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Vanessa Carlton Vanessa Lee Carlton is a famous American pop-rock singer, songwriter and pianist. She rose to fame overnight, with her debut single, ‘A Thousand Miles’. It gained several Grammy Award nominations and peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. A few months later, she also released her debut and most successful album, ‘Be Not Nobody’, which became Platinum certified and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Carlton has been nominated ‘Favourite Adult Contemporary Artist’ in the American Music Awards.


 * Analysis of Two Songs **

__1. A Thousand Miles__ media type="youtube" key="Cwkej79U3ek" width="560" height="315"


 * Structure: **
 * Intro
 * Verse 1
 * Pre Chorus
 * Chorus
 * Verse 2
 * Pre Chorus
 * Chorus
 * Bridge
 * Verse 1
 * Chorus x2
 * Outro


 * Instruments: **
 * Piano
 * Drums
 * Female lead VOX
 * Electric heater
 * Keyboard
 * Cello
 * Violin

//A Thousand Miles//, by Vanessa Carlton, describes loving someone so much that you would do anything (even go a ‘thousand miles’) to just see them and spend time with them. It is a very compelling piece of music that presents very intricate, but balanced rhythms (in the time of 4/4) and texture. The strong positive tone is generated through the major key. The key elements are as follows:

The vocals throughout the piece can be described as strong, nasal and breathy. The pitch is ranges from mainly low to high. The strong slurred string tone colour of the violin and cello give the song good texture and expressive techniques including crescendos and decrescendos are used. The intro (four bars) starts with just the piano riff. The dynamics can be be described as mezzo piano (moderately soft) and the texture is very thin. Verse 1 starts when drums and female vocals come in. The dynamics immediately jump to mezzo forte (moderately loud) and the texture is increased. The drums are played predominantly the whole way through and play a simple rhythm at the consistent tempo of 95b/min. Between each vocal stanza, the riff is played by the piano. During the pre chorus, violins and a cello play the main semi quaver pulse beats. The violins play slurred notes during sections of the chorus. Also, a finger-picked electric guitar is also heard at the end of the chorus, followed by the piano riff. The layering and volume of these instruments increase the fullness and the song. Once again, during the first stanza of verse 2, it starts with just the piano. Violins and a cello accompany the piano riff and then a keyboard (slurred effect) and an electric guitar (with slide effect) play through the second stanza. The violins and cello play the pre chorus beats and the majority of the chorus melody. The electric guitar joins in at the end. In the bridge, the electric guitar has a slide effect and emphasises the melodic contour. The song returns to verse 1 where only the piano and female lead vocals play. During the second part, the violins join. The pre chorus gradually builds and violins and a cello play main beats of riff. The dynamics in the chorus immediately become quiet and the texture becomes sparse. Only the female lead vocals and piano play. Towards the end, drums and violins are added and gradually rebuild the strong dynamics and texture. The second chorus is the highest point of the song, with all instruments playing at their max. The dynamics gradually quietens toward the end, becoming softer with piano and violins. The outro returns to the same riff pattern as the intro, and fades out. When looking up //A Thousand Miles// on Ultimate Guitar, I found the chords revolved around B, F# and E, however, they did not make up a perfect pattern.

__2. Ordinary Day__

media type="youtube" key="zdmbjaReGmY" width="420" height="315"


 * Structure: **
 * Verse 1
 * Chorus
 * Verse 2
 * Chorus
 * Bridge
 * Verse 3
 * Chorus
 * Instrumental
 * Verse 1


 * Instruments: **
 * Female lead VOX
 * Piano
 * Drums
 * Violins
 * Cello
 * Acoustic guitar
 * Bass guitar

//Ordinary Day//, by Vanessa Carlton, relates to the message of not taking anything for granted and always having faith. It points out that you should take one day at a time, always try to look at someone from the inside, and have an open mind about what someone has to say. The song has a strong, on-beat time signature of 4/4 with an andante (moderately slow) tempo of 62b/min. It is in a major key which, along with the vocals, give a strong, warm and blazing feeling.

