A Framework for Basic Rhythmic Analysis feat. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

[Music] rhythm is arguably the most important part of music and it's the hardest to talk about i can give you a basic overview of how the notes in a scale function in a melodic context or how the different chords in a key will affect the music around them but i don't have a great way of understanding the rhythmic function of the notes in a melody or musical figure today i want to change that by putting names to some rhythmic concepts that are near universal but relatively unexplored using the soundtrack of zelda 2 as an example [Music] nes music in general is great for showcasing these kinds of rhythmic concepts because the limitations of the hardware meant that any tool of rhythmic expression used in the music had to be evoked by either the melody the bass line or a counter line no drums no layers of percussion every part in a composition had to really pull its weight harmonically melodically and rhythmically to make a piece work this limitation meant that composers had to be very deliberate with where they placed notes rhythmically and i think this rhythmic element is hugely responsible for why so many of these old soundtracks have such strong and memorable melodies zelda 2 is especially great in this regard and in general kind of an underrated gem of a soundtrack so i think it's a perfect vehicle for this discussion also the entire soundtrack is composed in mid tempo 44 time with a primarily eighth note subdivision which is perfect for explaining these ideas in a simpler context that being said i think the rhythmic concepts i want to talk about today hold true for more complicated meters and subdivisions as well but we'll keep it simple for the purposes of this video so how can we analyze basic rhythmic function when analyzing the notes in a scale we can place them on a spectrum from most consonant to most dissonant or most resolved sounding to most tense sounding i think we can do the same thing with the different places in a measure that we can place notes rhythmically on a scale from sounding the most rhythmically resolved to sounding the most rhythmically tense let me demonstrate what i mean by rhythmic tension listen to this scale fragment that starts on beat one and resolves to beat one of the next bar now what if we resolved the phrase on beat four of the bar rather than beat one [Music] can you feel how much more awkward the ladder feels compared to the former it's like the rhythm of the phrase doesn't want to stop there kind of in the same way that a song's harmony doesn't want to stop on a dominant chord both ideas compel the music to continue in a scale the root and third sound the most resolved and don't want to push toward any other notes generally speaking with the root of course sounding a little more final than the third of the key the rhythmic equivalent would be the first and third beats in a measure starting or ending a phrase on beat 1 of a measure sounds the most final the most resolved with beat 3 sounding only slightly less so placing a note on beats 2 or 4 traditionally called the weak beats of a measure can create a feeling of light rhythmic tension leading to the awkwardness that we saw in our earlier example think of it like the second or sixth degree of a scale in a melody these don't sound very resolved and both want to pull down a whole step to resolve to the root or fifth of the key respectively rhythmically notes on these weak beats want to resolve to the following beat beat 3 or beat 1 of the next measure respectively choosing to comply with this resolution or not affects the music in various ways in the zelda 2 overworld theme the first couple melodic phrases are interrupted by these unison rhythmic shots a triplet on beats 4 2 and 4 that resolve rhythmically to quarter notes on beats 1 3 and the beat 1 of the following bar [Applause] starting each melodic phrase on beat one is very strong and lends itself well to the straightforward heroic mood of the peace the game's town music sees each four bars starting on beat two which along with the syncopation of the melody propels the music forward with a lot more energy than you would expect just from the simple chord progression and melodic note choices [Music] to see the exact effect this has on the music let's hear how the town theme would sound if these phrases started on beat one instead of two [Music] you can hear how a lot of the energy is kind of sucked out of the melody this way i should note that like the pitches in a melody the rhythmic placement of some notes matters a lot more than others held notes notes that are given some space and notes that start or end a phrase carry a lot more weight rhythmically than the inner notes of a phrase kind of like how the first and last notes of a fast run are much more audible and important to the feeling of the music than the notes sandwiched in between for the notes in between the beats which we'll refer to as offbeats there are a few different ways of looking at them that i want to touch on in this video firstly they can act as rhythmic anticipations this is when a note that would have been placed on a beat is instead placed one subdivision earlier and held