VCE Music: Solo Performance (Part 1 of 3)

Section B: Analysis of Excerpts from Unheard Works. (Different Styles)

Rock

• Vocal Music; hard driving beat.
  
• Electric guitar; heavily amplified sound.
  
• Highly varied in tone colour, lyrics and electronic technology.
  
• Unrelenting beat; additional harmony; text often concerned with SEX.
  
• Explosive raucous, wailing, shrieking, shouting voice, gentle ballads.
  

Musicals

• Production/plot is built around the songs.
  
• Vocal ensembles and dances all determine success or failure.
  

  
   

Country and Western

 

• Folk like – guitar based style.
  
• Accompaniment strummed on guitar, usually by the singer.
  
• Band supports the singer; basic accompaniment.
  
• Driving syncopated rhythms.
  

Jazz

• Anticipation of beat, swinging grace notes
  
• Improvisation , syncopated rhythm, steady beat
  
• Distinctive tone colours – muting techniques
  
• Ensemble supplies a rhythmic and harmonic background (throughout improvisation)
  
• Freshness, spontaneity – originality
  
• Rhythm (percussion) – backbone of Jazz ensemble, adds interest; provides supporting harmonies.
  
• Emphasis on brass and woodwind rather than bowed instruments.
  
• Soloist: individuality of sound and tone colour; trying to match the tone colour of singing.
  

Swing

• Bigger bands – music notated, more composed than improvised.
  
• Melodies performed by entire sections; in unison of harmony
  
• Improvisation restricted in length.
  
• Repeated phrases; riffs
  
• Saxophone – most important side instrument
  
• Rhythm – best kept in a different way; cymbals stress 2^nd and 4^th beats
  
• Rich harmonies; more varied, not as laid back.
  

Blues

• Repetitive, amplified bass line.
  
• Mannered articulation of lyrics.
  
• Vocal blues; intensely personal – usually set to 12 bar blues pattern (i.e. 3 basic chords I, IV, V etc...)
  
• Vocal melody - highly sensitive to words.
  
• Long high notes; climatic.
  
• Blues singers special style of performance:
  

  
   

1. Bent notes.
   
2. Micro tonal shadings.
   
3. Vocal scoops and slides.
   
4. Blues notes flattening the 3^rd, 5^th ↓ 7^th.
   

   
    

• Rhythm is very flexible – sing around the beat.
  
• Accenting notes just before or after it (the beat).
  

Baroque (1600s -1700s)

• Elaborate – ornamented
  
• Textures: Homophonic (early baroque); Polyphonic (late baroque)
  
• Usually expresses ONE basic mode.
  
• Rhythmic patterns repeated throughout; provides drive and energy.
  
• Ensemble supplies a rhythmic and harmonic background (throughout improvisation)
  
• Melody repetitive – conformity.
  
• Dynamics – volume stays constant; any change is sudden, restricted.
  
• Chords become important – melody is sometimes fitted in the chord pattern.
  

  
   

Classical (1700s -1800s)

• Great variety of mood – dramatic, turbulent and carefree.
  
• Wide emotional range.
  
• Gradual dynamic change <>.
  
• Texture: mainly homophonic, but flexible; (may shift to polyphonic).
  
• Polyphonic texture neglected in favour of tuneful melody and simple harmony; balanced.