GCSE Music Revision 2

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Steve Reich- Electric Counterpoint

CONTEXT

Steve Reich- New York 1987, fascinated with tape loops

characteristics of minimalism= drones, ostinato/ loops, cells, phasing, metamorphosis, layering, note addition and subtraction, rhythmic displacement, augmentation, diminution, static harmony, non-functional harmony, melodic transformation and polyrhythms

ABOUT ELECTRIC COUNTERPOINT

Last in series of three pieces for soloists

Recording is like a tape loop that develops allowing for many minimalist characteristics

Built up in layers. This is the third movement entitled 'fast'.

7 pre-recorded guitar parts and 2 bass guitars plus the live recording

Texture builds up in section A with the parts with the parts coming in in the following order:

Guitar 1 (one-bar ostinato)

Live guitar (note addition)

Guitar 2 (one-bar ostinato played a crotchet later- rhythmic displacement)

Guitar 3 (note addition and rhythmic displacement)

Guitar 4 (more displacement- 4 part canon- live guitar plays resultant melody)

Bass guitars added- section B

Live guitar plays percussive strummed guitars- section C

cross rhythms- changes key to C minor then returns to E minor again

metre = 3/2, 12/8, 3/2

piece ends with dramatic E5 chord played together in all 5 remaining parts

MODAL- piece uses E Aeolian mode

TEXTURE

begins with sparse texture with one guitar, gradually building up until there are five layered parts- the parts are imitative, building up a four part canon with the live guitar playing a resultant melody. Texture mostly contrapuntal/ polyphonic. Texture builds up gradually and thins out towards the end. Once all parts are introduced, texture remains fairly constant- clever panning and interweaving rhythms give the impression of changes in texture.

Changes of rhythm and metre: rhythmic development just as important as melodic development. Changes in metre between 3/2 and 12/8 in section B. Feels in 3/2 metre with cross rhythms- rhythmic counterpoint. Interplay of bass parts add rhythmic interest.

Resultant melody: interweaving guitar 1-4 parts seem to share a melody when played together- live guitar plays this

Panning: recording studio technique to make instrumental sounds come from different speakers. 3 strummed guitar parts and bass parts separated with panning.

Section A- structure defined by changes in texture

melodic cell stated in guitar 1

Live guitar imitates this with a displaced fragment of the melodic cell (displaced by two quavers) - then note addition

all melodic material stems from the first cell ostinato

Guitar 2 doubles live guitar, so live guitar fades out

live guitar then starts with a different fragment

Fade outs = a way technology is used, occurs once a melody has developed

panning and strumming at bar 36

Live guitar plays resultant melody at 67

Section B structure defined by key and metre changes

CODA- change in texture so just melodic cell 114

GRADUAL PROCESS OF CHANGE = mathematical way of composing- binary form with coda- states ideas for 2 bars then a change (2 bar cycles)

DIATONIC

'All Blues'- from 'Kind of Blue'- Miles Davis

GENRE

modal jazz (a jazz style in which the solos are based on modes instead of the chord changes). This leads to longer, freer improvisations.

TIME SIG = 6/4 (compound duple time)- jazz waltz

MODE = mixolydian, using G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G (F is i the flattened 7th note in the key of G)

HEAD = the main melody accompanied by the 12 bar blues chord progression

CHORUS = each repetition of the blues chord progression- changes = the chord sequence in a jazz song

HARMONY

based on the 12 bar blues chord pattern, but there are altered or extra notes added to the harmonics in bars 9 &10 of the changes, and blue notes are added frequently. Although the home note is G throughout, a lack of conventional cadences and the frequent use of the blue flattened 7th (F natural) makes the music sound modal rather than in the key of G

12 bar blues chord progression:

G7/G7/G7/G7

C7/C7/G7/G7

D7#9/Eb7#9/G7/G7

Altered chords = G7#9 (G,B,D,F,A#) & Eb7#9 (Eb,G,Bb,F#)

VOICINGS = the pianist, Bill Evans, varies the order of the notes in the chord from the bottom note to the top. Order of the notes is called 'voicings'

RHYTHMIC DEVICES = swung rhythms, syncopation, triplets, rhythmic displacement and cross rhythms

