Questions tagged [analysis]
For questions about studying the intricacies of a piece of music. Questions should also be tagged with a more specific form of analysis if applicable.
6
votes
1answer
92 views
What is the rhythm of this Herbie Hancock song, and why is it so weird?
I've always listened to a lot of jazz and heard some weird rhythms, but only this year did my high school offer music theory - and right now, we're learning about rhythm. All we've done so far is ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a term for when a lyric is sung and then an instrument (sound) is played to mimic the lyric?
Is there a term for when a phrase in a song, i.e., "shivers down my spine" as in Bohemian Rhapsody, after that phrase is sung, a tinkling or some kind of sound is made with an instrument, to mimic "...
0
votes
2answers
52 views
Interval analysis, augmented 5th or a 6th?
I am doing interval analysis as I am writing a countersubject(working on the harmony for it right now). But I have a bit of trouble here. I have 3 note choices for any given quarter note. The spot I ...
3
votes
1answer
98 views
Analysing “Dust to Dust”, John Kirkpatrick
I've been trying to analyse the song "Dust to Dust" by John Kirkpatrick to perhaps get some insight into how one writes in Locrian without sounding it sounding ugly. The only thing I've noticed is ...
4
votes
3answers
71 views
What's the correct analysis of this harmonic sequence at the end of the first movement of Dvorak's Fourth Symphony?
I've been puzzling over the best way to analyse the chords that occur at the end of the First Movement of Dvorak's Symphony No. 4 in D minor Op. 13. The passage is definitely part of a harmonic ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
How could the medieval chants be classified before any notation was available?
We all have in mind the image of a medieval mode as a scale with a pattern of tones and semitones with a finalis, a specific range, etc.
However, it seems that medieval chants were classified ...
5
votes
2answers
180 views
Functional analysis of chorale 'Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe' BWV 244/46
I did some analysis of the chorale 'Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe' (from Matthew Passion BWV 244 no.46), see below. But how would I analyse the first chord in measure 2? Obviously, it's an E ...
3
votes
1answer
96 views
Analyzing Ryuichi Sakamoto “Merry Christmas, Mr. Laurence”
The original song is not in C Maj key
but the sheet I Have is in C Maj so let just see as the key is in C maj
(The [B] part starts 1:50)
How does the Gm (Vm) come ...
6
votes
1answer
269 views
Harmonic analysis of arpeggios in Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
I've always liked the arpeggio section in dance of the sugar plum fairy, it sounds so sweet and mysterious. I was trying to figure out the idea behind them. Here's the section in Synthesia.
From ...
1
vote
1answer
363 views
Why is the final section of Liszt's La Campanella working so well?
The ending section of Liszt's La Campanella is the most beautiful I've heard so far.
I'm referring to the change in melody, from this point all the way to the end:
...
2
votes
1answer
135 views
Harmonic Analysis of Chopin's etude op.10 no 5
In the circled part, what is the harmony?
Is the E-flat a non-chord tone or is this just some weird chord? (I've only learnt basic harmony.)
0
votes
4answers
162 views
Why do we care about the interval between a pair of notes and not the product of a pair of notes?
As a computer scientist, I think of each element of musical analysis as a computation we have chosen to do on the music for some reason. I'm not saying I understand how humans decide what the meter ...
4
votes
2answers
149 views
How does one identify leitmotifs in Wagner's Ring cycle?
How does one go about identifying leitmotifs in Wagner's Ring cycle? My usual strategy is:
I just know a bunch of them from repeated listening.
I open one of the online repositories such as this one ...
13
votes
3answers
2k views
What makes a piece sound like Beethoven?
I can't seem to find non-harmonic analyses of Beethoven's sonatas. And I'm not a classical music analyzer. That makes it hard to write a sonata in the style of Beethoven when I don't know what ...
4
votes
1answer
51 views
Does the harmony change in this part?
In the circled part, does the harmony change to ii or is the D an échappé (escape note) to the dominant?
3
votes
1answer
729 views
What's the theory behind Chim Chim Cher-ee?
Chim Chim Cher-ee has a fantastic chord structure:
i, IIIaug, III, IV, iv, i, II7, V
Most of those transitions make sense to me. However, there are three transitions that I don't quite understand:
...
