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TAYLOR SWIFT Biography, C omposition History, and Listening G uide

TAYLOR SWIFT Biography, C omposition History, and Listening G uide. Alex Phillips Introduction to Music 1010 Salt Lake Community College. Taylor Alison Swift. Talented Singer, Songwriter and musician. At the age of 10, Taylor was singing at many local events, including contests and fairs .

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TAYLOR SWIFT Biography, C omposition History, and Listening G uide

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  1. TAYLOR SWIFTBiography, Composition History, and Listening Guide Alex Phillips Introduction to Music 1010 Salt Lake Community College

  2. Taylor Alison Swift • Talented Singer, Songwriter and musician. • At the age of 10, Taylor was singing at many local events, including contests and fairs. • She began to write her own songs and learned how to play the guitar by the age of 12.

  3. Influences • Shania Twain is Taylor Swift’s greatest musical influence. • Her other influences happen to be LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and of course her grandmother, Marjorie Finley. • She also has been inspired by the Dixie Chicks and their way of showing determination to stretch boundaries with their word choices for their music and the attitude they can portray from just one song.

  4. How it all started • Taylor’s performance at The Bluebird Café in Nashville caught the eye of Scott Borchetta with Big Machine Records, which landed Taylor a contract. • Her first single “Tim McGraw” was released in 2006, which hit the Top 10 Chart almost instantly. • Swifts Self-Titled debut album sold more than 2.5 Million copies by October of 2006.

  5. AWARDS • Won “Favorite Female Country Artist” by the American Music Awards. • And also the “Horizon” award by the American Music Association. • In 2007, Taylor won the “Horizon Award” and “Top New Female Vocalist Award” at the Country Music Award ceremony. • In the year 2008, Taylor had become the highest selling country artist. • She was nominated for a Grammy Award. • Won “Female Vocalist of the Year” from the Academy of Country Music.

  6. “Today was a fairytale” & “Fearless” • She was the first country music star to win any award at the MTV Music Awards. • Her winning “Best Female Video” on September 13, 2009 at the MTV Music Awards caused quite the controversy with rapper Kanye West, as he claimed she should not have won. • Following this outrage, it made Taylor an even hotter and more popular artist. • Her single “Today Was A Fairytale” was Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. • This song was featured as a part of the soundtrack for the movie “Valentine's Day”. • Swift received several awards in 2009 for her album “Fearless” at the CMT Music Awards for “Video of the Year” and “Female Video of the Year” for her single “Love Story”.

  7. “Speak now” • Taylors Album “Speak Now” ended up selling more than 1 million copies its first week out. • Swift jumped on the opportunity to take a world tour in February 2011 that took her too many countries. • The Academy of Country Music proclaimed her as entertainer of the year.

  8. INSPIRATIONS & writing style • It has been rumored that her songs “Dear John” and “The Story of Us” from her album “Speak Now” were about John Mayor, whom she had also previously dated. • The song "Hey Stephen" also from her album “Fearless”, was written about a boy whom she had known from the past and had been a part of her tours. • "Fifteen" from “Fearless” was written about her freshman year of high school. • For Taylor, Most of her songs have been written from her personal experience. • During much of 2008, reports declared that Taylor and Joe Jonas, from the band “The Jonas Brothers”, were dating. • Taylors song “Forever & Always” was written about Jonas.

  9. Inspirations & writing style • Taylor has said that her goal is to never write a song that her fans cannot relate to. • To this day, Taylor has been an Idol to girls all over the world, still inspiring them today through her music. • Swift has said that “If you listen to my albums, it’s like reading my diary”. • (Lynn Hirschberg (December 3, 2009). "Little Miss Sunshine". New York Times). • Girls relate their own personal lives to Swifts songs, and the more personal Taylors songs are, the more people can and will relate to them.

  10. MUSIC HISTORY & LISTENING GUIDE

  11. Forever & Always (piano version) • Forever & Always was released in November of 2008 onto her album “Fearless Platinum Edition”. • Produced by Taylor Swift and Nathan Chapman. • Taylor had no co-writer for this song. She wrote the whole song herself. • Joe Jonas, her ex-boyfriend, was her inspiration for this song. She had written it after Swift and Jonas separated.