STRUCTURE = 'All Blues' is a head arrangement, consisting of variations of the head (main tune) over a 12- bar blues progression. There is an introduction at the start, a coda at the end and a four bar riff introduces each of the main sections

Top jazz musicians of the time recorded the album- at the peak of their abilities

Davis felt that jazz was becoming too dependant on complex chord sequences. In the album he wanted to explore the concept of modal jazz. This meant that rather than relying on complicated chord patterns the harmony focuses on a mode or scale and the improvised solos are freer and longer

The track is from the album 'Kind of Blues' which was recorded in one take in New York in 1959

Instrumentation- trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, piano, double bass, drum kit (drums play a syncopated snare drum part and steady beat on ride cymbal)

ORDER OF EVENTS

1) four bar intro (rhythm section of piano, drum kit and bass)- the bass plays riff 1 (an ostinato played throughout). The piano plays a trill in 3rds. The drum kit plays a 3 beat waltz rhythm quietly with brushes.

2) four bar riff 2 (saxophones and rhythm section)- the saxes play a stepwise figure in parallel thirds moving up to the blue 7th of G (F) and back

3) Head 1- the main 12 bar head melody played for the first time on the trumpet using a harmon mute with its stem removed. The melody has a rising leap of a 6th with the long high note decorated with a mordent. It then moves stepwise using a narrow range of a 5th

4) Head 2- riff and head are repeated

5) trumpet solo- riff 2 or the link is played followed by four 12 bar choruses for un-muted trumpet. The texture changes as the piano trills are replaced by comping ( the piano playing the background chords) using the accompaniment rhythms based on riff 2- the drummer adds the ride cymbal and uses unpredictable syncopated hits on the snare- the trumpet solo is modal, using the mixolydian mode over the G7 and C7 chords. A diminished scale is used over the altered chords- trumpet techniques include grace notes (appogiaturas), blue notes, ghost notes and the fall off. The melodic phrases are longer and higher and wider in range than that of the head

6) link- repeated, but without the two saxophones (bar 89)

7) alto saxophone solo- more angular than the solo of Davis, with more leaps, shorter phrases, more chromatic notes, more rhythmic with strong accents on the beats, a thick tone, sudden groups of fasts notes, fast scales and arpeggios in semiquavers and triplets- the melody is sometimes triadic (using the notes of a chord), has leaps, blue notes and a wide 2 octave range. There is a swung rhythm with syncopations and triplets

8) Link (riff 2)

9) Tenor sax solo- (4 choruses), less vibrato than Adderley. The first chorus is simple with ideas exploring the mode. The 2nd chorus has short 3 and 4 note ideas with sequences and complex rhythms. The 3rd and 4th choruses combine extremely fast scales, arpeggios and triplets with long sustained phrases- Coltrane

10) Link

11) Piano solo- ( 2 choruses) the style is calmer with more intricate comping with the left hand as the right hand plays long melody notes in the first chorus. In the 2nd chorus the 2 hands combine into a chord based solo using parallel 7th and 9th chords, sometimes with the left hand in contrary motion. The middle range of the piano is used with a limited range of notes- Evans

12) link- (riff 2) piano reintroduces the trill idea. Sax play riff 2 in thirds again. Ride cymbal is played more quietly

13) Head 3- the trumpet played with a mute

14) link

15) Head 4

16) Link

17) Coda (outro)- trumpet uses only the tonic and dominant notes in the first two phrases. Davis then uses the same simple legato phrase he played at the end of the head. Saxophones play riff 2. Piano plays trills. The song fades out

Grace by Jeff Buckley

The opening chords move in parallel motion over a descending chromatic bass line

Vocalisation is a passage of wordless singing

The lowest guitar string is tuned to a D (drop D tuning)

Recording techniques for voice include vocal compression and EQ

Recording techniques for guitar include flanging and distortion

Grace was composed in 1991, album was released in 1994

STRUCTURE

Intro-verse-pre-chorus-chorus

Link- verse 2- pre-chorus- chorus

Middle 8 or bridge

link- verse 3- outro

The link is the same as the intro and is in two sections separated by an Em chord

HARMONY

There are dissonant sounds because harmonies were created by sliding traditional chords such as Em up and down the guitar fretboard whilst keeping some strings open as a drone. The lower guitar string was in drop D tuning to enable power chords and for its deeper and darker sound

