Under The Bridge Analysis

The song that chose for my solo performance is Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The composers were John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Chad Smith. John Frusciante did the guitar parts. This piece was composed in America at a studio session in preparation for their second album with John, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik." The characteristics that define this piece of work was the speed, which it was quite slow, intensity, which it wasn't too intense, the type of singing, which it was done with soft vocals, not yelling or screaming.

The influences behind this work were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, John recalls in an interview with Total Guitar magazine. He joined the band after their original guitarist died from a drug overdose; his other main influence was Jimi Hendrix, which can be heard with the fiddly bits John plays with the chords. There wasn't really and socio-cultural influences, it was more of a story about a man in Los Angeles where he did his dealings under a bridge downtown. The intended audience for this music is really anyone because it's not heavy at all, while the metal heads, such as myself, can really enjoy it. It's got a nice soft melody. The lyrics would more suit this song be used in private use, an is suited to CD/ record release, pub's/club's, and it could even be used in film settings. The song at the start is very slow and downbeat, and it's almost gloomy, but it's all building up to the end verse, where the tempo is picked up and it becomes a lot more dramatic.

Some ways that you might use to convey the emotional meaning of this song is through the movements you might make while playing certain chords, for example; during chorus the chords sound more dynamic and more emphasised then during the earlier verses which are more melodic. The atmosphere that is created by the music is gloomy, like a rainy day, and like a rainy day there isn't much energy about. It leaves an image of a bridge in a busy town, where a deal takes place. This song leaves me with a sense of urgency towards the end, and to me orange suits this song.

The ways the rhythms in Under the Bridge contribute to the structure of the song is during the first half it is a slow rhythm, not rushed and calm, until it reaches the climax in the song where it's more dramatic and louder and towards the end it calms back down. The textures created by the instruments used are at the start was it was just a lone guitar, playing a nice tune. The singing comes in next keeping it simple yet melodic, and then the drums and bass come in. This is where the song comes to life. Towards the end the backup vocals come in high pitched and almost angelic.

Homophonic- Having a single melodic line with an accompaniment in the same rhythm as the melody.

Polyphonic- Music with two or more independent melodic parts sounded together.

Monophonic- Music without any accompaniment, single melodic line.

I think that the song that I chose for this assignment is homophonic because it has a single melodic line with the guitar and has accompaniments. The accompaniments are also in the same rhythm as the leading melodic line. The characteristics of the song Under the Bridge can be described as regular, sort of repetitive but with a free feel to it because John isn't sticking to a set structure. It is a simple piece of music, with simple chords with accented parts that vary through the song. The rhythm section of the song is the end part where they sing "Under the bridge downtown" quite a few times, the instruments that are contributing are guitar, bass, drums and vocals with back up vocals. The guitar plays simple chords (A, Am7, G6, and Fmaj7) over a simple bass and drum line while the vocals set the mood.

The rhythms are used to maintain tempo, they create a contrast between the verses, chorus