Musical description

Structure

The song is verse-chorus in structure, which is referred to as strophic. However, there is a contrasting section just before the third chorus to create variety. This is often called a bridge or middle 8 in pop music. The overall structure of Since You Been Gone is:

1. Introduction
2. Verse 1
3. Pre-chorus
4. Chorus
5. Verse 2
6. Pre-chorus
7. Chorus
8. Bridge
9. Modulated chorus
10. Instrumental solo
11. Chorus/outro

Texture

The texture is homophonic and mainly melody and accompaniment. This is typical of rock and pop music. There is some layering and imitation of parts at the end of the introduction.

Instrumentation and timbre

Rainbow has a typical 1970s rock band set-up of drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and singer. The guitar plays distorted chords, for example in the chorus sections, which is typical of this style of music. Rainbow’s guitarist Ritchie Blackmore plays with palm muting. You can hear this in the accompanying guitar part during the second verse. The combination of palm muting technique and distortion sound effects are a familiar timbre in hard rock.

Tempo

The tempo is described as a moderately bright rock beat. A typical rock tempo is 4/4 and emphasises beats 2 and 4. It originates from rock ’n’ roll.

Dynamics

The piece is mostly forte like most rock songs, but the bridge section is quieter with a dynamic marking of mezzo piano.

Rhythm

The time signature is 4/4 like many rock songs and includes a lot of syncopation.

The main riff is…