Notes
from Monday, Jan 14 and Wed, Jan 16 class sessions:
- Review the "Musical
Elements" Powerpoint presentation, and be sure to have a working
knowledge of the elements of Rhythm, Dynamics, Melody, Harmony, Tone Color
(Timbre), Texture, Form (also
consider the text in vocal music).
Be sure to complete the
first online quiz/assessment in WebCT/Vista/Blackboard by Mon. Jan 14. For details see the eWorkbook link on the
MUS1700 homepage.
-----
BASIC
SONG FORMS (as seen in selected popular songs)
STROPHIC
FORM (a TEXT-BASED form where the
same music is sung to new verses of words--a "strophe" is a verse of
rhymed poetry)
- Advantage is that these
songs are easy to learn and fun to sing in group contexts.
- Disadvantage of this
design is that you cannot portray the meaning of new words in each verse when
you are using the same music over and over.
Example: Christmas
Carol: "Deck the Halls"
- Verse 1: Deck the Halls
with boughs of holly...
- Verse 2: See the blazing
yule before us...
- Verse 3: Fast away the old
year passes...
Strophic construction can
also be found within other types of musical forms (as long as there are musical
sections repeated with new words)
-----
Many different kinds of
musical forms can be constructed from the interplay of two contrasting musical
sections, Any combination of
contrasting elements can create the sense of contrasting musical sections
within a piece.
Here are a few of the basic
forms based on contrasting sections:
We looked briefly at two
"rhythm and blues"-based songs from the 1950s (both 12-bar blues
forms)
12-BAR
BLUES:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
I -> -> -> IV -> I -> V7 IV I ->
Example: Little Richard: "Tutti Frutti
(1956), with an equally famous
swing/pop watered-down "cover" version done in 1957 by Pat Boone
- This is a 12-bar blues
pattern that features "A vs, B" opposition of Chorus and Verse, as
well as strophic verse structure
CHORUS:
F (I)
Bb (IV)
F (I)
Tutti Frutti, ah
rootie,..... Tutti Frutti, ah rootie,..... Tutti Frutti, ah rootie,..... Tutti
Frutti, ah rootie,.....
C7
(V7)
F (I)
Tutti Frutti, ah
rootie,..... A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop
a-lop bam boo.
VERSE 1: (follows
a basic I-IV-V7 chord pattern that is slightly different than the Chorus)
I got a gal, named Sue, She knows just what to do. .....
I've been to the
east, I've been to the west, but she's the gal that I love the best.
(CHORUS) Tutti
Frutti, all over rootie,.....
A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop
a-lop bam boo
VERSE 2: (same chordf
pattern as Verse 1)
I got a gal,
named Daisy, She almost drives me crazy.
She knows how to
love me , yes indeed, boy you don't know what she's doing to me.
(CHORUS)
-----
Example: Elvis Presley:
"Hound
Dog (1956), which is actually a
"cover" of Leiber and Stoller's original R&B song written for Big
Mama Thornton
- This is a 12-bar blues
pattern that features "A vs. B" opposition of Chorus and Verse, as
well as strophic verse structure
CHORUS:
F (I)
Bb (IV)
F (I)
You ain't nothin'
but a hound dog, cryin' all the time,
you ain't nothin' but a hound dog cryin' all the time
C7 (V7)
Bb (IV)
F (I)
You ain't never
caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine.
VERSE 1: (follows
the same chord pattern and melody as the Chorus)
When they said you was high classed, well that was just a lie... When they said
you was high classed, well that was just a lie...
You ain't never
caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine.
(CHORUS)
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BINARY
FORM /A vs. B design:
Example: Bob Dylan--"Blowin' In the
Wind" (1962)
- Folk music with basic folk-guitar chords strummed in
homophonic style in support of the melody
- Socially-conscious lyrics
that comment both on war and racism
- A famous "cover"
version of this song was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963 (#2 on the US pop charts that summer)
VERSE 1:
G
C
G
C
G
How many roads
must a man walk down before you call him a man? Yes'n'
G
C
G
C
D7
How many seas
must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes'n'
G
C G
C G
How many times
must the cannon balls fly before they're forever banned?
CHORUS:
C
D7 G
Emi
The answer, my
friend, is blowin' in the wind,
C
D7
G
The answer is
blowin' in the wind.
VERSE 2: How many times must a man look up before
he can see the sky?
Yes'n' How many
ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
Yes'n' How many deaths
will it take till he knows that to many people have died?
(CHORUS)
VERSE 3: How many years can a mountain exist
before its washed to the sea?
Yes'n' How many
years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?
Yes'n' How many
times can a man turn his head pretending he just doesnt see?
(CHORUS)
-----
TERNARY
FORM / A B A design: (simulates a
"circle"--opposition and return/new reflection)
Example: McCartney/Lennon--"Yesterday"
(1965)
- Completely different style
than their earlier "cover" version of The Isley Brothers' "Twist and
Shout" (8-Bar Blues) from 1963 (UK)/1964 (USA)
- Innovative in use of
acoustic guitar with string quartet scored by George Martin--no drums or bass
on recording (moved pop music in entirely new direction)
- Simple but meaningful
lyrics with clever rhyme scheme; still the lyrics on their own are quite
shallow without the music
- Many different elements
are combined and altered to create the powerful melancholy effect
- This version was difficult
to recreate in live tour performances (hard to bring quartet on international
tours for a single song)
- Notice how little time is
spent on the "F" chord--constantly shifting away from that stability
to express the words.
- In this case, the
contrasting "B" section is called a "Bridge" because there
is not a "Chorus" that returns over and over throughout the song; the
section merely functions as a contrasting connective "bridge" between
Verses 2 and 3 (remember, the literal repeat of single or multiple sections
does not create new formal divisions)
--Chord
progression shown in capital letters; parenthetical lowercase letters are
moving bass notes
VERSE 1 (7-bar phrase!): acoustic guitar and voice
only; vocal line is fragmented--almost breathless/hopeless
F
Emi
A7
Dmi
(c)
Bb
C7
F
(e) Dmi7 G7 Bb F
Yesterday... All my troubles seemed so far
away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay, Oh, I believe in yesterday.
VERSE 2 (7-bar phrase!): string quartet joins
in low voicings that essentially model the guitar)
F
Emi
A7 Dmi (c) Bb
C7
F
(e) Dmi7 G7
Bb F
Suddenly... I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
BRIDGE (two 4-bar-phrases): harmonic motion
twice as fast as before; melody soars rapidly to emotional high point
Quartet
voicings become more independent and at times contrapuntal
F
Emi
A7
Dmi (c) Bb
C7
F
(e) Dmi7 G7
Bb F
Why she had to
go, I don't know, she wouldn't say
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
VERSE 3 (7-bar phrase!):
F Emi
A7
Dmi (c) Bb
C7
F
(e) Dmi7 G7 Bb F
Yesterday... Love was such an easy game to
play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
(BRIDGE and VERSE
3 repeat)
--on the final repeat of Verse 3 the high violin sustains a long, haunting
upper "A" note that sounds as a consonance or dissonance against the
changing harmonic progression of F, Emi. A7, Dmi, Bb, C7, F... (like a sweet,
sad memory or hope that lingers then finally fades away)