In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces played one after another, sometimes
overlapping. They are common in
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumentals. A medley which is a
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ed series is called a
megamix, often done with tracks for a single artist, or for popular songs from a given year or genre. A
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
combining elements of multiple pre-existing songs is a ''cover medley''.
[When a piece of music specifically superimposes elements of multiple pre-existing songs at the same time, it is more particularly referred to as a mashup.]
A medley is the most common form of
overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...
for
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
productions.
In
Latin music
Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...
, medleys are known as ''
potpourrís'' or ''mosaicos''; the latter were popularized by artists such as
Roberto Faz and
Billo Frómeta, and most commonly consist of
boleros,
guarachas,
merengues or
congas
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...
.
See also
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Segue, a term for the transition between songs
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DJ mix
*
Megamix
*
Mashup (music)
A mashup (also mesh, mash up, mash-up, blend, bastard pop or bootleg) is a creative work, usually a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumenta ...
*
List of Genesis medleys
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List of "Weird Al" Yankovic polka medleys
*
Suite (music)
A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to f ...
*
Sound collage
In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or Musical composition, compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as musique concrè ...
Notes
References
External links
COVER.INFO– Large database of cover versions, medleys, samples and other musical quotations
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Musical Medleys
1980s fads and trends