Joni Mitchell

Question 1

Tempo and Metre in Help Me

Answer 1

• 150 bpm
• Mostly in 4/4 except at the end of every verse and instrumental break there is a ¾ bar to lead into the next section

Question 2

Tempo and Metre in BYT

Answer 2

• 4/4
• Consistent metre
• 174 bpm

Question 3

Tempo and Metre in River

Answer 3

• 4/4 metre
• 100bpm

Question 4

Rhythm in BYT

Answer 4

• Lots of syncopation in guitar and voice
• Steady crotchet rhythms in drums replaced by dotted triangle rhythm in pre refrain

Question 5

Rhythm in Help Me

Answer 5

• Use of syncopation especially in the vocal line
• Unison syncopation int he instrumental break in the rhythmic hook
• Use of push rhythms
• Almost constant dotted-minim-tied-to-a-quaver, quaver rhythm in bass

Question 6

Rhythm in River

Answer 6

• Constant rocking quaver arpeggios
• Syncopation throughout the melody encourages the feeling of free speech.
• Minim chords in the RH which changes to dotted crotchets.

Question 7

Structure in BYT

Answer 7

• Strophic structure
• Verses with refrain of ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’
• Chord sequence/harmonic structure doesn’t change throughout the song
• Regular 2 bar phrases and 4 phrase structure

Question 8

Structure in Help Me

Answer 8

• Verse – Bridge form
• Has added Instrumental Breaks
• 4 bar Intro, repeating 4 bar Outro that fades out
• I - V – IB – V – IB – B – IB - V - IB - O

Question 9

Structure in River

Answer 9

• Strophic form
• Regular phrase lengths of 8 bars or longer.
• Intro – Verse – Verse 2 – Bridge – Verse 3 – Verse 4 – Bridge – Bridge – Verse 5 – Coda/Outro

Question 10

Melody in River

Answer 10

• Syllabic text setting with moments of extended melisma.
• Primarily disjunct with some conjunct/scalic movements.
• Distinctive minor 7th interval at the start of the verse.
• Regular 8 bar phrase lengths.
• Free speech feels unprepared.
• RH melody in intro references the tune Jingle bell

Question 11

Melody in BYT

Answer 11

• Distinctive 3rd and 4th interval jumps at start of phrases and descending minor 6th jump at end of phrase ‘its gone’
• Otherwise, mainly conjunct
• A-A1-B-A
• Regular 2 bar phrases
• High improvised melismas
• Mainly syllabic

Question 12

Melody in Help Me

Answer 12

• Descends from tonic to subdominant, then scalically ascends an octave, then disjunctly descends the octave and an extra tone down to C. It then stays within a third (c – e) before singing a-g-d-e. Lastly it ascends a perfect 5th leap from g-d before it descends back down to an a, then there is an octave leap up to finish the verse.
• The bridge is more conjunct, and the notes are mostly a,d,b,g,e
• The melody is mostly syllabic, but there are quite a few melismas, mostly only between 2 notes

Question 13

Instrumentation in BYT

Answer 13

• Voice + guitar main instruments with light percussion as well as triangle in pre-refrain – creates a warm timbre
• Multi tracked backing vocals

Question 14

Instrumentation in River

Answer 14

• Limited instrumentation using voice and piano.
• Two instruments creates a softer, intimate sound referencing Joni’s recent break up.

Question 15

Instrumentation in Help Me

Answer 15

• Vocals
• Acoustic guitar
• Electric guitar
• Electric piano
• Drum kit
• Electric bass
• Woodwinds (tenor sax, flute)
• Band are part of LA express – jazz fusion band – similar lineup to a Miles Davis band
• Use of multi-tracking

Question 16

Texture in BYT

Answer 16

• Homophony
• Strummed chords in guitar
• No dramatic build ups or breakdowns

Question 17

Texture in River

Answer 17

• Constant rocking LH arpeggios with descending chord patterns.
• RH of the piano is mainly chordal.
• (Melody dominated homophony) i.e. Melody and accompaniment texture throughout.

Question 18

Texture in Help me

Answer 18

• Melody + accompaniment homophony in the verses and bridge
• Chordal texture in guitar
• Use of call and response in instrumental breaks
• Use of backing vocals that respond / add to vocal lines
• Imitation

Question 19

Harmony and Tonality in BYT

Answer 19

• E major key
• Mostly primary chords
• Very little chromaticsm
• Chords change once per bar
• Perfect cadences at ends of phrases with some plagal movement – typical of folk
• Major, upbeat harmony contrasts with lyrics - irony

Question 20

Harmony and Tonality in River

Answer 20

• Use of primary chords throughout which is typical of folk music e.g. C, F, G (I – IV – V).
• Rocking LH arpeggios creates a tonic pedal creating strong sense of C tonality.
• Brief references to A aoleian
• Some more complex harmony with slash chords, sus chords and added note chords

Question 21

Harmony and Tonality in Help me

Answer 21

• Prominent use of jazz-style extended chords especially major 7ths, with most chords being maj7
• Also uses sus2, m7, triads
• A mixolydian (flat 7 on major scale)
• Lots of quartal movement (e.g. F - C, Bb – F, G – D, C – G, D – G – D in the bridge) which involves a lot of pivot chords (e.g. Bb is used as a pivot between D and F)
• Lots of stepwise harmonic movement (e.g. G – A in the instrumental break, G – F in the bridge)

Question 22

Dynamics in BYT

Answer 22

• MF with little dynamic contrast
• Diminuendo + MP in guitar and voice and no percussion (bar triangle) at ‘don’t it always seem to go’ to emphasise refrain which is MF

Question 23

Dynamics in Help me

Answer 23

No large dynamic contrast, mostly around mf
* There is a crescendo during the bridge up to f, but it returns to mf for the instrumental break
* Fade out at the end

Question 24

Dynamics in River

Answer 24

Limited dynamic range mostly mp throughout.