Category Archives: Elements Entries

Frank Ocean- Thinking About You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHXI6AzJi2E

The beat of this phenomenal song is duple meter while maintaining a slow and steady tempo. I feel as if the rhythm in this song divides the time evenly within the music. I believe the song is played with electrical instruments giving it a unique sound in comparison to other songs. The song has one main melody with many accompaniments making it a homophonic song. Frank Ocean sings at a lower pitch in his verses than he does in his chorus. By changing the pitch in his voice he sends off different kinds of emotions. For example, the tone of his voice is more calm during his versus making it seem like he is relaxed. However, during his chorus he sings at a high pitch giving us a feeling of much stronger emotion.The song is in minor scale because it gives off a sad feeling. The songs maintains  consonant sounds throughout by playing chords agreeable to the melody. The song does not change dynamics, except when it gets to 1:56, which is the last verse, it seems to be getting slightly higher in volume. You can notice here that the artist wants to grasp your attention at this point to send a clear message.Frank Ocean uses a ternary form for his song. Throughout the first minute and 56 seconds he maintains a steady beat. However, at 1:56 he changes it slightly making the song sound more gloomy, but then he goes right back to the melody the song began with (similar to “Dance of the Reed Pipes”).

Afterlife – “Cry”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxOLX6ZwLl8

This song is written in duple meter in a moderate slow tempo in key minor. The main instrument that creates the rhythm is a steady guitar that moves in arpeggio, what produces a sense of more active harmony than it really is.

The dynamic of the song is very soft. There is one melody only with accompaniment, what makes it homophonic.

There is only one vocal melody in this song. The voice doesn’t sound louder in the chorus. The verse and the chorus are made up of 3 lines and is heard only once during the whole song. However the phrase “I cry” singing in higher pitches is repeated many times (beginning at 1:37). At this moment the melody changes and gets faster, we can hear the drums and percussion providing by shaker in the background.

The harmony of this song is simple, but thanks to the second guitar that enters at 1:58 it seems more intense, it adds the richness to the melody.

At 2:39 the main guitar repeats one chord over and over, while the words create the melody.

The song is ending with ostinato, repeating the same chord. Beginning at 3:45 the piano enters accompanying the main melody, what creates a feeling of completeness.

 

Dan Black ft. Kid Cudi- Symphonies

 

Dan Black ft. Kid Cudi – Symphonies

Rhythm

This song is in duple meter and is playing a moderate tempo for the most part, but then at (2:27) the song starts to go into a slow tempo and back to moderate tempo at (2:51) The rhythm is kept together by a faint piano in the background.

Melody

The song is using a minor scale. The melody is consistent mostly until the drum and cymbal were introduced at (0:11). At (0:22)-(0:25) the melody disappears then reappears, with only the piano and cymbal present. Dan Black and Kid Cudi vocals are both using lower pitches, which are consistent. The piano becomes the accompaniment to the drum.

Harmony

The pianos and drum are playing in harmony. You can hear some modulation at (1:26), (2:29), and (0:22). There is consonance to the song as the pitches go together.

Instrumentation/Timbre

In the song you can hear a piano and a drum being played. The drums bring an upbeat liveliness to the song. The piano gives you soothing, calm, and a relax feeling.

Form

‘Symphonies’ is in a Ternary form with 3 sections to it. There is repetition for the most part of the song. From the beginning of the song till (2:27) would be A. Secondly (2:27)-(2:51) is B. Then finally after (2:51) we would go back to A to finish up the song.

Dynamics

The dynamics of the song is at ‘mp’ for moderately soft.

Texture

Since the song has one main melody the drum with accompaniment of the piano the texture of ‘Symphonies’ is homophonic.

Bruno Mars – “Grenade”

Bruno Mars – “Grenade” is a duple meter. The rhythm throughout the song is played with a piano, drum and bass. The song is played in a moderate tempo known as andante. The tempo of the song speeds up during the chorus. (0:45)

The timbre of the song is calm and gives a welcoming feeling in the beginning and starts to get stronger while reaching toward to the climax of the song then becomes a soft and calm again.

The vocal melody of the song is different from the verse and chorus. The verses are sung in a low pitch and the chorus is sung in a higher pitch. The song is mostly played in a D minor.

The instruments used in the chorus are in harmony with the singer’s voice.