0
votes
2answers
412 views
What is the musical form of Saint-Saens Danse Macabre?
My first ("blind") guess was that it is in rondo form with two themes, but when I performed analysis, it somehow doesn't fit any form that I can think of.
This is what I figured out:
intro a b a' a ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Does Bill Conti's Thomas Crown Affair theme use a specific mode?
So I was watching The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) (The remake, not the original) and I was struck with the colors and general feel of the main theme, composed by Bill Conti. I immediately wanted to ...
3
votes
1answer
204 views
Roman Numeral Analysis of Tension-Heavy Jazz
So far, I have tried doing Roman numeral analysis mainly on Classical- and Romantic- era music. However, I just took a look at some Miles Davis, and didn't know what to do - there were so many chords ...
2
votes
1answer
110 views
What does R=2N mean?
I'm just wondering what the R=2N means. I guess it's something like "real bar = 2notated bars," but does anyone know?
1
vote
2answers
114 views
What are these non-chord tones in the Jackson Five's “Want you Back”?
for example could u play a neighbour tone twice or got from a chord tone to an nct then to another nct. I was looking at jackson 5's want you back and this appeared to be the case
this is written in ...
1
vote
3answers
531 views
F Dm Am C (Lydian?) Progression
I've been recently wrapping my head around the analysis of the following progression: F Dm Am C. Would you agree it's got an undeniable lydian vibe? I know an explicit lydian progression should ...
2
votes
1answer
77 views
Final chord of Duruflé Requiem
I recently sang, and separately listened to a performance of Duruflé's requiem. While listening, I was struck by the last chord of the in Paradisum, which adds an unexpected note half way through (and ...
2
votes
1answer
141 views
Chord Succession vs. Chord Progression in Douglass Green's “Form in Tonal Music”
Douglass Green defines "chord succession" as a movement of chords that starts in a certain area and reaches the same area (I believe "area" means the classification as tonic, mediant, submediant, etc ....
0
votes
2answers
73 views
Music programming question for feature extraction and visualization [closed]
I am relatively new in music programming and I am looking for suggestions on what tools/programming languages to use regarding the following scenarios about feature extraction and visualization:
...
2
votes
1answer
53 views
Where is the fragmentation?
I don't really see, where these fragments are meant to be taken from. The only thing that seems fragmented to me is the idea of sequencing pitches downwards. But doesn't fragmentation refer to Rythm?
7
votes
2answers
195 views
What is Chris Potter playing here?
NB: This is all in Tenor Sax key (Bb), not Concert
I've been mulling over the following excerpt of a Chris Potter solo on the tune "Just One Of Those Things," I find it probably the most harmonically ...
-1
votes
2answers
88 views
Roman numeral anaysis help
Hello,
I'm trying to do a roman numeral analysis of this piece, but i could not figure out the first two bars. Especially the third beat of the second bar.
7
votes
2answers
365 views
Origin of Roman Numeral Analysis
Out of curiosity, I was searching for the origin of Roman Numeral analysis and the only online source I could find was this passage in Wikipedia:
Gottfried Weber's Versuch einer geordneten Theorie ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
Is this the wrong way of analysis?
This is a piece from the 16th century by Thomas Tallis called "If ye love me".
I started by coloring the sentences in the different voices to make it more visible to me. I think this was a good way, ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
Why is this segment of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” in B minor and not D major?
This is taken from the "E.T. The extra-terrestrial" score:
There is an analysis of here:
and this screenshot is from 00:40
I do not understand the annotation:
The ...
5
votes
1answer
100 views
What's going on in measures 11 - 16 of Beethoven's Sonata Appasionata?
I'm studying the Neapolitan Chord and the textbook includes the following excerpt to analyze. Up until measure 10 I understand what's happening, but I have no clue how to interpret measure 11 and ...
6
votes
1answer
147 views
Help with a Minecraft Piece Analysis?
So I did an anlysis for a Minecraft Piece for a video I'm working on. I was wondering if there were any glaring errors?
I called the chords that had arpeggiated the 9th Maj9 chords, but for some that ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Chord Progression “Time” - Hans Zimmer
I was taking a look at the soundtrack for the Inception movie:"Time" by Hans Zimmer.
