Conclusion (music)

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."^[1]

For example:

• The slow movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, where a "diminished-7th chord progression interrupts the final cadence.^[1]
• The slow movement of Symphony No. 5 by Beethoven, where, "echoing afterthoughts," follow the initial statements of the first theme and only return expanded in the coda.^[1]
• Varèse's Density 21.5, 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.^[1]

Coda

Main article: Coda (music)

Coda (Italian 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

An outro (sometimes "outtro", also "extro") is the conclusion to a piece of music, literature or television program. It is the opposite of an intro. "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".^{[citation needed]}

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",^{[citation needed]} Vanessa Carlton's "Home" (piano solo),^{[citation needed]} Eric Clapton's "Layla" (piano, guitar and slide guitar solo composed with Jim Gordon),^{[citation needed]} Pink Floyd' "Comfortably Numb",^{[citation needed]} Eagles' "Hotel California",^{[citation needed]} Metallica's "Fade to Black" and "Astronomy" (Blue Öyster Cult cover),^{[citation needed]} Tenacious D's "The Metal",^{[citation needed]} Dire Straits' "Tunnel of Love",^{[citation needed]} Rush's "Working Man",^{[citation needed]} Blur's "To the End (La Comedie)",^{[citation needed]} and T34's "Hbabi".^{[citation needed]}

Television

In contemporary television, an outro is theme music present over closing credits 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

Main article: Outro (computer gaming)

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 music as a notational shortcut to more formal notations such as Dal Segno.^[2] 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)

Examples

Repeat and fade endings are rarely found in live performances, but are often used in pop recordings.^[2] Examples include:

• "America" as recorded by Simon and Garfunkel (Contrast to Yes' cover of the same song).^{[citation needed]}
• "Fool on the Hill" as recorded by The Beatles^{[citation needed]}
• "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" as recorded by Elton John^{[citation needed]}
• "Karma Police" as recorded by Radiohead^{[citation needed]}
• "King of the Road" as recorded by Roger Miller^{[citation needed]}
• "Time and a Word" as recorded by Yes^[3]

See also

• Da capo
• Dal segno
• Epilogue
• Fade (audio engineering)

Sources

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Perle, George (1990). The Listening Composer. California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06991-9.
2. ^ ^{a b} Perricone, Jack (2000). Melody in Songwriting: Tools and Techniques for Writing Hit Songs. Berklee Press. pp. 6. ISBN 0-634-00638-X. 
3. ^ Anderson, Jon; Foster, David (1975). Yes Yesterdays (Music score) (Paperback ed.). Warner Music. pp. 22. ASIN: B000CS2YT0. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.