Conclusion (music)
Encyclopedia
In music
, the conclusion is the ending of a composition
and may take the form of a coda
or outro.
Pieces using sonata form
typically use the recapitulation
to conclude a piece, providing closure through the repetition
of thematic
material from the exposition
in the tonic key. In all musical forms other techniques include "altogether unexpected digressions just as a work is drawing to its close, followed by a return...to a consequently more emphatic confirmation of the structural relations implied in the body of the work."
For example:
for "tail", plural code) is a term used in music
in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage which brings a piece (or one movement
thereof) to a conclusion.
. "Outro" is a blend
or portmanteau as it replaces the element "in" of the "intro" with its opposite, to create a new word. The word was used facetiously by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for the 1967 track "The Intro and the Outro".
In music, an outro-solo is an instrumental solo
part (usually a guitar solo
) played as the song fades out or until it stops. For examples see Led Zeppelin
's "Black Dog
", Vanessa Carlton
's "Home" (piano solo), Eric Clapton
's "Layla
" (piano, guitar and slide guitar solo composed with Jim Gordon), Pink Floyd
' "Comfortably Numb
", Eagles' "Hotel California
", Metallica
's "Fade to Black
" and "Astronomy
" (Blue Öyster Cult
cover), Tenacious D
's "The Metal
", Dire Straits
' "Tunnel of Love", Rush
's "Working Man", Blur
's "To the End (La Comedie)", and T34's "Hbabi".
or played at the end of a program (common in news programs or game shows when the lights go down and the camera angle is wide).
as a notational shortcut to more formal notations such as Dal Segno
. The direction is to be taken literally: while repeating the chord progression
and/or leit motif indicated prior to the section annotated "repeat and fade", the player(s) should continue to play/repeat, and the mixer
or player(s) should fade the volume while the player(s) repeat the appropriate musical segments, until the song has been faded out (usually by faders on the mixing board)
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, the conclusion is the ending of a composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and may take the form of a coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
or outro.
Pieces using sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
typically use the recapitulation
Recapitulation (music)
In music theory, the recapitulation is one of the sections of a movement written in sonata form. The recapitulation occurs after the movement's development section, and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movement's exposition...
to conclude a piece, providing closure through the repetition
Repetition (music)
Repetition is important in music, where sounds or sequences are often repeated. One often stated idea is that repetition should be in balance with the initial statements and variations in a piece. It may be called restatement, such as the restatement of a theme...
of thematic
Theme (music)
In music, a theme is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based.-Characteristics:A theme may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found . In contrast to an idea or motif, a theme is...
material from the exposition
Exposition (music)
In musical form and analysis, exposition is the initial presentation of the thematic material of a musical composition, movement, or section. The use of the term generally implies that the material will be developed or varied....
in the tonic key. In all musical forms other techniques include "altogether unexpected digressions just as a work is drawing to its close, followed by a return...to a consequently more emphatic confirmation of the structural relations implied in the body of the work."
For example:
- The slow movement of BachJohann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2Brandenburg concertosThe Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...
, where a "diminished-7th chord progression interrupts the final cadence. - The slow movement of Symphony No. 5Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804–08. This symphony is one of the most popular and best-known compositions in all of classical music, and one of the most often played symphonies. It comprises four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast...
by BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, where, "echoing afterthoughts," follow the initial statements of the first theme and only return expanded in the coda. - VarèseEdgard VarèseEdgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
's Density 21.5Density 21.5Density 21.5 is a piece of music for solo flute written by Edgard Varèse in 1936 and revised in 1946. The piece was composed at the request of Georges Barrère for the premiere of his platinum flute, the density of platinum being close to 21.5 grammes per cubic centimetre .Allmusic's Sean Hickey...
, where partitioning of the chromatic scale into (two) whole tone scales provides the missing tritone of b implied in the previously exclusive partitioning by (three) diminished seventh chords.
Coda
Coda (ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
for "tail", plural code) is a term used in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage which brings a piece (or one movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
thereof) to a conclusion.
Outro
An outro (sometimes "outtro", also "extro") is the conclusion to a piece of music, literature or television program. It is the opposite of an introIntroduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
. "Outro" is a blend
Blend
In linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.-Linguistics:...
or portmanteau as it replaces the element "in" of the "intro" with its opposite, to create a new word. The word was used facetiously by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for the 1967 track "The Intro and the Outro".