  12. Listening guide • 0:00 Introduction: Starts out with a slow and steady tempo. The melody is conjunct, for it has smooth movements. Has a monophonic texture because there are no vocals. Played in simple meters, as it is easy for the listener to follow. • 0:15 Verse 1: The first verse is played in a triad, which the chord is consisted of 3 notes. Monophonic texture with a timbre easy for the listener to hear the piano and vocals. Has a very narrow range. • 0:33 continuing verse 1: The tempo becomes a little faster and upbeat. Melody is still conjunct as it is smooth with small movements. • 1:03 Chorus: The vocals begin to harmonize, which is consonance. It has a melodic contour that is an inverted arch. • 1:11 continuing chorus: The texture changes to polyphony as the piano and vocals are playing 2 different melodies.

  13. Listening guide • 1:20 Verse 2: It has the same melody as verse 1, just different text. The piano is at a soft volume, as the vocals begin to have a mezzo-forte volume. The rhythm stays constant. The melody is still conjunct, having smooth movements. Narrow range with little movement. • 1:50 continuing verse 2: The melody and vocals are repetitious to verse 1. • 1:52 continuing verse 2: The timbre is still easy to hear but it changes as cellos begin to play the melody softly along with the piano. Texture is polyphonic, as there are multiple melodies played at once. The harmony is consonance and very relaxing. • 2:09 Chorus: Melody is the same as the vocals begin to harmonize, still being consonance. The form is more repetitious than contrast.

  14. Listening guide • 2:24 Bridge: Starts out with very little music that is carried over from the chorus. Has a descending contour, for the vocals move downward. Throughout the middle of the bridge, the contour changes to an inverted arch, as the melody goes down then back up again. • 2:50 continuing bridge: As the vocals begin to harmonize, it gives off a dissonance sound, for it feels a little discomforting. • 3:07 Continuing bridge: The harmony changes back to being consonance, and relaxing. The melody is conjunct as it is smooth.

  15. Listening guide • 3:22 Chorus: This chorus doesn’t change from the previous chorus’s. Gives off a steady beat with a narrow range. Timbre easily heard by listener. The harmony is consonance, giving the listener a relaxed feel. • 3:55 Coda: The dynamics begin to descend and become softer along with the piano and cellos. The timbre changes at the very end where there is no longer a piano playing and it’s just the cello. The texture is now monophony as there are no countermelodies playing. Having a conjunct melody with small intervallic movements. • 4:28: End.

  16. The Best Day • “The Best Day” was released in November of 2008, from her album “Fearless”. • Produced by Taylor Swift and Nathan Chapman. With no co-writers. • This song is a reflection of her childhood past and memories, mostly dedicated to her mother. • She could always count on her family, especially her mother, to always comfort her as she grew up and went through hard times. • She is grateful for her parents and that they have given her the opportunity to live out her dream.

  17. Listening guide • 0:00 Introduction: Has a medium paced tempo. The melody is conjunct, for it’s smooth with small intervallic movements. It has a very narrow range. The timbre is easily heard as just drums and guitar are being played. Has a slight inverted arch contour. • 0:17 Verse 1: The texture is polyphonic, for the guitar and vocals are playing 2 different melodies. The verse has a very narrow range for there is not much movement between notes. The melody is conjunct, giving the listener a relaxed feel. Has an inverted arch contour, as the melody steadily goes down, then moves back up.

  18. Listening guide • 0:48 Chorus: The melodic contour is conjunct, as it is simple and easy to hear. This song is known as “popular” because it gives the listener a relaxed and comforting feeling. It is easy for the listener to listen to. The chorus is very narrow ranged since there is not much movement between notes. • 1:11 Continuing chorus: There is a rest, which is a segment of silence. • 1:21 Verse 2: The melody is repetitious to the first verse. Has a polyphonic texture. The melodic rise and fall are conjunct. • 1:52 Chorus: Text is different from the first chorus. Melody has an inverted arch, going down then back up slowly.

  19. Listening guide • 2:22 Bridge: The drums and guitars hold a steady melody as the vocals begin to change keys into a higher octave, giving the listener an uneasy feeling. The texture is polyphonic throughout the bridge. The text is telling an overall story about her family. • 2:53 Verse 3: Keeping a medium paced tempo. The melodic contour is still conjunct, as it gives off a smooth comforting feeling. The dynamics in the vocals are softer than the first 2 verses. The timbre changed, as there are no drums being played. Towards the end, the tempo slows down and the dynamics get softer.

  20. Listening guide • 3:23 Chorus: Tempo starts out slow and the volume is very soft. After a few seconds into the chorus, the tempo starts to pick up back, resuming it’s normal tempo as previous choruses. The dynamics get louder. • 3:33 Continuing chorus: The timbre changed, as the drums begin to play again. Her vocals are strong and emphasize certain words, giving the feeling of importance. Towards the end, the timbre changes once again, as there is only guitars and vocals sounding. The ending is very conjunct. • There is no coda to song. • 4:06 End.

