Meta Level Info

Here to share quick summaries and some findings from “Meta level Info” menu “Jazz Standards Statistics“.

(1) Key Signature

The most common key is… F major. Out of 1350 songs, 240 songs are in F (17.8%). This could be expected since we have many F blues. Then followed by Bb blues? It’s actually at 4th place, with 13%. The 2nd and 3rd places were taken by C (17.4%) and Eb (15.1%). After 4th place, followed by G (8.4%), Ab (5.6%)… and the least often key is F#m which has NO songs.

In comparison of Major keys vs minor keys, Major keys (83%) wins against minor keys (17%) by 4+ times.

If we separately have a look on Major keys and minor keys, we can see that the top half of each category is occupied by b(flat)-keys or neutural-keys. It means those keys have b(flat) accidentals or no accidentals. In major keys, top half is F (b:1), C (none), Eb (b:3), Bb (b:2), G(#:1), Ab(b:4). *G is the only exception. In minor keys, top half is Cm (b:3), Dm (b:1), Fm (b:4), Gm (b:2), Am (none), Bbm (b:5).

(2) Composer

Among 1350 songs, the most many-writing composer is Thelonious Monk with 48 songs (3.6%). And followed by:

• Richard Rogers 37 songs (2.7%)
• Cole Porter 33 songs (2.4%)
• Wayne Shorter 32 songs (2.4%)
• Charlie Parker 31 songs (2.3%)
• George Gershwin 31 songs (2.3%)
• Irvine Berlin 26 songs (1.9%)
• Horace Silver 26 songs (1.9%)
• John Coltrane 23 songs (1.7%)
• Harold Arlen 23 songs (1.7%) ….(top10)

(3) Rhythm, Time Signature, and Song Form

As for designated rhythm, the top was Medium Swing with 495 songs (36.7%) followed by Ballad (19.6%), Uptempo Swing (11%), etc. These are based on the default setting of rhythm at iRealPro app. Medium Swing means BPM=100, Ballad : BPM=60, and Uptempo Swing : BPM=240.

As for Time Signature, the top was 4/4 time with 1248 songs (92.4%), as expected. Then followed by 3/4 (6.8%). *Here to mention that the data is based on the time signature at the beginning of the song. So, for example, “Tell me a bedtime story” by Herbie Hancock, begins in 4/4 and changes into 5/4 later, is counted as a 4/4 song.

As for song form, the top was AABA form with 554 songs (41%). Followed by none (14.1%), AB (10.1%), ABAC (10%), AABC (2.8%) and so on. The item “none” is for songs like blues which consist of a single section etc. Actually the analysis on song form was a bit tricky in terms that original data file in musicXML format had many variations in the way creators coded songs. For example, some coded rehearsal mark V instead of A if the song begins with vocal part, some begin with B though there are no A before that, etc.

(4) Title Word

This analysis shows what word appears more often in song titles. Here listed top 10 words.

• “the” in 183 songs (13.6%)
• “you” in 113 songs (8.4%)
• “a” in 102 songs (7.6%)
• “I” in 96 songs (7.1%)
• “in” in 82 songs (6.1%)
• “love” in 65 songs (4.8%)
• “my” in 58 songs (4.3%)
• “of” in 58 songs (4.3%)
• “to” in 57 songs (4.2%)
• “me” in 55 songs (4.1%)

Excluding articles (a, an, the) and prepositions (to, in, of), we find “you”, “I”, “love” and “me” in top 10. Looks like, composers thought about “you” more than “I”? and it’s about “love”?

By the way,

• The most popular color is “blue” 25 songs (1.9%).
• Noun top 5 : “love” (4.8%), “blues” (1.7%), “day” (1.4%), “time” (1.4%), and “song” (1%).
• Verb top 5 : “be” (2.4%), “is” (2.2%), “got” (0.9%), “come” (0.9%), and “get” (0.8%).

Okay, I should stop here. Hope you have a fun searching something interesting 🙂