Several expressive techniques are used throughout including crescendo and decrescendos. The pitch is relatively low. The first 4 bars of verse 1 starts with a female lead vocal, a piano playing a walking bass/melody and violins during the end. At this point, the texture is quite thin. A casual drum beat then joins in and violins emphasise slurred notes. The long ‘stringed’ tone colour and expressive accents of the violins give a very strong and powerful feeling. During the chorus, the texture increases when a bass guitar joins the piano, drums, violins and cello. The dynamics immediately increase as well and continue throughout until the bridge. A short interlude is played afterwards, where the violins and piano play the riff and emphasise slurred notes. Verse 2 and the next chorus has all the same instruments playing in it as the previous chorus. The piano plays the riff throughout. Another short interlude is played with the same riff played by the violins. The bridge just has a strong cello as the base, drums and female lead during the start. At the end, the piano and bass guitar joins in and the dynamics increase. However, the dynamics and texture then drops during verse 3 where only the piano, bass, acoustic, and drums play. The dynamics then rise again at the end and carry through loud during the chorus. Violins continue to play a melody during the chorus. This is the highest point of the song where both the texture and dynamics are the fullest. Afterwards, an instrumental is played where violins repeat the riff. During the last verse, the texture becomes very sparse and the dynamics decrease. Only the piano plays a walking bass to accompany the vocals and the tempo ‘rallentando’ at the end. When looking up //Ordinary Day// on Ultimate Guitar, I found the chords repeated C, F, G, with the occasional Am and Dm.


 * Carlton’s Style of Music **

Vanessa Carlton’s style of music varies within classical-pop to soft rock. Classical-pop is contemporary music that abbreviates ‘popular music’. It usually has sub-genres/elements of rock, hip hop, reggae, dance, R&B, jazz and electronic. One specific characteristic includes the simple pop song structure - intro, verse1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, bridge, chorus and outro. Also, the songs have simple, danceable, consistent rhythms that are usually emphasised with syncopation. They have catchy, basic hooks (riffs, ostinatos…) that repeat throughout the song. Most choruses contrast melodically, rhythmically and harmonically to the verses and there is limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of pop songs usually express simple emotional themes about love and dancing. Some popular pop songs and their artist include ‘Crazy in Love’ - Beyonce, ‘Roar’ - Katy Perry, ‘Love Story’ - Taylor Swift, ‘Poker Face’ - Lady Gaga, ‘Love You Like a Love Song’ - Selena Gomez, ‘Grenade’ - Bruno Mars and ‘Baby One More Time’ - Britney Spears.

Soft rock is a style that has a slower beat and more gentle sound than hard rock. It is often led by piano or acoustic guitar, with additional layers of smooth synths and orchestration (violins, cellos). The songs usually have a bouncy, walking bass guitar with smooth electric guitar riffs. The rhythms are simple with syncopation in a 4/4 time. They have a simple structure with catchy riffs that repeat throughout the song. Several catchy, high-pitched harmonies are used and the lyrics focus on everyday life. Some popular pop songs and their artist include ‘Sailing’ - Christopher Cross, ‘Best of My Love’ - The Eagles, ‘If You Leave Me Now’ - Chicago and ‘Foolish Heart’ - Steve Perry.


 * Carlton’s Contemporaries **

Vanessa Carlton has had many influences and contemporaries throughout her life. From the age of two her mother, as a music teacher, taught her the the piano and singing. She also exposed Carlton to great composers of classical music, including Mozart, Erik Satie and Claude Debussy. During her teenage years, she started incorporating influences from pop artists of Tori Amos and Fiona Apple and singing with Interscope, Geffen and A&M Records. In early 2002, Carlton worked with Ron Fair to produce her debut album, ‘Be Not Nobody’. During the next few years, she shared stages with bands like Third Eye Blind and Goo Goo Dolls and duetted with Counting Crowes in ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. She continued writing songs with Linda Perry and Jenkins. During 2011-2012, Carlton’s music was influenced by a colorful oil painting (by Alan J. Lee), called ‘Liberman’. She wrote many songs while looking at the image, and named the album after it. Carlton was also inspired by Martin Scorsese, after stating “Martin Scorsese said sometimes your greatest challenge is not your failure but your success... everything I’ve done and everything I am is there in the songs.”