Gcse Music Analysis Yiri-Koko
YIRI- KOKO
STYLE: West African Music
Features of West African Music: * Call and Response * Musical knowledge is passed down through oral tradition * Improvised melodies * Repetition (ostinato) * Layered, polyrhythmic textures. * Cyclic structures CONTEXT * The country from which this piece comes from is Burkina Faso, West Africa. * Koko is a group composing of 6 musicians, led by Madou Koné, the singer and balafon player. * Yiri is the 4th track of Burkina Faso: Balafons et Tambours d’Afriquereleased by Koko in 2002. * ‘Yiri’ means wood in the local dialect, referring to the wood used in the making of drums. METRE * Main metre of the piece is 4/4/, although a few bars are in different metres (eg. Bars 27, 94 and 120 use the metre ¾ and bar 47 uses the metre 5/4) * A change in metre- from 4/4 to a bar of ¾ then back to 4/4 is used to signal the start of new sections (eg. Bar 95) * The introduction is free tempo, and a steady pulse is maintained throughout the whole piece. RHYTHM * Within vocal and balafon parts, syncopation is frequently used (for example in bar 34 during the balafon break where every bar is syncopated) * Cross rhythms are created in bar 66 during the vocal solo as the balafon plays semi quavers in groups of 3 (cross phrases) against quavers. * Triplets are often used by the vocal soloist * A rhythmic ostinato consisting of a quaver and two semiquavers is repeatedly played by the drums throughout the entire piece * The djembe plays occasional fills * Piece is polyrhythmic- more than one rhythm at a time * Simple rhythm ostinatos are found throughout the piece (for example bar 14 and bar 17 with the balafons)
MELODY * The piece is in the key of Gb major * The music is hexatonic (based on a 6-note scale, without the note F), but pentatonic at the beginning. * Short patterns, falling from high to
STYLE: West African Music
Features of West African Music: * Call and Response * Musical knowledge is passed down through oral tradition * Improvised melodies * Repetition (ostinato) * Layered, polyrhythmic textures. * Cyclic structures CONTEXT * The country from which this piece comes from is Burkina Faso, West Africa. * Koko is a group composing of 6 musicians, led by Madou Koné, the singer and balafon player. * Yiri is the 4th track of Burkina Faso: Balafons et Tambours d’Afriquereleased by Koko in 2002. * ‘Yiri’ means wood in the local dialect, referring to the wood used in the making of drums. METRE * Main metre of the piece is 4/4/, although a few bars are in different metres (eg. Bars 27, 94 and 120 use the metre ¾ and bar 47 uses the metre 5/4) * A change in metre- from 4/4 to a bar of ¾ then back to 4/4 is used to signal the start of new sections (eg. Bar 95) * The introduction is free tempo, and a steady pulse is maintained throughout the whole piece. RHYTHM * Within vocal and balafon parts, syncopation is frequently used (for example in bar 34 during the balafon break where every bar is syncopated) * Cross rhythms are created in bar 66 during the vocal solo as the balafon plays semi quavers in groups of 3 (cross phrases) against quavers. * Triplets are often used by the vocal soloist * A rhythmic ostinato consisting of a quaver and two semiquavers is repeatedly played by the drums throughout the entire piece * The djembe plays occasional fills * Piece is polyrhythmic- more than one rhythm at a time * Simple rhythm ostinatos are found throughout the piece (for example bar 14 and bar 17 with the balafons)
MELODY * The piece is in the key of Gb major * The music is hexatonic (based on a 6-note scale, without the note F), but pentatonic at the beginning. * Short patterns, falling from high to