Category Archives: Elements Entries

Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams

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

Rhythm:
This song is in duple meter. The rhythm of the song is kept by the strumming of an acoustic guitar at the opening, and throughout the song (Starting at about 0:47) a bass guitar and drums are present.

Melody:
The song’s dynamic changes from quiet to quite loud, and back several times (depending on what part of the song is playing). When the lead singer sings the lines that begin with, “I walk a lonely road…”, “read between the lines…” — the dynamic is on the quieter side. Beginning with the line, “My shadow’s the only one who walks beside me” (and for the next three lines) the dynamic is noticeably louder.

The actual melody is emphasized by the tune played (and repeated) by the electric guitar throughout the song

Accompaniments:
Throughout the song, there are several accompaniments:
1) The echoing guitar
2) During the louder dynamic(s), the electric guitar plays loudly as an accompaniment
3) There is some piano accompaniment throughout the song (mostly in the background)
4) The electric guitar plays several two-note (chords?) after the singer has completed a line (at certain points throughout the song).

Instrumentation/Timbre :
The song has a haunted sounding timbre in the beginning, it sounds like something from the past that has collected dust. This morphs into something more vibrant throughout the song, although the hue I imagine is one with more faded colors — it feels a little retro.

At certain parts of the song, the timbre is more energetic (like the chorus parts).

Form:

Part A starts at 0:24 and lasts until 1:12…
at which point Part B [chorus] begins (1:13) and lasts until 1:35…
…then there is a recovery period (for lack of vocabulary….) from 1:35 until 1:45…
where Part A comes back from 1:46 until  2:25…
at which point we can welcome Part B [chorus] again (2:26) which lasts until 2:47…
again, there is a “recovery” period from 2:48 – 2:57…
and Part B comes back on at 2:58 (without words) until 3:22…
at 3:23, Part A returns for 10 seconds (until 3:33)…
and Part B comes back at 3:34 and lasts until 3:58…
where Part C enters (3:58ish) and lasts until the song is over.

Offenbach – “Barcarolle”

This song was created by Jacques Offenbach, but is being performed by Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca with accompanying orchestra and choir. I first heard this song in the movie “Life is Beautiful” and it has been a favorite ever since.

I had to do some intensive research to find the rhythm of this song because I could not quite put my finger on whether it was duple or triple meter. It happens to be a bit of both which is a 6/8 meter (compound duple meter). Julien Neel was able to help me figure out it was a compound duple meter in the description of his interpretation of Barcarolle.

After I found out the piece was a compound duple meter (I did not want to pretend that I full understood what it meant), I used wikipedia to find a better definition. According to what I found in wikipedia, a 6/8 meter refers to a meter with two beats divided into three. Here is an attachment video of what that compound duple meter sounds like, Compound Duple Meter.

The Timbre of this song is very smooth and calm. All of the instruments have a very clear sound along with the main singers and the choir. It sounds very crisp even when the singer sings louder at 2:30.

The Dynamics of this song are moderate as to try and paint a calm and relaxing picture.

The main Melody of this song are the two opera singers making this Texture a Homophonic song due to the vast amounts of accompaniments.

The instruments and choir are in excellent harmony with the singers, they all come together perfectly. This song is played in the major scale. This orchestra consists of mainly string instruments (Violins, Violas, Cellos and even a harp at 00:58) Although the flute plays throughout most of the song, it is the only brass instrument in the group. There is also a woodwind Bassoon at 00:15. The only percussion I hear is 2:13 by the sound of a Triangle (which is also where the choir joins the main melody)

I believe the form for this song is a binary form. It starts from the intro into the main melody (singing) at 1:03 until 2:13 where the main melody repeats itself until the end of the song.

Also, if you have not seen the movie “Life is Beautiful”, I believe that it was recently made available on Netflix. You will cry like a baby that just got slapped in the face. Enjoy!

