Riff Schemes, Form, and the Genre of Early American Hardcore Punk (1978–83)
2015; Society for Music Theory; Volume: 21; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.30535/mto.21.1.3
ISSN1067-3040
Autores Tópico(s)Media, Communication, and Education
ResumoThis article explores the structures of guitar riffs in early American hardcore punk rock and their role in the creation of meaning within the genre. Drawing upon a corpus analysis of recordings by Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat, the article begins by outlining the main ways in which guitar riffs are structured. Many reflect a structural basis in what I call “riff schemes,” organizing patterns of physical repetition and physical change made by a guitarist’s fretting hand. There are four main types, which are defined by the location of repetition within the riff (at the beginning or at the end) and whether the type of repetition is exact or altered: (1) Initial Repetition and Contrast, (2) Statement and Terminal Repetition, (3) Statement and Terminal Alteration, and (4) Model and Sequential Repetition. These schemes may also play an expressive role in song narratives of energy, intensity, and aggression, all of which are common tropes in oral histories of hardcore. In the final part of the article, I present analyses of two songs that demonstrate this use: Minor Threat’s “Straight Edge” and Black Flag’s “Rise Above.”
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