SF2 - Lesson: Narrative Voice, Part 1

A musician performs a song live.Narrative Voice, Part 1

Narrative voice refers to the distinctive style, tone, and perspective through which a storyteller or author conveys a narrative, shaping the overall character and emotional resonance of the storytelling. We will start by applying this concept to popular music and then see how this same concept can be applied to literature.

Image note: Radiohead's Thom Yorke performs live in 1998.

Narrative Voice and Musical Artists

Consider your musical artist. Have you ever noticed that it isn’t only what the singer says, but how they sing or play it that affects whether you like or not like the song?  Musical artists work hard to establish their own “narrative voice.” Often with popular music, you might notice that the lyrics don’t always make logical sense, but they convey an emotional meaning.  This is often achieved by the development of the narrative voice. For music, it isn’t just the lyrics; it’s the instruments, intensity, chord progressions, notes, genre, production, band of singer lore, and about 100 other qualities that create the overall narrative voice of a song. 

Practice Activity

Even if you don’t listen to all of the following artists, with a little bit of research you can learn about their overall narrative voice.  Try to match the singer or group with the correct description of the narrative voice. Before you complete this activity, you may need to do a bit of research. The following artists were used in this activity:

  • Beyoncé
  • Billie Eilish
  • Drake
  • Kanye West
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Radiohead
  • Taylor Swift

Note: to remove any information that might identify a particular artist in the description, we used the pronouns they/them, even when referring to an individual.

Reflection

It’s not just the words in the song, but how they are conveyed that helps create emotional meaning. The same can be applied to literature. 

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Image credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA (shared via CC 2.0 Generic License)