The Beat, Rhythm and the Sense of Groove in Survivor's Eye of the Tiger

The Beat, Rhythm, and Sense of Groove in Music

The beat, rhythm and the sense of groove are among the vital aspect of all music. It is most notable to listen to rhythm and melody combination especially when listening to rock tune or iconic pop which have broken the rules of music and thereby stuck in our minds in abundance (Korsyn & Kevin, pg. 53). In this music critique paper, I would like to review the song Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. The song is excellent and makes someone excited about a fun event. It is also motivational music used in rocky. I listened to this song for the first time while playing destiny two, turned into a Vex, went back in time and stopped myself from pre-ordering. Only the first few beats of the song captured my attention, and I would want to listen more.

The Bass Guitar's Energy and Rhythm

Few seconds into introduction I can hear many different instruments playing cool rhythms. The bass guitar takes the atmosphere of the music with great energy. The instrumental is in strings family and create a rhythmic and harmonic foundation for the music. It provides a good feeling and steady pulse and ensures the consistent pulse of the music.

The Electric Guitar's Contribution to the Groove

Along with the base guitar, I can also hear the electric guitar playing a chord progression and riffs and sets the beat. It adds up the energy to the groove of the song by playing not only the downbeat of every measure but also straight quarter notes. When listening to the arrangement and ignoring the more prominent melodies from the mix, I can hear the melodic contributions of the electric guitar.

The Importance of Melody in Music

Melody is the larger tune made by playing a progression or arrangement of notes, and it is influenced by pitch and musicality. A song may have a solitary tune that goes through once, or there might be various melodies orchestrated in a verse-ensemble shape, for instance in rock (Butler &David, pg. 230). In this song, the tune is rehashed as a repeating melodic subject that changes as the music advances.

The Guitar's Role in Adding Interest to the Song

Without no doubt, without the main melody the song may not sound too interesting, but since the guitar role has some Melodic content, it still sounds somewhat interesting. As far as this can be vague in writing, this guitar added interest to turn a completely generic song into something more listenable and I could discern some recognizable movements in the notes that poke out of the music. Also, could hear a Harmonic role played by this guitar creating a Harmonic contribution to the entire length of the song.

The Drum Set's Role in Establishing the Beat

I can also hear a drum set, which has a bass drum, snare drum, and cymbals. They establish the beat, mood, and tempo. Primarily, the drums lead and support the music as the song has a substantial number of subgenres. It provides a regular backbone to the music by giving it a strong beat that will keep a song together. It also adds jazz elements to traditional rock grooves and makes the song exciting. The hitting of the cymbals pretty hard, as well as the basic groove, creates an intriguing rhythmic variation in the song.

The Piano's Versatility and Expression

The piano plays chords in the background. It reigns supreme instrument for this song as it plays a variety of expression unrivaled amongst the other instruments. It also rises the texture of the music from the simplest to the complicated harmonies from the beginning to the end of the song. To my thinking, the piano is King and my first love and will always be, and this song proves me right.

The Range and Versatility of the Piano

I can also hear higher notes than a piccolo and lower notes than a double bassoon making a wide range of notes for the song and demonstrating the very complicated versatility of the piano. In the song, notes and rests are of different lengths and occur at the beginning of a musical phrase as well as various phrases of the melody, allowing the singer to breathe. Both bars and beats have some notes in them in the song, and therefore the beats are not synonymous with actual notes.

The Coordination of Instruments and Rhythmic Flow in the Song

All of the instruments in this song, except the guitar (which is in the strings family), are part of the percussion family. The instruments were well coordinated to produce a combination of different rhythms as well as smoothed Song Bridge.

The Tempo and Speed of the Song

The song has allegro tempo, and its quick pace of the song defined by the measure of the number of beats per minute in most sequencing packages makes the sound very exciting. The speed changes from time to time whereas there is a tenor soloist throughout the song who broadens out towards the end. The speed of the music played a critical role in the success of this particular song. The singer could find a smooth space to get the lyrics across excellently. However, to some extent, I could hear some displaced beats (syncopation) in the song, which I think were intentionally built as part of the style of the music in this song.

The Dynamics and Flow of the Song

The dynamics of the song start with a crescendo that develops up to mezzo forte. In the song “Eye of the Tiger” there’s four choruses and three verses which forms a rhythmic flow of song melody sung over the drive of a backing track combining different rhythms. At the end of the music, the music decrescendos down to nothing. The song gives me a sense of inspiration and motivation. The high man’s voice through the song can give anyone strength to rise above all the negativity he or she experiences in their life. People who appreciate music and like Survivor should listen to this song.

Work cited

Butler, David. "Describing the perception of tonality in music: A critique of the tonal hierarchy theory and a proposal for a theory of intervallic rivalry." Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 6.3 (2009): 219-241.

Korsyn, Kevin Ernest. Decentering music: A critique of contemporary musical research. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2003.45-54