MUS 505 Study Guide - Final Guide: Aretha Franklin, Rock And Roll, Minor Chord
3 Apr 2019
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Music Listening Final
1. “I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man”: Muddy Waters. urban blues. 1954.
• Instrumentation: amplified guitar, amplified harmonica, bass, drums
• Texture: homophony, stop time used in verse, full texture in chorus
• Form: 16 bar blues (8 bar verse, 8 bar chorus) (tension built up in the verse)
• Lyrics: tradition of “toasting” (like boasting), supernatural imagery (black cat bone,
mojo, John the Conqueror root – west African roots)
2. “Mystery Train”: Elvis Presley. rock’n’roll. 1955.
• Instrumentation: electric guitar, slap bass, acoustic guitar, male vocal
• Form: 12 bar blues
• Texture: thinner
• Lyrics: crisper rhythm, faster tempo
3. “Maybellene”: Chuck Berry. rock’n’roll. 1955.
• Instrumentation: electric guitar, bass, drums, piano, maracas, male vocals
• Form: verse-chorus, 12 bar blues
• Rhythm: regular/square bassline (emphasis on 2nd and 4th beats)
• Vocals: clearly enunciated (to appeal to mainstream), telling precise story
4. “Eleanor Rigby”: The Beatles. British Invasion. 1966.
• Instrumentation: string ensemble, male vocals
• Form: verse-chorus but phrase lengths are asymmetrical
• Tonally: only 2 chords, minor chord is tonic (vocals harmonize in b chorus)
• Texture: staccato playing of strings leaves lots of silence
• Production: stereo effects: vocals on one side of the speaker except for chorus
• Lyrics: stark “lonely people” recalls folk ballad stories
5. “Respect”: Aretha Franklin. soul. 1967.
• Instrumentation: Horns, electric guitar, drums, organ, piano, solo female vocals, backing
vocals
• Form: strophic, with variations to build intensity (short instrumental B-section)
• Texture: homophony, call and response with main and background vocals
• Context: a cover of an Otis Redding song, which takes on a feminist message
6. “Anarchy in the UK”: Sex Pistols. punk. 1976.
• Voices: electric guitars, bass, drums, male vocals, some harmony in chorus
• Texture: homophony, multiple guitar and drum layers
