White Windmill (白色风车) - Overall structure and interesting features
The song started off with theme and then goes on to the verse and chorus. After which he then repeats both the verse and chorus again.
I find that songs starting with the theme is especially common in Jay's compositions. This makes a striking feature so as to capture listeners' attention.
Unlike the principles of repetition in musical forms that we learnt in class, this song is structured in a way which is sort of similar to traditional Chinese poetry writing. I remembered my Chinese teacher telling me that the most basic form of poetry writing is using 5 words to form one phrase. We can see this in the start of the song and after which he moves on to 7 words in one phrase. This is perhaps another way to make listeners have a greater impression of his song and that it's easier to remember too.
One of the interesting features in this song is the use of accidentals as anticipations. As seen in bar 5 and 41.
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5 comments:
Hi Mei Hui!
Wow! I never knew that even Chinese songs are structured in such a way similar to Chinese poetry. I guess it's a way composers make their songs more pleasnt sounding? Like how rhymes are used in English songs?
*jean*
Hiya!
Miseed out this question I wanted to ask the last time.
What do you mean when you say "One of the interesting features in this song is the use of accidentals as anticipations. As seen in bar 5 and 41"?
*jean*
Hi Jean,
Yes! The poetry thingy is somewhat like the rhymes in English songs. It makes listeners able to figure out the phrases easier and I guess it's easier to catch what they are singing too!
Regarding your question, I was actually talking about the C# in B.5 and the F nat. and Db in B. 41. I think they are put there not to because the author wants to establish a fuller chord, but instead it gives listeners a kind of feeling that the song wants to go in a certain direction, which in this case, it wants to go into the next section. =)
Good question, Jean, and good musical hearing, Meihui. My question is: can we use concepts of voice leading to explain the harmonic-melodic tendency of the C# at b. 5 and the F-natural at b. 41 (I don't have the Db in my score).
Ops, I see the Db in your uploaded score, but notice that there is a D natural against it?! I then check the video recording and notice a different melodic line at b. 41, which reveals the "logic" of the F natural better, anyone wants to have a go at explaining this?
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