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Exploring Music in Context Portfolio

IBDP Music May 2025

Candidate Code: lpz619
Word Count: 2382
SECTION 1 - MUSICAL ANALYSIS

Soran Bushi - Traditional Japanese song

Soran Bushi is a traditional Japanese chant created for Japanese fishermen of the
Hokkaido island, which they sang as they passed the herring from large drift nets into smaller
boats. The chant’s purpose was to synchronize and coordinate their work. It is an AOI #1 and of
my global context. The instrumentation used in this version of the song are: a female voice, two
shamisens, a taiko drum, and Shakuhachi. The shamisen is a three-stringed instrument that is
plucked, the Shakuhachi is a Japanese flute, and the Taiko drum is a traditional Japanese drum
made from a single piece of wood with stretched animal skin.

Since this is not part of Western music, it must be analyzed with the knowledge that
Western rules were not considered in the creation of the song. The scale it uses is a traditional
Japanese scale called Yo. If looked at from the Western perspective, it is similar to the Dorian
scale without the minor intervals, making it a pentatonic scale. It is normally played in 4/4,
although it can also be in 2/4, depending on the version.

Fig 1

0:00–0:09:The piece begins with a drum playing the following beat, which is repeated for
many bars.

Fig 1

During the introduction, there is also the shakuhachi playing a conjunct wavy melody in a high
register, and the chant sung by the female voice. The shamisen plays the same notes as the
shakuhachi, but in another octave.

0:10–0:30: The female voice starts to sing the melody, which is wavy and conjunct, and
uses ornamentation similar to vibrato from Western music. The shakuhachi backs the voice up,
creating a unique timbre, as they are playing the same melody in different octaves. The harmony,
made by the two shamisen, follows a rhythm made up of quarter-notes followed by two
eight-notes. Additionally, the taiko drum adds four sixteenth-notes played on the side of the taiko
after the original rhythm.

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Fig 3

0:31-0:36: For only a bar, the rhythm played by the drums changes, creating syncopation.
This is done because the drum is played in the off-beats.
0:37-0:45: the introduction is repeated in this section.
0:46-1:53: The verse is repeated in this section.
1:54-2:00: The tempo slows down, in what would be ritardando in Western music. Also,
the shamisen pluck the strings to create a chord.

Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles

The Beatles are one of the most influential rock bands ever. In their 9th studio album, Magical
Mystery Tour, the song Strawberry Fields Forever is based on John Lennon’s childhood
memories. This track has a unique story of its creation—John Lennon liked the guitar band take,
and an orchestral one. He decided to join the two together, but as they were in different keys, the
producer had to adjust them, making the final recording be in a microtonal key center—A
half-sharp major. To simplify this analysis, I will be rounding the key center to Bb major. This song
is an AOI #2, and is of my personal context.

This psychedelic rock piece is in 4/4, and has a tempo of 103 bpm. Its instrumentation includes
vocals, guitars, piano, bongos, mellotron, bass, timpani, svarmandal, maracas, drums,
tambourine, guiro, trumpets, and cellos.

0:00-0:10: The song starts with a mellotron playing a descending melody, where there is some
tonal ambiguity present. This is due to the first two chords (F major and A minor) which include
the E natural note from the A minor at the very beginning, it sounds like the song is in F major,
adding to the mysterious sound.
0:11-0:35: After the intro, the song goes straight into the first chorus, which utilizes a unique chord
progression as shown in the figure below. Another unusual element is the meter, which on one bar

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changes to 2/4, and later on to 6/8 in the hook.

Fig 4

0:36-0:57: At the first verse, the melody is wavy and mostly conjunct. As in the introduction, the
usage of the E natural and E flat continues creating tonal ambiguity, blending the key of F and Bb
major.

Fig 5

0:58-2:59: The orchestral section composed by George Martin begins, continuing until the
three-minute mark. The main accompaniment in this section is the cello, and the four-part
trumpet.

Fig 6

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Due to the studio modifications with the orchestral track being pitched down, the cello reaches a
Bb note, whereas normally its lowest possible note is a C.

Fig 7

3:00-4:11: This instrumental section begins with part between a plucked string instrument and
cellos until 3:34. From there, a fade-out happens as the percussion starts to play off-time. Once
the fade-in happens, the percussion is joined by a wind instrument and trumpets until the track
fades out once again.

Truman Sleeps - Phillip Glass

In 1998 the movie The Truman Show was released, along with the motion picture soundtrack
including the classical film score, “Truman Sleeps” by Phillip Glass. To give context, this movie is
about a man (Truman) who is put in a reality show his whole life without his knowledge or
consent, and as he realizes this he starts to try to escape. This composition is put in the movie as
Truman is starting to realize the truth about his reality, and how he is living a lie. The scene starts
with an interview with the show’s director, then for a short moment the viewers appear on-screen,
then Truman is shown sleeping. Phillip Glass is an American composer and pianist, and has been
recognized as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. He is highly
associated with the minimalist movement, which is a style of music that has limited or minimal
musical materials. Some key features of this movement include; repetitive patterns or pulses,
steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units.

