GCSE Music

Handel

1741

• 1st idea, 2 characteristic features
  • triadic
  • stepwise scale ending
• one note/word per syllable (syllabic)
• 2nd idea
  • 2 one-bar descending sequences
  • melismatic (several notes to a syllable)
• 3rd idea
  • repetitive
  • gives impression of firm statement
• 4th idea
  • long repeated notes for emphasis
  • doubles the part with tenors and basses 
• ideas are all different so that each has its own character when combined

• A major
  • modulates to dominant key of E major. Also modulates to Bmajor -> dominant key of E major.
  • Minor keys avoided because it's happy.

• 3/4 time
• Allegro tempo

• Hemiola rhythms
• Diatonic chords- notes/chords belonging to a key

• Monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic

• Oratorio

• 2 violins
• Viola
• 4 voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
• Continuo bass

Chopin

1839

• Decorated with ornaments e.g. acciaccatura in bar 4 and a turn in bar 11.
• In section B the melody is in the bass line with a narrower range and longer notes.

• Db Major

• Time signature is 4/4
• Use of septuplet in bars 4 and 23.
• Rubato is used in the recording, this means that it is played at a flexible tempo for added expressive effect.
• Repeated quavers are a unifying rhythmic feature throughout this piece

• Diatonic harmonies with the occasional chromaticism. 
• Modulates to the enharmonic tonic minor.
• Sections A and B both end in imperfect cadences but the whole prelude ends in a perfect cadence.
• Dominant pedal can be heard throughout most of the piece.

• Homophonic texture (apart from 2 bars at the end which are monophonic).

• Structure
  • Section A: Db Major quavers in the left hand and the melody in the right hand. 
  • Section B: C# Minor quavers in the right hand and melody in the left hand.
  • Section A: Db Major but this time finishes with a brief coda. 
    - The piece is written in ternary form (ABA)

• Written for piano.
• Uses the middle and lower range of the piano.
• This work is not virtuosic and the focus is on the legato tone. 
• There is a wide range of dynamics (pp-ff).
• Lots of crescendos and diminuendos so there are no sudden contrasts or changes in dynamics.

Arnold Schoenberg

1909

• Short fragmented motifs
• Disjunct (with many large leaps) sounding very angular.
• Octave displacement
• Inversion
• Augmentation

Atonal

• Dissonant harmony
• Hexachords

• Largely contrapuntal
• Complex textures
• Imitation and inversion
• Three different canons

• The metre changes between 3/4, 2/4 and 4/4
• Tempo is Sehr Rasch- very quick
• Complex and varied rhythms changing quickly.
• Layered rhythmic patterns

• Large orchestra
• Instrumentation changes rapidly throughout
• Contrasts in timbre
• Instruments played at the extremes of their range
• Unusual effects used
• Sudden changes in dynamics leading to extreme contrasts between ppp and fff

• Free rondo form
• Five sections (ABACA)
• Serialism

• From the Five Orchestral Pieces composed in 1909
• Other expressionists = Berg & Webern

Leonard Bernstein

From West Side Story

1957

• Syllabic
• Tritones*

• Dmajor
• Contrasting sections in Cmajor x2

*

• Frequent use of the sharpened fourth and flattened seventh
• Tenor's last noe is a flattened seventh
  • sounds unresolved. 
  • fits well with Tony's sense of expectation
• Hermony is tonal and jazz influenced, frequent 7th chords and other added note chords.

• Homophonic
• Three main ideas
  • repeated riff
  • short, mainly syncoated chords (bars 21-26)
  • fast, um-cha accompaniment 

• Metre changes between 3/4 and 2/4
• Changes of metre, fast tempo and syncopation maintain a feeling of excitement and anticipation.
• Accompaniment largely made up of an off-beat bass part with off beat chords.

• Solo tenor voice accompanied by a band of woodwind, brass, percussion and strings.
• So the band doesn't overpower the solo singer...
  • quiet dynamics
  • soft timbres
  • homophonic texture
• 'The air is humming' strings use harmonics (very high notes) & play tremolo

• Three main themes
  • quiet, syncopated opening theme
  • loud, strident theme 2/4
  • lyrical, slow-moving theme
• Jazz/musical

Minimalism

Steve Reich

1987

• Made up of a one-bar motif repeated continuously to form an ostinato.
• Motif introduced in different guitar parts creating a canon.