Although many chords are root position triads, the harmonic progressions are often chromatic rather than functional. Some chords have sevenths and/ or are inverted, and decorative non- chord notes appear in all of the parts, including the bass

There are some very dissonant effects, particularly in the chorus, where open guitar strings clash with the harmonies, as well as in places where Buckley deliberately pitches a note to clash with the underlying chords (such as F natural over E minor chord at start of bridge)

In intro and links, notes of chords are finger picked as arpeggios

TONALITY

The key is not clear at the beginning- it is just a series of minor chords. The tonality is ambiguous, although it occassionally settles towards E minor. The harmony is often chromatic and dissonant

The song is in Em, but very unclear until halfway through the first verse-in intro Fm and D chords and first half of the verses use a chromatic progression.

No conventional cadences

modal/minor tonal ambiguity

INSTRUMENTATION

2 guitars, vocals, bass, drums

Instrumental techniques = power chords, drop D tuning, use of bar chords, pull offs in the introduction and hammer ons, hitting strings on the word far, arpeggio finger plucking, strumming, electric guitar played in a high register, flanged guitar sounds towards end, cymbal splashes, kick and snare drums keep the basic beat, atmospheric fills on the toms

Vocal techniques = soars in falsettos, vocal sliding (glissandos), nonsense syllables, vocalisation, virtuosic, melisma on 'love'

strings gliss imitates guitar and vocal slides

backing vocals- counterpoints

MELODY

The melody of the vocal solo has a very wide range exceeding two octaves

most phrases tend to fall, contributing to sad mood

Slides used and melody consists of a mixture of stepwise movement and leaps

Buckley improvises on fragments of the chorus melody in the coda

First half of verse- low in Buckley's range, moving mainly by step, slides between descending leaps

Second half of verse- a higher register for 'my fading voice', more leaps, melisma

Chorus- falling melody lines, melisma

Word setting mostly syllabic

USE OF TECHNOLOGY

synthesizer- various synthesizer sounds

rhythm guitar part has been double tracked (overdubbed) to thicken the sound

guitar effects include distortion and, in the coda, flanging

vocal track uses delay and EQ and overdubbing and vocal compression

METRE AND RHYTHM

compound quadruple 12/8, folk influence lilting

drums keep the pulse

vocal part has a free feel and has grace notes, triplets and much syncopation

bass is often syncopated and pairs of dotted quavers sometimes create cross rhythms against the groups of three quavers in other parts

TEXTURE

Varied, sound effects create a complex texture

Why does my heart feel so bad?- Moby

CONTEXT

Moby was born in 1965. 'Why does my heart feel so bad' was the fourth single that Moby released from his album 'Play' in 1999

It is referred to as club dance music

METRE AND RHYTHM

Beginning does not have a clear pulse, but the rest of the song is in quadruple metre.

The accompaniment of the main section is based on a mostly unchanging drum loop with an emphasized backbeat. The synthesized strings have sustained chords

There is syncopation in the other instrumental parts, including voices. A silent bar (apart from echoes) adds variety.

HARMONY AND TONALITY

Most of the song is in the dorian mode of A

The female vocal sample is later accompanied by the chords of F and C, even though the music has not modulated to C major

The harmony is diatonic- only a few root position chords are used (6)

TIMBRE

The timbres are either synthetic or sampled. The male ad female vocal samples are edited samples taken from old recordings of gospel music

The percussion sounds such as claves, shaker, snare drum and bass drum are produced on a Roland drum machine.

The bass and string parts are produced on synthesizers, and the piano sounds on a digital sound module

Electronic processing such as reverberation, delay and EQ has been used to edit the sounds

STRUCTURE

Two- chord sequences arranged in 8 bar blocks

Chord sequence 1 (verse) Am/Am/Em/Em/Gm/Gm/D/D

Chord sequence 2a (1st half of chorus) C/C/Am/Am/C/C/Am/Am

Chord sequence 2b (2nd half) F/F/C/C/F/F/C/C

STUDIO EFFECTS

Sampling- Moby left the background noise in his samples to retain the emotional quality of the recordings. The background noise acts almost like another percussion instrument and adds to the texture

Reverb and delay are used on vocal sample 2 when the section changes

Panning and EQ are used for each sound

Panning in piano intro

In verse 2 EQ used to give a singing down a telephone wire effect

ORDER OF EVENTS

Introduction

time sig is 4/4, key is A minor, tempo is 98bpm. Piano plays chord sequence 1.

