Breaking down J-pop

Today we are going to break down J-pop music. I choose J-pop somewhat randomly. I didn't want to choose something everyone knew about, but I thought something like traditional chinese music might be too boring(also I don't know many traditional Chinese musical artists). I digress, listen below to some examples of J-pop if you want to know what it's like. This isn't a comprehensive list, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what it's about.

Here are a few more

Chubbiness
J-Soul Brothers
Perfume

To start most of these songs are fairly simple which is what we would expect of pop songs and they're all fairly upbeat, but lets look at things in more detail.

1). Instrumentation - All of these songs and most J-pop songs have synths in them. Sometimes it's subtle but most of the time there are lots of synths and the music sounds very electronic. At times J-pop can seem like a light version of EDM, but most groups will break that formula and have a few songs that are punkrock-ish or have a ballad with acoustic instruments. The drums are also often electronic and there doesn't seem to be any hurry to update sounds. I often hear songs with synth sounds that could have come from the 80s or 90s. Guitars are also employed often, but they are never the main focus, so they are usually low in volume. Another interesting thing is that you'll often find bar chimes used quite liberally. Recently there seems to be an interest in dubstep, so sounds will often have a part where a wobble synth is thrown in.

2). Rhythm - J-pop is made for dancing, so you'll rarely find a song that isn't in 4/4 time. The kickdrum will be on 1 & 3 or on all 4 beats and the snare will be on 2 & 4 or some syncopated variation. The bass will usually be a simple rhythm(quarter notes or 8th notes) and won't be a main element in the song. The synths are usually pretty active, playing fills, counter melodies, etc and they can have almost any rhythm. The tempo is usually between 170bpm and 100bpm. They tend towards the faster side.

3). Melody - Usually the melody is relatively simple and  the vocalist doesn't usually try to show off their voice.The range of the melody is usually fairly small also. Usually the melody will be in a major key, but sometimes it will be minor. You usually won't find any exotic scales or modes used.

4). Harmony - It will mostly consist of common major scale harmony. There won't be more than about 4 chords in a section, but different sections usually have different progressions. The chords will mostly be basic major and minor chords, but 7th chords and other more advanced chords show up sometimes too. Every once and a while something weird will be throw in however. Check out the wholetone/augmented breakdown in the chubbiness video above.

5). Form - It usually follows the verse-chorus format with a intro and a break down in the middle. Also it's not uncommon for there to be a solo or an instrumental break down somewhere, which differs from some other types of pop music.

6). Nuance - There aren't too many, but the chorus of the song almost always has multiple vocals and choruses of shouts are also extremely common. Also there is a fair amount of call and response between various members of the group.

Overall J-pop isn't too different from other types of pop music except that it is generally more happy, the types of synths are older sounding and solos/instrumental sections aren't uncommon. I'm sure there weren't too many people asking for a J-pop break down, so next time I'll do a style of music that is a little more familiar.