Questions Artist performance: Whitney Houston song

name: I will always love you

1. Describe how the following musical
elements are being embellished/
developed throughout the
improvisation:

1.a) Rhythm- eg. Use of repetition, syncopation,
note durations.
At the start of the song Whitney uses
rubato, taking her time to sing the first
verse. Most of her notes are extended in
time to how the song is usually written.

1.b) Melody- ascending descending repetition,
intervals, scales, modes, shape/stepwise motion
and leaps.
Whitney uses Melisma on several notes
which she improvises with adding
ornamentation to the song
The song equally ascends an descends
The melody moves mainly in steps but
does contain leaping intervals especially
in the chorus.
1.c) Dynamics- crescendo, decrescendo, accent,
loud and soft passages
The song starts off soft and quiet airy
and gradually builds in tension into the
end passage which is loud and powerful
and the at the very end goes soft again.
1.d) Tone- clean, processed, articulation. her words are articulated and
pronounced clearly but sometimes are
muffled by the amount of melisma
shown in the song.
2. Identify potential OHS risks or challenges
posed by the performance style.

I didnt see any OHS risks or challenges in
Whitneys performance.
3. Describe how the musicians interact
with the other band members.
Whitney doesnt interact with her
accompaniment much but I noticed she turns
and acknowledges them before the end of the
last line.
4. Describe how the musicians
communicate with the audience before,
between and after performances
Whitney starts off her performance by
communicating with the audience and telling
them the meaning of the song and what it means
to her. She includes her kids and her love of
music in a heartfelt speech about the song and
how it links with the event she is playing at.

Throughout the song Whitney expresses a lot of
emotion. She closes her eyes to find that
emotion as well as smiling at her audience and
making hand and body gestures to connect with
them.
5. What cues musical or visual were used
to start or end improvised sequences of
music?
After making her speech Whitney says the word
alright to let everyone know she is about to
perform as well as here accompanying band.
Before her big ending chorus Whitney drops her
arms to indicate the intensifying section of her
song. After the end chorus whitney turns and
smiles at the band members then smiles at the
audience before singing the last line of the song
6. Describe the use of rhythm, dynamics,
texture, used by the accompanists whilst
the solo is being performed.
The accompaniment followed the dynamics of
the singer starting lightly increasing gradually,
tensifying in the last chorus and decreasing at
the end line of the song as does Whitney. The
rhythm was also altered to fit Whitneys improve
but it was played in 4/4 time. The texture was
Homophonic and the melody moved in similar
motion.