The song begins with the piano playing the main melody and then accompanied by a drum at 0:21 after the sound of the picture frame breaking and later on accompanied by the bass. During the chorus, the melody of the piano changes as you can listen to at 0:45 and its accompanied by the drum and bass. You can clearly hear the bass starting at 2:23 during the climax of the song.

The texture of the song is homophonic since the main melody has several accompaniments.

Shakira- “Waka Waka”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsjFQMMU5Vg

This song has a very upbeat style, and the main phrase “waka waka” has been repeated a significant number of times to emphasize its importance (“waka waka” means “do it” in African language). The music has a duple meter, with an allegro tempo. Since it incorporates the use of drums to produce a very strong accompaniment, its texture is homophonic. There is a major change at 1’04, as a cymbal-like instrument is introduced to add more variation to the melody. Furthermore, the new vocalist at 2’12 generates a unique kind of exotic sensation to its listeners.

Caught Me Thinking by Bahamas

Rhythm:
Each time a new measure begins we can hear the bass come in very strong (strong beat). There are 4 notes between each of these bass notes making this song a duple meter. I would say the tempo of this song is andante as it seems to be at a walking pace.

Timbre/Instrumentation:
This song is made up of guitar, bass, percussion, and vocals. It is a very happy sounding song which unexpectedly contrasts the not so happy lyrics. The singers voice is very soft and calm which adds to the joyful sound of the music and again contrasts the melancholy emotions he describes. The melodic guitar riff (0:15-0:31) that is repeated several times in the song is also a very pleasant and happy sounding sequence.

Melody:
I would say that in this song their are 2 melodies that switch back and forth between each other. The first melody would be the singers voice. This is the part of the song that everyone is focused on, mainly listening to, and singing along. However there are several instances when the vocals drop out and a new melody takes the lead. When the vocals are not present the melody is the happy guitar riff that repeats several times throughout the song (0:15-0:30, 1:19-1:34, 2:25-3:00).

Harmony:
The song is in a major key and in harmony through out the entire piece. There is consonance within the entire song and no instances of dissonance except for in the beginning when the guitar slides up the scale. There are also no key changes through out the song. When the vocals are the melody, they are accompanied by either bass and percussion or bass, percussion, and guitar. When the guitar is the melody it is accompanied by percussion and bass.

Dynamics:
The dynamics of this piece is mezzo forte, or medium loud through out the entire song.

Texture:
This song is homophonic. There are 2 melodies, but they are only played one at a time with accompaniment.

Form:

  • From 0:00 to 0:14 there is an introduction to the song.
  • The actual song begins at 0:15 and this section (A) continues until 0:48 where the chorus begins. The vocals are introduced during this period, however I don’t believe that automatically signals a new section because the song is still following the same general pattern just with lyrics now included.
  • At 0:48 the chorus begins, section B, and at 1:19 returns back to section A with the guitar riff we heard earlier and into the same vocal patterns as before until 1:50.
  • At 1:50 the chorus comes back, section B, until 2:25 where it then returns the section A for the remainder of the song.

This makes the form of the song ternary because sections A and B are both repeating back and forth throughout.

Train – Drive By

Train -” Drive By” is a 4 by 4 duple meter song. The downbeat starts at 00:19 I believe. The speed of the beat is quite fast throughout the song. The tempo is consistent but at parts like 2:25 it slows down and you can only hear the guitar playing. You can also hear/see the drums and cymbal playing along in other parts of the video.

The melody of the song stays the same until 0:48, when more instruments like the cymbal and drums comes in. You can hear the loud bang of the cymbal exactly on 0:48. Starting at 1:21 you can hear the guitarist plucking the guitar.

The timbre of this song is very bright, pleasing, refreshing, and light. The dynamics of this song is very soft and get louder during 0:48 then it goes back to soft.

The texture of this song is a homo-phony and pitches is in consonance  “go together.”. Throughout the song, the guitar is playing and during parts at 00:48, the drums and cymbals comes in as an accompaniment The form of this song is repetitive during parts at 00:18 and 1:21. Lyrics might have change but the form is no doubt repeating.

