Oasis Don’t Look Back in Anger

Background - Oasis Formed in 1991 One of the leading bands to develop the Britpop style Main members consisted of brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher

Characteristics of Britpop Recreation of styles from the 60s and 70s. Influences from earlier British bands such as The Beatles and The Kinks. Lyrical, tuneful vocal melodies Guitar-led, traditional pop based line up Verse-Chorus structure Regular four bar phrases Simple root position chords

Structure The song is in Verse-Chorus structure and includes linking sections such as Pre-Choruses as well as an Intro and Outro (Coda). The last Pre-Chorus is instrumental and features a Guitar solo. The Outro (Coda) section is slower that the rest of the song.

Tonality Looking at the score, what is the key of the song? – C Major The Verse and Choruses are almost completely Diatonic. What does this mean? – It uses notes that belong to the key signature Where do we find examples of Chromatic chords/notes? – E major chord (E – G# - B) Bar. 6 – Fm 7 & G#dim chords

Harmony Apart from Diatonic, how would you describe the chords used throughout? – Simple, root position chords Having already discussed the Tonality what two chords are used in the Introduction? – Tonic (I - C) and Subdominant (IV - F) The Intro has a slow harmonic rhythm of 1 chord per bar

Harmony cont. Play the first 4 chords of the Verse but replace the E major chord with an E minor chord. What does this sound like? – Pachelbel's Canon How would you describe the harmonic rhythm of the Verse chords? – 2 chords per bar – This speeds up to 3 chords per bar every 4 th bar

Harmony cont. Harmonically, how does the Pre-Chorus lead into the Chorus? – Two bars of G – G (Dominant) Harmonically, how does the piece finish? – Simple, C chord (Tonic, root position)

Texture How would you describe the texture throughout the piece? – Melody Dominated Homophony Why? – Vocal plays the role of the melody – The other instruments (Piano, Guitar and Bass) play chords/bass line. Used as accompaniment.

Texture cont. In the 2 nd verse, what other instrument is adding some variety to the texture, and how? – Lead guitar – Playing licks in between the vocal phrases (Bars. 10 – 11)

Melody Describe the general features of the way Noel Gallaher sings through out the piece Uses a high tessitura (high range) The style is mainly syllabic He uses melismas at the end of vocal phrases

Melody Listen/look at the melody in the Verses. How many different notes is Noel Gallagher using in his melody? What are they? –5–5 – G, A, C, D, E What type of scale does this create? – Pentatonic (in C) How would you describe the range in the Verses? – Very narrow (Range of a 6 th )

Melody cont. Now look at the melody at the Chorus. How does the Chorus begin, melodically? – Octave leap (very distinct) Why is the octave leap distinct? Describe the melody for the rest of the Chorus – Rest of the melody tends to be quite conjunct (ie. Stepwise, no large leaps) The Chorus melody isn’t Pentatonic. Why is this? – The note F has been added. Creating a Hexatonic scale.

Melody cont. Where can you find the following? – Blues notes – Melodic repetition Blues notes – Pre-Chorus, Bar. 17 (E b ) Melodic repetition – Outro (Coda), Bars (‘But don’t look back in anger)

Rhythm & Metre Describe the drum beat played throughout the piece – Bass Drum plays on Beats 1 & 3 – Snare plays on the Backbeats (2 & 4) – The beat is a continuous 8 beat pattern – Uses drum fills between sections What is the most identifiable drum in the piece? – Bar. 44 (sextuplet pattern leading into the 3 rd Chorus)

Rhythm & Metre cont. Where does the Tambourine play? Describe what pattern it plays. – Halfway through the Pre-Chorus, continuing into the Choruses – Plays a continuous semiquaver pattern, emphasising beats 2 & 4 Why beats 2 & 4? – To match the snare back beat

Rhythm and Metre cont. Where is the vocal line mostly syncopated? Verses or Choruses? – In the Verses – It’s less syncopated in the Choruses