These two things make songs feel good…

In my previous essay Who Killed the Fun, Fun, Fun? I told the story of how music was intentionally transformed from a fun and communal activity into fear propaganda that’s consumed alone. All within a few decades. I concluded with an invitation to make something fun, and then to share it with the world. We need it!

The most revolutionary thing we can do in this age of consumption is to create. But, there’s a caveat. If our creations add to the fear and division, then the world is better off without them. That’s why it’s essential that what we make adds love and unity to society. And arguably the best way to do that is to spread light-hearted fun. Fun, and I mean healthy fun, is the antithesis of fear.

Now, when it comes to music, there’s generally two characteristics that make a song fun. These two characteristics map onto the two elements of music: pitch, and rhythm.

The first characteristic of fun music is an uplifting vibe. That’s the pitch element. The second characteristic is a dancey groove. That’s the rhythmic element. So in this essay we’ll be taking a look at what specific features make music uplifting and dancey.

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When it comes to uplifting songs, they tend to be in major keys, and inspire us to sing along. As this characteristic falls into the pitch category, what we’re talking about here in practical terms is melody and harmony. In most songs, the main melody will be the vocal line, and the harmony will be the accompanying chords, usually played on a guitar or synth. So, put simply: singing a melody in a major scale makes us feel good. 

And by the way, if you’re new to music and you want to understand scales and chords, you can learn all the basics in my Free Book 12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords.

Now let’s look at the second characteristic, danceability, which falls into the rhythm category. Songs with dancey grooves tend to have a backbeat snare drum on the 2 and 4, and often include a syncopated rhythm played on the kick drum and/or bass guitar. This moves us to dance along. And by the way, if you’re new to syncopation, it’s just the fancy word for accenting an off-beat. To learn about this and everything else you need to know about drums, read my Hack Drum Beats PDF.

It’s worth mentioning here that the classic four-on-the-flour kick drum pattern, which pretty much every song in the Dance genre uses, is also a great way to get people moving. However, unless a syncopated rhythm is added to it (perhaps in the bass line), it gets really boring, really quickly!

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Okay so let’s bring this music theory to life with a couple examples. For uplifting music, listen to “Don’t Worry Baby” by The Beach Boys. You’ll instantly feel that  this song is in a major key. It’s almost impossible not to sing along, and it feels so good when you do. Go on, I dare you, just surrender and sing along!

And for an example of dancey music, check out “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” by James Brown. It’s almost impossible not to move to that groove. And don’t resist. Resistance is futile. Let your body dance, you know you want to!

Now, while the Beach Boys song is obviously in a major key, the James Brown song is actually in a minor key, which is normally considered to sound sad. But, in the context of a super funky groove, minor keys can feel super fun, especially when they’re using the minor pentatonic scale, like in this song.

If you’re new to pentatonic scales, the minor pentatonic is simply the natural minor scale without its second and sixth notes. This scale is a funk favourite, along with its even funkier sister: the blues scale. To learn my hacks for these scales, as well as all the modes, check out my Songwriting & Producing PDF.

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This James Brown song is a great example of how fun music doesn’t need to have both characteristics. You can either use a major key to create an uplifting vibe, or you can use a backbeat snare and syncopated rhythm to create a dancey groove. However, while you don’t need to use both characteristics, please feel free to do so if you want double the fun!

Lastly, if you’re interested in reading my free book or any of the PDFs I mentioned, you can download them from my website. There’s also 30 free PDF tutorials over there, which are step-by-step musical “recipes” you can follow to instantly make music in any genre. Electronic to hip-hop, classical to metal, and everything in between. They also cover all the instruments, from piano to synth to vocals to bass to drums. It’s all there. Enjoy!

On top of the free book, 30 free PDFs, and over 220 free YouTube tutorials, I don’t paywall any of these essays either. I don’t want to exclude anyone. But, if you’re enjoying all these free offerings and want me to make more, please support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only about the cost of one coffee per month, but if enough people join, then I can pay the rent and keep doing this work. To sign up, please visit HackMusicTheory.com/Join.

If you can’t afford to at the moment, though, no problem. You can give Hack Music Theory a 5-star rating in your podcast app, that supports my work too. Either way, thank you so much! And welcome aboard the Songwriter’s Ark, where all the music making skills are being preserved through this global AI flood. The flood shall pass. The skills will last.

Ray Harmony :)

Help keep the Songwriter's Ark afloat.

Photo by Mart Production

Ray Harmony is a multi award-winning music lecturer, who’s made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Ihsahn (Emperor), Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs), Madchild (Swollen Members), and more.

Ray is also the founder of Hack Music Theory, a YouTube channel with over 10 million views and over 250,000 subscribers learning the fast, easy and fun way to make music without using AI, cos it ain’t no fun getting a robot to write “your” songs!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Outro music by Ray Harmony, based on the music theory from GoGo Penguin "Everything Is Going to Be OK".

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