Guidelines and tips for this section
Rhythmic features: Anything to do with the rhythm is a rhythmic feature. Ask yourself does the rhythm feature even, dotted rhythms or syncopation? Can you work out and remember exact rhythms that feature in different songs?
Melodic features: Anything to do with the melody is a melodic feature.
Does it move by step (scale passages) or leap (triads, chords or arpeggios). What is the range? (gap between the lowest and highest notes. Intervals – 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Octave. Is there a sequence?
Tonality is either major, minor or modal. Is the tune based on a major scale, a minor scale or a mode.
Major tonality is naturally bright or happy sounding. Minor is dark or sad. Consider “Your song” by Elton John written in the 1970s. He wrote it in Eb major. It sounds bright because of this.
Ellie Goulding sings the exact same notes but plays it in G minor. Notice how there is a completely different mood to the song because the tonality is now minor.
All Irish music is modal. Music like monks chanting from the 5th century is also modal. Much folk music is modal and lots of Jazz is modal. A mode is an unusual type of scale.