Recently overheard, from a pair of student composers chatting: "Arpeggio? Philip Glass so OWNS the arpeggio!"
I recognize the sentiment — it's widespread enough that the arpeggio-heavy theme music to the TV series Fringe was instantly pegged online as faux-Glass — but still, if that's the case, that's a major piece of musical territory to own, at least on par with Ted Turner's two million acres and share of the North American bison herd, and also something of a limiting factor for others writing tonal music.
Which made me wonder... if all existing music were wiped from the planetary memory, and you could stake a trademark claim to any one musical element or figure, strictly on the basis of its income-generating potential, which would be the most potentially lucrative by locking others out of your territory? A major triad? An authentic cadence? Common time?
Pretty clearly the 12-bar blues and all related chord progressions.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the major seventh chord, in all its inversions and positions, and in every key.
ReplyDelete. . . actually, I'll extend that to all seventh chords, requiring a special "toll" to be paid for the resolution of a dominant one.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a story about a famous conductor, on learning of the John Cage composition 4'33", quipped: "I wonder who owns the copyright to that?"
ReplyDeleteSo I'll take the full measure rest...
Repetition?
ReplyDeleteSinging.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to take the interval 7/4, but I think LMY already has it locked up.
ReplyDelete