• Largely in Gmajor, some shorter sections in Ebmajor
• Entirely diatonic

• Hexatonic scales such as the first motif
  • uses six notes
• Conventional harmonic progressions not used

• Builds up melody
  • built up through note addition
• Polyphonic/Contrapuntal 
• Movement builds up in 3 layers
  • a syncopated quaver motif introduced in the live guitar and 4 guitars one at a time
  • new syncopated quaver motif in the bass guitars
  • sustained motif built around 3 chords begins in live guitar and transferred in other parts

• Main metre is 3/2
  • 12 quavers per bar
• Very fast
• Little rhythmic variety. Mostly repeated patterns and quavers
• Frequent syncopation
• Metrical displacement
  • playing the same motif in different parts and not in synch.
• Polymetre towards the end (different parts in different metres)

• Live guitar accompanied by 7 guitars and 2 bass guitars which are pre-recorded.
• Live guitar is amplified to bleng in well with the backing tape.
• Overall dynamic remains fairly constant throughout
• Parts gradually fade out in a number of places

Jazz

Miles Davis

1959

• Head melody characterised by rising 6ths followed by improvised solos:
  • 1. Trumpet solo for 4 choruses. Short, syncopated motifs.
  • 2. Alto sax solo for 4 choruses. Quicker notes and a wider range. More virtuosic.
  • 3. Tenor sax solo for 4 choruses. Fast scales and quick runs. Very virtuosic.
  • 4. Piano solo for 2 choruses. Calmer, simpler melody leading into parallel chords.

• Gmajor with a flattened seventh.
• Mixoldian mode.

• Based on the 12 bar blues sequence

1   G7          7   G7

2   G7          8   G7

3   G7          9   D7

4   G7         10  Eb7/D7

5   Gm7      11   F/G

6   Gm7      12   F/G6

• Simple texture

• Score notated in 6/4 
  • Described as a jazz waltz because each 6/4 bar sounds like two bars in 3/4 time
• Performed with swing quavers
• Frequent syncopation

Frontline

• Miles Davis on trumpet
• Julian Adderley on alto sax
• John Coltrane on tenor sax

Rhythm section

• Bill Evans on piano
• Paul Chambers on bass
• Jimmy Cobb on drums

Techniques

•  
  • Snare drum played with wire brushes at the start of the piece
  • Bass plays pizzicato throughout
  • Trumpet played with Harmon mute for the head
  • Piano plays a tremolo at the start
  • Once the solos begin, the piano starts comping (accomp. with chords and short melodic ideas.

Can be split into 5 sections

• Intro- opening 4 bars played by the rhythm section, followed by the 4-bar riff in parallel thirds.
• Head 1- head melody played twice, followed by riff.
• Solos- for trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax and piano; each followed by riff.
• Head 2- head melody played twice, followed by riff.
• Coda- a solo for muted trumpet.

Jeff Buckley

1994

Alt Rock

• Vocal part has an improvised quality and wide range
• Most vocal phrases falling, reflecting the melancholy mood.
• Frequent ornamentation
• Glissandos (slides) between notes, indicated by a diagonal line.
• Most word setting is syllabic (some long melismas.)
• Passage of vocalisation (wordless singing) in the bridge.
• Use of falsetto for high notes.
• Word painting
  • 'cries' in verse 1
  • 'pain' and 'leave' in the bridge
  • 'slow' in verse 3
  • 'drown my name' in the coda

• E minor
• Often ambiguous

• Thickens towards the end, epecially in the coda
• Drums and guitars play big parts, synthesiser and strings less prominent- used to add effects/ vary the texture.

