Blogging Assignment - SAY YES

Title of Song: SAY YES
Music: Ryo Aska
Artistes: Chage & Aska
Arranged: Steven Lai

Key: C Major

(NOTE: The score image is quite small and you may want to right-click and save the picture to have a bigger view instead)

This is a wonderful piece of music although it’s quite an old song. I chose this song not just because of its nice melodic line but also some of the nice chromatic harmonies and “surprises” happening in the music. Attached is the beginning extract that I have analyzed, and a YOUTUBE recording of it - enjoy!

I will first look at the phrase structure and by enlarge it is characterized by “L-S-S” feature. Notice at bar 16, I did not include it as part of the phrase structure as that portion itself is not sung.

The bass line in the beginning is quite interesting, in that it is literally “moving up the scale” (i.e., C-D-E-F). Bar 5 involves a secondary mixture harmony - chord III. It involves a change of mode of the chord with the diatonic root. Also the G# that is involved has a tendency to go to A the following bar, and indeed, it is proceeded by an A-minor chord (vi) which is expected.

At bar 8, although the chords are similar to the beginning, there is more harmonic rhythm in the bass line as compared to those in the first few bars. The use of quavers increases the momentum of the music a little as heard. I also notice the use of intervallic “3rds” at bar 9 (marked in the score) which is a common cliché that we encounter. This is similar to bar 14 to 15 in the RH-part – the 3-6 cliché is being used here as marked in the score.

At bar 11, the tonicization of F major can be seen as indicated in the Roman numeral. I would expect another tonicization to occur at bar 12 by looking at the score and also the expectation created by every chord in the bar; however it did not really happen. This is also where I have problems doing the Roman numeral analysis for this particular bar. For example at bar 12, I would expect a sort of sequence similar to the previous bar. However there is a surprise created when the D half-dim 7th chord occurred, when I’m expecting just a D-dim chord for example. Also when the C-major chord occurred – I would expect an Eb chord instead. This will be a good case whereby the composer surprises the listener by playing around with the expectation of the listener.

Tonicization also occurs at bars 12-13 and another at bars15-16. There seem to be another surprise created from bars 16-17. The chord V6/V will tend to lead to V (with G in the bass – root position), but it did not happen. It went on to V4-2 instead, with F in the bass. This expectation would be quite strong as the leading tone, F# is quite heavily doubled. However from another point of view, that F# can be treated as a chromatic passing note leading from G to F. Perhaps the surprise wouldn’t be as great if I were to double the G in the bass!

I hope you've enjoyed the music and please feel free to comment on it.

Regards,
Benji

"I GOT NERVE" Phrase Structure Analysis

This song is pretty new to me, and it's quite interesting to listen to the clip and review what I have learnt regarding it's phrase structure. As most of the verses are similar, the first verse and the chorus will be discussed:

The Big Picture
What attracts me most to this music is mainly their emphasis on phrases which do not occur at the usual "first beat of the bar". I am taking this music in 4/4 common time, simple meter. In the last semester, we learnt that phrase structures having the "Short-Short-Long" subdivision or S-S-L, and this is definitely "rampant" in the whole song! However, the S-S-L feature do not always occur on the first beat. And as it moves along, the emphasis of the phrase in the meter changes. As it reaches the chorus, emphasis begins on the first beat already, and then changes again! I'll explain in further details...

First Verse
I will categorise the 1st verse into two different sections, based on the place in the meter where the phrase starts. In the first section, phrase starts on the 4th quaver beat, which is a weak beat.

"We haven't met (S), And that's ok (S), 'Cause you will be asking for me one day (L),
Don't want to wait (S), in line (S), The moment is mine believe me (L)"

In the second section, phrase starts on the third beat, which is a relatively strong beat. The phrase then went back as before (4th quaver beat) for the (L) phrases.

"Don't Close (S), Your Eyes (S),
'Cause it's a chance worth takin' (L), And I think that I can shake you (L)"

Chorus
The chorus is interesting in that the S-S-L phrase structures do not occur in a "predictable" fashion. For example, I would group the first portion as:

"I know where I stand (S), I know who I am (S), I would never run away when life gets bad, it's (L)"

The occurrence of the phrases differs by where it starts in the meter. The first (S) occurs on the first beat, the second (S) occurs on the 4th beat, and the (L) occurs on the 3rd beat in the following bar. It is also noticed that although the lyrics "it's" is not part of the previous sentence, it is being sung to complete the bar although the word itself is hanging individually in the phrase.

The second portion of this chorus then starts again in similar fashion.


I personally feel it's unpredictability and interesting emphasis attracts listeners the most. And not forgetting the pop nature and rhythmic feel by the band adds on to the colour of the song!