Buckley: Grace

Question 1

Instrumentation and Texture

Answer 1

• Accompanied by guitars, bass guitar, synthesiser, strings and drum kit.
• Score is printed in tab(shows finger positions).
• Uses drop D tuning(lowest string is tuned from E to D.
• The texture thickens towards the end of the song, coda.
• Synthesiser and strings less prominent, used to add effect and vary texture, drums and guitar accompany most of song.

Question 2

Use of Technology

Answer 2

• Modulation on the synthesiser at the start of the song.
• Distortion and flanging on the guitars, helps intensify sound in coda.
• EQ in the final verse, used to remove lower frequencies of Buckley’s voice.
• Overdubbing on guitar parts, creating thicker sound, aswell as extra vocal parts in bridge.

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

-Verse-Chorus Form.
Intro(Instrumental) Verse 1(Voice) Chorus 1 (Voice)
Intro(Instrumental) Verse 2(Voice) Chorus 2 (Voice)
Bridge(Voice, vocalisation) Intro (Instrumental) Verse 3(Voice) Coda(Voice improvisation)

Question 4

Rhythm, Metre and Tempo

Answer 4

• Metre is 12/8(Compound metre with four dotted crotchet beats per bar.
• The bass drum plays on beats 1+3, the snare drum accents the backbeats 2+4.
• Frequent syncopation in vocal melody, as well as the bass line.
• Cross rhythms are created through the use of two against three rhythms.

Question 5

Tonality and Harmony

Answer 5

• The song is in E minor, though often ambiguous, the introduction focuses on the chord of D, so they key of E minor only becomes clearly halfway into 1st verse.
• Some of the harmonies are very dissonant, particularly in the chorus.
• Harmony unusual for a rock song, standard I-IV-V chord progressions are avoided. Chords are instead chromatic and move in parallel motion.

Question 6

Melody and Word Setting

Answer 6

• The vocal part has an improvised quality and very wide range of over two octaves.
• Most of the vocal phrases are falling, reflecting the melancholy mood of the song.
• Frequent ornamentation in the melody line, with glissandos(slides) between various notes.

Question 7

Melody and Word Setting 2

Answer 7

• Most of the word setting is syllabic, apart from some long melismas to emphasise certain words, such as love and fire.
• In bridge there is an passage of vocalisation, where Buckley uses falsetto, a technique of singing used for high notes.
• Many examples of word painting- ‘Cries set to a falling 5th sounds like crying. ‘Slow’ is set to a long note, ‘pain and leave’ are very high register and sound fraught.

Question 8

History

Answer 8

• ‘Grace’ comes from the album Grace released in 1994.
• Hallelujah another track on album.
• ‘Grace’ is a rock ballad- a rock song about love in a slow tempo.