Critical Listening Assignment

1. Listen to it critically (possibly more critically than you have in the past).

2. List everything you hear; instruments, lyrics/story, sound, volume changes, etc. and how
did it make you feel.

3. Explained how you listened to it (what were you listening to, not which medium/device).

4. What makes this music?

5. Do some brief research into the background of this piece (include where you got your
information from).

6. Copy a link to the piece/song (youtube etc.) into the discussion forum and include your
responses.

Wait For Me Reprise

Instruments:

Instrument Key Notes

Piano  Comes in at first chorus, plays soft chords underneath vocals
 Continues playing chords but lowers down an octave in pre chorus
 Piano lifts chords up the octave for chorus 2
Guitar  Plays chords with the piano, more profound in the intro
Vocals  Male vocal starts speaking
 Different male and female sing first chorus, both in head voice,
piano
 Ensemble combination of women and men sing verse 2 in a 3 part
harmony. Signing is sharp and syncopated, increasing the feeling
of danger/drama in mezzo forte
 Ensemble drops out for more speaking between a male and
female, male has extremely deep voice
 Ensemble continues singing what they sang in the verse between
the speaking parts
 In chorus 2, ensemble sings in three part harmony, singing legato
and forte
 After this chorus, a female trio sing in a nasally tone, somewhat like
the witches in Macbeth as they increase the feeling of doubt into
the male lead
 Male vocal who spoke during the intro now speaks again
rhythmically, once again instilling doubt into male lead
 Chorus 3 has similar harmonies to chorus 2 with ensemble singing
 however there is additional section of ensemble who sing an echo
in another 3 part harmony, building the chorus up
 At the end of this chorus all instruments (apart from guitar and
piano) drop out leaving a 6 part harmony to finish the chorus
Strings  Plays series of arpeggios and scales in the intro
 Drops out for chorus and verse 1 but reenters for prechorus 1
playing quavers on the beat on the same note
 Chorus 2 they play legato notes that are in the chords
 During vocal trio, strings pluck notes intime with the piano who
play octaves
Drums  Come in after first chorus, make the feeling of the music dramatic,
bass drum kick on beat 1 and slight cymbal release after beat 4
 Continues this drum patter with increase cymbals throughout bar
in pre chorus and chorus 2
 In chorus 3, drum increases using snare, cymbals, and bass drum
before dropping out for the acapella vocal half

Bass  Comes in at verse 2 with ensemble entry, playing simple notes in
the chord subtly

Brass  Brass entry comes after the trio, softly sounding to begin with,
playing underneath the speaking part


As a singer, I usually listen to the vocals first when listening to a piece, especially the harmonies
in the ensemble and trio sections.