Gcse Musical Form

The first Musical element that was included in the class was rhythm. Rhythm is an element of music that deals with the arrangement of sound and silences in relation to time. To describe the rhythm of The Ballad

It comprises recurring pulses and accents that create identifiable patterns. Also, without rhythm there is only the rise and falling of tones (119). The song is the same measure repeated over and over in slightly different ways. There are two characteristics that tend to change throughout this song, tempo and the dynamics. Tempo is the rate of speed of the composition (120). The song begins in the tempo Lento, slow, and begins picking up speed and rising to andante, moderate, tempo. Dynamics is the degrees of loudness and softness in the music (177). In this particular song the tempo and dynamics build off each other. When one changes the other changes with it, creating layers to the sound you hear and making each note pleasing to the

Adele doesn’t really make an inspiring or emotional impact in this novel. She is a housewife who is content fulfilling her duties. She is a static character because she shows no change or growth from the beginning to the end of the novel. It is almost like she receives a checklist from society about what she needs to do and she gladly performs those tasks.

With means to express oneself, helps one overcome the difficulties of life. This approach represents the entire nature of the hip hop culture, especially when dealing with social justice issues. Today, the hip hop culture association revolves around raps (lyrics) and the rappers which reflect how consumers receive messages about social justice issues. Unlike breaking and graffiti, the music/lyrics penetrate society more. However, for this analysis, the focus will rely on a visual element with a connection to hip hop music. Even though a music video would make sense as a visual means of expression, this analysis has more interest in the cover art that goes with a hip hop album. Also, this focus will lead to the question of how important is art

The lowest note of the fanfare at 0:32 indicates the ending of the instrumental verse and helps transition into a new section of the song, which would be the addition of choral voices (0:38). The melody continues at a lento pace, or very slow, and step-wise. The verses follows the pattern of AABA; the second A sounds at 0:53, and the B and last A parts begin at 1:09 and 1:24, respectively. At 1:42, the instruments interrupt the chorus and proceed into an instrumental verse, which mimics but slightly alters final A part of the verse, playing in flat and sharp notes to indicate suspense and prepare the listener for the key change of the next and final choral verse (2:02). At 2:36, the loudest

However, the most dissatisfying part about this piece was that it was difficult to understand at first due to the language barrier, but through the performance, enthusiasm, and efforts put forth by the singers, the piece was surprisingly enjoyable. In addition to the great attributes of the piece and the performance as a whole, there was a clearly, recognizable beat. Along with a sense of phrasing, that was notable when the choir members took short breaths. Other aspects such as meter, tempo, syncopation, subdivision, and rhythmic patterns that was also recognizable and noted, but will be mentioned in the later half of the

Harmony is the vital element of the music because it creates the pace, phase, and the sound of a melody. In essence, for a song to achieve its musicality, it must have harmony. Harmony is one of the aspects that make the music sweet in the people’s ears. The intervals, octaves and many other elements of music make up the harmony implying that music cannot be music without harmony. Therefore, harmony is one of the elements that enhance the perception of a piece of music such as Fire by the

The song initially sounds like a show tune, with a happy piano instrumental that sounds like it may have been taken from a classic broadway show. She actually addresses this early on in the lyrics “This is a show tune. But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet” This was an immediate indicator that she was using this style of music purposefully and ironically. The same repetitive and “joyful” sound continues for the first minute and a half of the song without changing. The instrumental sounds very persistent and seems to forcefully drag along the vocal line. About 2 minutes into the music we finally hear a change, the ticking beat remains the same but the piano chords become minor and suddenly sound much more ominous. Gradually the instrumentation becomes more dramatic and forceful, however rather than reaching a climax, it returns to original melody. It is not until the very end of the song that there is finally a sense of climax and resolution.

Mark Sullivan, “‘More Popular Than Jesus’: The Beatles and the Religious Far Right Author(s),” Popular Music 6/3 (October 1987): 313–26.

When analysing music it is important to consider several factors that are vital to the make up of a song. We must consider pitch, harmony, and timbre. Harmony is an important part of a song and can be achieved by playing or singing the intervals in a chord after the root note. Harmonies are often utilized by backing singers and instruments such as guitars to create a thicker or more emphasized sound. Pitch is another important ingredient in a song. The pitch is essentially what frequency the notes are played at within a song. The frequency of note changes depending on which octave you play the note on. Analysing the timbre of the instruments is essential when looking at why an artist chose the instruments they did. Timbre essentially is the

As for the mood of the song, the tempo created a sense of suspense. The bass line helped emphasize the drama of the song, which contributed to the overall seriousness of the song. The guitar solo soon comes in, very powerful and fast. This really helps the listener become evolved in the piece. The piano accented the piece, which contributed the pep of the song. When it focused on accompanying the bass however, it helped add even more to the sense of drama or suspense.

In stanza 3 versus 1,2,3,4 and stanza 6 versus 1,2,3,4 uses anaphora to heighten the sad emotions. As mentioned in these lines, Adele is portraying a feeling where the lover has forgotten the memories they created in the past and the reasons falling in love. When the audience has same memories as her while listening to the song that is when a connection is build. Being able to relate to the tune and the lyrics puts her at a higher position than other singers. Adele has said that “[c]ause I am not fully recovered It is going to take me 10 years to recover, I think from the way I feel about my last relationship”. Adele has not accomplished getting over the negative memories from past relationships. The whole world believes of her as a perfect rich women. However, the money, fans and publicity does not bring any happiness in her life what helps her to move forward is writing music. The song states “often think about where I went wrong”( Stanza 4, Verse3). This indicates the is invulnerable to avoid. Adele music speaks to the audience and allows them to be emotional. Adele is a great artist because in her videos there is no nudity to and gets the attention of the viewer due to her natural

Singing - producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm.

Have you ever listened to someone from another country speak English? A lot of times, people speaking a second language will pronounce things a little differently than native speakers, or they will talk at a different rhythm. Languages have their own pace, places where you expect people to pause or speed up or articulate more clearly. We call this part of language an accent. People speaking a secondary language may have a foreign accent, while those speaking a native tongue have a local accent. Music is a lot like this. Musical rhythms tend to have natural accents, emphases on certain notes within a meter. Just like fitting in with a new culture requires learning their accent, accents are essential to understand musical conversation.

The elements of music contain many categories and subcategories that cannot exist without each other. Stanley Sadie states that music “has been defined as ‘organized sound’” (Sadie 14). The word “organized” here is a bit understated. Music is the most organized of all the arts. If music are not organized correctly, it will not sound right or even be able to be played at times. Even in the most technical and complicated genres like Jazz there is still organized. In solos there has to be organized or the solo won’t sound good, throw off the rest of the band, and do many other things that would make a piece of music not enjoyable to listen to. Sadie states all elements of music. He talks of notation which include pitch, octaves, scales, and intervals. Next there is rhythm which includes pulse/tempo, meter, notation of rhythm, and time/meter signatures. Then he gets into the melody of music which is where the notation and rhythm play out, he involves in melody the subcategory of cadence. Cadence is better defined as “a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution [finality or pause]” (Randel). He then goes onto key/tonality which consists of tonic, dominant; key signatures; major, minor; modulation; and modes. He covers harmony which comprises chords, triads and consonance and dissonance. Counterpoint/polyphony is his next element which incorporates imitation. His last musical element that he covers is