Percy Grainger- “Molly on the Shore”

This song was written by Percy for his mother’s birthday. Therefore, is is joyful, happy, and celebratory. The tempo is allegro with a key of A flat major. This particular piece is played by a string orchestra (no woodwinds or percussion). I picked this song because it consisted of many elements, most of which our class has learned. It starts off with a viola solo with the accompaniment of cellos, violins, and bass playing using pizzicato. Then at second 40 (measure 19), the cellos and basses play the melody for probably 10 seconds. However, at second 1:04 (measure 36) the entire orchestra joins in with no primary focus on any particular instrument. This is played loud (fortissimo)  and with a very interesting articulation because you can hear the notes being played slurred at some points, while staccato from the cellos and basses signal the down beat. This contrast of articulation and dynamics and many changes of form made me choose this piece. Another thing I want to add would be the use of dynamics. You can clearly hear the music being played loud (forte) and also very low (piano). However, if you have a good ear, you can also the gradual change of it, crescendo and decrescendo (4:28-4:39). In addition to the various levels of dynamics, this piece was played by a school orchestra, kids at the ages very similar to our class; yet, their intonation is spot on, almost perfect. I would like to conclude this my commenting on the ending. Before the short abrupt fortissimo pizzicato ending which I find brilliant, there is a pause. The significance of this pause is to make the audience believe the song is over, hence the use of decrescendo; however, a measure later, there is a loud, strong D note that really shocks the audience. Not only does this piece sound nice, it also seems really fun to play with the changing back and forth of bow and pizzicato, constant change in dynamics and articulation, and compilation of various forms.

Sound Garden- “Black Hole Sun”

     This song is played in a duple meter, in which the downbeat is emphasized by the drums playing in the background and also when the singer ends the verse with “Sun”. Syncopation occurs at 2:59 when the guitar solo begins and disturbs the regular rhythm. There is also arpeggio occurring all throughout  the song such as at 0:17. According to Wikipedia, the guitar solo in Black Hole Sun is over a riff that alternates between 4/4 and 9/8 and is played in dropped D tuning.

     The entire song is played on a minor scale with various changes occurring amongst the guitar chords. Dissonance taking place can be heard at the very end of the song starting around 5:09.

     The instruments are in key with the singers voice except at certain times such as at 2:55 when the guitar solo introduces a melody of its own.

The Dynamics went from playing soft (piano) to forte as the song progressed.

     I had a difficult time identifying whether the song is homophonic or polyphonic. I believe it is polyphonic as the various guitars used would introduce what seemed to be a different melody specifically during the guitar solo.

I believe this piece is constructed in a ABA Ternary Form in which the first section comes to an end with the beginning of the second section at 2:55 which lasts until 3:26,which indicates the start of  the third and final section. There are numerous times where repetition within the lyrics as well as with the instrumental melody occur; making it difficult to identify whether or not a new section has begun.

     The Instruments used were the acoustic, distortion, over driven and bass guitars as well as the drums which kept a steady beat. The various guitars being played at the same time instilled a psychedelic, dark, and reminiscent mood. The Over driven and Distortion guitars provoked destruction and chaos while the acoustic guitar, using arpeggio brought back order and tranquility.

 

 

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“Springsteen”- Eric Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2gGXlW6wSY

I chose this song, “Springsteen” by Eric Church, because it’s one of my favorite songs. One of my favorite things about this song is the simple beat thats offset by the seldom piano notes that occur often enough to be noticed but not too much that they are over shadowing the whole song. This is what I first noticed about this song, since there’s such prominent guitar and drum usage, the piano notes stuck out even more to me.

This song is a duple meter song, which is cause for its relatively fast tempo. There’s a very strong demonstration of syncopation in this song in between each of the downbeats which leads to a very prominent beat in the background. Also, during the most quite parts of the song, when Eric Church is between phrases, there’s a slight arpeggio of the piano notes right before he begins to sing again.

I think the whole mood of this song would be completely different if the piano notes didn’t exist in the background. The song would get very repetitive and the offset of the piano notes keeps things interesting and different.

However, aside from the accompaniment, the lyrics are what stuck out the most to me. This being because I think no matter what stage of life you’re in or where you are, this song represents how a song can bring you back to a certain place in time. Even if you don’t have a memory similar to the one in the song, it still represents how a song (In this case, a Bruce Springsteen song) can bring back feelings of a past experience. This song, without explicitly saying it, is a reminder of the power of music and how a melody can transport you, from wherever you are, back to a specific place in history and evoke feelings you rarely remember. Just like how he says in the chorus “Funny how a melody sounds like a memory”. Sometimes I think with todays music we forget how powerful a song can truly be.