listen to your chosen piece of music and notice any changes in dynamics. Describe what happens when your piece gets louder or softer and where in the piece that occurs. Does it make the music more interesting to you? (why or why not?) Now, pay attention to the different timbres that are presented in your music: this may or may not relate to the dynamic changes, but describe what happens when you notice any timbre changes and how it affects the listener. (is it a dramatic difference, or more of a subtle difference?)
The song starts off with the lead vocalist and his guitar on the opening verse. Is is very soft and intimate. Going into the second verse there is a harmony introduced which begins to slowly build their dynamic intensity. This is followed by another soft chorus with just the main vocalist and his guitar. Following this chorus there is an instrumental which introduces us to the upright bass, piano, and drums. We begin to really build the song. There is a significant build going into the second chorus on the phrase “I swear” where the song is stating from the apostle Peters perspective that he will never deny Jesus. Because we as the listener know the outcome, it build tension in our hearts and the song itself comes to one of the biggest moments in the song. This makes the song much more interesting to me because it gives depth to the message as well as complexity to the music itself. This complexity along with quality musicianship keeps me interested. The song continues to go to one of its lowest points where all of the instruments are in at once. Of course after this it builds to the final chorus where we feel the full force of the band.
As far as timbre is concerned there are some neat things going on. Of course we have the voices which are so wonderfully blended. Part of this is due to the fact that the two vocalists are husband and wife. On top of this we have a sort of cadence riff where piano lulls us into the instrumental portions of the song. During this time the rest of the band follows suit. I also love the tone and color that the upright bass brings to this song. It is combined well with the semi-hollow acoustic guitar being played in this piece. These two instruments are especially compatible due to the fact that they both use flat wound strings. All this combined makes for a wonderful combination of instruments while still giving each individual member a chance to be heard in their own role.
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