ANALYSIS FROM GARY BURTONS SOLO ON WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED
LOVEWritten by Nstor Jaime Prez Garca
First week assignmentSubject: Improvisation Course(Coursera)
Teacher: Gary Burton
The song What is this thing called love, written by Cole Porter,
is divided into four 8-bar length sections, being a typical example
of a 32 bar piece(AABA). The A's share the same chord progression
and B works as a bridge to add some variety with change of tonal
center for a couple of measures.
On the first A section, Mr. Burton works mostly with straight
eigth notes, a couple of quarter notes and a couple of triplets.
The lines of this section are fluent and feature second and third
melodic intervals to outline the chord changes. The chord tones are
embellisehd with approach notes, enclosures and other chromatism to
add some color andsurprise to the line.
On the second A's section first four bars, a new rhytmic figure
is introduced to create somecontrast.The quarter notes triplet tied
to the next quarter note create a nice time feel as they anticipate
the changes. The melodic intervals are mostly seconds and a
distinctive fifth(or fourth working as an inversion) at each micro
section. Chromatism is widely used on the triplets. The last 4 bars
of this section are approached similar to the first A section, but
keeping the chord anticipation as a distinctive feature.
The bridge or B section ist approached in a whole different way,
as it is needed to add some strong contrast and variation. Mr.
Burton works here with a characteristic sixth melodic interval and
a syncopated eight-quarter-eight note rhythmic figure with some
slightvariations and keeping the chord anticipation and rhytmic
displacement.
The final A section of the piece, features eight and quarter
notes most of the time, with some reference to previously used
rhythmic figures as the eight-quarter-eight(from the B section)
syncope. The lines have a nice melodic contour. They change
direction often and the use of second melodic intervals with some
leaps (fifth,sixths, sevenths)between them, add interest to the
melody. This final section works, in my opinion, as a summary of
the different resources that were used during the solo.
The style of the solo ist mostly bebop related with widespread
use of chromatism and the rhytimic displacements.
