Buckley: Grace Flashcards
What kind of ballad is this song?
A rock ballad - a Rock song about love in a slow tempo
When was Grace released?
1994
Describe the instrumentation of this piece
Buckley is accompanied by guitars, bass guitars, synthesiser, strings and drum kit. The guitar part in the score is printed in tab which shows the finer positions of each note. The guitar uses drop d tuning which means that the lowest string is tuned down from E to D.
Describe the texture of this piece
The drums and guitar playing rhythmic patterns and broken chords accompany Buckley throughout most of the song. The synthesiser and strings are less prominent, dropping in and out of the music. They’re used to add effect and to vary the effect. The texture thickens towards the end if the song especially in the coda.
Describe the use of technology in this song
Modulation on the synthesiser at the start of the song. Distortion and flanging on the guitars help to intensify the sound in the coda. Overdubbing on the guitar helps to create a thicker sound. The extra vocal parts in the bridge are also produced through overdubbing. EQ in the final verse is used to remove lower frequencies of Buckley’a voice.
Describe the structure of this piece
This song has the following verse chorus form: An instrumental intro followed by a vocal verse 1 then a vocal chorus then this is repeated followed by a bridge with use of vocalisation then an instrumental intro and a vocal verse then a coda which consists of vocal improv.
Describe the tonality of this song
It’s in E minor although the tonality is often ambiguous- the intro focuses on the chord of D so the key if E minor only becomes clear halfway through the first verse.
Describe the use of harmony in this song
The harmony is unusual for a Rock song- the standard I-IV-V chord progressions of Rock music are avoided. Instead, many chords are chromatic and nice in parallel motion by semitones steps eg. F-Em-Eb in chorus. Some harmonies are very dissonant especially in chorus
Describe the melody of this piece
The vocal part has an improv. quality and a very wide range of over two octaves. Most vocal phrases are falling reflecting the melancholy mood of the song. There’s frequent ornamentation in the melody line with glissando a between various notes. These are indicated by a diagonal line.
Describe the use of word-setting in this song
Mostly syllabic but there are some long melismas to emphasise certain words eg. Love and fire. There’s vocalisation in the bridge which is wordless singing where falsetto is used. Buckley uses word painting eg. Verse 1 cries is set to falling 5th which sounds like crying, bridge: pain and leave are in a high register sounding fraught, verse 3: slow is set to a long note, coda: a very thick texture built up for drown my name.
Describe the use of rhythm,metre and tempo in this song
The metre is 12/8 (a compound metre with 4 dotted-crotchet beats per bar). The bass drum plays on beats 1 and 3 and the snare drum accents the backbeats (2+4). There’s frequent syncopation in the vocal melody and the bass like which is rhythmically free. Cross rhythms are created through the use of two against three rhythms quavers against dotted quavers