Wikipedia’s Compound duple meter link – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Compound_duple_drum_pattern.mid

Julien Neel’s Youtube video with description — (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3RFfzZXEwA)

Wikipedia’s Compound meter info — Latham, Alison (2002a). “Compound Time [Compound Metre]”. The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866212-2.

-JT and the Heartbreakers (“I Wanna be Loved”)

 

LAMF- I WANNA BE LOVED

The song I selected is written by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. They have been one of my favorite bands ever since I developed a taste in music, when I was a kid. “I wanna be loved”, the song I chose, is one the more famous songs the band would perform in the late 1970’s.

“I wanna be loved” has a relatively simple rhythm that centers around a basic pop/rock and roll drum beat. The meter of the song is duple and is in a “4/4” time signature (the singer counts 1-2-3-4 at the beginning of the song). The downbeats and upbeats are accentuated throughout the song through the use of syncopation. The drums are also accompanied by an electric bass guitar, which additionally helps keep the songs rhythm by hitting a note every time the drums are hit. This song, much like many other Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers songs, is a relatively fast song (allegro). Throughout the song there are no changes in the time signature, tempo, or meter.

The timbre of the song is a little abrasive. The vocals are delivered with high energy and  are performed half-hazardly. Much of the singing has a nasally sound and delivered forcefully. Vocals are coupled with the guitar, which sound punchy, simple, and tough at times and aggressively stylized at other times. the instruments used in the song include two electric guitars, a bass guitar, a drummer and has a layering of vocals. The guitars and the drums are the most dominant elements in the sound. During the chorus the drums make a clamorous, crashing sound. Once the song gets to the guitar solo, the timbre of the lead guitar switches to something reminiscent of a screeching cat. The only really ‘sweet’ or ‘smooth’ parts in the song are the back up vocals. Overall, the song is tough, clamorous, a little sloppy, and occasionally screeching and violent.

The melody is simple but varied through subtle means throughout the song. There are two melodies in this song. Instead of playing the same note in the same octave, the guitars will skip to the same note on the next octave. One of the melodies can be found in the verse while the other is in the chorus. The largest amount of melodic complexity seems to exist in the solo. All of the notes executed throughout the song are all in the same scale. Fundamentally, the two melodies in this song each only contain two root notes. Even in the solo, the lead guitar follows the melody used in the verse and chorus. In other words, when the lead guitar solos over the verse part of the song, for example, it is imitating the basic melody of the verse. It is only occasionally that the lead guitar seems to bend the limits of the scale by rapidly sliding into notes, bending notes, or intentionally using dissonance.

The harmony of the song is found in how forceful it all sounds together. The rhythm guitar violently punches out the basic melodies of the verse and chorus, while the lead guitar either plays the exact same thing or is playing lead guitar melodies that conform to the basic melody. Furthermore, the drums and bass match each other, while the bass provides a direct link between the drums and guitars by playing the root note of all the guitar parts. The various melodies all are in harmony because they are all derived from the same scale. All the instruments harmonize because they essentially reinforce and re-state the same thing all the other instruments do. In the end it sounds like a wall of noise but is still in harmony.

As far as dynamics are concerned, the song is, simply put, a loud song. The vocals are all performed through shouting and the instruments are all loud and mesh together all form a punchy sounding wall of noise. The dynamic of this song is connected to its harmony and its texture because all of how the song is homophonic. It is because of the songs homophony that it is able to have a wall of noise effect.

The form of the song is simple. There are two melodies split between a verse and chorus melody. These two melodies are repeated in varying amounts. Structurally the song is similar to a twelve-bar blues song. There are the two melodies, but they are structurally linked to complete a whole sequence of measures. The whole song is relatively symmetrical and repetitive for this reason.

Rush – Tom Sawyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANiaZvdGO8U

This song is in duple meter. 4/4 to be exact. You can tell that the beat and the tempo is pretty consistent throughout the song. Them tempo is rather Moderate not too fast. Although Neil peart gives it the feeling that its moving much faster because of his amazing drumming skills.

