and longer, nerdier chord progressions. But that's missing the trees for the forest. Just as hand gestures and facial gestures add extra meaning to vocal speech, so, too, do itty-bitty musical gestures contribute to the flavor and meaning of a song.
Alan Menken is a MASTER of musical gestures, and one of these days I'll write about the multitude of juicy, delectable instrumental gestures in his background music for Aladdin. It's part of what makes the Aladdin soundtrack so expressive and engaging.

But for now, let's have a listen and look at a few 3rds-based gestures in his vocal melodies.

The choruses to "I See The Light" (Tangled) and "Go the Distance" (Hercules)  are loud and exciting and triumphant and heroic... but if you want to know why that is, you have to look at the first three notes. Like a musical fist pump, each of these choruses begins with a sweeping gesture from scale degree 6 up to scale degree 1. They don't just break out into song; they leap into song.

​In "Friend Like Me" (Aladdin), the Genie doesn't just sing; he laughs, he make funny sounds, he throws around little exclamations... and all these "extra" details are performed via charming musical gestures. Here are just a couple of them, which are based on the interval of a 3rd:

​And here's the sheet music:
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Putting it all together: "The Mob Song" from ​Beauty and the Beast

Ready to see something awesome? "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast combines 3rds-based ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, and rhetorical gestures, all in a single verse!

- It begins with an emphatic gesture (a rising minor 3rd from scale degree 1 to 3), which immediately sets a dark and hurried tone.

- This gesture is then turned into an ostinato that wavers between two minor 3rds, one between scale degrees 1-3 and the other between scale degrees 2-4.

- The entire first phrase (emphatic gestures + ostinato) is then repeated a step higher, initiating a sequence.

- Then the same 3rds-based emphatic gesture is used as the basis for a free-flowing melody.

- The verse concludes with an ascending sequence based, again, on that same 3rds-based emphatic gesture.

Sooooooo cool!!
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Putting it all together again: "Arabian Nights" from ​Aladdin

The opening song from "Aladdin" also combines 3rds-based ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, and rhetorical gestures. My analysis below only covers the first half of the song, but I should warn you that the second half is also heavily based on 3rds as well. My gosh, does Alan Menken LOVE to use 3rds, or what?!
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In fact, here's a direct link to this entire essay on Twitter - why not just retweet it? :-)

I expanded this thread about @AIMenken's love of 3rds into a full-blown blog post. It's pretty epic! And I can't wait to hear what y'all think of it. □ ❤️ □

Here's the link:https://t.co/F1uVUF5mhX#DisneyMusicTheory #musictheory #AlanMenken @Lyrikris10 @Lin_Manuel https://t.co/A3YvSfYQ4h

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) January 9, 2019
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Menken's Thirds (teasers / Twitter discussion)

1/1/2019

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Still working on this video... gonna be great!

Hint: it has something to do with 3rds. Why does @AIMenken love 3rds so much? He uses them to start off so many melodies... he uses them as ostinati and sequences... it's a stylistic motif weaving through all of his Disney stuff! □ https://t.co/VjxOSEyr3I

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) January 2, 2019
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What book is Belle reading? The answer is in the background music...

12/20/2018

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[THREAD]

What book is Belle reading? Some say #Aladdin; others, #SleepingBeauty.

But actually? It's #BeautyAndTheBeast - she has no idea she's reading her own future! And we know this because the BACKGROUND MUSIC tells us so.

Intrigued? Read on, my friends!#DisneyMusicTheory pic.twitter.com/ka8rvvG2qx

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[2] I love this tune. Belle sings it twice: when describing her favorite book, and later (in Something There) when realizing this book is about HER. That's why I call it her "meta theme."

But way more interesting is what happens between these 2 songs, in the background music... pic.twitter.com/qZwVowMqGw

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[3] After angrily leaving Belle to starve in her bedroom, the Beast cries to himself: "She'll never see me as anything but a monster!" What a great moment for the violins to start playing just a snippet of the Meta Theme, the first musical hint that Belle's book is coming true. pic.twitter.com/PeaMQYl7zl

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[4] After the Beast risks his life to save Belle's, she takes care of his wounds. She thanks him for saving her, and he politely says "you're welcome."

Wait, what? Are they actually being nice to each other? The violins give us a slightly longer snippet of the Meta Theme... pic.twitter.com/khrq8j95l4

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[5] LOL, see those smiles? They're becoming friends! Belle is even teaching him how to eat soup without getting it all over his beard! (A hard lesson for all bearded folk...)

Now we get most of the Meta Theme in the violins, but not the whole thing yet... not 100% in love yet... pic.twitter.com/8J53hxvjUe

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[6] Watching Belle play in the snow, the Beast has a revelation – and a desire to be generous!