Verse 1

four repeats of chord sequence 1, untidy vocal sample accompanies the simple piano chord sequence

drum loop is introduced, sustained synth pad plays bass notes, another sustained synth pad is the response in a call and response texture with the vocal sample

A synth. bass part begins, an additional synth pad plays sustained chords to fill out the texture

Piano plays a different rhythms, decorating the rhythm with sus4 and sus2 chords (third of the chord is replaces by either the 4th or 2nd note)

Chorus

Chord sequence 2a begins, lifting the music, key is ambiguous (could be Am or C), second vocal sample is introduced, texture is similar to verse 1, but the answering piano phrases are more subtle, the synth backing recedes more to the background

Chord sequence 2b begins- key is now C major, sample is played faster in a call and response pattern

Verse 2

An echo effect and EQ is applied to the vocal part, making it sound thinner. The echo is also delayed with several quicker repeats of the echo fading away into the distance

Break

All parts drop out for a single bar. Only the dying repeats of the delay on the EQed vocal echo, the snare drum delay and the falling off reverb from the other parts can be heard- breakdown

Chorus

Vocal sample 2 is used with much reverb and delay,making it sound distant. The sample blends with a lush string part which has reverb. The drums enter

The reverb on the vocal sample is reduced,making it sound clearer

Part B of the chorus is unexpectedly repeated

Outro

The texture is reduced to just the first vocal sample accompanied by a soft synth. pad

Skye Waulking Song- by Capercaillie

CONTEXT

from the album Nadurra

2000- folk fusion music between celtic folk and Western pop

Waulking song refers to a working man's song which would be sung while working

Waulking is the process by which tweed is beaten against a board after being soaked in urine, this was usually done by a group of women who worked together. Traditionaly takes up to 1 hour so keeps the team working

The singing is usually led by 1 person and answered by the rest of the team (call and response)

Features- vocables = nonsense syllables

INSTRUMENTATION

traditional- fiddle, accordion, uilleann pipes, bouzouki, flutes, bodhran

modern- synthesiser, bass guitar, drum kit, wurlitzer piano

techniques- tremolo played at the start, brushed on the drums

MELODY

Melodies are in counterpoint with each other

Would have been improvised around the same melody simultaneously

Vocal part is pentatonic throughout (G-A-B-D-E)

Text is mainly set syllabically

Relatively simple dynamics, starting quietly and building up, becoming louder when all the instruments join in. Dynamics build up in the instrumental- solo afterward is quiet again. Dynamics not in the score but for the performer to decide

RHYTHM AND STRUCTURE

no changes in tempo

syncopation is found and there is a variety of note lengths with complex rhythms. Lilting (swaying) rhythms are found throughout

The piece is in compound time (12/8), 4 dotted crotchets per bar, no time sig changes

Intro, verse 1, break, verses 2-6, instrumental, verses 7-8, Outro

TONALITY

Tonally ambiguous at the beginning

E Aeolian mode established at the end of the introduction

They key is G major, but sounds modal becuase the dominant (d) is avoided and the melody uses the pentatonic scale which omits the sub dominant and the leading note (C and F#). Uses E minor pentatonic chords (relative minor)

No abrupt changes but same chords are used throughout (Em, G &C). This makes chord changes more obvious when they occur. The piece is entirely diatonic- notes proper to the key- no chromatic alteration

HARMONY

Simple harmony with only 4 chords used in total, based around G major scale

Instrumental sections include cluster chords

In the coda, alternating C and G chords sound like plagal cadences.

Words are in gaelic and the singer has a contralto voice, strophic structure

TEXTURE

monophonic, contrapuntal, heterophonic (pipes and fiddle in instrumental), homophony, call and response- in intro

texture slowly builds up starting with synth and fiddle and adding other instruments in later- bazouki and keyboard play an interweaving melody, voice joins in adding to the contrapuntal texture

texture becomes thicker when all the instruments come in verse 4. There is a heterophonic texture in the instrumental between Uilleann Pipes and the fiddle as they play almost the same melody at the same time but one is more ornamented

reich

MILES DAVIS

BUCKLEY

moby

capercaillie