• 12/8 compound metre with 4 dotted crotchet beats per bar
• Bass drum on beats 1 and 3, snare drum accents the back beats 2 and 4
• Frequent syncopation in vocal melody (rhythmically very free) and in the bass line.
• Cross rhythms

• Buckley accompanied by guitars, bass guitar, synthesiser, strings and drum kit.
• Guitars score on tab
• Guitars in drop D tuning
• Modulation on the synth at the start
• Distortion and flanging on guitars intensify sound in the coda
• Over-dubbing in guitar parts creating a thicker sound. Extra vocal parts in the bridge produced through over-dubbing.
• EQ in the final verse to remove lower frequencies of Buckley's voice.

Intro            Instrumental

Verse 1       Voice

Chorus 1     Voice 'wait in the fire'

Intro            Instrumental

Verse 2       Voice

Chorus 2     Voice 'wait in the fire'

Bridge         Voice (vocalisation)

Intro            Instrumental

Verse 3       Voice

Coda           Voice (improv)

Moby

1999

Club/ Dance

• Based on 2 samples from a gospel choir in 1953
• Sample A used in verses, male singer
• Sample B used in chorus, female singer
• Samples manipulated to change the meaning
• 'Vintage' feel because Moby left the surface noise
• Samples are looped to create simple repetitive melody

• Verses in dorian mode
• Choruses in Cmajor

• Entirely diatonic
• Made up of 3 simple, repeated chord progressions each lasting 8 bars
• 1st sample to Am Em G D
• 2nd sample harmonised in 2 different ways
  • C Am C Am 
  • F C F C

• Built up as individual tracks are introduced
• After breakdown, texture becomes thinner as piano and drums drop out
• CONTRASTS IN TEXTURE
  • varying instrumentation in each 8 bar section
  • use of silence
  • static chords

• Song in 4/4 steady tempo of 98bpm
• Drum loop made up of a backbeat (drum solo) sampled from a hip-hop track
  • bass drum on beats 1 and 3
  • strong accents on backbeats 2 and 4 from snare drum
• Syncopation in piano, vocal and synth string parts
• Rhythms vary between sections for contrast
  • piano pattern changes at the end of verse 1
  • static chords in chorus 2

Technology

• Synth- produces string, bass and piano sounds
• Sampler
• Drum machine
• Sequencer

Effects

• Panning- sense of movement in piano intro
• Electronic ghostings-  remnants of background noise
• Reverb and delay- throughout and in one-bar breakdown
• Echoes created through delay processed with EQ to remove lower frequences

• Verse-Chorus structure
• Looped samples
• After verse 2, breakdown- one bar's silence

Intro - Verse - Chorus - Verse - Breakdown - Chorus - Verse

Capercallie

2000

Folk

• Pentatonic
• Low voice register
  • vocal tenor clef, music sounds an octave lower
• Mainly syllabic
• Alternates between one bar Gaelic call phrases and phrases using vocables, nonsense syllables, in response
• Instruments play short motifs and counter-melodies mostly based on vocal phrases

• Gmajor

• Entirely diatonic
• 3 main chords G Em C
• Modal feel because dominant D chord is avoided

Layered texture created through:

• Rhythmic pattern on drum kit
• Bass line played by bass guitar
• Chords on synth and accordian
• Main melody sung by voice
• Countermelodies on other instruments (violin, viano)
• N.C = no chord - accompaniment drops out
• 'With modulation' = modulation (digital effect) applied to synth making pitch fluctuate like the cluster chord that opens the song

• 12/8 (compound quadruple metre)
• Frequent syncopation in vocal and instrumental countermelodies
• Hi-hat pattern at the start of the song creates cross rhythms
  •  
    • full band enters, hi-hat rhythm changes emphasising 12/8

• 3 most unusual instruments
  • Wurliter Piano (type of early electric piano)
  • Uilleann pipes (like bagpipes but with a softer tone)
  • Bouzouki (type of lute from Greece)

• Vocal line alternates between 4 different one-bar phrases in a call and response pattern
  • Phrase 1 call (in Gaelic, starts on a high D)
  • Refrain 1 response (vocables, mid B)
  • Phrase 2 call (Gaelic, low D)
  • Refrain 2 response (vocables, high E)
• Overall...
  • Intro: instrumental after which the voice enters
  • Verse 1: voice and accompaniment
  • Verse 2: voice and accompaniment, includes instrumental break
  • Coda: short vocal phrases then accompaniment fades out