  21. untouchable • “Untouchable” was released in November of 2008, in her “Fearless Platinum Edition” album. • Produced by Nathan Chapman and Taylor Swift. • Taylor Swift, Carey and Nathan Barlowe, and Tommy Lee James all came together to re-write the song to make it a Taylor Swift Original. • Song originally written by Luna Halo. • This song was originally not supposed to be on the “Fearless” album. • Luna Halo enjoyed Taylors arrangment of the song so much, they decided to give her credit as a Co-writer. • Swifts arrangement of “Untouchable” inspired Luna to explore country music in further depth.

  22. Listening guide • 0:00 Introduction: The introduction starts out beautifully. With a slow melody that is very conjunct. The only instrument playing for the first 10 seconds is the guitar. Has a melodic arched contour that climbs up steadily and then comes back down. Has a monophony texture, as there are no other melodies playing. • 0:11 Continuing chorus: The timbre changes as drums and another guitar are added. It’s easy for the listener to tell the difference between the 2 guitars. The texture changes to homophony, as elements of the last part of the introduction play similar melodies at the same time. The volume is soft. • 0:20 Verse 1: Slow and steady tempo. The melody is repetitious to the introduction. The vocals are in a low a lot range. Has an inverted arched contour. • 0:29 Continuing verse 1: The melodic contour changes to ascending. Has a conjunct melody. There is a very narrow range, for the notes don’t move a lot throughout.

  23. Listening guide • 0:58 Chorus: This has a polyphonic texture, as the instruments and vocals play different melodies but blend well together. The tempo picks up a little more speed. The melodic contour has an inverted arch. There’s not much movement between notes, leaving it to have a narrow range, but enough movement to keep the listener entertained. • 1:16 Continuing chorus: The vocals have a descending contour, as the melody goes down and gives the listener kind of an uneasy feeling. Giving the melody an unexpected twist. • 1:18 Continuing chorus: There is an instrumental solo and a rest from vocals. The tempo is medium paced and the sound is very smooth. • 1:28 Continuing chorus: Vocals come back in singing “OH’s” at an arched contour.

  24. Listening guide • 1:36 Verse 2: The form is repetitious rather than contrast. There are no big jumps between notes which gives it a narrow range. This verse has an inverted arched contour, as the melody moves down then steadily back up. The volume is soft. The timbre does not change. • 1:55 Continuing verse 2: The text is repetitious to some of the text at the end of verse 1. • 2:04 Chorus: The sound of the vocals have an instant change from the first chorus. The vocals begin to harmonize. Harmony is consonance, as it is pleasing to listen to. The texture is polyphonic. Tempo picks up to a faster beat.

  25. Listening guide • 2:43 Bridge: The timbre is easily heard. The guitars play a different melody than before. The form is repetitious rather than contrast. The texture is polyphonic as there are many melodies being played at once. The tempo is medium paced and has a mezzo volume. • 2:52 continuing bridge: Very little text saying “I’m caught up in you” and some “OH’s” that have a descending contour. • 3:02 Chorus: The harmony is consonance and very beautifully sung. The melody is very conjunct, as it is smooth with small intervallic movements. The volume is a little softer then the previous choruses. • 3:11 Chorus add on: The volume is Mezzo-Piano. The tempo has slowed down. The timbre changed as you can hear only guitar along with vocals. The harmony is still consonance. • 4:10 Chorus add on: There is a rest from the vocals as the drums and guitar keep the melody going. The texture is polyphonic, as different melodies are being played between the instruments.

  26. Listening guide • 4:17 Coda: “OH’s” are being sung in an ascending contour at a loud volume. Keeping a medium paced tempo. • 4:46 Continuing coda: The tempo starts to slow down as the song begins to end. The dynamics being to become softer. The timbre changes to just guitar and vocals. • 5:00 Continuing coda: There is just a little bit of drums played, giving the timbre a twist. The texture changes to monophony as the vocals are the only thing heard with no other counter melodies or harmony. The tone of the vocals are very low. There are no major movements between notes, giving the coda a very narrow range. • 5:11 End.

  27. Work cited • www.taylorswift.com • www.songfacts.com • www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21cara.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2008-12-20. • www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/t-magazine/womens-fashion/06well-swift.html?hp • . • www.elyrics.com • www.tvguide.com/celebrities/taylor-swift/bio • www.people.com/people/taylor_swift/biography • www.cmt.com/artist/az/swift_taylor/bio • www.gactv.com/gac/ar_artists • www.taylorswiftbiography.net

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