"I've never felt this way about anyone. I want to do something for her!"

Someone's falling in loooooove... Belle's favorite book is becoming real life... but not 100% there yet... pic.twitter.com/qaOGYT6dsP

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[7] Here's the Meta Theme's full progression, from the 1st time Belle sings it, through the background music in various scenes, til she sings it again in Something There.

The background music isn't just there to be pretty! It foreshadows, drives, and develops the narrative! pic.twitter.com/anA2356hzX

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018

[8] Like and R/T this thread for all your friends who don't know (yet!) how fascinating and important the background music in Disney movies can be! It's not just there to be pretty; it's there to tell us stories, if only we're willing to pay attention! ?❤️? pic.twitter.com/4UVwSGjtGa

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 20, 2018
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Analysis Request #2: Why doesn't Hades sing?

12/17/2018

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Well, I didn't intend to reply with a whole thread, but you know... things happen...

So here's a little thread about the music of Disney villains (or lack thereof)!#DisneyMusicTheory https://t.co/bx8VBFaLsn

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Before Little Mermaid (1989), no Disney villains sang their own solo. There were a few who sang bits and pieces, like Cinderella's stepsisters with their horrendous voices. Musical talent = purity / goodness, while lack of musical talent = evil. (cont...)

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Menken sort of changed this, setting a trend that lasts to the present. The villains in Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Lion King, all the way up through Princess & the Frog and Tangled have very growly voices that blend the boundaries between singing and speaking. Shows they're evil.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

This is actually an anti-Semitic trope in opera, literature, art, for 100s of years: that Jews' poor musicianship shows how evil they are and Christians' musicality shows their purity. Few connect this with Jews today, but the musical=good/non-musical=bad idea is ALL over Disney.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's an amazing book called "Music Libel Against the Jews" by Dr. Ruth HaCohen which details this anti-Semitic stereotype about "evil Jews" being fundamentally unmusical in contrast to "pure Christians." So fascinating.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

@jbohn_composer mentioned this a little in his book about early Disney music, but he didn't connect it with the old anti-Semitic trope.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

I've actually got a whole YouTube series planned about this, once I make the time for it...

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In the case of Hercules & Little Mermaid, knowing this anti-Semitic history is particularly interesting, given that it's very possible to hear both Ursula and Hades as Jewish caricatures. I don't assume that the composers were even AWARE of the anti-Semitic history of this trope.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In fact, it's REALLY interesting in the context of Little Mermaid, because there are actually people on the internet who think that Ursula is the devil, King Triton is Jesus, and Ariel is humanity: so Ursula (coded as Jewish) is like the devil tempting humanity away from Jesus.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In that reading Ursula (coded as Jewish) is not just tempting Ariel (humanity). She's silencing Ariel's voice, b/c, according to this anti-Semitic trope, Jews hate music. It's like in the Canterbury Tales when Jews slit the throat of a Christian singer b/c they can't stand music.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

That's probably not the answer you had in mind when you asked why Hades doesn't sing... it's so fascinating and surprising. But it explains so, so much about why Disney villains either don't sing at all or else sing with a "non-musical" voice.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018
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Rising and falling gestures in Tangled and Frozen

11/30/2018

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[THREAD] A few days ago, I tweeted some infographics about rising & falling gestures in @Disney music. As I said, gestures don't always work in isolation; they often combine to tell stories. Here are some examples from @Disney’s #Tangled and #Frozen!#DisneyMusicTheory

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 30, 2018

[1] I See The Light from #Tangled is about her emotional journey from dream to reality. But she admits she’s afraid of a let down. Her singing expresses that conflict, like in that RISING sequence of FALLING gestures in line 2!

blue = sadness • green = joy • cyan = in between pic.twitter.com/rvh88SaDF8

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 30, 2018

[2] "I See the Light" ends with a melody that repeats the words “now that I’m with you” two times. They are identical, except… the 1st time, “with you” is down an octave (sadness), and the 2nd time "with you" is up an octave (joy).

Did you notice these things before? So cool! pic.twitter.com/OiEiA3ssoq

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 30, 2018

[3] Now I'll get to work on some analysis infographics about "Let it Go" from #Frozen... stay tuned! I'll add them to this thread when they're ready. ?

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 30, 2018

[4] "Let it Go" from @Disney's #Frozen obviously shows Elsa's transformation from fear to confidence. But not just in the lyrics / visuals – the music expresses this, too!