Performed by Anoushka Shankar

• Sitar- plucked string instrument
  • 7 main strings, 12 sympathetic strings
• Tabla- pair of drums
  • right one called a Dayan, is smaller, wooden and higher pitched.
  • left one called a Bayan, is metal

• Two tals
  • Jhaptal- 10 beat cycle (2+3+2+3)
  • Tintal- 16 beat cycle (4+4+4+4)

1. Alap

• Sitar only, slow, no regular pulse
• Introduces notes and mood
• Melodic line decorated with slides and pitch bends

2. Gat

• Tabla enters after a few seconds
• Fixed composition, moderate tempo
• Sitar and tabla improv. Sitar's improv based on Gat, tabla's improv. based on tal.
• Improvs end with a tihai (phrase repeated 3 times) ending on the sam
• Towards end tempo increases

3. Jhalla

• Fast
• Sitar strings strummed for rhythmic excitement

Performed by Chiranji Lal Tanwar

This version is a bhajan- Hindu devotional song

Chiranji (voice) accompanied by...

• Sarod- plucked string instrument
• Sarangi- bowed string instrument
• Pakhawaj- drum
• Tabla
• Pair of small cymbals

• 8 beat cycle called Keherwa tal (2+2+2+2)

1. Alap

• Sarangi and the voice introduce notes of the rag
• Slow
• No regular pulse

2. Bhajan

• Tabla joins in playing in Keherwa tal
• Sung verse followed by short solos for sanangi and sarod
• Tanwar decorates important words with melismas and ornaments

Performed by Steve Gorn and Benjy Wetheimer

• Bansuri- bamboo flute, holes instead of keys
• Esraj- bowed string instrument
• Shruti box- electronic instrument that plays a drone
• Swaramandel- plucked string instrument
• Tabla

Two tals

• Rupak tal- 7 beat cycle (3+2+2)
• Ektal- 12 beat cycle (2+2+2+2+2+2)

1. Alap

• Starts with drone on D and A
• Bansuri introduces notes and mood, esraj then takes over before instruments alternate improvising
• Slow tempo and no regular pulse

2. Gat 1

• Slow gat in rupak tal
• Starts with bansuri solo, tabla enters after 30secs
• Bansuri plays composed gat shortly after, bansuri and tabla improv around gat and tal
• End of section finishes with a tihai

3. Gat 2

• Fast gat in ekta; starts with tabla solo
• Improv becomes more elaborate, bansuri plays tans (fast scales)
• Piece ends with three tihais

Koko

African Music

• Balafons mostly play (often falling) short patterns
  • tending to emphasise Gb and Db (tonic and dominant)
  • balafon has solo breaks between choruses sounding more virtuosic
• During choruses, group sings together in unison. Like the balafon, the chorus has short, falling phrases emphasising Gb and Db

• Gb major

• Most of the music is hexatonic- based on a six note scale (without F)

Layered texture including

• Monophonic texture in intro (balafon solo)
• Occasional heterophonic textures
  • when 2 balafons play different version of the same tune at the same time

• Mainly 4/4
• Intro in a free tempo, rest of piece has a steady pulse
• Syncopation frequently used
• During a vocal solo the balafon plays semiquavers in groups of 3 creating crossrhythms
• Vocal soloist makes use of triplets
• Drums play rhythmic ostinato throughout
  • consists of a quaver and 2 semi quavers
  • djembe plays occasional fills on top

• Balafon- like a wooden xylophone
  • gourds hang beneath to make it sound more resonant
• Djembe- drum, played with the hands
• Talking drum- drum played with a hooked stick. Can be used to imitate speech
• Members of Koko sing
  • split into soloist and chorus
• A little dynamic variation

Three sections

1. Introduction

• short intro is a balafon solo played using tremolo

2. Main section

• drums play ostinato, strong clear pulse
• music alternates between balafon solos and choruses
• middle of section there is a vocal solo
  • call and response used between soloist and choir

3. Coda

• short phrase for balafon played five times in slightly varied versions
  • drum ostinato interrupted by rests, and a bell is sounded to mark the end