Duple or Triple Meter
The song “Bandana” is a simple duple meter. Each bar contains two beats per measure, forming a 2/4 time. The primary division of beats per measure consists of the first beat, which hits strongly, and the second, which is weak. In each line of this song, I hear half a measure of the duple meter. The singer starts singing the first word, “Low, “in the first line just after the first beat in the first bar, while the first word in the second line, “All,” comes after the third beat. In the repeating second measure of the duple meter, the first word, “I’m,” in the third line of the lyrics, comes after the first beat, while the first word, “All,” in the fourth line, comes after the third beat.
Nevertheless, a gritty singing voice is required for a career in rock music. “Bandana” is an Afrobeat type of music such that the singers use gritty voices that give the song a greater sense of depth and feeling. Therefore, I could hear the beats in the meter well through the singers’ gritty voices. Syncopated rhythms, also known as syncopation, are responsible for giving the music its infectious groove (Sioros et al., 2022). In this song, I recognize a missed beat syncopation at 0:27. The singer deliberately uses the substitution of a rest for a powerful beat to throw off the listener’s sense of the expected rhythmic pattern. The other syncopation I identify in “Bandana” is the offbeat syncopation at 1:04 to 1:07. There are rhythmic patterns with note changes that occur on the upbeat rather than the downbeat, accomplished with extended note values that begin on upbeat and dotted note rhythmic values. The dotted rhythms in this song are between 1:04 and 1:07 and from 1:17 to 1:20, whereby the singer has extended a note over the next pulse in the group.
Major and/or Minor Harmonies
Melodies usually end on the key’s tonic note. The term “harmony” describes the organization of a song’s musical pitches, first into chords and later into progressions. The harmony in “Bandana” relates to the meaning of Fireboy and Asake’s song lyrics about the singer’s self-confidence and enjoying life. Although making a chord progression is simple, not all chords work well together. The Bandana song comprises the D major harmony; its relative chord is B minor. The lines in the song consist of D-G chords, except for the first three lines of verses one and two, which are made up of D-G-A chords. Besides, the fourth last line in the lyrics, “Mo gbe wan ni is coming,” has a Bm chord. The D major scale is based on the note D. Those two sharps in the key signature indicate a relatively high pitch. Therefore, when compared with other scales, the D major scale is simple. It’s harmonizing provides a solid foundation for constructing little and vast chord progressions from which melodies may be crafted.
The use of consonance in poetry helps readers and listeners to remember phrases and sentences. A line’s Rhythm and feel can be influenced by repeating a consonant sound. In this song, the artist has immediately associated certain consonant sounds with particular meanings. For instance, the use of consonance is identified in verse 2, the first line “I’m never weak, I never cease.”
Conjunct and/or Disjunct Melody
Conjunct motion is the pitch interval between two adjacent notes on a musical scale. It is the distance between two successive scale degrees. The melody of the Bandana song is conjunct since the singers use skills in making intervals or equal leaps between lines. Therefore, conjunct melodic motion is characterized by a stepwise progression of the melodic phrase, with succeeding notes stepping up or down a semitone or tone. It also produces a disjunct melody at the beginning, where the song starts with instruments, beats, and drumsticks. There are rising and falling tones between lines. At 0:11 and 0:14, the singer raises a low tone at 0:17, creating a conjunct melodic style.
Homophony and/or Polyphony
“Bandana” is a type of combined polyphonic and monophonic texture polyphonic texture music. Polyphonic may, for example, be a well-known pop or rock song with a soloist, a chorus, and a band. Polyphony is a musical structure in which different instruments play two or more melodic lines at once. However, a monophonic texture is a song consisting of a chorus with several singers singing the same note (Greavu & Pepelea, 2021). For instance, in Bandana, Fireboy DML sings with a polyphonic texture harmonizing such that two or more tones or melodic lines are played simultaneously. The chorus begins at 0:47, “Na the love wey I see,” where Asake’s voice is heard.
Terminology Starter
Tempo and Rhythm are the terminology starters I choose to discuss in the “Bandana” song. Fireboy DML and Asake use tempo andante in their song. However, tempo refers to the speed at which a musical work is played. When talking about music, the tempo is most commonly expressed in beats per minute, where one beat represents about one second. The pace is dynamic; hence, the Bandana singers could maintain a constant tempo throughout the song. Rhythm refers to the timing of individual sounds within a larger whole. Rhythm is one of music’s most essential building blocks; its distinctive rhythmic structure is a crucial distinguishing feature of many musical genres. Fireboy DML and Asake maintained repeating the fundamental beat, such as quarter notes, thus forming a rhythmic structure.
References
Fireboy DML. (2022). Fireboy DML & Asake – Bandana [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Greavu, E. L., & Pepelea, R. (2021). Polyphony in the choral creation for equal voices signed by Dan Voiculescu. Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Musica, 143.
Sioros, G., Madison, G., Cocharro, D., Danielsen, A., & Gouyon, F. (2022). Syncopation and groove in polyphonic music: Patterns matter. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 39(5), 503-531.