Thinking out loud by Ed Sheeran
Section 1: Duple or Triple Meter (or both or something else): explain which you hear and how/where you can hear it. Locate at least one syncopation and one instance of dotted rhythms, or state unequivocally that there are no such instances.
The song exhibits a mixture of duple meter and triple meter in the subsequent lines after the introductory part. In the fifth line, the words ‘And darling’ are on the first beat, and the words ‘be loving you’ are on the third beat. Similarly, on the sixth line, the words ‘And baby my’ lands on the first beat while the words ‘could still fall” lands on the third beat. The continuous variations in tone also make it complex to identify the instances of the meter in some sections of the song, but this ensures maintenance of constant rhythm. Besides, cases of syncopations are pervasive in the song to ensure that the choice of words is congruent with the flow of the song. In particular, at 1:16, Ed Sheeran’s alteration of the word ‘now’ produces some loudness in sound that could not be predicted or is unexpected for that particular time, indicating syncopation.
Similarly, at 2:41, the word ‘mysterious’ has an unexpected loudness, thus an example of syncopation. Additionally, the song has instances of dotted lines though limited to some segments of the music. At 0:52, Ed Sheeran uses the words’ Am thinking about’ as a long note followed by the word ‘how’ as a short note in the second beat. The third beat is also a long note from the words ‘people fall in love in mysterious ways.’ Therefore, the regulation of meter effect in the song plays out to be critical in giving the song flow.
Section 2: Major and/or Minor Harmonies: explain which you think you hear, where in the song, and why. Be sure to clarify if you’re labeling the entire song as major and minor or simply a specific moment. &&Also Dissonance.
The song focuses on a love situation, and Ed Sheeran is expounding on the nature of their love thus portrays a major harmony in its entirety For this situation, the major harmonies give the song an appealing quality as Sheeran uses the words ‘Your smiles forever in my mind and memory’. However, the definition of the major key in the song presents some ambiguity owing to some instances where the song projects about the nature of their love when things are not the same as current. Therefore, from my assessment, I would label the song as entirely major harmony, being that there is no sad aspect that the song focuses on. For the aspect of Dissonance, it is a tone that has a tense sound and requires an urgent need for resolution. In this regard, there is no aspect of Dissonance from the song as the combination of tones and meter in the song ensures that there is some stability in the flow of the music.
Section 3: Conjunct and/or Disjunct melody: locate one or both of these melodic styles within the song (be specific about where), and explain why you think you’re correct. Address melodic shape as well.
In some instances of the song, the melody is disjunct, since Ed Sheeran makes big leaps while stressing on the nature of their love. In particular, at 2:45, Ed Sheeran in the words ‘and maybe it’s all part of a plan’ is disjunctive owing to the high amount of vigor used to stress these words. However, the words ‘maybe we found love’ brings some temporary conjunct indicating the ultimate appeal in the major harmony that the song achieves when all the love issues are intact. We can describe the melodic shape as a continuous pitch line that gradually increases as the song attains the optimum status. The opening line begins with the artist describing the nature of their love in a moderate melodic to indicate the happy instances that the song anticipates achieving in the long run.
Section 4: Homophony and/or Polyphony: locate one or both of these textures within the song (be specific about where), and explain why you think you’re correct
Ed Sheeran incorporates aspects of homophony almost in the entire song. If you were to listen to the song, the words that are delivered in the vocal melody are the primary words that give the song meaning. The piano-like sound in the background is only accompanying the words ensuring a flow when the singer takes a break from the song. Nonetheless, the sound from the background provides an accompanying harmony to the principal melody, which includes the words from the singer. However, in some instances, the aspect of imitative polyphony is seen as the melody from the piano that tends to imitate the vocal melody. This is seen at 3:38, where the vocal melody stops for some time, and the piano melody accompanies the words.
Section 5: Other: choose at least one term from the Terminological Starter and explain where you think you hear it in the song and why. You can also discuss musical traits not found on the Terminological Starter if you wish.
From the terminological starter, I will briefly describe the aspects of crescendo, phrase, and vibrato
Ed Sheeran infuses different aspects of crescendo as there are instances where the sound gradually grows louder to insist on particular points. As you monitor the sound in the different segments of the song, Ed Sheeran increases in loudness. For example, at 3:00, Ed Sheeran uses the words ‘but baby now’ in a crescendo as he wants to stress on a particular issue. Besides, he uses the vibrato in some instances when he wants to intensify some sounds. At 3:07, the words ‘take me into your loving arms’ signify a vibrato as the tone in which they are stated is trying to stress on a love issue. Finally, a phrase is evident at 3:12 from the words’ the light of a thousand stars.’