This composition is Ab major, has a tempo of around 108 bpm, and is in common time.
The media used in this piece is a piano, and it has a homophonic texture.

For the first eight bars, there is a pattern of broken chords playing the following chord progression:
Fm-Db-Ab-C.
Bar 9-17: There is a conjunct melody accompanied by the original pattern of chords. It is an
ascending melody in legato which is being played in two octaves. They are long notes, with the
shortest being a quarter note. This is contrasted by the broken chords playing eighth notes.
Bar 18-24: The chords remain the same but the melody changes—it becomes a descending
melody playing forte, but remains conjunct. However, the interval between the melody and its
second voice changes from an octave to sixths.

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Bar 25-32: The melody returns to the ascending pattern for another 8 bars. However, in the last
bar the harmony resolves to a C major as compared to bar 28 which resolves to C minor.
Bar 33-40: The feel of the piece changes drastically, as the accompaniment changes from broken
chords in eighth-notes to stacked chords in quarter notes. Also, the chord progression changes to
Db-Dbm-Eb-Eb7-Ab-Abm-Bb-Bb7.
Bar 41-44: the register goes lower and it is played in eighth notes.
Bar 45-48: There is a descending melody and finishes in fermata.

Ionization - Edgard Varese

This piece was created by Edgard Varese, a French composer (1883 to 1965) whose music
strongly emphasized timbre and rhythm. After studying in Paris, which is his city of birth, he
moved to the United States, where he discovered electronic music. At around 1930 he composed
Ionization, which is the first Classical work to feature only percussive instruments.

This nature-inspired composition was written to be played by thirteen musicians and is in

common time. There are almost 40 instruments being used in this piece, some of which are;
cymbals, drums, sirens, bongos, maracas, and more. The version I am analyzing is the one
performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1977). This piece is an AOI #4 due to its use
of electronic devices and instruments, and is from a global context for me.

Bars 1-8: Two bass drums start this composition. The sirens, one high, the other low, enter in
rotation going from ppp to mp. The string-drum enters at bar 7, starting a crescendo of the metal
group, which abruptly stop.

Bars 9-16: The Tambour Militaire enters playing ‘The First Subject’, which is accompanied by the
bongos. Bars 13 to 16 are similar to bars 1-4, and bar 17 is the same as bar 9.

Bars 18-20: The Tarole and Chinese Blocks alternate playing a rhythm similar to The Subject.

Bars 21-26: The first Subject is used again for two bars continuing a new pattern in bar 23. The
Bongos appear while imitating the Subject, continuing in free counterpoint.

Bars 27-29: Time signature changed to compound time, 2/4 plus 3/8. After a codetta played by the
Chinese blocks, two 4/4 bars resembling the Tambour Militaire are played. Then, a syncopated
Codetta in a 3/8 bar leads to the return of 4/4 time (bar 31). There is a 5/4 bar where the Chinese
Blocks play a quintuple figure of the second subject.

Bars 33-42: In 4/4 time, there is free episodic development. A Crescendo starts in bar 38.

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Bars 41-49: The Chinese Blocks play in 5/8, leading to the Second Subject, which includes varied
time signatures.

Bars 50-63: All the metal instrumentation lead to a fermata.

Bars 64-72: The First Subject returns, with the Bongos playing counterpoint.

Bars 73-74: Second Subject returns with a crescendo leading into the coda.

Bars 75-91: Pitched instrumentation enters, with the First Subject reintroduced by the tambour
militaire, concluding in pianissimo with a long fermata.

SECTION 2 - CREATION EXERCISE

Japanese Composition - Joaquin Lizarraga

I was tasked with creating a composition while staying strictly in a traditional Japanese style.
Traditional Japanese music (also called hogaku) originated in the early 10th century and entered
Japan as traditional Chinese court music in the start. As music became more accessible to people
outside the temples and the imperial palace, the music started to mold more into Japanese
culture, and became more important to Japanese society.

As hogaku started to develop, traditional Japanese instruments did as well. I am going to

talk about the ones I used in my composition. The koto is a large stringed instrument that is made
out of wood and is played by using picks which are worn on the fingers. The instrument is
traditionally played while laying on the ground. I also used a Taiko drum, which is a percussive
Japanese instrument made of an open-ended wooden barrel with animal skin stretched over it,
and is played with two sticks. The taiko started off as a battlefield instrument, but also became a
religious one. Additionally, I used a western flute which is a woodwind instrument to try to imitate
the Japanese Shakuhachi, which is a flute made out of bamboo. Finally, I used a western string
ensemble to accompany the Japanese instruments in the lower register.

