Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2019 November 11
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November 11[edit]
Is there a term for a piece of music with two distinct sections? (a "suite" is generally four sections)[edit]
Is there a word to describe songs that have two very distinct "sections" joined together - such as the Beatles "Hey Jude" or "Strawberry Fields Forever", or the Grateful Dead's "Sugar Magnolia"? Obviously, I'm not talking about verse/chorus/verse - or, if I am, then this is just "AB", with no repetition of the individual sections, though obviously there may be repetition within those smaller sections. Stye Lamb (talk) 01:26, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- Medley? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:31, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- According to Wikipedia, "a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three,..."--Shantavira|feed me 09:02, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- Do be aware that the word "usually" is not a perfect synonym of "always". It appears from your answer you may have not considered that. Lots of two-song medleys exist, such as the aforementioned "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", as well as "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" and "Just a Gigalo/I Ain't Got Nobody" for just a few more examples. --Jayron32 16:57, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- According to Wikipedia, "a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three,..."--Shantavira|feed me 09:02, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- It's basically Binary form, but a broad definition which ignores the stuff in that article about keys, as that's relevant to a different era. The Beatles' "hey Jude" modulates modally between D Ionian and D Mixolydian rather than across two different keys, so it's the same form but a different harmonic technique. – filelakeshoe (t / c) 🐱 10:09, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- Each of the Carmen Suites (Bizet/Guiraud) has six sections. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:13, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- The chorus is often quite different in style. For example, we have Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, written by Paul McCartney. And while it is a medley, it's made of unfinished songs. SinisterLefty (talk) 12:02, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- "A Day in the Life" is another Beatles example, in fact a better one that "Strawberry Fields" which was just parts of two takes. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:31, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- "A Day in the Life" has more than one section; it is in ABA form, and returns to the original form for the third section. "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a bit of a weird one, but it is essentially one cohesive piece with a tape splice and where the speed of the two differently recorded parts were changed so the keys matched. The actual piece is a single cohesive whole, even if the making of it is a bit weird. --Jayron32 17:49, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- That's a funny one. Apparently they had these two partial takes that they wanted to splice together, but the keys didn't quite match. So rather than re-doing it, Lennon said to George Martin, "You can fix that, right?" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:34, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- It's more than just "didn't quite match". If I recall correctly, one part was originally in A major, the other in C major, which is 4 semitones different. The final version is in something like B half-flat major; because the pitch shifting done to match the keys of the two sections was kind of kludged together, it is not in Concert pitch. --Jayron32 13:09, 13 November 2019 (UTC)
- That's a funny one. Apparently they had these two partial takes that they wanted to splice together, but the keys didn't quite match. So rather than re-doing it, Lennon said to George Martin, "You can fix that, right?" ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:34, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- "A Day in the Life" has more than one section; it is in ABA form, and returns to the original form for the third section. "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a bit of a weird one, but it is essentially one cohesive piece with a tape splice and where the speed of the two differently recorded parts were changed so the keys matched. The actual piece is a single cohesive whole, even if the making of it is a bit weird. --Jayron32 17:49, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- "A Day in the Life" is another Beatles example, in fact a better one that "Strawberry Fields" which was just parts of two takes. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:31, 11 November 2019 (UTC)
- Medley is a fine word, even for two songs. There are two song medleys, three song medleys, four song medleys, etc. The article titled List of musical medleys has numerous two-song examples. --Jayron32 16:57, 12 November 2019 (UTC)
- I note that neither medley[1] nor suite[2] as described in Wiktionary has any stipulation on the quantity, other than (obviously) greater than 1. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:31, 12 November 2019 (UTC)