You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker and the Aces

Notes on YCGIIYRW

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  • Created by: Annie
  • Created on: 25-03-11 11:47

You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker

Background

  • Early reggae or rock steady
  • Jamaican, with Latin-American influences e.g. in the high trumpet parts

Rhythm and Metre

  • Quadruple 4/4
  • Rock steady 'on-beat' bass
  • Backbeat
  • Syncopations in upper parts
  • Triplets in vocal parts
  • Drum fills
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You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker

Melody and word-setting

  • Word setting is syllabic, except for melismas at ends of phrases
  • Use of title hook
  • Melody is mainly conjunct and narrow in range
  • But near the end it moves by 3rds into a higher register
  • Major pentatonic scale

Harmony

  • Alternating Chord I (Db) and IV (Gb) with occasional V7 (Ab7) except for...
  • Unrelated chords such as E at bar 37
  • Parallel chords at bar 40
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You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker

Tonality

  • Db throughout

Structure

  • Verse and chorus:
  • Intro - Chorus - Verse 1 - Chorus - Verse 2 - Chorus - Instrumental - Chorus and Outro

Resources/Texture

  • Melody-dominated homophony with
  • Lead vocal (sometimes using falsetto for high notes)
  • Backing vocals in two parts
  • Guitars and bass ,reeds and brass, including trumpets (sometimes in 3rds), organ, drums
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