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The piano transcription of this song illustrates several elements of phrase analysis, which will be discussed further.
Time Signature and Hypermetric Organization
- Throughout the piece, the time signature changes. As such, the stress patterns also vary. The diagram below attempts to illustrate the hypermetre of the first 13 bars:
There is phrasal symmetry in this piece. - The opening is in common time. Two bars later, a 3-4 rhythm is introduced. In the following bar, a 7-8 time is used and after this comes a 6-8 time. The song then continues alternating between 12-8 and 9-8 time. The difference heard is subtle. The purpose of this change could have been to inject some sort of variety in the melody by distorting its rhythm.
Counterpoint & Melody
- By and large, the entire piece is heard in 2nd species counterpoint with little variations here and there.
- Marked in slurs, the melodic phrase seems to take after a period structure in Bars 1-5 with Bars 1-3 acting as the antecedent phrase and Bars 4-5, the consequent phrase.
- Bars 8-9 are a repetition of Bars 6-7 and is not considered to be structured like a period.
- The chorus of the song, from Bars 10-13, showcase a sentence-like structure, with the first third of bar 10 as a SHORT phrase, the second third of bar 10 as another SHORT phrase and the rest of bar 10 till the end of bar 11 as the LONG phrase.
- Bars 12-13 portray a period structure with Bar 12 as the antecendent phrase and Bar 13 as the consequent phrase.
- The phrases are mostly repeated in sequence.
Harmony
- The opening key in B flat Major.
- The first chord used is a (vi) chord, which acts as a tonic substitute for the tonic chord.
- In terms of Harmonic function, a TONIC - PREDOMINANT - DOMINANT - TONIC function is seen where the (vi) chord acts as the tonic, the (IV) chord in bar 3 serves the role of a predominant chord, the (V) chord in bar 4 acts as the dominant and the tonic chord of B flat major, as the tonic function.
- In bars 6-7, the chord progression of (vi - vi 6/4 - vi - ii - ii6 - V - I ) is noted. Here the (vi) chord thats acts as a tonic could have been expanded (i.e. tonic expansion).
Cadence
- A perfect cadence in B flat Major is seen in Bars 4-5.
- The two phrases from Bars 6-7 and 8-9 are also punctuated with a perfect cadence.
- The phrase is bar 13 is concluded with an interrupted cadence in B Flat Major.
Non-harmonic Tones
- A (G flat) note is used in Bar 5. I am still unsure of its purpose. Perhaps, it could have been used to create a diminished (vi) chord.
- In bar 7, an (E natural) note is used. This is a chromatic passing note from E-flat to F.
- In the left hand part of Bar 11, two notes (i.e. E-natural and G-flat) are consecutively used. Could the notes have been to momentarily give the illusion to the listener that the key has changed to E major?
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