For starters, compare the long downward melodies in the intro with the long rising melodies in the bridge: pic.twitter.com/KmI6zDmGu1

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018

[5] After the intro's descending melodies, Let it Go's pre-chorus is full of upward leaps, a sign of Elsa's hope and excitement, building tension toward the chorus. Then the chorus features not only upward leaps, but also small, stepwise gestures indicating confidence and relief. pic.twitter.com/AHLfAurh7R

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018

[6] Though Elsa's confidence is building, it's not until the end that she fully lets go of her trauma (or so she thinks). At the end of each chorus, when she sings "let the storm rage on," she ends with a drop in the melody. But the final chorus ends with a super high leap! Yay. pic.twitter.com/YtQ3scJ1FK

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018

[7] Of course, the tragedy of "Let it Go" is that Elsa *hasn't*, in fact, let go of her trauma. She thinks she has, because she's no longer worried about hurting people... but she IS still worried about hurting people, because why else would she hide herself in isolation?

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018

[8] Nevertheless, the lyrics, visuals, AND musical gestures guide us as her confidence and excitement grow from the intro to the final chorus. To really get that full experience, we can't just focus on the lyrics and visuals – the music itself is part of the storytelling, too.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018

[9] @Lyrikris10, do you think about musical gestures like these when composing? I suppose I could be way off on my analysis of "Let it Go" (earlier in this thread), but it's certainly brought a lot more meaning to my own hearing of this song!

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 2, 2018
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Rising and falling gestures

11/28/2018

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[THREAD] Everyone talks about chords, but music is also made of gestures. Just as hand gestures express ideas, so, too, do musical gestures. Here's a thread of examples from @Disney music!

#1: small, rising gestures often indicate confidence and excitement.#DisneyMusicTheory pic.twitter.com/1d7rKZaDIS

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

#2: big, leaping gestures often express hopes and dreams. pic.twitter.com/avKyrAPYGA

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

#3: falling gestures often communicate loss, fear, and hopelessness. These examples are downward scales, decorated a bit for emotional punch. But you can have shorter gestures, too, like the drops on "Savages, savages!" in #Pocahontas and "What is wrong with me?" in #Moana. pic.twitter.com/FDON8iER9S

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

[4] Musical gestures don't just work in isolation, though. Later this week, I'll post another thread with examples of how musical gestures combine to tell stories and express emotional journeys in music from @Disney's #Frozen and #Tangled. Can't wait! This stuff is so cool! □

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

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Motivic transformation in Aladdin

11/26/2018

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Did you ever notice how the melodies for "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)" and "Whole New World" from @Disney's #Aladdin are so similar? Check out those identical notes in green... (I made the rhythms the same so it's easier to compare.)#DisneyMusicTheory #MusicTheory pic.twitter.com/LLrdQ5lZJF

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 26, 2018

Of course, they're NOT identical... this bit from One Jump Ahead is in minor, while Whole New World is in major. The former has a very boring rhythm (all quarter notes) while the latter is full of syncopation. The motif is transformed just as Aladdin himself is transformed!

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 26, 2018
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    Categories

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    Composer: Alan Menken
    Composer: Danny Elfman
    Composer: Elton John
    Composer: Frank Churchill
    Composer: Kristen Anderson Lopez And Robert Lopez
    Composer: Leigh Harline
    Composer: Lin Manuel Miranda
    Composer: Lin-Manuel Miranda
    Composer: Mack David And Al Hoffman And Jerry Livingston
    Composer: Matthew Wilder
    Composer: Mel Leven
    Composer: Randy Newman
    Movie: 101 Dalmatians
    Movie: Aladdin
    Movie: Beauty And The Beast
    Movie: Cinderella
    Movie: Coco
    Movie: Dumbo
    Movie: Frozen
    Movie: Hercules
    Movie: Hunchback Of Notre Dame
    Movie: Lion King
    Movie: Little Mermaid
    Movie: Moana
    Movie: Mulan
    Movie: Newsies
    Movie: Nightmare Before Christmas
    Movie: Pinocchio
    Movie: Princess And The Frog
    Movie: Snow White
    Movie: Tangled
    Movie: Toy Story 2
    Song: It's A Small World After All
    Theme: Anti-Semitism
    Theme: Parks
    Theme: Requests
    Theme: Survey Analysis
    Theme: Villains
    Theory: Absolute Music
    Theory: Chromaticism
    Theory: Counterpoint
    Theory: Gestures
    Theory: Harmony
    Theory: Intervals
    Theory: Meter
    Theory: Modal Mixture
    Theory: Modes
    Theory: Modulation
    Theory: Motifs
    Theory: Neapolitan
    Theory: Notation
    Theory: Orchestration
    Theory: Ostinatos
    Theory: Performance Technique
    Theory: Polymodality
    Theory: Polyphonic Melodies
    Theory: Rhythm
    Theory: Sequences
    Theory: Silence
    Theory: Timbre

    Author

    Sam Zerin is a PhD student in musicology at New York University and a former lecturer in music theory at NYU, Brown University, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He also runs Social Media Music Theory (@SocialMediaMus1)

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