The Vocal melodies which are sung by Geddy Lee vary into 3 main sections. His range is pretty wide as he hits very high notes at 0:45 within the song. The chorus doesn’t range too far out but you can hear Lee using Vibrato in his melody towards the end.

The verses are made up of 8 measures  whereas the chorus is only made up of 4. The song has a very distinct bridge witch leads into the solo and then back into the main verse.

The texture of the song is homophonic. the main melody is expressed by the singing and when not sung a different melody is played by the guitar.

In this song there are 4 main instruments being heard throughout. The drums, the guitar, the bass, and the keyboard. The drums are consistent throughout while the keyboard and bass comes in and out. The bass and the guitar are the main accompaniment behind the singing. Although if you listen closely to the song you can notice parts where the bass plays the direct octave of the guitar. Thereby doubling the melody.

Michael Buble – “Haven’t Met You Yet”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA

 

Rhythm: The piano in the beginning of the music tells just that there are 4 beats per measure, thus the rhythm is a duple meter.  Later other instruments such as the drums and bass help us keep track of the beat and tempo.  At 1:43 we can hear the tempo increase.  The speed of the beats can be described as andante.

Timbre / Instrumentation: The music is bright, lively, positive, and clear. You can hear all the different instruments playing.  The music is upbeat and light.  We can hear  the piano, drums, bass, strings, trumpet, and guitar.

Melody: the music has a major scale, which helps create the feeling of joy and positivity.  The melody has a high frequency, the rate at which the pitches move is closer together. The vocal is the main melody while the other instruments are accompaniments up.

Harmony:  All the instruments work harmoniously with the singer’s voice. We can hear modulation at 0:48, 1:42, 2:16.  There are plenty of modulations and at 2:15 we can hear consonance.

Dynamics: The music is generally laying in mf, but during the climax points the dynamic changes to f.  

Texture: Since there is just one melody with several accompaniments, then the texture of the music is homophonic. You can hear arpeggio at 2:48 – 3:00.

Form: This song has a rondo form where it has 5 parts.  Although, there are a lot of repetition there are also many changes in the music.

 

Led Zepplin-“Ramble On”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvQ2oKSLIGQ

This song is in duple meter. This song has a moderate tempo. The rhythm at the beginning of the song is kept by an acoustic guitar and a bass guitar. At the chorus the first of which starts at 1:04 an electric guitar and drums help keep the rhythm which ends at 1:23 and enters again in the song periodically.

This song has very strong dynamic changes . It starts off with Robert Plants voice in a lower, softer pitch. The acoustic guitar also has a lower pitch. In between the song Robert Plant’s pitch continually alternates from low to high as he sings for example when sings “and it’s headed my way” or when the lower pitch he drags out ” sometimes I grow so tired” then instantly lifts the pitch ” I know one thing I gotta do”. The acoustic guitar stays the same pitch. When the chorus comes around Robert Plant’s voice stays in a  consistently high pitch then back to soft at the end of the chorus. At the chorus the melody changes with the additions of the electric guitar and the drums.

The harmony for most of the song is a simple chord progression on the acoustic guitar as well as the bass guitar which sounds as if it is playing down a scale. The entire song is played in a major scale. I feel as there is an example of dissonance at 0:47 when the acoustic guitar is playing in a lower key and Robert Plant’s voice gets forte “For now I smell the rain”.

There is not much accompaniment in most of the song. In the non chorus the bass guitar is accompanying the acoustic guitar, the bass almost sounds like it is playing down a scale. During the chorus an electric guitar begins playing. As well at the beginning of the chorus the drums start to play. At the end of the song there are two voices singing which I believe to both be Robert Plant’s.

At the beginning of the song the timbre is very peaceful, almost as if to feel like you are wandering around the woods . The chorus is very energetic. Almost as if you went from walking in the woods to starting to run.