Play it here
Period - Rock and Roll, which is essentially an offshoot of Jazz. The language is similar: the rhythm is still in groups of 4, the harmony follows a similar pattern (Tonic - Subdominant - Dominant, the famous I-IV-V sequence, but I'll spare you the full explanation of that, as I am merciful), the mixture of European musical style and African trbial style is omnipresent, and so on. The difference is that there is less focus on instrumental and technical prowess, much less frequent or non-existent improvisation, and a larger focus on charisma, style, and the cult of personality. Now, I imagine you rock n' rollers are starting to bristle, fingers itching for a pithy response with dozens of examples that defy this description (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc.), but you will hopefully understand that I am speaking in generalities, just as I did in my Classical and Jazz analyses. So, you will, I hope, also permit me to say that rock n' roll is a simpler, watered-down version of Jazz (grumble grumble).
This particular song (can we call it a piece?) comes from the "Early Period" of Beatles music, while they were more boy-band and less groovy trendsetters. Songs from this period are catchy, mostly very simple, and short, usually between two and three minutes. The instruments of the band consist of drums, an electric bass guitar, two electric guitars (lead and rhythm), and of course vocals.The Lyrics are as follows:
Chorus:
Well Shake it Up Baby Now / Shake it up Baby
Twist and Shout / Twist and Shout
C'mon C'mon C'mon C’mon Baby Now / Come on Baby
Come on and work it all out / Work it all out
Well, work it on out, honey / Work it on out
You know you look so good / Look so good
You know you got me going now / Got me going
Just like I knew you would / Like I knew you would
Chorus
You know you twist your little girl / twist, little girl
You know you twist so fine / twist so fine
Come on and twist a little closer, now / twist a little closer
And let me know that youre mine / let me know that you’re mine
Chorus
You know you twist your little girl / twist, little girl
You know you twist your little girl / twist, little girl
You know you twist so fine / twist so fine
Come on and twist a little closer, now / twist a little closer
And let me know that youre mine / let me know that you’re mine
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now / shake it up baby
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now / shake it up baby
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now / shake it up baby
PUSH PLAY!
PUSH PLAY!
Here it is
0:01-:07 - The drums and the bass give us the tempo in the form of an introduction, and we hear immediately the familiar four-square rhythm:
1-2-3-4, (2)-2-3-4, (3)-2-3-4, (4)-2-3-4. The vocals lead in with "Well shake it up" on the third beat of the fourth measure, just as in All of Me, where the piano started the melody on the last beat of the fourth measure.
:08-:38 - This is the first statement of the chorus and the first verse, and it breaks up into 16 measures, with 4 separate phrases of 4 measures each. The soloist calls on the 3rd and 4th beats, and the ensemble (in this case, 2 voices), responds on the 3rd and 4th beats of the following measure. So, it's something like this, where the call is in Italics, and the response is Italics in parentheses:
[Phrase 1, Measure 1] 1 - 2 - Well 3 - Shake it 4 Up
[2] 1 - Baby 2 - Now 3 - (Shake it) 4 (Up)
[3] 1 - (Baby) 2 - PAUSE 3 - Twist 4 - And
[4] 1 - Shout 2 - PAUSE 3 - (Twist) 4 - (And)
[Phrase 2, Measure 1] 1 - (Shout)
This is classic call and response, straight from the tribal fires in Africa. The bass makes us feel the first beat of each measure to keep us on rhythm, the drum divides the phrases with a short rhythmic flourish at the end of every phrase, or in other words, at the end of every fourth measure, and the vocalists make us rock and roll on the 2nd and 4th beat. This focus on the 2nd and 4th beat, as I said in the jazz analysis, is what differentiates the rhythm from classical music, which tends to focus on the 1st and 3rd beat. 2nd and 4th = groovy, 1st and 3rd = square.
:38-1:08 – The chorus repeated, with the second verse - the only thing new here is the change in lyrics of the second verse
1:09 -1:24 - The guitars unleash an imaginative, heart-stopping cadenza that is at once lyrical and jarring, a moving tribute to humanity and the never-ending struggle with the Creator. Gotta hear it to believe it... Changed my life.
1:25-1:35 - The voices sound out the notes of the dominant seventh chord, and here we have the climax of the song. The girls pee themselves in ecstasy, everyone chants along, we all jump up and down spasmodically, and then all is released, and the piece returns to the original verse. It is noteworthy that this section is in 6 measures, not 4 or 8, and it is those 5th and 6th measures that provide that climactic moment, the excitement you feel. It is no coincidence that we feel the release: this two measure extension creates a prolonged (if only for 2 seconds) sense of tension, and since we don't expect it (the soul has heard all 4s up till now, and has come to predict them), it gives us something extra, so we jump up and down. So beautifully simple, this fact; in music, we delight in expecting something and then getting something else. It is how Wagner is able to write eternally long operas, why Mozart is a heaven-sent prodigy, and a major reason why I love Hendrix's Bold as Love, which has a false ending before rocking everyone's world. And the Beatles, in their own youthful way, catch a part of that magic here, with 2 little measures. God I love music...
