Monday, March 28, 2016

Information About Scandinavian Prog Rock

By Martha Graham


Progressive pop is a subgenre within the rock music. The term is often shortened to prog rock or simply as prog and at times people refer to the subgenre as art rock. Before the term progressive rock came into existence, the subgenre was referred to as progressive pop. The main country of origin of progressive pop was the United Kingdom and the subgenre was developed in an attempt to elevate the genre.

The United Kingdom was the country where prog started being developed, but other western countries participated in further development. Italy, Germany, and France are among western countries that helped in developing the genre. Similarly, artists in other European countries also developed their own versions that came to be known by their countries of origin. Scandinavian prog rock is one such version that was developed in Scandinavia. Psychedelic rock was the original genre from which progressive pop was birthed.

Efforts to develop the subgenre began in mid 1960s and progressed into late 1970s. Prog pop was primarily developed to give this music credibility and more artistic weight. Instrumentation and compositional techniques that bands started to adopt were borrowed from jazz and classical music. The intention was to earn the genre more critical respect and raise it to a higher level of musical sophistication.

The danceable beats that characterized the traditional version initially were incorporated less or dropped completely. Instead, musicians started incorporating harmony, rhythm, compositional structure, and lyrical content instead. This makes listeners to pay attention and put in more effort in order to enjoy or understand songs. The subgenre is more complex because it borrows musical styles from various genres including jazz and folk.

Prog does not stick to the traditional song structure of verse/chorus form, which tends to remain dominant in popular music. Classical-style suites are generated by artists by playing with sections of songs in a way that popular genres fail to accomplish. Harmony is attained through thematic unity among sections. Dynamic contrast results from transitions between acoustic sections and electric sections. Additionally, bands utilize the technique of group improvisation more often.

Progressive pop gives more emphasis to the whole band than to individuals. The traditional idea of a single, dominant singer being accompanied by a band is dropped in this subgenre and instead the whole group given priority. Most songs have a length of between three and five minutes, but really long pieces also exist. For instance, it is uncommon to come across songs that run for as long as twenty minutes.

The public had mixed reaction towards this new genre. A lot of critical acclaim and criticism continue to be experienced along the years. This genre has been considered to be parallel to the works of some of the most renowned classical music artists. Criticism often stemmed from the overzealousness of some artists to further the boundaries of the genre.

The desire to expand boundaries was often accompanied by dismissal of mainstream pop music by some musicians. Such dismissiveness was viewed as a sign of elitism. The subgenre also presented exotic themes in songs that most adolescents in Britain could not identify with because of bad economic situation at the time.




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