II.

Characteristic Musical Elements

Musically speaking, country music is one of the simplest styles to create and one of the least intimidating to listen to, features that contribute to its popularity. This basic aspect of country music stems from the fact that it is based predominantly on lyric content rather than musical content. In country, the primary purpose of the musical elements of harmony, melody, and rhythm is to showcase the lyrics without distracting from them. Exceptions to this general rule include the purely instrumental music from country music’s early history and the technical virtuosity often found in bluegrass music.

Country harmony relies for the most part on a simple selection of repeated chords—usually three, although additional chords or as few as two may be used. Vocals appear mainly as single, unharmonized lines, although at times they are harmonized with high, closely spaced voices, especially in the chorus of a song. Rhythmically, there is little syncopation. Most country music is written in ¹ time (four beats to a measure), with the first and third beats receiving emphasis. Melodies are typically just as basic as the rhythm. Many country tunes sound very similar and are distinguishable by their lyrics.

The lyrics of country songs commonly parallel the lives of ordinary, working-class Americans and cover such subjects as love and relationships, loneliness, religion, poverty, and work. A song’s lyric theme is frequently repeated as a hook (a catchy musical phrase) in the chorus section. Most country lyrics are extraordinarily economical, using 150 or fewer words, and the compact result is often poetic and evocative.

The subcategories of country music often use different sets of musical instruments. The country genre began in the 1920s with string bands, which usually consisted of various combinations of guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and string bass, also known as a double bass. The dobro, an amplified guitar made of wood or steel with internal resonators, was introduced in the late 1920s. It is also known as the Hawaiian guitar, because it can be played Hawaiian style by laying it across the lap. The drum set became part of country music through Western swing, which developed in the 1930s. Although brass wind instruments such as the saxophone and trumpet were a vital part of Western swing, they are rarely heard on other country recordings. The piano can be found on country records as early as 1925, but it did not become a lead instrument until the late 1940s, with the boogie-woogie recordings of singer and songwriter Aubrey “Moon” Mullican. The high-pitched sound of the steel guitar made its country recording debut in 1954 with the hit “Slowly” by artist Webb Pierce. By the mid-1990s country bands generally featured six to seven musicians, including a drummer, a keyboard player, an electric bass player, a steel guitarist, electric and acoustic guitarists, and a utility musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and dobro, as needed.