Does anyone understand what kind of a weird progression he uses?
I tried everything from cadential to sequential ...
2
votes
1answer
312 views
Analysis of the chord progression in Mozart's “Rondo in D” K485, mm. 9-16
Could some proofread this? I don't feel like it's correct. I'm studying with a book and this is at the beginning of a chapter about Sentences.
The main confusion point is the progression. Does the ...
3
votes
1answer
431 views
What does this arrow mean in the chord annotations?
What does the arrow (which I've highlighted) mean?
1
vote
1answer
97 views
Cadence in Haydn's String Quartet in G, Op. 54, No 1, i, 1-13
I'm studying with a book called "Analyzing Classical Form" and it says that the cadence in this piece starts it's cadence on the 2nd half of m 10 but that's a III(5) and I'm so confused.
Download the ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Taxonomy of themes in classical music
I am reading Dr. B.-G. Cohrs's note [C] on the (fascinating) history of the Symphonisches Präludium, now commonly attributed to Anton Bruckner. I was a little mystified by the following remark:
The ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
Key analysis of piece with roots in A and later on G
So I have a piece written in C, with very few accidentals. However the bass resides mainly on A. Am I correct in assuming that most probably it means the piece is actually in A minor?
Later on I use ...
4
votes
3answers
423 views
How to name a b7 chord
Whilst it's usual to name a D major chord (in key C) as V/V - the dominant of the dominant - is it legitimate to call Bb (b7) IV/IV - the subdominant of the subdominant? Another justification is of ...
1
vote
1answer
144 views
Software support for roman numerals and functions
I have seen how someone used Musescore, lyrics and a special font to attach roman numerals to a score. I have also seen examples of roman numerals in Sibelius. I have no idea how that was done.
I ...
1
vote
0answers
126 views
What are good sources of sheet music with attached analyses? [closed]
I am looking for sheet music with attached analyses, i.e. roman numerals and/or functions and possibly additional information such as free text. Ideally, it is
available in a digital format that can ...
3
votes
2answers
539 views
What are some good classical pieces to start learning analysis for the beginner?
I'm in Piano grade 7 Royal Conservatory of Music and I'm finding Analysis to be quite challenging. I have no problem reading the music but if I really want to be able to learn a piece well I have to ...
0
votes
2answers
248 views
Need help analyzing unusual chord [closed]
In the Kool & The Gang song "Fresh", there's an unusual yet intriguing chord at 2:11 in the song -- this particular chord has had me stumped trying to identify it ever since the song's release in ...
1
vote
1answer
177 views
Analysis of J.s.Bach' s harpsichord concerto in A Major?
When I was analyzing Bach's harpsichord concerto in A Major (1st movement),I came to a part that has a certain harmonic property, which is used frequently in the baroque period especially by Bach. ...
3
votes
1answer
174 views
Sharp Fourth Scale Degree in the Goldberg Variation “Aria”
My question relates to the C# in the 3rd measure.
I understand that the section eventually modulates to D major which contains that C#, but that does not seem to happen until the 9th measure. What ...
2
votes
1answer
201 views
In C major, how might the use of A#sus2 → E major be described from a theory standpoint?
I have the progression
C G Am G D G
then
C G A#sus2 E F G Am
So this is suppose to be in C major from what I know the D is a secondary dominant since it resolves to the G(I suppose),
but the A#...
4
votes
1answer
159 views
Rhythmic Analysis in a neo-Riemannian Manner
I was looking at the differences between neo-Riemannian (interrelational) and Schenkerian (hyper-tonal) analysis, which are nearly diametrically opposed, and it occurred to me that every rhythmic ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
How to find efficiently and systematically audiovisual analysis of pieces?
An elderly relative's debility inhibits reading music analysis only in writing: so it is off-topic.
I mean 'audiovisual analysis' as analysis of pieces with music history and theory in video with ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
Chord substituion in Django's Belleville
In the lead sheet I have been working from for Django's Belleville, the A section progression is D - Fdim7 - Emin7 - A7.
In most of the backing tracks I can find, the Fdim7 is substituted for a Bmin7 ...
