Counterpoint in Pop
Give the bass a line of its own instead of the root of every chord and the same four chords sound twice as good. Counterpoint is not a classical speciality; it is the difference between an arrangement that works and one that just holds the chords in place.
- 2 lines
- same chords
- twice the movement
In which styles
- Pop
- Soul
- Rock
- Singer-songwriter
- Musical theatre
In short
A chord played with its root in the bass is complete and closed. Move the bass to another chord tone and the same chord opens up, because now two things are happening: the harmony and the bass line. The listener follows the bass as a melody, which means you have added a second tune without adding a second instrument.
Fuller and more alive. Counterpoint in pop rarely announces itself; the listener hears a better arrangement rather than a technique.
Where it sits in the phrase
The countermelody almost always enters in the second half of a song. Holding the bass on roots through the first chorus and letting it move in the last one is one of the cheapest and most effective build tricks there is.
Where you run into this
- A bass line that walks somewhere instead of sitting on the root
- A guitar figure that stays put while the chords change underneath
- A backing vocal that moves in the opposite direction to the lead
The types side by side
The three common moves: the walking bass, which fills the gaps between chords; the pedal, which refuses to move while the chords do; and the countermelody, a second tune designed to be heard against the first. All three do the same job, which is to make the arrangement contain more than one thing worth following.