Smooth

Melody

Largely syllabic

Melismas on "mood" and "you" and "smooth"



Harmony

Consonant harmony

Vocals and underlay (homophonic)

Piano and percussion provide the underlay

Call and response between vocals and guitar

Only four chords used; Tonic (A minor , subdominant (D minor), dominant (E major), some use of B diminished as a substitute for the subdominant

2-bar bass pattern, disjunct and largely decending, syncopated

Harmony sometimes drops of to leave only the congas

Harmony stays relatively the same



Tonality

A Minor



Rhythm

Syncopation in the vocals

Very straight drum kit part;

Snare on beats two and four

Four to the floor

Bossa nova rhythmn

1 2 and 3 4 1 2 3 and 4

Dotted rhythms over the top

Accents strong beats as there is always a dotted crotchet on beats one and three

Cymbals on all quaver beats

Polyrhythmic

Swung

Syncopated bassline

The layering of rhythms is the groove


Metre

4/4 time signature



Tempo

Andante



Texture

Homophonic


Instrumentation

Electric guitar

Vocals

Drum kit

Congas

Keyboard

Timbales (cascara – hitting the side of the drum to change the timbre)

Guiro

Trumpet

Trombone



Structure

Intro – electric guitar solo, keyboard, horn section (trumpets and trombones)

Verse

Verse

Chorus

Chorus

Instrumental

Verse

Verse

Chorus

Chorus

Break

Chorus

Instrumental

Outro



At the end of each chorus there is a gap before syncopated chords come in and the instrumental starts



Background

Written by Itaal Shur and titles "room 17"

Changed lyrics by Rob Thomas, vocalist for Matchbox Twenty, and titled "smooth"

Written for his wife

Released from Santana's album Supernatural

Lead single of the album



Influences

Traditional African folk music

Pop Rock

Latin Rock – instrumentation



Guitar Techniques

Hammer on

Pull off

Slide

Pitch bend

Vibrato

Distortion

Harmonics on top

Fast quaver-triplets and semi-quavers

Uses pitch bends on sustained notes

Counter melodies to the vocalist



Brass

Called the horn section but only trombones and trumpets

Close harmony chords

Counter melodies for the vocals

Octave doubling



Vocals

Effects used in the first two verses

Vocoder

Small range which fits well with the close harmony horns