My three part coursework involving a performance of three selected songs, writing about the pieces performed and composing in the style of the songs chosen is based on a 70's music theme.

My three part coursework involving a performance of three selected songs, writing about the pieces performed and composing in the style of the songs chosen is based on a 70’s music theme. The three songs I have chosen to play are connected within this style of music. They are:

Super Trouper – Lyrics & Music by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
I’d Like to Teach The World To Sing – Lyrics and Music by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Billy Backer and Billy Davis
The Winner Takes It All - Lyrics & Music by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus

What Is 70’s Music?

The history of popular music in the 1970s is basically that of rock music, which, with its variants, including disco, punk, and rap music, which mostly spread throughout the world and became the standard musical idiom for young people in many countries in the 1980’s.

The characteristics Features of 70’s Style Music:

Glam rock artists

David Bowie

Alice Cooper

Gary Glitter

Mott The Hoople

New York Dolls

Roxy Music

Suzi Quatro

Slade

The Sweet

T.Rex

The pieces that I have selected to play all connected together because of their 70’s music characteristics do obviously have things in common. Each piece has the same metre of beats per bar. Four beats in every bar, whether it is in the form of eighth notes or crochet beats.

The person that has arranged the music especially for my instrument (the keyboard) has suggested for each piece; a registration, rhythm, and the tempo for the preset rhythm. The tempo for each rhythm is always a medium, between the range of 104 and 120 beats.

The chords are fairly similar. The chords for “Super Trouper” and “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” are comparatively similar. They both use the C and F chords, along with the chords of G, but I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing has the seventh chords of G instead of just G. In “The Winner Takes It All” the chords a quite different. There are four C chords and the rest are seventh and minor chords. I think that there are big chord differences between the songs because each song is based on a different scale therefore the chords differ to sound concordant otherwise the chords would clash with the notes and create a discordant sound.

I’d Like to Teach The World To Sing:

Lyrics and Music by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Billy Backer and Billy Davis

Like the other 2 songs selected it has a standard metre that is used all over the world is the most common for pop songs and other music. Each bar has 4 crochet beats in it. On every first beat of a bar the pulse is strong then the other 3 are weak. It has a moderately quick and steady pulse but there are leaps in certain parts.

There are four different chords played within the ...

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I’d Like to Teach The World To Sing:

Lyrics and Music by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Billy Backer and Billy Davis

There are four different chords played within the song. C F G7 and D7.

The pitch does vary because the notes played move up an octave of G in the song. All though this is not frequent and happens towards the end the use of higher and lower notes on the same octave does establish a pitch change. The intervals within the songs are never more than 5 notes apart in pitch.

The harmony is put together nicely in this song. The concordant chords create a pleasant sound making it more enjoyable to listen to.

An arrangement has been made to suit the method in which the instrument specified can play the song. To make this song playable to me the arranger has given a suitable register for my instrument. As I play the keyboard any instrument can be played on it but the arranger has created a certain one for me. Of course I don’t have to use it but it is a suggested on that they thought would sound and cooperate with everything else in the song. They have chosen the vibraphone for the user to use. They have also specified a rhythm, which is preset into the keyboard, the temp at which the rhythm should perform at and then this determines the speed I will play at.

The piece probably doesn’t explore the full range or potential of keyboard but it does show some of the features. The ability to play the chords at the left hand side of the keyboard where the lower keys are. The keyboard can be set to play chords. Normal chords or fingered where 3 notes have to be pressed to get a chord. The arranger has also given the finger numbers above the certain note where necessary where a move or new position occurs. This is essential as the notes can be played correctly and the fingers don’t have to stretch or hesitate to move to another position.

