VCE Music Performance

Analysis Elements

Melody
Melody is the arrangement of different pitches. Ask yourself when describing a melody:
what type of key is it in?

what is the range?

what are its features

what is the shape?

what mood or atmosphere is evoked?

what phrasing is used?

Objectively it could be:

Shape/Contour:
ascending/descending

consistent/inconsistent

symmetrical/asymmetric

arch like

sequential

short/extended phrases

undulating

fragmented

balanced/unbalanced

Melodic Devices:

climax

repetition

imitation

question and answer

contrasts

conventional/unique

variation

patterns or sequences

ornamentation/embelishment

Register and Range:

small/large

disjunct/conjunct

arpeggiated

big leaps/small intervals

chromatic

scalic

Subjectively (character):
calm or peaceful

yearning

playful

turbulent

joyous

flowing/static

relaxed/tense

majestic or grand

catchy

poignant

fanfare-like

menacing

dramatic

pompous

haunting

Harmony
The chords used:
simple/complex

change seldom/frequently

triadic

random/predictable

7 chords

dissonant/consonant

cluster chords

long held/short chords

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Tempo
Tempo is the speed at which the beat is performed:
constant or changing immediately/gradually

hard to detect

accelerando/ritenuto (quickening/slowing down)

free

irregular

rubato/ad libitum (ad lib.)

adagio/moderato/allegro (slow/medium/fast)

cadenza like

casual/urgent

Beat
Beat is what you tap your foot to. It could be:
Regular/irregular

Excited

Strong/weak

changing

Rhythm
Questions to ask yourself:
What is the general rhythmic character?

What are the lengths of phrases?

Is there a particular rhythmic features?

Is there constant movement?

Rhythm could be:

mostly short/long notes

using an ostinato/riff/motif/sequence

mostly fast/slow notes

improvisatory

sustained long or tied notes

polyrhythmic or cross-rhythms

dotted notes

imitative

featuring triplets or duplets

speech-like (dependent of text?)

swung

syllabic

syncopated

driving

use of an anacrusis

march-like

repetitive/evolving

accented

using silence (rests) as a feature

Metre
Metre (time signature) could be:

3 5 6 2
4, 4, 8, 2,

etc

simple/compound

duple/triple/quadruple
regular/irregular

ambiguous

Dynamics
Dynamics refers to the volume of the music and is relatively subjective. It can be looked at in three ways:
i. overall dynamic level
ii. level of an instrument compared to the others (eg. vocals are louder than the rhythm guitar)
iii. use of dynamics by a specific instrument (eg. flute got slightly louder during the phrase to emphasise the
climax, then became softer as the end of the phrase descended)
Some useful thoughts/phrases:
constant /changing to
Changes in dynamics are a feature, with much use of crescendo
Loud interjections from the brass
Generous use of crescendo and diminuendo created much drama in their piece
The restrained dynamics are a feature of this piece
A sense of urgency is created with the use of crescendo
a perceived change in dynamic level is created by an increase in texture, as more instruments enter

Articulation
Articulation refers to the way in which a sound is produced. It can have a significant impact on the overall sound
of the music and can be used as a feature. It could be:
legato/tenuto/staccato/marcato

glissando

smooth/harsh

vibrato

accented

long decay

slides/bends

lyrical or cantabile

slurred/detached
Articulation can also be identified, according to the instrument, such as:

String Instruments: Arco, pizzicato, tremolo, harmonics, crisp attack, hammer ons, pull offs, dampening

Wind Instruments: Tongued, double tongued

Percussion Instruments: Hit, shaken, scraped, tapped, clashed, explosive attach

Tone Colour (Timbre)

Tone Colour is the description of the sound of an instrument, or the sound of a piece of music as a whole. It
attempts to capture in words the quality of the sound and in doing so uses metaphors as a descriptive tool.

Questions to ask yourself:

What instruments can you hear and what are their individual sound qualities?

What is the sound quality of the combined instruments in the music heard?

Is tone colour a feature of this work?

Are there contrasts of tone colour?

Useful words:
sonorous

piercing

husky or gravelly

muted

reverberant

harsh/dull

whispered or breathy

rough/smooth

bright/dark

bell-like

throaty

type of register

strident/mellow

shrill

nasal

distorted/clean

Texture
The density of the overall sound looking at how many different simultaneous parts or notes there are.
thick/thin

building/relaxing

solo/soli/tutti

changing/constant

simple/complex

mono/poly/heterophonic

Form
What are the different sections of music used? What are the features of these?

General Note Critical Response

For your responses it is important that you make them critical by making a subjective statement that is justified
by one that is objective. For example:

the driving, energetic feeling evoked in the Police song Synchronicity is created by the rapid, consistent
regular rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass;

the lush, rich and lyrical atmosphere of the final theme of Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue is achieved by
the use of unison, legato full string orchestration.

The adjectives in these two examples driving, pulsating and lush, rich and lyrical are subjective responses to
music. The objective comment (analytical observation) is given in the statements the rapid, consistent regular
rhythms of the hi-hat and kick drum aligned with the unison rhythm of the bass and unison, legato full string
orchestration.