Musicologist comes up with formula for catchy songs

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... & here it is:

A higher male voice with noticeable vocal effort indicates high energy and purpose, say Pawley and Müllensiefen, particularly when combined with a small vocal range. Both Mercury and rock boss Bon Jovi seem to have the requisite voice qualities.

Otherwise phrase length and pitch complexity are the attributes that make a song catchy.

"Longer and detailed musical phrases – the breath a vocalist takes as they sing a line is crucial to creating a sing-along-able tune," their overtly technical statement explains. "The longer a vocal in one breath, the more likely we are to succumb to a sing-song."

And a final crucial characteristic is the number of pitches in the chorus's hook. And the more the better. "The more sounds there are, the more infectious a song becomes" say the researchers. The ultimate catchy songs combined longer musical phrases and a hook over three different pitches.

& they have a list of the top 10 catchiest songs too
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/29/catchiest_song_ever/

this one belongs in the top 10 imho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUYuIVbFg0
 
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Hrm. Interesting. The music industry has used a much simpler formula:

16 bars of 4/4 in some permutation of I-IV-V in any key.
 
I don't know all the songs in that list, but the ones I do know, I agree, they're horrible (top 10 most annoying).
 
I wouldn't buy it until "musicologist comes up with with their own catchy songs "
 
Every time I see this thread, I see mucousologist.
 
fourier jr said:
& they have a list of the top 10 catchiest songs too
Hm. I think I know why so many of the songs are new and not what I'd call wildly generation-spanning popular.

The research ... has been published as part of a campaign to get the kids interested in science and engineering
Better put some on that list that the kids actually know...
 
P.S.

I really like Queen.

But if I never hear We Are the Champions again as long as I live, it will be too soon.

(Same goes for Queen's Another One Rides the Bus. Surpassed only by Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and Money)
 
Willowz said:
Plato was right about everything, everything.

& pythagoras!
 
A Ph.D. in singability?

How did he find a dissertation committee willing to read such a triviality?
Pythagorean said:
Hrm. Interesting. The music industry has used a much simpler formula:

16 bars of 4/4 in some permutation of I-IV-V in any key.

Don't forget the traditional sonata form, too: first verse, chorus, second verse, chorus, bridge, third verse (often with same lyrics as second verse), chorus, coda.

Also, in African-American- or Yiddish-derived music, these's often a relatively flattened third, fifth or seventh note, known as the "blue note" in African-American-derived music, and as the "Jew note" in Yiddish-derived music.
 
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By the way, does anybody know what a "boffin" is?

And a suggestion: if you want your song to be an international hit, instead of actual words, use "Fa la la"-type lyrics (which I call "carrier lyrics"). After all, Native American music traditionally uses only such syllables.
 
muppet video

I've been rick rolled so much that I actually LIKE that song now! Example: I opened a new window to post this reply so I wouldn't have to interrupt the song.

I don't know how to feel about this...
 
BadBrain said:
By the way, does anybody know what a "boffin" is?

it's the british word for egghead
 
Here's the ultimate antidote for a Rick rolling (and one of my personal favorite songs to boot):



Enjoy!
 
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And the formula for how to write a love song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdudKAMOz5s
 
Here's another formula for writing the perfect mainstream song.

It's from a band called "Status Quid". which is a lampoon of an ancient UK band which I really love called Status Quo, whose new album is called "Quid Pro Quo".

I guess they don't like the new album as much as I do, because here's their piece, entitled: "Boring Song":

 
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For those of you who are too young and/or too far above my social origins to know who "Status Quo" are, here's a cut off their new album, entitled: "Rock 'N' Roll 'N' You":



And, for those of you who are my age, here's an amazing old song of theirs that I'm sure you'll remember:

 
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