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). ''Fu ...
, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumentals. A medley which is a
remixed series is called a
megamix
A megamix is a remix containing multiple songs in rapid succession. It often features various artists. There may be only one verse or even just a brief chorus of each song used, sometimes in addition to samples of the same or other songs. It is ...
, 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''.
A medley is the most common form of
overture for
musical theatre productions.
In
Latin music
Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...
, medleys are known as ''
potpourrís'' or ''mosaicos''; the latter were popularized by artists such as
Roberto Faz and
Billo Frómeta
Luis María Frómeta Pereyra most known as Billo Frómeta (15 November 1915, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – 5 May 1988, Caracas, Venezuela) was a Dominican orchestra conductor, arranger and composer
Billo's compositions achieve internati ...
, and most commonly consist of
bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...
s,
guaracha
The guaracha () is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word had been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical thea ...
s,
merengues or
congas.
See also
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Segue
A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows".
In music
In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...
, a term for the transition between songs
*
DJ mix
*
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 ...
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List of Genesis medleys
*
List of "Weird Al" Yankovic polka medleys
*
Suite (music)
External links
COVER.INFO– Large database of cover versions, medleys, samples and other musical quotations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Musical Medleys
1980s fads and trends