Graceland Flashcards
What is the structure of “Graceland”?
Verse/Chorus form
What is the instrumentation of “Graceland”?
- Guitar
- Fretless Bass
- Drums
- Percussion
- Pedal Steel Guitar
- Vocals and backing vocals
Give 2 features of the sonority and style of “Graceland”?
- Repetitive groove played by fretless bass in typically African in style
- Uses characteristic gliss of fretless bass
- Pedal steel is typical of both Western and African music
- Timbres of pedal steel and fretless bass compliment each other
- Reverb added to vocals and guitars
Give 2 features of the melody in “Graceland”
- Range of an octave
- Mostly syllabic
- Triadic movement
- Repetitive
What is the tonality of “Graceland”?
E major
Give 2 features of the harmony in “Graceland”
- Mainly chords I, IV, V with an occasional VI
- Use of inversions e.g the A/E chord in the second half of the intro
- Inclusion of D Natural gives a sense of tonal ambiguity
- Blues turnaround
What is the texture of “Graceland”?
- Melody and Accompaniment
In what ways does Paul Simon fuse Western and African music in his song “Graceland”?
- Use of pedal steel is typical of country and African music
- Repetitive groove by fretless bass is typically African in style
- Verse Chorus structure is typical of Western music
- Use of bVII chord is typical of rock music and creates tonal ambiguity.
How does Paul Simon create interest in “Graceland”?
- Use of bVII creates tonal ambiguity
- Simple melody with triadic movement makes it easily singable and creates interest
- Conversational lead vocals “Oh so this is what she means”
- Interesting timbre
What is the instrumentation of “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”?
- Guitar
- Bass
- Drums
- Percussion
- Vocals
- Trumpet
- Tenor Sax
- Alto Sax
What is the tonality of “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes”?
- Section 1, E Major
- Section 2, F Major
What are the harmonic features of “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes”?
- Diatonic Harmony, easy listening
- Mostly chords I, IV, V in section 2
What are the rhythmic features of “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes”?
- Section One: Moderate tempo with slight rall at the end, slight shuffle
- Section Two: Slightly Slower
- 4/4 throughout
- Vocals are free rhythmically
- Syncopation
How does Paul Simon fuse Western and African music in “Diamonds on The Soles of Her Shoes?
- Acapella group in section 1 is an African group
- Paul Simon’s vocals in section 1 are typically western, alongside the African vocals
- ## Section 2 is loosely based on folk rock
Features of melody in “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”?
- Narrow Pitch range in section 1, centred round the tonic
- Use of melisma
- Mostly conjunct, but a sixth leap is featured