through where it otherwise would have been placed let's compare the simple scale figure from earlier with a variation where the final note is anticipated by an eighth note we get the same feeling of rhythmic resolution but with a lot of extra energy in the excite bike theme another soundtrack written by zelda two's akito nakatsuka the first bar is placed in straight quarter notes starting on beat two while the second bar of the phrase ends on an anticipation of beat 3. [Music] now what if we straighten out the melody to all quarter notes with no anticipations [Music] the basic melodic idea is completely unchanged but did you notice how your head bobbed at half the speed it did the first time anticipations are super important to writing good rhythms because they can generate a lot of musical momentum in a way that doesn't mess with the function of the basic rhythmic structure anticipating beats 1 or 3 will still sound just as resolved as placing the notes on the actual beats just with an added burst of forward motion anticipating beats 2 or 4 will still create a desire to be resolved on the following beat but with a ton of added rhythmic tension a pretty common rhythmic phrase is the anticipation of beat 4 resolving to beat 1 of the following measure like so [Music] this kind of rhythm works extremely well in swing music but when used straight at a medium tempo it can also work really well for more regal majestic sounding themes check out this slight variation used in zelda 2's title theme [Laughter] [Music] it doesn't feel particularly complicated but it has a great balance of rhythmic tension and release that moves the tune along i actually used this in my orchestral arrangement from a couple videos ago it's kind of a stock rhythmic idea that you might find useful for this kind of piece one much more popular stock rhythmic idea that we now have the tools to analyze is this one [Music] you may have heard this called a half clave or a pop clave since it's half of a traditional 3 2 clave pattern and it shows up all over the place in pop music but it also shows up all over the place in all other music too from acoustic folk ballads to cinematic orchestral action music you'll also find it all over the zelda 2 soundtrack for parts of the game that are a little more intense like the battle and boss themes the figure starts on beat 1 anticipates beat 3 and then lands on beat 4 before repeating the strong start from beat 1 is contrasted with a burst of momentum from this anticipation of beat 3 and the momentum is caught by the fourth beat which resolves rhythmically to beat one of the following measure this makes this great satisfying cycle of rhythmic tension and release that can really single-handedly carry a piece of music in zelda two's most famous track the temple theme this rhythmic idea is paired with a cool chromatic rising fifth line against artonic g minor chord and the drive and excitement it gives the tune is perfect for the harrowing dungeons it accompanies you'll notice that all three voices are in rhythmic unity here the melody baseline and counter line each accenting this half clave rhythm in lock lockstep for extra drive let's take a listen to if we removed the anticipation and landed squarely on beat 3 [Music] instead hmm no thanks no it still sounds cool maybe this would fit better as dramatic organ music in a creepy cathedral or something but it definitely loses the drive that makes it perfect for sword slash and action the final dungeon theme takes the same idea and injects more rhythmic energy by starting off each four bar phrase on beat two of the bar rather than beat one and introduces a rhythmic clash against a counter line that accents beats one and three of each bar rather than following the half clave pattern harmonically we see a similar line cliche descending chromatically from the root over a tonic minor chord and the melody emphasizes more colorful extensions of each chord rather than doubling down on the line cliche from the harmony [Music] i love the way the melody takes all that momentum from the half clave rhythm and then just leaves you hanging on beat four of each phrase picking back up on beat two of the next bar that is so great it feels just a little off-kilter like you can't quite trust the melody to get you home safe it's a perfect way to ramp up the music going into the final dungeon while keeping the tone right in line with the dungeon music used up until that point a similar idea to rhythmic anticipations is an idea i call rhythmic approach notes in melody lines an approach tone is a note a step above or below a targeted note that is placed specifically to emphasize the move to said targeted note if you want to land on a big tonic c placing a b note right before it will emphasize that resolution no one really cares about the b note it's just there to make the c look good rhythmic approach notes or rans act in a similar way a targeted emphasized note can be preceded by a note 1 subdivision before it to give a little extra rhythmic momentum into the targeted note in question it's like how when drummers play a big beat on the kick drum sometimes they'll put a little kick drum hit before it to give the main beat a little more oomph the same kind of