It Don't Mean a Thing by Ella Fitzgerald - Essay Example

It Don't Mean a Thing by Ella FitzgeraldThe name of the song discussed in this essay is It Don't Mean a Thing by Ella Fitzgerald. The musical instruments used in Fitzgerald’s song are the drum set, guitar, piano, bass guitar, the trumpet, along with the trombone (Peterson, Ellis, Brown, Jones and Eldridge 1). The singer, Ella Fitzgerald, incorporated a Bebop style of jazz characterized by fast tempo or rhythm in the song. The song incorporated group techniques such as riffs and trading whereby, at some instance, people were doing their own solos and, at times, people were playing their roles all together to come up with the melody.

The instruments had different roles. The piano brought out the song’s melody and the drum set help preserve the tempo of the song (Peterson, Ellis, Brown, Jones and Eldridge 1). The guitar played its part mostly when people were doing a solitary soloing plus the chord melody. The work of the bass, on the other hand, was to underline the root or basis of each chord. The work of the trumpet was to convey the melody over to other singers in the song. The trombone formed the structure for other players in the song to take their course (Peterson, Ellis, Brown, Jones and Eldridge 1).

The song had an introduction, followed solos by the vocalist and the instrumentalist, as well as the ending part. The introduction was done by the drummer who was followed by the vocalist. The solo parts of the song were done by the vocalist, the trombonist, guitarist and the person playing the trumpet who closed the song (Peterson, Ellis, Brown, Jones and Eldridge 1). The solo that amazed me was the part by the trombonist who accompanied the vocalist as she was humming in the third part of the song.

It was as if the trombonist was leading the part and the vocalist followed. The solo created a cheerful mood in me whereby I felt like dancing as the trombonist played the solo.Work CitedPeterson, Oscar, Ellis, Herb, Brown, Ray, Jones, Jo and Eldridge, Roy. Ella Fitzgerald "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing". N.p, 1958. Web.