Don Mclean

Don Mclean

Brittany Taylor Music 1010

Biography

Born on October 2nd, 1945 in New Rochelle, New York

Asthma Swimming Lessons Opera Lesson

Becoming a Performer Networking within the music community Befriending Erik Darling Recording with Lisa Kindred

Education Villavona University Iona College Offer at Columbia University

Early Music Career Harold Leventhal Management internship Caffe Lena Traveling with Pete Seeger

First Album Tapestry- recorded in 1969

Honors “Killing Me Softly With His Words” Honorary Doctorate-2001 Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame- 2002 Inducted into National Academy of Popular Music

Songwriters Hall of Fame- 2007

Currently Married to Patrisha for 27 years Has two children Lives in Camden, Maine

Composition History for “American Pie”

Recorded in 1971 Reached number one on the national charts in the first

month Remained on the UK charts for 53 weeks Re-released by Mclean and covered by many artists

Meaning of “American Pie” Mclean’s own experience of being a newspaper boy Deaths of Buddy Holly, JFK, and McLean's father 60-70’s political upheavel

“American Pie” Inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame Voted #5 in “Songs of the Century” poll by Recording

Industry Association of America Gateway to Mclean’s musical career

Composition History of “Vincent”

Written in 1970 Recorded in 1971 by United Artists Records International hit

Meaning of “Vincent” Based on the life of Vincent Van Gogh Written from the prospective of his art Purpose was to illustrate that Van Gogh had an illness

Listening Guide for “American Pie” 0:00 verse one: Piano begins with mezzo piano volume

with descending chords playing the harmony, vocals singing the melody

0:23 vocals ending on a fermata, quadruple meter is being used.

0:25 key change, piano plays an arpeggio, vocals sing in an arch contour, tempo is probably andante.

0:59 silence

1:04 chorus guitar enters at a faster tempo than the previous minute of music, probably moderato, vocals using conjunct arch contour, piano playing arpeggios higher on the scale

1:27 guitars tempo pick up to probably allegro, drum 1:34 Verse two begins, tempo is medium/fast, piano and

guitar are playing harmony arched contour 1:55 2:06 vocals reach a falsetto, piano plays harmony louder

than the guitar that is strumming a fast rhythm

2:26 chorus, cymbals can be heard, more vocals are added in unison

2:36 vocals are the loudest here with some piano and drums emphasizing the beats

2:43 Verse three begins, piano playing harmony, 3:11 key change, cymbals, arched contour, vocals are

singing in the conjunct arched contour, piano playing harmony, tambourine is keeping rhythm

3:42 chorus 3:53 all instruments stop except the drums and piano

giving great emphasis on the vocals. The electric guitar play a descending disjunct contour into the next verse.

4:02 verse four begins. Piano is playing harmony and tambourine is keeping the tempo at a moderate rate.

4:11 Vocals do an impressing ascending contour that is conjunct, piano is playing harmony, and tambourine is still being used, the tempo is still probably allegro

4:27 quadruple meter is being used and vocals give great emphasis on those beats. Electric guitar is playing up the scale in a conjunct form, piano is playing harmony

4:59 chorus begins, piano is playing harmony and you can hear many chords being played, also more vocals are added in unison- homophonic

5:10 electric guitar is playing chords and vocals 5:18 Verse five begins, tambourine keeping a allegro tempo,

piano playing the harmony 5:45 electric guitar is sliding on the frets, drums are being

played at a slow tempo, 6:15 chorus piano is playing chords as the harmony,

tambourine is keeping a moderately fast beat, 6:26 drums play at a slow tempo, electric guitar is playing

monophonic notes 6:32 verse six begins, tempo slows dramatically to maybe

andante, and the piano plays a conjunct contour arch, piano is playing harmony and is the only accompaniment to the vocals

6:57 piano is the only accompaniment and is playing the harmony with chords

7:22 vocals are doing conjunct arch contour for the melody, the piano is the only accompaniment playing the harmony, and tempo is fairly slow probably adagio

7:40 chorus begins, acoustic guitar begins playing, and tempo is a little faster- andante,

7:57 vocals are almost the only sound with a few strums of the guitar

8:05 chorus repeats, tempo picks up slightly by the guitar 8:13 more vocals are added in a homophonic sound 8:33 song ends

Listening Guide for “Vincent” 0:00 song begins, begins verse 1, acoustic guitar is playing

harmony, vocals are the melody, tempo is fairly slow, andante-moderato,

0:24 vocals do an ascending conjunct contour, harmony is pleasant and played by the guitar

0:40 vocals do a conjunct ascending and descending arch contour0:47 guitar makes a staccato note change

0:49 chorus, the melody is nearly monotone, the harmony is being played by the guitar, and tempo is slow probably andante

1:26 verse two begins, ascending contour by the vocals, strings begin playing the harmony, maybe a viola?

1:43 vocals do a descending conjunct contour, tempo of the music is slow, and guitar is louder than the strings

2:14 chorus 2:48 strings stop 2:50 Bridge begins, guitar playing harmony and seems to get a little louder,

tempo is still slow, 3:10 vocals do a descending conjunct contour 3:15 guitar plays the harmony in minor chords giving the song a dissonant

feeling 3:36 verse three begins, vocals do an ascending conjunct contour, gives

resolution to the bridge and has a consonant feeling to it, 3:45 the vocals do a descending ascending descending contour 3:53 vocals do a descending conjunct contour, 4:04 strings enters again and do an ascending conjunct contour, guitar is

playing the harmony, and strings are louder than the guitar 4:25 chorus 4:45 vocals do a descending conjunct contour 4:58 the vocals do an ascending conjunct contour, guitar is very soft 5:10 guitar plays final ascending conjunct notes and ends with a chord that

resolves all the dissonance of this song 5:15 song ends

References http://ww.don-mclean.com