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Music, taken apart
Every song is made of a few simple parts playing together, and you can learn to hear each one.
Ask people what makes a song good and most of them will say the tune.
The tune matters, but it’s only one of four parts in a song.
The other three parts are doing just as much work.
The puzzle
What’s actually in there?
A song is made of a few simple parts all playing at the same time, and each part has one job. If you take one of them out, the song changes, even though nothing else has moved.
Below is a tiny song, four bars long, made from those four parts. Your browser makes the sound live using maths. Your turn. Press play, then tap a part to take it out and listen to what’s left.
The full mix
Press play, then take the parts out
None of this is a recording. Your browser makes every drum hit and every note using maths, at the moment you hear it. When you tap a part off, the loop keeps going and only that part goes quiet.
Now listen to each part on its own.
Solo it · 1 of 4
Just the drums
Before you tap anything, guess what the drums will sound like on their own, with no tune and no chords.
On its own, the drum part will sound like…
Solo it · 2 of 4
Just the bass
The bass is just a few low notes. Before you listen, guess how exciting it’ll sound by itself.
The bass, alone, will feel…
Solo it · 3 of 4
Just the chords
Chords hardly change, and each one lasts a whole bar. So what are they for?
Chords, on their own, mostly give a song its…
Solo it · 4 of 4
Just the melody
The last one is the melody, the bit you’d hum. Do you think it’ll sound fine by itself?
The melody, completely alone, will sound…
The drums give the pulse, the bass is the glue, the chords set the mood and the melody is the tune. None of them sounds like a song on its own, but put all four back together and you’ve got one.
Listen again to the chords underneath.
Practically every pop song uses those four chords.
You’ve heard them many times already.
The reveal
Same chords, different song
The four chords you’ve been listening to are used in hundreds of real songs. Producers don’t usually write new chords for every song. They take the same chords and change the drums, the speed and the melody on top, and it feels like a whole new song. Try it below. The chords stay the same in both.
Both use the same four chords. The upbeat pop version has quick drums, a bouncy bass and a busy little melody. The slow ballad plays slower, with fewer, longer bass notes and the melody stretched out. Only the parts around the chords have changed.
A song is made of simple parts…
…four jobs, all happening at the same time.
You can change how any one part is played and the chords underneath stay exactly the same.
One more thing
Next time a song gets stuck in your head, hum just the tune out loud, with nothing else. You’ll notice how much thinner it sounds without the other parts behind it. Then imagine the drums coming back in underneath. The difference you hear is what the drums, bass and chords are doing.