This piece is of AOI #1 and global context.

The composition has the root note as A uses two scales which are both pentatonic. The
first one is a mix of the Min-yo and Miyako-bushi scale, which uses most of the notes of the
Min-yo scale but omits the fifth scale degree and replaces it with a flat second (borrowed from the
Miyako-bushi scale). My composition is in ¾ time and has a tempo of 108 bpm. Also, it uses a
ternary form of A-B-A.

0:00 - 0:13:
This introduction to the composition is eight bars long and is made up of what in western music
would be a broken chord played by the koto, playing a quarter-note followed by eigth-notes. In bar

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four, the taiko drum comes in on the last quarter through sixteenth notes, and then repeats a
pattern following the koto’s rhythm.

0:14 - 0:26:
For the next eight bars, the flute comes in, playing a wavy and conjunct melody and mainly uses
long note values with some eighth-notes and eighth-note triplets.

0:27 - 0:40:
In section B, the pitch of the melody rises an octave, and it changes to the traditional
Miyako-bushi scale. Like section A, there are also long note values and a wavy and conjunct
melody being played. Also, the pattern of the taiko drum evolves by playing shorter note values.
Simultaneously, a low-register string ensemble (cello and basses) enters, descending on whole
notes down the scale, and then ascend back to the root note.

0:41 - 1:01:
Back at section A, the only difference is the addition of the strings, which stay in the root note for
most of this section,but go to B flat for three bars. The taiko drums stop at bar thirty-one, and the
koto and strings in bar thirty-two.

SECTION 3 - ADAPTED PERFORMANCE

Waltz in Ab major, Op. 69, No. 1 — Frédéric Chopin

For my adapted performance, I have chosen to play Chopin’s Waltz Op. 69 on the electric
guitar. The original piece was made for piano in 1835 (Romantic Era), and is also known as Valse
de l’adieu (The Farewell Waltz). The Romantic period is characterized by emotional expression
and originality. Composers accomplished this by having bigger dynamic contrasts, passionate
melodies, and colorful harmonies. This piece is an AOI #2 and of my personal context.

As the name suggests, this piece is in 3/4 since it is a waltz, and is in the key of Ab major.
In the piece there are many tempo changes such as ritenuto in bars 15 and 30, or con anima.
There are also many dynamic changes, such as the wide use of diminuendo and crescendo, and
passing from forte to piano. The melody uses many triplets and ornaments, is played mostly in
legato, and is wavy and mostly conjunct.

For this adaptation, I used my electric guitar connecting the amp to a computer via MIDI,
and used two layers in Garage Band; one for the melody and the other for the accompaniment. I
played with a clean tone and a little reverb to make the timbre similar to that of a piano. Then, as
the lowest note on the piece is Eb2, I adjusted my low E string to Eb2. Also, when I started
adapting the piece, I wanted to keep the tempo shifts to replicate the original. However, when I
recorded the melody on top of the chords, I noticed that the tempo was off. For this reason, I
decided to play in one tempo only (110 BPM) with a metronome to stay in time. Finally, the last
change from the original that I decided to perform was to change the value of some notes. For

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example, in bar 34 there is a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note, so I changed it to
just two eighth notes for simplicity.

SECTION 4 - TRACKLIST & BIBLIOGRAPHY

START TIME END TIME

EMC—CREATION
EXERCISE

0’00 0’56

EMC—ADAPTED
PERFORMANCE

Stimulus 0’59 1’54

Performance 1’59 3’50

PIECE TITLE START TIME END TIME

Soran Bushi 0’00 0’42

Strawberry Fields Forever 0’45 1’27

Truman Sleeps 1’30 2’13

Ionization 2’15 3’00

Bibliography:

https://folkways.si.edu/soran-bushi-exploring-japanese-work-song/music/tools-for-teaching/smiths
onian
https://youtu.be/QJOE7zzB9cs?si=r6z4yR7SDWeeRXq_
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1550&context=jca_scores
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_scale
https://www.thebeatles.com/strawberry-fields-forever-0
https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/strawberry-fields-forever/
https://youtu.be/SHDs15pEfl0?si=DxQMkKaZ0OoCLecC
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/minimalism-music-guide
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philip-Glass
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionisation_(Var%C3%A8se)

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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgard-Varese
https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/2980897/mod_resource/content/1/Ionisation.pdf

https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/meet/taiko/taiko02.html
https://gogonihon.com/en/blog/traditional-japanese-music/#:~:text=Traditional%20Japanese%20m
usic%2C%20or%20h%C5%8Dgaku,and%20it's%20connection%20with%20theatre.

https://wmich.edu/musicgradexamprep/RomanticIndex.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_in_A-flat_major,_Op._69,_No._1_(Chopin)
https://musescore.com/classicman/scores/2498476

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