What is this song about?

Music Analysis Guide

 

Instructions:

 

You are required to attend a live or recorded musical performance and conduct a critical analysis of a specific song or composition containing both lyrics and musical accompaniment, using the format of this guide.  Address each element using complete, grammatically correct sentences.

 

1. Title of Song or Composition:

 

1. Songwriter(s):

 

2. Performer(s):

 

3. Date of Performance or Publication:

 

4. Genre refers to the style category of a song or composition. Examples are blues, jazz, rock, hip hop, country, classical, pop, folk, etc.

 

       What is the genre of your selected song of composition?  

 

 

1. Lyrical Elements

 

1. What is this song about? (Theme)

 

2. Why do you think the songwriter wrote this song? (Inference)

 

3. What did you like about the song’s words? What were your favorite parts? Why? (Critical thinking)

 

4. Are the song’s words like the words to any other song that you know? How are they similar or different? (Connections)

 

5. Is there anything in the song that reminds you of something in your own life? (Personalization)

 

6. Do you find any of the words or sentences interesting? Confusing? Unusual? (Style)

 

7. Did the songwriter include images that you find funny? Scary? Old-fashioned? Embarrassing? (Evaluation)

 

8. What senses does the songwriter use in this song? Sight? Smell? Hearing? Taste? Touch? (Style)

 

 

III. Musical Elements

 

1. Rhythm is the repeated movement of sounds through time. In songs, the words usually match the rhythm. Everything we sing or say has a rhythm.

 

Beat, accent and tempo are all parts of rhythm.

 

Beat is the regular pulse (the ticking of a clock, the sound of a car’s windshield wipers).

 

Accent is where the strongest emphasis is placed as in one, two, three, one, two, three.

 

Tempo is the speed: how fast or slow the music is measured in beats per minute (BPM).

 

Describe the rhythm of your selected song or composition using the above terms.

 

 

 

 

2. Melody is the tune. The tune is made up of musical notes or pitches that make up a pattern. When you add words to a melody, it becomes a song. Notes can be high, low or in-between. Their height is called the pitch.

 

Pitch determines the height of a note in relation to the others around it, which may be higher or lower.

 

How would you describe the melody of your selected song in relation to pitch and pattern of the tune?

 

 

 

 

3. Timbre is the texture of sound and what makes one instrument or voice sound different from another.

 

What instruments do you recognize in this music? Why do you think these instruments were selected?

 

 

 

 

 

4. Dynamics refers to how loud or quiet the music is and how it may change throughout a song. Sometimes certain instruments are temporarily silenced for dynamic effect. Dynamics create the build-up, release, and overall mood of the music. Traditional terms to describe dynamics are: pianissimo (very quiet), piano (quiet), mezzo piano (medium quiet), mezzo forte (medium loud), forte (loud), fortissimo (very loud).

Describe the dynamics of your selected song or composition using some of these terms and definitions.  

 

 

 

 

5. Harmony is when two or more notes are played or sung at the same time creating choral resonance.

 

Can you detect instrumental and/or vocal harmony in your song selection?   If so, briefly describe it.

 

 

 

6. Progression or Theme is the regular succession of chords or the movement of the parts of a musical composition in harmony, where the key continues unchanged.

 

Can you detect the chord progression in your selected song or composition?  If so, briefly describe it.

 

 

 

7. Arrangement refers to how the sections of a song are arranged in a certain order from beginning to finish. Elements of an arrangement in a typical song are as follows:

 

Intro

 

Sung Verse(s)

 

Sung Chorus or Refrain

 

Instrumental solo(s)

 

Bridge

 

Outro or finale

 

Can you identify the various parts of the arrangement of your selected song or composition?  If so, briefly describe how the song is arranged?