Love of my Life

Melody

Origional melody from the third symphony by Brahms

Melismatic on the word "me"

Mainly syllabic

Syncopation in the melody of the chorus ( "every day, evry night" )

Long notes with ties which creates a thoughtful and meaningful mood



Harmony

Imitative call and response between the guitar and vocals

Bassline is four notes which go down in tones except the last one which is a semitone

Sustained chords

Gentle bass

Always ends in a perfect cadence

Consonant harmony but with added 7ths and 9ths

Percussion emphasises the backbeat but this helps us to hear the main bead



Tonality

Minor (G minor - Santana's favourite key)

Brahms wrote it in C minor



Rhythm

Snare on beats 2 and 4 for most of the song

Chorus - "every night" - syncopated

Syncopation in guitar solo

The verses although they are not dotted unlike Brahms they are syncopated



Tempo

Andante



Metre

In common time (4/4)

Brahms origionally wrote it in ¾ and alternates between upbeat and downbeat

Santana does it in 4/4 and it is only ever on the offbeat



Texture

Starts off monophonic with the guitar and keyboard but transitions to a call and response between the vocals and guitar/keyboard.

In the studio version the keyboard and guitar start off homophonic with the guitar taking the lead.

Ultimately in both versions it becomes homophonic.



Instrumentation

Drum kit

Keyboard

Electric Guitar

Vocals

Acoustic guitar

Congas

Bass Guitar



Timbre

Electric sound from guitar and keyboard.

Drum heavy.



African Influences

Heavy percussion

Congas

Syncopation

Call and response

However the melody comes from a western classical piece



Structure

Intro

Verse

Break

Verse

Verse

Break

Chorus

Drum fill

Instrumental

Chorus

Bridge

Instrumental

Repeats to fade



Guitar Techniques

Vibrato

Pull-off

Glissando

Pitch bend

1st verse – it plays a counter melody

2nd verse - it plays imitative call and response with the vocals (a fancy word for this is antecedent-consequent phrasing)

3rd verse – it plays a counter melody

In the Chorus the guitar doubles the voice



Bridge section

Instrumentation cuts out

Builds up gradually

Sus4 chords

Leads to instrumental



Instrumental

Improvisatory

Very wide range of pitches

Pentatonic scale

Syncopated

Pitch bends

Hammer ons

Pull offs

Note repetition often when doing a pitch bend

Congas added

Change in instrumentation

Glissandi