Analysis/Appraisal -Somewhere Only We Know

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Ben Perry 11Q                                                                              Music Coursework

Section 1

Analysis/Appraisal –Somewhere Only We Know

I decided to use this piece for my appraisal for a number of reasons. This piece was released in 2004 by a band called Keane; it was the first single by this band, and the single that made them famous. This song is typical for Keane. It has block chords to create a pulsing beat. This seems to be a trademark for Keane’s music.

The pianist uses mainly block chords, to create the feeling that the song is pulsing, and I decided I could do this easily with my left hand, so my right hand could be free to play the melody line. This was difficult at first, as the block chords are very spaced out, and repetitive. I had not played anything like this with my left hand before.

I also felt I could put feeling into this, improvising; adding crescendo’s and diminuendo’s to create feeling in the piece. In the chorus of the recorded version, mood is created with the addition of the bass guitar and drums, I tried to compensate by making certain parts of the piece Forte, to show that the piece had turned angrier. There is a fairly difficult section in this piece, after the chorus, it is a quick chord sequence. The actual chords are quite close, and don’t take a lot of effort stretching, although the different chords are only semitones apart, so it is very fiddly trying to get all the notes correct. This sounds impressive on the recorded version, and allows the listener to prepare for the next verse

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If I were to re-record this piece, I would try to find a way of incorporating the bass line with block chords of the left hand, to give a fuller sound. All in all I am happy with my performance.

Section 2

The 3 pieces I chose to analyse were – Can’t Stop Now, Imagine, and Somewhere Only We Know. Cant Stop Now and Somewhere Only We Know were released on the album ‘Hopes And Fears’ in 2004 by Keane, although Cant Stop Now has yet to be released as a single. These are rock songs, ...

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