In music, an outro-solo is an instrumental solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
part (usually a guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
) played as the song fades out or until it stops. For examples see Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's "Black Dog
Black dog
Black dog may refer to:* Black dog , a ghostly dog in the folklores of the British Isles* Black dog , a coin in the Caribbean, starting under the reign of Queen Anne* Black Dog , a 1998 film...
", Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Lee Carlton is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York bars and clubs while attending university. Three months after recording a demo with producer Peter...
's "Home" (piano solo), Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's "Layla
Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally released by their blues-rock band, Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs...
" (piano, guitar and slide guitar solo composed with Jim Gordon), Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
' "Comfortably Numb
Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which first appears on the 1979 double album, The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year with "Hey You" as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger...
", Eagles' "Hotel California
Hotel California
Hotel California is the fifth studio album released by the American rock band the Eagles, in late 1976. It is the first Eagles album without founding member Bernie Leadon and the first album with Joe Walsh. It is also the last album featuring original bass player and singer Randy Meisner...
", Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's "Fade to Black
Fade to Black (song)
"Fade to Black" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first promotional single from its second studio album, Ride the Lightning...
" and "Astronomy
Astronomy (song)
"Astronomy" is a rock song by Blue Öyster Cult that has appeared on several of the band's albums. It was first published on their 1974 album Secret Treaties...
" (Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
cover), Tenacious D
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
's "The Metal
The Metal
"The Metal" is a song by Tenacious D from their 2006 album The Pick of Destiny. The album was a soundtrack for the film. The song is played during the end credits of the film and is the final track on the album....
", Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
' "Tunnel of Love", Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
's "Working Man", Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
's "To the End (La Comedie)", and T34's "Hbabi".
Television
In contemporary television, an outro is theme music present over closing creditsClosing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
or played at the end of a program (common in news programs or game shows when the lights go down and the camera angle is wide).
Video games
In video games, the outro is the end sequence. The term usually refers to the cut scene presented to the player on completion of the game.Repeat and fade
Repeat and fade is a musical direction used in sheet musicSheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
as a notational shortcut to more formal notations such as Dal Segno
Dal Segno
In music notation, Dal segno is used as a navigation marker. From Italian for "from the sign," D.S. appears in sheet music and instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign shown at right, sometimes called the "segno" in English.Two common variants:*D.S...
. The direction is to be taken literally: while repeating the chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
and/or leit motif indicated prior to the section annotated "repeat and fade", the player(s) should continue to play/repeat, and the mixer
Production sound mixer
A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production using professional audio equipment, for later...
or player(s) should fade the volume while the player(s) repeat the appropriate musical segments, until the song has been faded out (usually by faders on the mixing board)
Examples
Repeat and fade endings are rarely found in live performances, but are often used in studio recordings. Examples include:- "AmericaAmerica (Paul Simon song)"America", written by Paul Simon, is a song popularized by 1960s folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was included in their album Bookends, released on 3 April 1968, and is notable as one of the few rock records to have a completely unrhymed lyric....
" as recorded by Simon and GarfunkelSimon and GarfunkelSimon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the... - "Fool on the HillThe Fool on the Hill"The Fool on the Hill" is a song by The Beatles. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and recorded in 1967...
" as recorded by The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr... - "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies BleedingFuneral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" is the opening song on the double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. The first part, "Funeral for a Friend", is an instrumental created by John while thinking of what kind of music he would like at his funeral...
" as recorded by Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor... - "Karma PoliceKarma Police"Karma Police" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead from their 1997 third studio album OK Computer. The song's title and lyrics derive from an in-joke among the band, referring to the Hindu theory of retributive enforcement, known as karma....
" as recorded by RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992... - "King of the RoadKing of the Road (song)"King of the Road" is a 1964 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller.The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the "king of the road"...
" as recorded by Roger MillerRoger MillerRoger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs... - "Time and a WordTime and a WordTime and a Word is the second album by progressive rock band Yes, released in mid-1970 in the UK and November 1970 in the US. This was the last Yes album to feature the group's original line-up, as Peter Banks was fired before the album's release....
" as recorded by YesYes (band)Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...