jeudi 31 mars 2016

Facts About Scandinavian Prog Rock

By Martha Graham


Prog is one of the subgenres of rock music. In most cases, the short forms prog or prog rock are often used. Others prefer using the term art rock to refer to this genre. The term progressive pop was in wide use before it started being abandoned for progressive rock instead. The United Kingdom is the country of origin of progressive pop and the main reason behind its development was elevating the genre to higher levels.

Although the United Kingdom was the main country where the subgenre was developed, further development was done in other Western countries. Some of the western countries that helped to develop the genre further include France, Germany, and Italy. Other European countries also started to develop their own versions such as the Scandinavian prog rock. Psychedelic rock was the mother of progressive pop.

Development efforts started in the mid 1960s and continued until late 1970s. The main reason for the development of prog pop was to give the music more artistic weight and credibility. Bands started adopting instrumentation and compositional methods similar to those used in classical music and jazz in order to earn this genre a higher level of musical sophistication and critical respect.

The danceable beats that were typical in the early version were dropped completely or incorporated less. Instead, artists started preferring incorporating harmony, rhythm, lyrical content, and compositional structure instead. Thus, to enjoy the music, listeners have to put in some effort. This subgenre is a collection of styles because it borrows musical styles from several genres such as jazz. This makes it more sophisticated than any one genre or music.

The traditional song structure of verse/chorus form, which is dominant in popular music is not followed in prog pop. Artists play with song sections to generate classical-style suites that popular genres do not incorporate in songs. Harmony is achieved through thematic unity between sections. Transitions between acoustic and electric sections are the source of dynamic contrast. Also, bands commonly employ group improvisation as a technique.

Progressive pop gives more emphasis to the whole band than to individuals. The traditional idea of a single, dominant singer being accompanied by a band is dropped in this subgenre and instead the whole group given priority. Most songs have a length of between three and five minutes, but really long pieces also exist. For instance, it is uncommon to come across songs that run for as long as twenty minutes.

The public received this new genre with mixed reaction. From the year of being launched, there was a lot of criticism and critical acclaim at the same time. The genre has been described by many as paralleling classical music by renowned musicians in the industry. The cause of criticism was often the desire held by some artists to expand its boundaries even more.

The expansion of boundaries of the genre was often accompanied by dismissal of mainstream pop music by some bands and musician. The dismissiveness was considered to be elitism. Themes in this subgenre were also too exotic for British and most European adolescents to identify with due to bad economic times.




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