Jessica Rachel Lopez

Music 1040-2 Music & Culture

Instructor: Barbara Shelton
Extra Credit Concert report

A performer named that goes by the name of Robyn Kemp performed at the live music and
concert series held at the City Creek Center on August 9, 2014. I had fun while listening to her
perform and have picked two of her originals she sang to critique in my paper.
"Capacity" was a soft pop original.
It was in verse and chorus form, with and intro, three verses, three pre-choruses, three choruses,
and with variation on the third verse. She started out whistling to her piano paying, and made
that her pre-chorus. Her verses and choruses were very similar in vocals, but very in different in
what she played on the keyboard.
The melody was conjunct, and the phrases were short, but had weak cadences causing the song
to flow. The climax of the song was at the very end of the song when she created a dramatic
ending with her keyboard.
The harmony was major sounding, happy, fun, and playful. The vocals went right along with the
lyrics and created a bubbly pop feeling.
The texture was polyphony. It was sung with the accompaniment of the keyboard. The song was
transparent, but fun nonetheless. She uses her whistling to keep people listening even when she
wasnt singing.
The song had an upbeat. The meter seemed to be in quadruple (4/4) time. Throughout the song
she added an offbeat every seventh note.
The tempo was allegro, and moved to that pace the entire song. The dynamics were mezzo forte
and seemed to occur when transition from verse to chorus and the climax at the end of the song.
She would crescendo on her way from verse to chorus the decrescendo back into verse.
Her voice was pleasant to hear with the keyboard accompaniment, and the whistling was very
creative on her part. It all blended very well.
This song was very enjoyable and I found myself hopping to it. I think this song reflects her life
and many other modern U.S. Young women who are in romantic relationships. It seems as
though this song could be recreated easily though and seems to fit the cookie cutter shape of a
pop song.


The Arsonist and Thief an original pop song.

It was in verse and chorus form, with and, three verses, three musical breaks, three choruses, and
an ending, with variation on the third verse. She started with the piano with a verse, then a
chorus and a musical break followed each was differentiated.
The melody was conjunct, and the phrases were short, but had strong cadences because of the
musical breaks making the song longer. Again the climax of the song was at the very end when
she repeated the last line and belted it out creating a dramatic ending, and letting the keyboard
go silent.
The harmony was minor, and sounded dangerous, mysterious, and serious. I enjoyed that both
her and the keyboard created an intimate sounding movement together. Although minor the
song kept out of the sadness feeling.
The texture was polyphony. It was sung with the accompaniment of the keyboard. The song was
transparent, which added to the mysterious and dangerous feeling, she was able to use that
simplicity to her advantage to focus on her story.
The song had an upbeat. The meter seemed to be in quadruple (4/4) time. Throughout the song
she added an offbeat every sixth and seventh note similar to the first song.
The tempo was allegro, and moved to that throughout most of the song, until the climax where
she decresendoed to the point of silence with the keyboard, and cresendoed and decresendoed
her voice. The dynamics were at first mezzo forte and later forte. Her voice with the keyboard
accompaniment, blended very well.
I loved this song. She tells of story of an arsonist and a thief who meet in a desert and fall in and
out of love. She uses a fun play on words as she constantly compares the love they have for each
other to a fire. This song reflects the nature of our criminals and that not all are heartless, while
some are, this song focuses on the criminals who know what it I like to love.


Robyn Kemp at City Creek