In relation to the recent Grammys, an article, The Ballad Of The Tearful: Why Some Songs Make You Cry, was written on one reason why Adele's songs seem to pull on the emotion of the audience. This article said that her success in he song Someone Like You could be partially attributed to her use of an appoggiatura. This is basically a note in a chord that one does not expect, leaving the listener somewhat emotionally upset. Listeners of music are used to anticipating the next notes, and when they cannot this releases an emotional trigger. Written by a usually reliable source, this article actually had errors in defining the word appoggiatura, but it maintained the gist of the point when talking about the piece.
This article was well-written and certainly appealed to an immediate audience. Adele gained much fame when she won six Grammys in one night. While some attribute some of Adele's success to this particular strategy, many musicians claim not to know that style and claim it does not particularly work. One artist states, "Hey, if I had a scientific method for making a heartbreaking hit, I would do it every day." So, this article states a theory and later refutes it and by doing so, gives Adele more credibility. She did use this strategy in her song, but she also used raw emotion and skill on a topic with which most people can connect. The article makes sure to point out that Adele had just gone through a breakup herself and used this emotion to create her song. While proposing a scientific theory, the article mainly leans to a more emotion-based approach to tear-jerking songs.
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