Soul: Style

 The Musical Characteristics of Soul

Soul draws inspiration from its roots, making use of major and major pentatonic scales as well as blues scales. The genre often features rich vocal harmonies, featuring call and response as well as melismatic singing (singing multiple notes over one syllable). 7th, 9th and 11ths are common, adding to the rich harmonies of the genre. Soul heavily uses pentatonic and blues scales. Soul riffs are often characterised by funky guitars, making use of arpeggios and slides to create catchy phrases. Soul commonly has a strong syncopated beat, sometimes slightly swung due to its blues and gospel influences. Melodies of soul are often emotionally intense, characterised by their complex structures and blues influences. Common soul instruments include electric guitar and bass, keyboards and organs, strong brass sections and often a string section to add emotional layers to the music. Call and response is common in soul, often between vocal parts, but the instrumental parts are often polyphonic or homophonic and are also very dense with many layers. Soul lyrics are known for their emotional depth, often entailing love, heartache and social issues, but also drawing from religious themes from its gospel influences. Instrumental techniques include sustained notes, as well as melismatic vocals. Improvisation is common in soul, often drawing back to its gospel and blues roots with improvised riffs and small vocal parts. 

Notation of Important Riffs, Melodies and Rhythms

Three Subgenres of Soul and their Similarities/Differences

Three subgenres of soul are gospel, funk and contemporary R&B. The gospel genre features strong vocals, often with multiple harmony parts as well as featuring Christian lyrics. This is a combination of soul music with Christianity, often being sang in churches to uplift communities during worship. Funk is characterised by its strong basslines, often with heavy syncopation and the use of electric instruments such as guitars, bass and keyboards. Funk often focuses on rhythm over melody or harmony, creating an uplifting, danceable sound. Contemporary R&B features a mix of blues and soul with more modern genres like hip hop and pop. The genre is know for its polished production, and also emphasises smooth, soulful vocals with hip hop and dance inspired beats. All 3 subgenres are quite different, but they all share similar melodic and harmonic elements, mostly drawing back to their common predecessor, blues. 

My Opinions on the Soul Subgenres

I quite enjoy funk, as I like the syncopated rhythms which made it very danceable, but I do also enjoy the other genres. These genres aren't my favourite overall, but although they wouldn't be my first pick, I can definitely enjoy them from time to time. 

Examples of Famous Musicians from Soul Subgenres

Kirk Franklin is a famous gospel musician, often credited with his combination of traditional gospel with contemporary R&B and hip hop. His influence expanded the sound of the genre, and helped gospel appeal to the new younger generation. Earth, Wind & Fire influenced funk by combining the genre with jazz and rock, creating a widely appealing sound with positive lyrics and elaborate brass arrangements. Their commercial success influenced funk, helping bring the genre to the mainstream. Beyoncé heavily influenced contemporary R&B, pioneering a staccato rap-singing style as well as pushing themes of female empowerment and cultural pride. Her fusion of genres like R&B, pop and hip hop helped shape modern R&B, influencing newer artists in the genre. 

How did Soul Evolve?

Soul first evolved from African-American influences, developing from blues and gospel in the 50s. This evolution continued into the 70s, developing genres such as funk and disco, then continued into the 90s with genres like contemporary R&B. 

What does Soul have in Common with Other Styles

Soul shares its elements of syncopated rhythms and strong vocals with genres like blues and jazz, which were the genres that developed into soul. The genre has also influenced modern genres, like pop, an example of which would be Rihanna, who brought R&B and pop together to create her music.