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If It Ain T Got That Swing Analysis

557 Words3 Pages

The song that I have chosen for my music critique is “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)” by Duke Ellington. This song was composed and arranged by Duke Ellington himself in 1931 and was recorded/released in 1932. The creation of this piece also included the following people: Irving Mills who wrote the lyrics, Ivie Anderson who sang the vocals, Joe Nanton who was the trombonist and Johnny Hodges the saxophonist.
Now digging into the recording of the song, I’d like to focus on the very beginning of the piece. It starts off with a backbeat that lasts for the longevity of the song followed by subtle vocals from Ivie Anderson. Moving forward, the beat remains at a constant pace as instruments begin to emerge in the song. Speaking of instruments, the following are the various instruments that I could distinguish in …show more content…

The harmony of the instruments was one that was special. Every note seemed to have co-existed well with each other. The trumpet served as high pitches, the piano kept the pace going, and the trombone conveyed for those explosive notes at the end of the loops. All of these instruments contributed profoundly but I feel that the saxophone was the heart and soul of this piece. For one, the saxophone is played for the majority of the song, as well as the rhythm of it stretches from a constant pace to an abstract one. I’d also like to mention that the melody that Ivie Anderson was displaying vocally, appears to be following the saxophone rather than vice versa. In my eyes, this shows the essential role that the saxophone is playing (no pun intended) by having the vocalist follow the riff of the instrument. Focusing on the vocalist Ivie Anderson, her voice is very raw and high-pitched which I think contributes well

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