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Lindsay Sanders
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1101
September 17, 2014
Relationships Between a Genre and Its Sub-Genre in Music
Have you ever been in the car or on the treadmill listening to music and heard a really
catchy, upbeat tune? If you answered yes, then the song you heard was probably a pop song. Pop
is a very common music genre that also involves several sub-genres. These sub-genres can have
characteristics of pop music and then other characteristics of other common genres to create new
types of music. Music is very diverse but it is a way for everyone around the world to connect. I
find music very powerful and interesting because of the constant shock I receive when artists
classify themselves as pop, jazz, country, etc. Its fascinating to see how genres evolved and
which artists fall under each genre.
POP MUSIC
Popular music, now known as pop originated in the 1950s from rock and roll. This
music genre is known to be very eclectic including styles from urban, dance, rock, Latin, and
country music. For pop music, there are some core elements that include short-medium song
length, basic format (verse-chorus), repeated chorus, melodic tunes, and catchy hooks. Pop is
generally thought of as commercially recorded and is desired to have a large audience appeal.
Pop tends to reflect existing trends such as drugs and alcohol, which, in some styles, inspire
dancing.
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-OConnor, also known as Lorde, is a pop star that emerged in
2012. She is a singer-songwriter that was born November 7, 1996. The young vocalist is from

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New Zealand and has become very popular in the past two years. Lorde is an artist that is all
about the main genre. She typically stays along the lines of pop, rock, and electronica. The song I
chose to analyze sung by Lorde is Bravado, from the Pure Heroine album that came out in
September 2013. This song is about trying to find your own courage and how at some point in
time, it just happens. Everyone goes through this part of life of finding ones own bravado.
The song Bravado by Lorde is 3 minutes and 39
seconds, which falls in the more medium category for length.
This song kind of follows the verse-chorus format. There are
several small verses before each chorus, which is repeated once.
In the chorus, there is a reference to pills, which could reflect
the trend of drug abuse even though I highly doubt thats what
she was aiming for. Lorde has a very vast audience and it just so happens that Ive danced to this
song in class before. Every time I hear this song I always do the part that was taught to me and
then I dance what I feel for the rest of it. Overall, this song seems to match the common elements
of pop music.
BAROQUE POP
Baroque pop, a sub-genre of pop, emerged in the mid-1960s as a fusion of pop, rock, and
classical music. Baroque pop songs have simple structures that are closer to standard pop song
writing as well as following a mainstream lyrical content. There are common elements in typical
baroque pop songs that can define what an actual baroque pop song is. These elements include
layered melodies, sophisticated productions, and prominent harmonies. Baroque pop songs are
generally melancholic and dramatic.

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Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, also known as Lana Del Rey, is a very popular singersongwriter as well as a model. She was born on June 21, 1985 in New York, New York. She is a
vocalist and plays the guitar. She has been active in the model/music world since 2005. Instead
of being genre specific, this artist focuses more on some sub-genres of pop like dream pop and
baroque pop. The song I chose to analyze sung by Lana Del Rey is Ultraviolence, from the
Ultraviolence album that came out in June 2014. This song is about domestic violence in a
relationship and with oneself (men and alcohol).
The song Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey is 4 minutes
and 9 seconds, which falls in a longer category for length. This
song follows the verse-chorus format. There is one small verse
before each chorus, which is repeated once. In the song, Del Rey
references Jim that she says could be a guy or Jim Beam. Like
Lorde, Del Rey has a very diverse audience and Ive always wanted to dance to this song. It is
very melancholic and dramatic with its layered melodies and sophisticated productions. Like
Bravado, this song seems to match the common elements of baroque pop music as well.
The main genre, pop, is the base of the sub-genre, baroque pop. There are elements that
are added, taken away, and changed to turn the main genre into the sub-genre. Since baroque pop
is a sub-genre of pop, there will be differences in the two types of music. However, it is much
simpler to compare them and take note of the similarities. Audiences that are targeted will vary
across the world. Certain people enjoy these kinds of music when other people dont. Adding
and taking away common elements of music genres would involve creating a new sub-genre.
Music is very unique, diverse, and brings different kinds of people together in ways that one
would never think of.