1:35-2:05 – Chorus and second verse repeated
2:05 - 2:18 - Instead of 4s, we hear 2s, the drums are more active, and so we prepare for the end. Simple as that.
2:18-2:25 - They repeat that magical arpeggiated dominant chord, but without the seventh, and instead of reaching ecstasy, we find ourselves at the end.
2:25-2:32 - Drum flourish, guitar finale, and for that little gem that makes the Beatles so human and loveable, you hear one of them shout "Yeah!" at 2:28, in the distant background. They're happy with what they've done.
So, the structure is Intro-A-A-B-A-A-Finale. Pretty cookie cutter, but nobody was looking for anything different.
0:01-:07 - The drums and the bass give us the tempo in the form of an introduction, and we hear immediately the familiar four-square rhythm:
1-2-3-4, (2)-2-3-4, (3)-2-3-4, (4)-2-3-4. The vocals lead in with "Well shake it up" on the third beat of the fourth measure, just as in All of Me, where the piano started the melody on the last beat of the fourth measure.
:08-:38 - This is the first statement of the chorus and the first verse, and it breaks up into 16 measures, with 4 separate phrases of 4 measures each. The soloist calls on the 3rd and 4th beats, and the ensemble (in this case, 2 voices), responds on the 3rd and 4th beats of the following measure. So, it's something like this, where the call is in Italics, and the response is Italics in parentheses:
[Phrase 1, Measure 1] 1 - 2 - Well 3 - Shake it 4 Up
[2] 1 - Baby 2 - Now 3 - (Shake it) 4 (Up)
[3] 1 - (Baby) 2 - PAUSE 3 - Twist 4 - And
[4] 1 - Shout 2 - PAUSE 3 - (Twist) 4 - (And)
[Phrase 2, Measure 1] 1 - (Shout)
This is classic call and response, straight from the tribal fires in Africa. The bass makes us feel the first beat of each measure to keep us on rhythm, the drum divides the phrases with a short rhythmic flourish at the end of every phrase, or in other words, at the end of every fourth measure, and the vocalists make us rock and roll on the 2nd and 4th beat. This focus on the 2nd and 4th beat, as I said in the jazz analysis, is what differentiates the rhythm from classical music, which tends to focus on the 1st and 3rd beat. 2nd and 4th = groovy, 1st and 3rd = square.:38-1:08 – The chorus repeated, with the second verse - the only thing new here is the change in lyrics of the second verse
1:09 -1:24 - The guitars unleash an imaginative, heart-stopping cadenza that is at once lyrical and jarring, a moving tribute to humanity and the never-ending struggle with the Creator. Gotta hear it to believe it... Changed my life.
1:25-1:35 - The voices sound out the notes of the dominant seventh chord, and here we have the climax of the song. The girls pee themselves in ecstasy, everyone chants along, we all jump up and down spasmodically, and then all is released, and the piece returns to the original verse. It is noteworthy that this section is in 6 measures, not 4 or 8, and it is those 5th and 6th measures that provide that climactic moment, the excitement you feel. It is no coincidence that we feel the release: this two measure extension creates a prolonged (if only for 2 seconds) sense of tension, and since we don't expect it (the soul has heard all 4s up till now, and has come to predict them), it gives us something extra, so we jump up and down. So beautifully simple, this fact; in music, we delight in expecting something and then getting something else. It is how Wagner is able to write eternally long operas, why Mozart is a heaven-sent prodigy, and a major reason why I love Hendrix's Bold as Love, which has a false ending before rocking everyone's world. And the Beatles, in their own youthful way, catch a part of that magic here, with 2 little measures. God I love music...1:35-2:05 – Chorus and second verse repeated
2:05 - 2:18 - Instead of 4s, we hear 2s, the drums are more active, and so we prepare for the end. Simple as that.
2:18-2:25 - They repeat that magical arpeggiated dominant chord, but without the seventh, and instead of reaching ecstasy, we find ourselves at the end.
2:25-2:32 - Drum flourish, guitar finale, and for that little gem that makes the Beatles so human and loveable, you hear one of them shout "Yeah!" at 2:28, in the distant background. They're happy with what they've done.
So, the structure is Intro-A-A-B-A-A-Finale. Pretty cookie cutter, but nobody was looking for anything different.
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