Assignment #2

.pdf

School

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

1013

Subject

Arts Humanities

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

pdf

Pages

2

Uploaded by CorporalRiver1659

Report
January 27th, 2024 Reflective Assignment #2 Adele is a globally recognized singer and songwriter whose vocals and lyrical phrasing excite 21st-century audiences. As a result, for the second reflective assignment, the 21st-century song I picked was Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love”. I found that despite the fact that most of her music is categorized as pop when I listened closely to it, I could hear elements of blues, doo-wop, and R&B style elements like the backbeat and lyrical phrasing. In this assignment, I will analyze these styles and features by providing details that specifically illustrate vocal delivery, rhythmic patterns, and melodies. First discussing the most distinctive style of blues, its influence is very evident from the first note of “Make You Feel My Love”. Giving a little background, Chapter 2.4 of the textbook, notes that blues can be a feeling and style. Within “Make You Feel My Love”, the beginning conveys sadness with sounds of low piano chords. Identifying this started around 0:30 and at the one-minute mark, every phrase started on a new chord and, midway through, came back to the I chord. These chords are commonly known as I, IV, and V chords. Blues is known for having raw emotion and has always been a very personal music style often using down-to-earth lyrics. Adele demonstrates this feeling in "Make You Feel My Love," using lyrics like “I’d walk to the ends of the Earth with you”, “sorrows”, and “black and blue” to set the mood. The image of sadness and personal struggles that these lyrics depict is typical of blues music, a genre that exposes personal struggles. There was no doubt that Adele's song had a blues influence, but this helped to identify it much more clearly. “Make You Feel My Love” could be described as if pop, doo-wop, and blues blended. Moving on to the backbeat style features of R&B, they were fairly easy to depict. While the song isn’t the cut-and-paste R&B style, it does have a steady piano accompaniment that
evokes emotion in the listener. Coupled with, the steady piano chords in the beginning, the song followed a similar beat throughout. This example is illustrated in Chapter 2.2 where it underscored that blues styles usually accompany a strong backbeat. Analyzing the last counterpart doo-wop, the first note of influences arises at the 1:32 mark and continues until 2:32. Doo-wop can be easily detected when listening for multi-part harmonies, acapella style vocals, and sentimental lyrics. At the timestamps, you will hear Adele harmonize with herself, a key characteristic of doo-wop vocal harmony. What makes the doo-wop style of heart and soul so special in this song is that it adds emotion and enhances the lyrics. Additionally, if you listen closely you notice that Adele’s vocals are the centerpiece, and the piano and backtrack act as the background. This is also another indicating factor of the doo-wop style. In conclusion, Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love” is a blend of pop, blues, doo-wop, and backbeat, and despite being categorized as pop, a closer listen confirms the opposite. The piano chords that also double as a backbeat, the lyrics, and emotion show the blues influence. Through using Chapter two of the textbook, identifying blues within the song was seamless from the very first note. Lastly, the inclusion of doo-wop was illustrated through her vocal harmonies, and melody choice lets the listener hear that Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love” is a doo-wop style of heart and soul music. Overall, this assignment helped me gain a deeper understanding of the music styles and features discussed in module two.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help