Set Works Flashcards
What is swing?
A popular style of music from 1930s and 40s. Features jaunty rhythmic pulse of quaver triplets and emphasis on the off-beats.
What is 32-bar song form?
AABA structure. Uses 8 bar phrases.
What is a middle 8?
The third section of 32-bar song form, lasting eight bars and usually contrasting with the rest of the musical material.
What is a riff?
Short repeated phrase.
What is a jazz standard?
A popular song that has been used by many jazz musicians as the basis for their extended improvisations.
At what speed does Nat King Cole play ‘Caravan’?
Crotchet = 135
How does Nat King Cole make ‘Caravan’ interesting?
He swings the middle eight whilst the rest of the song is in straight 16th.
What form is used in Caravan?
32-bar song form however it is notated with double the bars so that the basic form lasts for 64 bars.
What key is Caravan in?
Bb minor.
What instruments are used in Caravan?
Vocals, piano, double bass, guitar, drums, bongos, valve trombone.
How long are the phrases in Caravan?
16 bars.
What is the time signature of Caravan?
4/4 with fast crotchest.
How does Nat King Cole begin Caravan?
With a 12 bar introduction starting with a bass solo of three repeated notes. A new instrument is added every two bars: bongos, then piano chords, then trombone three note motif.
What does Cole do with the rhythm of the vocal line?
He consistently sings around the beat, mostly singing behind the beat, producing a laid-back feel contrasting the more urgent accompaniment.
What is the trombone doing when the vocals enter in Caravan?
It plays gentle dominant seventh arpeggios.
How is the 64 bar form different the second time it is played in Caravan?
It is played instrumentally.
In the A sections of the instrumental part, what are the guitar and piano playing for the first two phrases in Caravan?
Rhythmic stabbing chords.
What play’s the melody in the A sections of the instrumental part of the song in Caravan?
The trombone.
Where does the bass have a prominent role in the A sections of instrumental part in Caravan?
At the ends of phases.
What happens in the B section of the instrumental part in Caravan?
The piano plays a swing jazz improvisation over a fast moving crotchet walking bass line.
What happens after the final A section of the instrumental part in Caravan?
The vocals re-enter, but this time going straight to the third phrase.
How does the song end after the final A section of Caravan?
With a short repeated bass riff and a fade out into which the trombone inserts its opening three-note motif.
How does Caravan give a sense of Middle Eastern exoticism?
Through the use of chromatic movement, the outline of a tritone in bar 4 and the diminished 5th in bar 8.
What is the harmonic journey of the melody of Caravan?
A long note of the dominant, an outline of notes of the dominant 7th, a long note of the subdominant, alteration of notes between the dominant and flattened 6th, a long subdominant, a descending chromatic scale, a long note of the tonic.
What harmony is used under the melody in the A section of Caravan?
Static harmony of repeated dominant 7th chords is used with hints of flattened 6ths and 9ths drawn from the melody line. These chords don’t resolve to the tonic chord of Bb minor until the last four bars.
What harmony is used under the melody in the B section of Caravan?
The harmonic rhythm speeds up, moving every four bars to a new harmony based on the circle of 5ths: Bb, Eb, and Ab, before an F7 returns the music to Bb minor.
What techniques does Cole make use of in his piano improvisation in Caravan?
Arpeggios and chromatic auxiliary notes.
What is the texture in Caravan like?
Harmony only suggested from the bass and melody lines, keeping texture light. Bongos produce considerable rhythmic interest, accenting notes unexpectedly. There are a number of syncopated moments e.g. stabbing repeated chords from guitar and piano during trombone solo.
