Features
The B Major Chord in Radiohead's 'Creep' Has No Business Being There. Somehow, It Works
'Hit the Road Jack': How Ray Charles Took Gospel Out of Church and Put It on Billboard Hot 100
John Williams' 'Imperial March' Sounds Terrifying Even Without Darth Vader on Screen. Here's Why.
Alan Menken Kept Aladdin and Jasmine's Voices Apart Until the Perfect Moment in 'A Whole New World'
The Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?' Never Resolves, and That's Why It Still Works Decades Later
Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters': How Open Strings and Four Chords Became a Stadium Anthem
John Legend Wrote 'All of Me' for One Person. It Became the Wedding Song of a Decade.
Why Tom Wilson's Secret Remix of 'The Sound of Silence' Worked: The Music Theory Behind Simon & Garfunkel's Hit
The SpongeBob Theme Builds an Enormous Climax in Under 45 Seconds Using a Classic Arranger Trick
How Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves' 'I Remember Everything' Reached No. 1 by Refusing to Overplay Its Hand
Bad Bunny’s ‘BAILE INoLVIDABLE’ Is Built on Salsa’s Structural Logic. The Super Bowl Show Made It Obvious
How Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee Became One of Music’s Great Technical Tests
Why the Sax Line in George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ Feels Like a Vocal Line
The Legal Battle Over ‘Happy Birthday’: How the World’s Most Sung Song Entered the Public Domain
Imagine Dragons’ ‘Believer’ Proves You Don’t Need Chord Changes to Build Intensity
‘Let It Go’ Changed Everything About Frozen: How Three Notes and a Key Change Built a Global Anthem
Alan Walker’s ‘Faded’: Why Four Chords and a Simple Melody Conquered the World
Is the Super Mario Bros. Theme Jazz? Here’s How Its Harmony Works
Titanic’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ Is a Masterclass in Ballad Writing and Emotional Build
The Stranger Things Theme Is Super Popular, and It Works Almost Entirely Without Harmony: Here’s How That Works
Why the Pirates of the Caribbean Theme Works: Hans Zimmer’s Relentless Rhythmic Engine
‘The Simpsons Theme’ Song Is So Catchy: There’s a Reason Why Your Brain Won’t Forget It
