Rock Bands - Listening Task 

 

“Smoke on the Water” - Deep Purple   

 

1. List the instruments used in this piece and their order of entry.
   Electric guitars, Drums, Bass, Vocals, Organ

2. Using words from the expressive techniques and tone colour concepts, describe the sound of the main vocals used in this piece.
   Raspy, Loud, Strong

3. Describe the role of the organ in this ong. List the features of the music that create unity in the performance. 

The organ plays accompaniment during the verse.

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“Mama Mia” - ABBA 

1. List the instruments that you hear in the introduction of this piece.
   Bass, Piano, Xylophone, Electric Guitar

2. How many vocalists can you hear? Describe the tone colour and pitch level of the voices.
   There are 4 vocalists. In the verses there are only two women singing, then in the chorus two men join in. The voices all harmonize together, at some point there’s even some choir-like ‘ooh’ing and ‘aah’ing.

3. What accompanying instruments are used in this piece?
   Drums, Xylophone, Electric guitar, Piano

4. Which of the following features of the concept of Pitch are used in this song? (Highlight your answers).

   1. Harmony between voices

   2. Use of repeated melodic patterns

   3. Continual shifts from high to low pitch in melody 

   4. Use of low pitched male voices

   5. String bass

   6. Melodic ostinatos 

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“We will rock you” - Queen    

1. List three instruments and describe their roles within this piece.
   1. Drums - Rhythm

       2. Vocals - Melody

       3. Electric Guitar - Accompaniment

1. Try and list three different features of rhythm in this piece.
   -There is a strong constant beat

       -The famous ‘stomp, stomp, clap’ accompanies the vocals.

       -The rhythm is played constantly through the whole song

1. How would you describe the structure of this song?

The structure is quite unusual compared to most other songs. It goes something like intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus, instrumental.

 

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“You get what you give” - The Brand New Radicals    

1. Describe the sounds and instruments you can hear at the start of this piece.
   Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer

2. How many layers of sound can you hear?
   4

3. Have a close listen to the drums and describe their role in the music.
   The drums keep the time, along with the bass, by maintaining a strong beat.

4. What features of this song create contrast in the performance? Try and talk about multiple concepts in your answer? 

The song says not to give up, not to let yourself be pushed over and of course, you get what you give. It means these things in a non-literal way and it’s only giving advice on how to live life to the fullest, but the performance takes it literally and it shows a mall full of adults being taken over by teens who start partying.