idea works melodically too in the title theme segment we looked at earlier a rhythmic approach note broke up the resolution from the anticipation of beat 4 to the beat 1 of the next measure by preceding that beat one note we were resolving to with a note placed an eighth note before it [Music] this note doesn't hold any real meaning melodically except to give that resolution to the following beat one a little boost let's listen to this figure again without the approach note so you can see for yourself what it does [Laughter] [Music] same basic figure but with just a little less emphasis on that beat one the exact same thing happens in the game's house theme which is a simple four bar loop every bar starts on beat one and every other bar is approached from the eighth note before it to give a little extra momentum going into the bar in this example the bass line follows the exact half clave rhythm i mentioned earlier but often times you'll see rhythmic approach notes used to fill in this rhythmic structure a bit the bass and the battle theme follows the same half clave rhythm but each anticipation of beat 3 is set up with a rhythmic approach note [Music] [Laughter] rhythmic approach notes that approach rhythmic anticipations like this act kind of like springboards into the anticipated note and can fill in some rhythmic space if there's too much the final four bars of the loop an extended d7 chord setting up a return to our tonic g minor sees the melody outlining a half clave rhythm but using an approach note before each note in the pattern [Laughter] combining rhythmic approach notes with rhythmic anticipations can open up a lot of interesting options even in an incredibly basic meter and subdivision like in these tunes this final figure is something that nakatsuka does in the soundtrack a lot using a rhythmic approach note to approach off-beat shots [Laughter] using just the analytical tools we've outlined earlier this figure doesn't make much sense it starts on beat one so you'd think it would feel stable but it really doesn't and these offbeats really don't feel like they're anticipating the following beats what i would consider this rhythm is the final method of analyzing offbeats that we are going to talk about today simple offbeat emphasis here let me elaborate if a melodic line or musical figure just continually lands on offbeats without ever hitting a downbeat it creates a kind of floating effect here see if you can feel what i mean there's a disconnect between the rhythm of the melody and the main beat and it feels almost like the ground has dropped out from under your feet resolving to even one downbeat though can bring us right back down to earth and used properly this kind of syncopation can be really thrilling if you stick with offbeats for too long or don't establish the main beat strongly enough in other parts of the music it can be hard to stay related to the underlying beat at all which is vital for making a meaningful rhythmic statement without some downbeats for contrast these offbeats can really quickly turn into a new downbeat at the end of the battle theme we get shot up into the air with these offbeat shots and brought back down to earth on beat 1 of the following bar [Laughter] the temple theme does this too with beat 1 acting as an approach note propelling us into these offbeat shots that evoke a bit of that floating effect before bringing us down for a landing on beat [Music] four like i mentioned earlier ending on beat four in such a strong way creates some more rhythmic tension as we're deprived of our nice safe beat one in fact the following beat one is left completely empty making the solo bass walk-up that follows it almost comical it's also worth pointing out that unifying the desired rhythmic effect with equivalent harmonic and melodic effects can supercharge the whole phrase in this case the whole section plays out over a big dominant 5 7 chord which just adds to the tension hanging in the air and the sudden stops on beat 4 that the niacer rhythmic resolution are used with melody notes that deny a melodic resolution as well landing on the flat 7th flat 9th or sharp 9th over the d7 chord underneath the perfect marriage of rhythm harmony and melody here is what makes this section of the tune so iconic [Music] rhythmic tension is like an engine that drives music forward and any way that i can understand better how that tension works will help me write better music more quickly and efficiently i found it really interesting to think about the stuff more deeply than i have before and i hope the thoughts i tried to distill into this video will help you out in some way or another you can check out my patreon here if you want to support the channel or if you need some sheet music in your life you should check out my collaboration with the musicians notebook here thank you guys so much for watching i'll see you all next time you

Channel: 8-bit Music Theory

Views: 119,727

Keywords: zelda 2 the adventure of link, the legend of zelda, rhythmic analysis, musical analysis, zelda 2 temple theme, legend of zelda ost, music theory, boss theme, town theme, 8-bit Music Theory

Id: voXkdxjyqRM

Length: 18min 4sec (1084 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021