I have tried to use my keyboard to its full extent to suit this piece as much as I can. I have set the keyboard up so that the designated register, tempo and rhythm are the same. I will start the piece with a drum beat introduction as the first bar does not start with a chord. I have used the keyboards chord ability to switch from normal chords to fingered chords to achieve a higher sense of difficulty. This means instead of holding down one key to get a chord, three have to be held. During the song I will use a few techniques to just slightly change the performance. Small gaps in the melody can be used to change the rhythm played in the background. During the first playing of the song I will press the variation fill in button every time there is a reasonable length pause between the notes. This slightly changes the preset rhythm in a way that the beat stops and a minor drum improvisation takes place and then back to the regular rhythm. When I reach the Dal Segno Al Fine (Meaning go back to the sign: and play through the same music as before until you reach the word “Fine”. This is where the piece ends) I will play through again and this time do the same as before but at the first pause I will press the second variation fill in button which adds an extra accompaniment to the backing rhythm. Another suitable technique I could use is simply to change the registration already suggested. I would do this before I finish the first playing. A method also like this is to change the suggested backing rhythm as well. There are two swing rhythms preset into the keyboard, which will be used, but it would be an interesting idea to choose another one other than this. I will experiment with suitable backing rhythms to use. I will end the song with the preset ending, which each rhythm has. With preliminary experiments I will also use the keyboards ability to change the volume of the rhythm so that the tone played on top as vibraphone can be suitably heard.

Super Trouper:

Lyrics & Music by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus

Super Trouper has again the common metre that is used is most music. There are 4 beats to every bar. This song although not as complicated as I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing does have more eighth notes (quavers). This makes it more complicated to read the length of every note in the bar. Overall this piece of music has a moderate pulse but in parts there are 4 beat leaps and in some other parts the notes are closer together and the pulse is stronger.

There are three different chords played within the song. C F and G. these are only very basic chords but fingered chords could be applied. The chord that ends with the last not is a perfect cadence. It returns the chord that the song began with.

The pitch does not vary because the notes are played in the same scale throughout the song. The intervals within the songs are never more than 4 notes apart in pitch.

The harmony is put together nicely in this song. The concordant chords create a pleasant sound making it more enjoyable to listen to.

An arrangement has been made to suit the method in which the instrument specified can play the song. To make this song playable to me the arranger has given a suitable register for my instrument. As I play the keyboard any instrument can be played on it but the arranger has created a certain one for me. Of course I don’t have to use it but it is a suggested on that they thought would sound and cooperate with everything else in the song. He/she has chosen the trumpet for the user to use. They have also suggested a rhythm, the tempo at which the rhythm should be played at and then this determines the tempo the user plays at.

The piece doesn’t explore the full range or potential of the keyboard but it does illustrate some of the features of the instrument: The ability to play the chords. The keyboard can be set to play different chords. Normal chords or fingered, where 3 notes have to be pressed to get a chord instead of just one. The arranger has also given the finger numbers above the some of the notes where necessary to keep the player in the right hand position so the music is played more effectively and efficiently. This is essential as the notes can be played correctly and the fingers don’t have to stretch or hesitate to move to another position.

I have tried to use my keyboard to its full extent to suit this piece as much as I can. I have set the keyboard up so that the designated register, tempo and rhythm are the same. I will start the piece with a preset introduction while that comes with the background rhythm while holding a C chord as that is the first chord of the first note played in the first bar. It will last for four bars then I will come in. I have used the keyboards chord ability to switch from normal chords to fingered chords to achieve a higher difficulty. This means instead of holding down one key to get a chord, three have to be held. During the song I will use a few techniques to just slightly change the performance. Small gaps in the melody can be used to change the rhythm played in the background. During the first playing of the song I will press the variation fill in button every time there is a reasonable length pause between the notes. This slightly changes the preset rhythm in a way that the beat stops and a minor drum improvisation takes place and then back to the regular rhythm. When I reach the end of the first playing I will leave a small gap and change the tone of the instrument. Then when I play it through again I will use the other variation fill in button, which adds an extra instrument accompaniment to the background rhythm. I will put this in on the first available space where no notes are played. Then again like before in the first playing I will press the original variation fill in button in every available gap.

I will experiment with changing from the suggested registration to the new one. Then it will be clear what to use in the performance.

I will end the song with the preset ending, which the background rhythm has. With preliminary experiments I will also use the keyboards ability to change the volume of the rhythm so that the instrument played over the top as trumpet can be suitably heard.

The Winner Takes It All:

Lyrics & Music by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus