Esparanza- Samba Em Preludio

Question 1

Samba Em: Background Information

Answer 1

• bossa nova (jazz and samba)
• Esperanza’s version was 2008
• a sad song about longing for a lost love
• portuguesse lyrics
• melody line is low for a female

Question 2

Samba Em: Structure

Answer 2

• 16 bar chord pattern
• into: bass guitar solo
• v1: 8 bar repeated melodic idea
• link: increases tempo to be more bossa nova
• guitar solo: virtuosic improvisation
• voice and bass duet: bass guitar plays an augmented version of v1 vocal part, and voice sings melody of v2
• coda: the guitar and bass play embellished riffs

Question 3

Samba Em: Harmony

Answer 3

• jazz influenced chords
• lots of extended chords (7th, 9th, 11th)
• main chords are mostly tonal and based around 1,2,4,5
• occasional chromatic chords such an E minor
• diminished chords and flattened 5ths
• each section tends to end in perfect cadances
• chord progressions sometimes create chromatic desending bassline

Question 4

Samba Em: Melody

Answer 4

Verse 1
- 8 bar idea (repeated with different ending)
- uses rising arpeggio
- the first or second note of each phrase descends downwards in a long descending sequance
- mostly moves in leaps of a 3rd or 7th which is unusual
- in bar 18 there is a flattened 5th
Verse 2
- 8 bar idea (repeated with different ending)
- some sequances
- flattened 5th at the end of the first repeat

Question 5

Samba Em: Tonality

Answer 5

• B minor
• Many bossa nova’s are in minor keys
• sad song

Question 6

Samba Em: Texture

Answer 6

• homophonic
• intro is monophonic apart from double bass
• voice + bass duet is polyphonic with 2 clear melody lines
• bass is complex giving it a polyphonic feel

Question 7

Samba Em: Tempo

Answer 7

• intro is in free time
• V1 has slow tempo and lots of rubato
• V2 is faster and almost doubles in speed

Question 8

Samba Em: Rhythm and Metre

Answer 8

• lots of syncopation
• completely in 4/4
• vocal part sticks to melody but varies rhythm with rubato
• when v1 and v2 are played together, they are less syncopated to fit better
  Verse 1
• lots of rubato
• bass plays complex rhythms
• vocals sing a lot pf triplets and semiquavers
  Verse 2
• faster
• bass has standard bossa nova theme
• guitar adds to rhythmic interest
• guitar plays both syncopated and unsyncopated
• vocals sing longer note values but are often syncopated

Question 9

Samba Em: Instrumentation

Answer 9

• low pitched vocals, acoustic bass, acoustic guitar
• acoustic guitar only joins in verse 2
• Bass ins v1 sounds like its playing 2 parts, tuned like a double bass, uses double stopping and harmonics